(Or Creating Memorable
Furry Characters--Like Happy Here)
I’m stepping out of my kennel a bit on this
topic, dear readers. After all, I’m not the Spacefreighters blogger with a second Pets In Space anthology on preorder right now (that would be
Laurie). But I do feature a Belgian shepherd mix therapy dog in my latest
novel, Not Fade Away, Book 4,
Interstellar Rescue Series. (Available
November 14 from INK’d Press.)
I had to pitch this novel to my
agent/publisher, since our original contract was just for the first three books
in the series. But before she agreed to write a new, expanded contract for
future books, Michelle said, “So, you have a therapy dog in this one. The dog
survives, right?”
I assured her the dog was alive and well at
the end of the book.
“Good,” she said. “Because if not that would
have been a deal-breaker.”
Which made me think there are distinct rules
for writing about companion animals in novels, particularly if you ever hope to
sell those novels to romance readers. Here are my Top
Five Rules for Fictional Fidos (or Fluffies or whatever):
1)The animal MUST
survive. Kill everyone else in the book
if you have to, but don’t kill the dog or the cat. Most of us have never
forgiven Disney for OLD YELLER.
2)The animal must
have a purpose. Like anything else in a novel,
Fido or Fluffy should be integral to the story, rather than be window-dressing.
At the very least, the companion animal should illustrate something about your
hero or heroine (beyond the fact that he or she is an animal lover). In a book
I just read, a blind bulldog symbolized the spirit of its owner, who had
recently recovered her sight. Maybe, like Happy in Not Fade Away, the dog has an actual job. Maybe like many novel felines,
the cat helps solve the mystery. Or maybe the pet provides a silent partner for
dialogue with the hero or heroine.
3)The animal must
have its own personality. Anyone with a pet knows every
cat or dog is unique, with its own quirks, its likes and dislikes, its body
language and means of communicating. The animal character should be just as
vivid in its own way as any of your secondary characters. That means it has to
be consistent, too—the same dog on Page One and on Page 300, unless you’ve
given it a reason to change.
4)The animal must be
present and/or accounted for. If your heroine has a cat,
your heroine always has a cat. I discovered this when writing the first novel
in my Interstellar Rescue series, Unchained Memory. When the heroine,
Asia, is attacked by unknown assailants on what is supposed to be a weekend
trip and is forced to go on the run, her cat J.J. is left at home. I had to let
the readers know she’d made arrangements for her friend to take care of him.
Because Rule Number One. Similarly, Happy is in nearly every scene of Not Fade Away; he and his owner,
Charlie, the heroine, are very close. I had to let the reader know where he is
when important things happen.
5) And, finally, the animal must cement the bond between hero and
heroine by approving of the relationship (and vice versa).
That is, the animal must like his owner’s lover and the lover must like the
animal, if not at first, then certainly by the end of the book. Rafe, the hero
of Not Fade Away, is distrustful of
Happy at first. He’s never been around a dog of Happy’s size. But Rafe’s
father, suffering from dementia, takes to Happy right away. And, of course,
Charlie loves the dog. It doesn’t take long for Rafe to come around—and for the
dog to include Rafe in his circle of protection.
So, there you have it, my list of the Top Five Rules for Fictional Fidos. Got any others you’d
like to share?
Cheers,
Donna
Excellent set of rules, Donna. I'm sure Happy will make Not Fade Away a must read!
ReplyDeleteThanks for the mention, Donna, and oh yeah, I think you nailed the rules. :) Also the type of pet the owner chooses--or is gifted by Fate--can have a big impact on the story, too. Even the type of dog.
ReplyDeleteHappy sounds so perfect for this story. Can't wait to read it, and so excited another Interstellar Rescue book is coming! (BTW, I love, love, love Belgium Shepherds.)
I've found in writing the Pets in Space stories that maintaining balance between the pets and the characters can be a bit troublesome, because the pets always tend to steal the show and dominate the scene. There's a reason W.C. Fields said he'd never work with (children or) animals. LOL They have a tendency to upstage even on the page. :)
I have an animal in my WIP.
ReplyDelete