You may have noticed, (grin) that several of my books feature animals! In my novel A Contemporary Countess I give my secondary character Pailing, the Duchess of Great Lomond, a favorite pastime, a love of dogs, in particular, Mastiffs.
Every author pulls something from their own lives, loves, and hobbies to give to their characters and here is one of mine: An English Mastiff. I had one of my own who was a great big pussycat, sweet, gentle natured and a therapy dog to boot.
Mastiffs are a giant gentle breed, very smart, cuddly and couch potatoes at heart!
Mastiffs, St. Bernards and Newfoundlands, (commonly known as Newfies), are all part of the Molossa breed, belonging to the same family of huge dogs with similar personalities and temperaments. If you own one of these majestic beasts, you know that you don’t really own them, they own you! They choose to obey because they love you and want your company, not because they have to.
My Mastiff outweighed me by about fifty pounds. He chose to do as he was told.
Mastiffs were known throughout history as 'the dogs of kings'. Can you imagine them laying in front of the huge open fireplaces they had back then?
In Murder at La Marionette Hotel my heroine has a pet Mastiff called Harvey, and in my novella Heiress my heroine has a Newfie. Newfoundlands are lovable and cute, and also great swimmers, few people know that they actually have webbed feet.
There are two animal characters in The Starlight Walk (Books 1-4) Rugly the pug, and Horatio the cat, and just a brief mention of two adorable St. Bernards.
In Romancing the Billionaire's Daughter, there are four white rats, a lovable horse and a miniature Greek fainting goat. And in The Menace (A Romantic Comedy) an adorable puppy.
Animals enhance our lives and our stories in so many ways, and they are just plain fun to be around! That being said, not all of my books contain animals, but they generally do contain lots of playful characters and humor!
