Puppy Love

You know how sometimes life gets so crazy and you forget things? Well, that was me with this blog post. With a couple of days to think of a topic, I really had no clue what to write about. The answer came with a little Yorkie Terrier named Chocolate, because she reminded me about love.

Chocolate lives a block away from me and most every day when I take my pooches for a walk we see her. She is the sweetest little morsel you'll ever meet. For the longest time I called her Muffin Top because she is so sweet and of course muffin tops are the best thing about a muffin. I finally met her owner and learned her name is Chocolate. Very apropos, let me tell you.

This little puppy probably weighs about 5 lbs. She is about the size of my Pitbull's head.  I snapped a couple of shots so you could see the size difference.

Zachary adores this little piece of fluff. He waits by the gate when we walk by, his tail wagging in anticipation, his sad eyes looking from me to the yard, in hopes she'll run around from the backyard and say hi. She wiggles and squirms and can't get close enough and he kisses her through the fence. They are quite the pair. (My Border Collie, Liz, puts up with it only because she's smart enough to know that Chocolate won't be going home with us and she gets Zach to herself once we leave.) Chocolate is actually a bit of a hussy...she puts her butt to the fence so Zachary can get his sniffs in. I've tried to tell her a lady doesn't do that sort of thing, but she just squirms more and wags harder. (Hey...I tried.) Here's a shot of Zach giving her a big wet one through the fence.

My point of all this is that love knows no bounds. Though Zachary and Chocolate are not compatible at all, it doesn't keep them from wanting to be together. They cry for each other and Zachary pulls to get to her house every day. It's love at its purest.

I guess that's why I love writing romance. I get such joy watching these two fawn all over each other that it makes me want to go home and write a good romance. I want people to get that same feeling while reading one of my books. I think I also want to incorporate a puppy romance in an upcoming book. I wrote a dog in Dangerously Close and got great feedback so I'm thinking the next time I write a dog, I need to give him/her a love interest.

What about you? Any furry romances you can share?

Writing Buddies

Writing is a lonely profession (and when it isn't you wish it was). Many writers have companions to keep them entertained on this long lonely road. Companions quieter (generally) than the average nine-year-old, with less desire to interrupt the word flow with, "Mom, can I...?"

This is my companion of the last year and a half. Holly. She's a rescue of indeterminate lineage. Chocolate lab certainly, the thousand-teeth grin hints strongly at pit bull, the baying at sirens indicates strongly, hound. 
It took a couple of days to settle into our routine, for Holly to figure out when to sit around and do nothing (i.e. when I was in my chair, writing), and when we could go outside (I aim for hourly stretch breaks). And she learned not to bark at squirrels through the windows, or nudge my chair every 5 minutes to make sure I'm not dead. She is, in fact, the perfect companion. 

Plus, she's stupid. Really stupid. Fall-off-the-deck, eat wasps, never-bring-a-ball-back-I-just-found-this-thing, Odie, stupid. Which also suits me perfectly :)

This is Finn--my previous companion and mother to the dog of my heart (Benn, not featured here today :)), whip smart and gorgeous. She was a great companion. 

Why am I sharing this, aside from the fact I think all writers should have some some of animal friend, be it a dog, cat, rabbit, goldfish? Strangely, the hero and heroine of my next book, DANGEROUS WATERS, are called Holly and Finn :). I didn't plan it, it was one of those freak moments where my subconscious was obviously at work (maybe trying to even out the playing field as the hero of STORM WARNING is called Ben--aforementioned dog of my heart), but I'm kind of in love with the whole concept now. Most people won't know. Fewer will care. But I know and I care :)


Do you have a companion? Is he/she smarter than my lovely Holly? Please share :)
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More information about Toni's next book can be found on her website.