What is it about puppies and kittens and ponies (and even
hamsters, though I have never had one) that we love? Every jaunt through Facebook includes adorable pictures of friends’ furry loves (my
own included), heartwarming stories of
pets reunited with their pet
people, or passionate pleas for adoptive homes for animals in distress.
Most of my friends have pets. Most of my family and extended
family are pet lovers, too. I have two
rescued cats and two noisy and happy parakeets. Pets are like members of the family. I like people who like and respect and
protect animals.
So what does that have to do with romance novels?
I love to read sweet romance and light mysteries. I also
like to write them. I feel that a large
part of the joy of our stories is directly related to the ability to identify
with.. and LIKE the characters. Though
it may sound corny, in a good book, they actually feel like friends to me.
Real. The kind of people I like.
I am seeing how the memorable characters in my favorite
books (both romance and mystery) often have a pet that matters a lot to
them. Like Stephanie Plum and her
hamster, Rex. Or Jesse Stone and his big
lovable dog. Jessie. This can also been seen in sweet romance movies, like Tom
Hank’s adorable dog Brinkley in “You’ve Got Mail.”
In many of my
earlier books, my characters have pets too.
In “Daring Hearts”, my heroine helps a sad little boy get a puppy. In “Love, Julie”, my heroine saves and trains
a wild horse that people have given up on.
In “Noah’s Bark”, my heroine is a veterinarian who fights for animal
rights and cares for a bevy of animals, usually with no pay. In “Patient Heart”,
it’s all about an errant pony.
There is a certain kind of sweet loving heart that is open
to loving a pet, and that trait is very attractive to me in a romance novel, as
well as in real life. In our sweet
romances, the emphasis is on heart and character and story. The inclusion of
pets often makes the story richer, more realistic and heartwarming to me.
What do you think? Do you have a pet? Do you find stories
richer with characters who love their pets?
Christine Bush is the
award winning author of many books and novellas of sweet romance and light
mystery. When she isn’t writing, she can be found working with clients as a
Marriage and Family Therapist in private practice, or teaching Psychology at a
local college. She lives with her family
and two crazy cats in northeastern Pennsylvania, and loves to hear from readers
and aspiring writers.
Check out her reissued Award Winning
book “Cindy’s Prince!”
Sweet! I love my fur-babies, (and the feathered ones.) I have a Great Pyrenees named Gracie, (who thinks she's a lap cat), and a semi-psychotic tuxedo cat, Bow, (who thinks she is the alpha dog). Our chicken has had to go live on a farm in the country after all of her sorority and one frat brother were taken away by fairies. Okay, it might have been a pack of coyotes. Okay, it definitely was coyotes, but I prefer to think of them as having morphed into fairies and fluttered away on their new little wings. Poor Buffy lives on top of her country coop, an outcast from the other chickens. (It's her own fault. She eats their eggs.)
ReplyDeleteYikes, Sofie! Coyotes! I think I prefer the fairy theory too~!
DeleteI've had all kinds of pets--including a squirrel monkey which I tried to use in my first Avalon book, but our editor at the time made me change her to a cockatiel. :-) What's it like to have a monkey as a pet? Well, they make look cute, but they bite, they don't like bananas (oatmeal was her favorite), and they're a lot of work, to be honest!
ReplyDeleteBut I think pets say a lot about our characters: pets give them personality, patience, and compassion.
A monkey! I have a dear friend whose goal in life is to adopt a monkey. I don't think he thought about that biting thing!
DeleteJust this morning I was listening to a Jesse Stone novel while in traffic and wondering what ever happened to his dog because in this particular book he has a cat named Mildred.
ReplyDeleteYes, I think as the character evolved, he had a couple of dogs, and then the cat.... A great character!
DeleteI can't remember a time in my life when I didn't have a pet. Right now we just have one - a cat named Miss McGee, a/k/a Missy. And a big black Lab is a major character in my latest mystery. I don't think I'd trust anyone who doesn't love animals.
ReplyDeleteIt sure is a sign of a person who can love...
ReplyDeleteLove it, love pets, love your books!!
ReplyDelete