AWers and their pets.

I have two hissing cockroaches and some fish. My last novel attempt involved a cockroach character, but the current novel has no cockroaches at all.

Some of my pets find their way into my writing. Usually as benevolent beings.

They also sometimes find their way into role playing games, but my kids keep accusing me of cheating.

I have a cat :3 Only a few of my characters are cat owners, though.

Nick Blaze said:

That's awesome! What kind is it?

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She's a Brachypelma smithi, otherwise known as Mexican Red Knee. I raised her from a tiny little spiderling.
She's a goodwill ambassador, and makes annual trips to the grade school.

Wicked said:

Some of my pets find their way into my writing. Usually as benevolent beings.

They also sometimes find their way into role playing games, but my kids keep accusing me of cheating.

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I think bringing a real tarantula is totally in the rules. I've not seen a rule against it.

I've always wanted a Mexican Red Knee, but my family is arachnophobic. Humbug on that. They've mostly come round to liking the cockroaches though.

I currently share my life with two yellow Labs, incredibly BIG yellow Labs - 110# each. I've published 10 novels - nine of them have had at least one dog....MIND ECHOES has all kinds of animals. The hubby and I decided to have dogs instead of kids. Works for us.

Carlene

We have cats. Twelve of them, and one fuzzy little white vampire masquerading as a kitten. My cats usually end up worked into my stories, and the first short story I ever had published was about one of my cats. Sort of. "One Hell of a Cat" is about an inept wizard whose only offensive weapon is a kitten who can set things on fire. The kitten destroys an army, then washes her whiskers and chases a puff of cremated human across the field of battle which is now nothing more than a span of charcoal.

Yes. I have a sick mind.

One of my dogs wormed his way into my first UF book, Dog Days. (Title is a giveaway, no?)

Not only did he worm his way in, he became a major character, and in fact, everyone's favorite character, completely eclipsing the MC - without ever uttering a word.

So next up, my MG novel (which may or may not ever see the light of day.) Different dog, another major character and plot point. I'm about to get typecast as a writer -- that guy who writes about dogs.

My first two books, mysteries, had my cat in them, but like most cats, he kept a low profile.

Lou:

Nick Blaze said:

And no, children do not technically count as pets!

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You only say that because you haven't met my son. 4 out of 5 dentists agree - he's an animal.

I do also own a Russian tortoise, though. Hubby really wants a sulcata, too, but we don't have the requisite yard for a terror like that. Russians stay small, they're fairly easy to care for, and ours is adorable! It's interesting to me that tortoises and turtles actually have personalities. I kept a box turtle in college and I expected the Russian to behave like him, but they're exact opposites. The box turtle was extremely systematic and stubborn as heck, while the Russian is more erratic and liable just to give up and go on to something else if his efforts are thwarted.

I also have a geriatric cat - technically he's mine but he resides with my folks since I grew up and moved away. He'll be 20 this year, and still as crotchety and demanding as he always was, albeit arthritic.

Come to think of it, I don't think I've ever given any of my protagonists a pet. Hm. Weird. I do really love animals. Maybe my next book.

In my novel, I have a tortoise and I think I included some marmottes (although they're illegal to keep as pets).

I wrote a series of short stories and my cat was a major feature in them all. The stories were written to be shared amongst a group of friends and one of the stories included two cats who belonged to friends. The story was inspired by a local roundabout that had a rat colony living on it.
My favourite line

A RAF pilot nearly crashed into Stonehenge when he saw a small Harley Davidson motor bike and side car flying through the clouds with one cat driving, one riding pillion and one in a sidecar.

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I have two golden retrievers, and two cats, and the occasional inhouse chipmunk/rabbit/mouse/bird/what the hell WAS that...compliments of the cats.

My current series has a dog (a yellow lab) and a cat that feature pretty prominently and they each have their own web page on my Mattie Winston web site. I don't have a hissing cockroach but one of my characters does and it appears in book 2 of the series.

My very first pubbed novel had a golden retriever in it, very much modeled after the male golden I had at the time.

Beth

Nick Blaze said:

The primary reason I started this thread to see how often your pets weasel their way into your novels. Not just pets in general, but yours in particular. What kinds of pets have you worked into novels (and actually made them matter plot-wise)?

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I have a cat called Rimmer - after Arnold J.

A rabbit called Elmo - technically my husbands, but hey.

Two ex racehorses - Lyrical and Crichton (after John, not Michael)

A sheltand pony called Charlotte

And I have a broodmare called Percy who is currently at the otherside fo teh country nannying the yearlings at a racing yard.

I find that I tend to inset traits of the individual animals rather than teh animals themseves.

No pets, alas. My first novel has two Australian shepherds (the chapter with these two squirts is my favorite), very much like the ones I'd LOVE to have.

I have two Smooth Collies back in England (the younger of the two is in my avvie), and a bad-ass kitteh named Charlie over here in Canada.

I have a cat (coincidentally named Charlie) in A Reaper's Tale, and there was originally a kitten in Strand, but it didn't survive the edits.

Kitten always seems to be around while I'm writing, but she's yet to make an appearance in one of my stories.

I may need to fix that....

I have a cat named Atticus. So far he hasn't found his way into any of my books, but the cat I had as a teen totally did. His real name was Ginger Bread, but in ALEX he's Giggles.

This is Atticus for those of you interested . . .

I have four dogs who we consider our "kids". (Yeah, I know but I doesn't cares.) They were all throw-aways.

Heidi is a 14-year old white miniature poodle who is now blind from diabetes and Cushings.

Venus is a 14-year old toy poodle.

Bridget is a 7-year old Blue Lacey (Black Lab/Weimaraner mix).

Orson is a 2-year old Belgian Malinois/German Shepherd mix.

I have a Golden Retriever named Franny. I don't think I've ever had a pet in one of my stories. Weird?

Awesome pets are awesome.

I have a dog, little JR Terrier mix name of Lucy. She hasn't appeared in anything yet but is great to lay on my feet to keep them warm while I write!

I'm a dog person, but right now we own two cats, Mystique and Reflection, but no dogs. Though Reflection seems to think he's a dog. Oh, and both have appeared in short stories.

I have a cat, a german shepherd and a golden retriever. But I don't think I've ever had any pets in my stories. The closest thing is the cavalry horses in my current one.

Actually, I get a bit nervous when a book includes a pet. I'm always afraid the author's going to kill it off.

We have four cats: Neo, Bingley, Elizabeth and Buffy. None of them appear in any of my stories, but some of their characteristics and particular oddities have.