Woman’s Best Friend?

by Guest Blogger on March 28, 2010 · 9 comments

in Guest Blogger, Writing Tips

guestblog

by Amelia Grey, guest blogger

I am going to go out on a limb here and expose the real Amelia Grey.  I am not a dog person.  Don't get me wrong, I think dogs are cute, but I didn't grow up with a pet in the house so I've just never learned much about dogs or cats.  If I ever get a dog, I think I would like a Toy Poodle or a Yorkshire Terrier.  I mean dogs just don't come any cuter.

You are probably wondering where I'm going with this....I do have a point.  Although I know it is not wise to write about things of which I have no experience, I needed a dog in my current book A Duke to Die For.

amelia-grey-photo

The sweet, little dog, Tulip was only going to be in one chapter so I thought, hey, I can do this so I wrote her in.  It wasn't that hard to do, or so I thought. Luckily, I had an author friend who has a dog, read that chapter for me just to make sure I had the little doggie doing all the right things.

dukeWell, when she got through marking it up with her red pen, I was flabbergasted at how much I didn't know about dogs!  Her comment to me was, "Tulip might as well be a stuffed toy dog sitting in Henrietta's lap." She kindly reminded me that dogs sniff, shed, drool, scratch, and bark.  They like to be rubbed and petted and talked to, and well, I could go on, but I think you get the idea.  The worst thing I did was call Tulip a she sometimes and a he at other times!  I know, I know, that's terrible.  I couldn't believe I had messed up so badly on one little dog.  I found out it's harder for me to write one chapter with a dog in it than a whole book with the hero and heroine.

I've heard it over and over again in writing workshops through the years, "write what you know".  After that experience, I'm taking that advice to heart.  Needless to say, I think it will be a long time before I put another dog in a story. Who's your favorite pet companion-real or in literature?

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{ 9 comments… read them below or add one }

1 Deanna April 14, 2009 at 6:01 AM

Amelia, I was never really a dog person either, having not grown up with pets, however having had a few in my life now I have to say they grow on you. There’s nothing like the unconditional love they give you, they are always happy to see you and be with you – its just a wonderful experience. They become part of the family. And a warm puppy curled up next to you on a cold night? Priceless! I hope you do get a puppy as some point. I love the smaller, cuter ones. Mine were both Maltese crosses.

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2 Amelia Grey April 14, 2009 at 7:01 AM

Hello Everyone!
Thank you to those of you at lovepassionromance for hosting me today! I’m happy to be here.
Deanna, I’m so glad there is at least one other person out there who doesn’t know a thing about dogs, except they are cute, of course!
Amelia

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3 Keira April 14, 2009 at 8:08 AM

The only pet I ever owned was a rabbit and then I had to give it away because my older brother ended up being allergic to it. I remember once putting it on the first step into the pool; that was when I learned rabbits hate water more than cats! Then of course it was funny to see my rabbit fall into the pool and have to swim to the edge all wide eyed and panicked. As for dogs I like friendly ones. I’m okay with them jumping on me if they’re small and I would never ever want to walk one (ie pick up the poop) lol

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4 Amanda April 14, 2009 at 1:09 PM

I’ve never had a dog, only cats, and I love cats. I don’t know if I could write a dog very well. Cats are easy, they sleep, lay around, eat, and poop. Generally speaking you don’t have to talk about the pooping in romance novels, so it’s simple to add a cat to the story! ;-)

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5 Amelia Grey April 14, 2009 at 4:11 PM

Hey, Keira I wouldn’t want to walk a dog either if I had to clean up after him. I like looking at them from afar. But there certainly are some cute ones out there.
Okay, Amanda next time I’m using a cat!
Amelia

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6 MJ April 14, 2009 at 6:12 PM

I love all animals!! As a child we had dogs, cats, a monkey, crow that could talk, a parrot, a minah bird,horse, ponies, a mule and even an alligator. – plus more!!! Somehow, I married an animal hater!!! I really miss my pets tho. My favorite was Petunia the pig, who was raised from a bottle and lived inside til she got too big!!

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7 Laura April 14, 2009 at 8:15 PM

Amelia,
I must say I LOVED this book and am so excited to buy the next! (dog or no dog!) I’m really looking forward to more of these rouges… they are wonderful…yum!

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8 Keira October 24, 2009 at 11:17 AM
9 Deidre March 30, 2010 at 7:22 PM

We’ve had all kinds of pets and I really adore rabbits. Of our many pets, he doesn’t get into a lot of trouble or make a lot of mess and he’s so sweet and cute, you just want to squeeze him and love him to death. Plus, he looks like the Cadbury bunny and I can’t resist passing by him and going bok-bok-bok. lol

Deidre

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