RITA-nominated Elizabeth Hoyt is a favorite of ours at Magical. Her latest historical romance, TO SEDUCE A SINNER, is out this month. Under Julia Harper, she has a contemporary romance out in January, FOR THE LOVE OF PETE.
FOUR-FOOTED CHARACTERS
I love dog stories. Perhaps this is because I have three (yes, three!) dogs of my own, but I don’t think so. I loved dogs in books even before I had my own pack.
There’s something indefinably wonderful about adding a dog to a book. Jennifer Crusie is perhaps the queen of this. The indeterminate stray in WELCOME TO TEMPTATION just about stole the book for me. Part of the reason Crusie writes dogs so well is because her fictional dogs seem real. They lie around—often in the least convenient place. They’re obsessed with food. They’re not overly bright. And they know that when in doubt the best move is to roll over and show their tummy.
These are not Lassie dogs.
My latest book, TO SEDUCE A SINNER, features a dog character—a terrier named Mouse. He’s the pet of the heroine, Melisande Fleming. Now I recently spent a whole day in the New York Metropolitan Museum of Art and part of that day was in the eighteenth century wing (one of my favorite artistic time periods for obvious reasons.) There were dozens of portraits of ladies, many of whom had little lap dogs. The dogs mostly looked like King Charles spaniels: small, long-haired, cute.
That’s not what Mouse looks like. Melisande found him in the stable yard when Mouse was a puppy and I picture him coming from a long line of ratters. He’s definitely not the standard lady’s lapdog. Yet Melisande loves Mouse and he adores her back. I didn’t set out to do it when writing Mouse, but I think he helps reveal Melisande’s character in TO SEDUCE A SINNER.
He’s also a bit of comic relief. Here’s the scene where Jasper Renshaw, Viscount Vale, finds out on the morning after his marriage that his new wife has a dog:
Melisande rose and walked unhurriedly to the breakfast room where she found the makings of a pantomime drama. Sprat stood gaping, Oaks’s beautiful white wig was askew, and he was talking rapidly, but unfortunately in a voice that couldn’t be heard. Meanwhile, her husband of only one day was waving his arms and shouting as if impersonating a particularly angry windmill. The object of his ire stood resolute only inches from Lord Vale’s toes, barking and growling.
“Where did this mongrel come from?” Vale was demanding. “Who let it in? Can’t a man have breakfast without having to defend his bacon from vermin?”
“Mouse,” Melisande said quietly, but it was loud enough for the terrier. With one last triumphant arf! Mouse came trotting over to sit on her slippers and pant.
“Do you know this mongrel?” Lord Vale asked, wild-eyed. “Where did it come from?”
Oaks was straightening his wig, muttering under his breath, while Sprat stood on one leg.
Melisande’s eyes narrowed. Really! After making her wait an hour. “Mouse is my dog.”
Lord Vale blinked, and she couldn’t help noticing that even confused and out of sorts, his blue eyes were startling in their beauty. He lay on me last night, she thought, feeling the heat pool low in her belly. His body became one with mine. He is my husband at last.
“But it ate my bacon.”
Melisande looked down at Mouse, who panted up at her adoringly, his mouth curved as if in a grin. “He.”
Lord Vale ran a hand through his hair, dislodging his tie. “What?”
“He,” Melisande enunciated clearly, then smiled. “Sir Mouse is a gentleman dog. And he’s particularly fond of bacon, so really you ought not to tempt him with it.”
She snapped her fingers and sailed from the breakfast room, Mouse on her heels.
There’s a photo of what I think Mouse might look like on the Extras page of my website: http://www.elizabethhoyt.com/extras/index.html#dogs. I’ve also posted photos and stories of the other dogs in my books along with my own personal dog pack.
Now a question for you: What’s your absolute favorite animal in a romance—and what part did the animal character play in the book?
Cheers!
Elizabeth Hoyt
www.elizabethhoyt.com
I always write critters in my stories! Some of them are a bit otherworldly, a few extra legs or dragon features, but I love them just the same. I agree that animals tend to show the reader another dimension to your characters simply by the way they act and react to them.
I’ve written everything from horses to guinea pigs in my stories, probably because I have my own experiences with the pet menagerie to draw upon.
BTW: I used to own a ‘Squeaky’. My harlequin Great Dane, Pippin–yes, I pulled his name from Tolkien, Peregrin’s Great Gollum–was a wonderful boy. We had to put him down when he was 13, which is 5 years older than the average life span of a Dane.
Thanks for blogging for us again, Elizabeth. I think Dean Koontz does dogs really well in his books. My favorite is the golden lab in his book Outsiders.
Sorry, meant The Watchers, not Outsiders.
Liz, thanks for blogging with us again! Fabulous excerpt! I’ll be at Waldenbooks this Saturday and I’ll pick it up.
I love dogs and cats in books. And I think at least one reissued Jennifer Cruise book had a cover with a basset hound on it. I already had the book, but everytime I saw it, I felt like buying it for the great cover.
The favorite animal in a book would be the basset hound Fred in Jennifer Crusie’s ANYONE BUT YOU. If I remember correctly, the dog would climb down the fire escape from the heroine’s apartment to the hero’s, and was a big part of the reason they got together. Besides, I like basset hounds. It’s their expressions. I want to cuddle them and make them smile.
Good Morning, All!
13 is pretty old for a Great Dane, M.A. When I first married my husband his sister had a gorgeous brindle Great Dane. She used to benignly watch us at the dinner table, her head well above the table! LOL!
I need to read Dean Koontz, Michelle, especially if he has a golden in his books.
Basset hounds are adorable, Edie!
I seem to remember a Jayne Ann Krentz in which a cat played a big part. Maybe THE DETECTIVE? Anyway, a great book!
I love dogs in books and cats too, their pretty funny….
Thanx for joining us here at MM, Liz. Terrific subject matter and loved the excerpt.
I’m rather partial to cats in a book. In one of my books, I have a calico cat named Jezebel who is the epitome of my actual cat. Same breed, same name. Only Jezebel in the book is a cat who used to be a woman. She makes a great secondary character and adds comic relief to the story.
Elizabeth, thanks for another terrific blog at Magical!
We love having you here.
Well, I don’t really remember the last book I read with a pet. But, I’ve watched megga movies with the grandkids where an animal plays a key role. I did receive a book from my book club yesterday, and this one has a dog in it. YAY! A day late and all that, but it looks like a winner.
Your new book sounds delicious too. And the cover is stunning!
Loved that excerpt! Mouse sounds like a great animal.
Elizabeth,
A woman after my own heart. I love animals in books. And like you I have a pack of them myself. At the moment two dogs, two cats, two kittens (who are more trouble than all the rest combined.) And one horse. Now does that sound like a full house, or what???
I’ve noticed before that my favorite books tend to feature animals as strong secondary characters. My favorites are Jennifer Crusie’s. I loved the dog in Crazy About You–the best. Really loved the way it was described. (as a wiry thin, exposed nerve. lol) Dean Koontz uses alot of golden retrievers in his books, which is probably because he owns them himself. In fact, he wrote a book from his dogs POV. I forget what it was called. . .
Cherry Adair had a great dane that almost stole the scenes she was in in the RS Kiss And Tell.
As for my work, so far I’ve had animals in every book I’ve written. So far its been evenly split between dogs and cats. But I have plans to use a kangaroo, and a sheep as a pet in a book, at some point. My sister has had both as pets, and they are amazingly fun.
Great blog btw– and I’m looking forward to reading To Seduce A Sinner!
Theresa, your comment on Dean Koontz writing from a dog’s pov reminded me that Susan Donovan did that too. I don’t remember the name of that book, but it was really good. My favorite of hers.
I’m late as always, but I had to tell you how cute Sir Mouse sounds. Great, great excerpt.
Can never go wrong with an Elizabeth Hoyt/Julie Harper book.
Hi Edie,
I’ll have to check the Donovan book out. I tried once to write in a cat’s POV, but the experiment never quite panned out. I think it would be fun though.
Theresa, the Susan Donovan book is TAKE A CHANCE ON YOU. If you like contemporary romance with humor, you’ll love this.
thanks Edie,
I love contemporary humor, so I bet I’ll love it.
Theresa