Oh No, My Books Are Going to the Dogs!

with guest Kate James.

Now that I (hopefully) have your attention, I would like to say that I’m honored to be visiting Seekerville today. The ladies behind this blog are fantastic, and I’d like to give a special shout-out to Tina Radcliffe for inviting me.

To clear up any misconception, let’s agree on what “go to the dogs” really means. According to The Free Dictionary, it means “to become worse in quality or character” or whatever is being referred to “is becoming less successful than it was in the past.” An example provided by The Free Dictionary is: “It is sad to report that this once first-class hotel has gone to the dogs.”

Hopefully, this is NOT the case with my books or my writing, so let me offer a different perspective. I have yet to write a book that doesn’t include a dog in at least a supporting role. In many of my books, dogs are central to the story. Why do I consistently include furry, four-legged characters? If you know me personally or have connected with me on social media, the obvious answer might be because I love dogs (all critters actually, but dogs hold a special place in my heart). You wouldn’t be wrong and, admittedly, most of our dogs have made their way into my stories. But that’s not the only reason and not even the main reason. So why do I do it?

Let me answer another question first. Why do I write? I love to write and I get enjoyment and satisfaction from writing, but what motivates me is to write stories that readers find both emotionally and intellectually satisfying, with characters that are relatable and likable. If that’s the case, how do dogs factor into it? In a nutshell, I believe that four-legged characters can enrich my stories. Note that I italicized the word “can,” because if an animal is going to become a character in a story, there has to be a purpose beyond the “sweet factor.”

If done effectively, animals can draw readers in, enhance stories and help define two-legged characters. Irrespective of whether you are an animal lover or not, don’t you draw inferences about a person’s character from the way they treat animals? How do you feel when you see a firefighter rappel down a steep cliff to rescue a stranded cat? Or a woman who stops her vehicle in the middle of the road to allow safe passage for a goose and her babies? Or the man who raises a stick to strike a cowering puppy?

I might be at the extreme end of the spectrum, but if I see a severely injured person, my first-aid training kicks in and I’m able to assist with calm determination. But if I see an injured animal? I become a sniveling mess. This concerned me to a degree. Surely, I have as much or more compassion for another human being than I do for animals. If not, what’s wrong with me? I put the question to a psychologist friend. His response was that my reactions are more common than one would suspect. Many of us make an immediate emotional connection with animals. 

How do I believe this connection can be used to enrich stories? Here are a few points for consideration:

• animals can be used to influence reader perception of the human characters, evoke emotion, add dimension, and help create conflict or resolution;
• animals can be characters in their own right: central or supportive, heroes or villains;
• animals can have a point of view (as examples, consider wildly successful books such as The Art of Racing in the Rain and A Dog’s Purpose); and
• where animals are used, how they are introduced and characterized can make them endearing, comedic or emotionally charged.

Another reason I include animal characters in my books is that I receive consistent and favorable feedback from readers about my animal characters and the stories that they inhabit. Here is one more reason. Publishing is a business, after all, and are people prepared to put their money where their heart is? Are readers more likely to purchase books that feature animals? I don’t have empirical data to answer this, but I can illustrate anecdotally. 

In 2014, I submitted a proposal to Harlequin for a trilogy featuring three San Diego K-9 Unit officers, their dogs and, naturally, their love interests. The books did well, were recognized with a variety of awards (thank you very much readers/judges!) and reader response was terrific. Here is a bookplate for the trilogy . . .

When I sent back the manuscript for When I Found You, the final book in the trilogy, I have to admit to a degree of sadness. It felt as if I was saying goodbye to a number of close friends, of both the two- and four-legged variety.

When I submitted my next proposal, my editor—the incomparable Paula Eykelhof—and I had a chat about how terrific it would have been for me to write the story of rookie K-9 cop, Shannon Clemens, and her police service dog, Darwin, both introduced as supporting characters in When I Found You. Imagine my surprise and elation when the contract came back with the addition of a book I did not include in my proposal: Shannon’s story!

To repeat, publishing is a business. My publisher would not have added an extra book to my contract (how often does that happen?!), turning my K-9 trilogy into a series, if the books weren’t performing well from a commercial perspective. Readers were buying the books!

Here is an image of my new bookplate . . .

And because I couldn’t decide which dog looked cuter (yes, an example of my emotional reaction to dogs), I had to have two different styles printed!

Now it’s your turn! Do you feel animal characters enrich a story? Can you recall an animal who stole the show in a book?

To celebrate the July 1st (Happy 150th birthday Canada!) release of Home to Stay, book four in the San Diego K-9 Unit series, I will give away to one person selected randomly from everyone leaving a comment in response to this post, a K-9 Trilogy tote bag (now a collector’s item! 😉), a signed copy of the first book in the series, When the Right One Comes Along, signed copies of The Truth About Hope and Sanctuary Cove (also featuring canine characters), and an assortment of bookmarks and bookplates. 

In addition, if anyone would like signed San Diego K-9 Unit series bookplates, please register for my newsletter here: http://www.kate-james.com/contact/, or just e-mail me at readers@kate–james.com with your mailing address and I will send one of each to you. 

Let me leave you with a picture of the canine characters from some of my books. 

The pictures of “Einstein” and “Sniff” are actually our beloved labs Logan and (sadly departed) Buster. As a final giveaway, I would love to have you post a picture on my Facebook page (www.facebook.com/katejamesbooks) of your favorite furry, four-legged pal who you think should be in a book. Post by end of day, Friday, July 7th. I will give away a signed copy of the second book in the San Diego K-9 Unit series, When Love Matters Most to one person selected randomly. Seekerville has generously offered to match my giveaway with a copy of Home to Stay to a second Villager who posts an animal picture on my Facebook page. You never know, your pal might make it into a book, too. A reader generously let me use her pup, Einstein, in The Truth About Hope! 😊 

All three winners will be announced in the Weekend Edition of Seekerville.

Thank you for joining me today at Seekerville. 

You can connect with me by e-mail (readers@kate-james.com), through my website (www.kate-james.com), my Facebook page (www.facebook.com/katejamesbooks), Twitter (@katejamesbooks) or regular mail at PO Box 446, Schomberg, ON, L0G 1T0, Canada. 

I would love to hear from you. Happy reading and writing, as the case might be!

Kate

Kate spent much of her childhood abroad before attending university in Canada. She built a successful business career, but her passion has always been literature. As a result, Kate turned her energy to her love of the written word. Kate's goal is to entertain her readers with engaging stories featuring strong, likable characters. Kate has been honored with numerous awards for her writing. 

She and her husband, Ken, enjoy traveling and the outdoors, with their beloved Labrador Retrievers, Harley and Logan.

Home to Stay (book four in the San Diego K-9 Unit series) – releasing July 1, 2017

She's bringing his son home 

A missing little boy triggers San Diego K-9 officer Shannon Clemens and her canine search-and-rescue partner into instant action. For the rookie cop haunted by a childhood tragedy, bringing Sawyer Evans's son safely home is more than a job. It's a mission she can't fail… But forging a friendship with the father is a tactical error that could compromise her first solo assignment. Yet the deepening bond between them is almost impossible to resist.

Purchase Links:

Harlequin  

Amazon  

Barnes & Noble   

iTunes  


Indigo-Chapters (Kobo)  

ANIMALS IN OUR STORIES

Sandra here with a lovely pot of chocolate velvet coffee to share. There is iced tea and an assortment of fruit juices on the sideboard if you prefer.  The counters have trays of sliced meats and cheeses, platters of fresh fruit and veggies. So grab a plate and join me on this lovely deck.

There is a lovely house one can rent for weekend parties or retreats in the outskirts of Omaha, Nebraska. This house is fully furnished and features a deck overlooking acres of ranch land. They board thirty horses there most of the year, but in the summer the horses go off to the nearby boyscout camp. So let’s rent this for the day and sit on the deck and discuss why we want to use animals in our stories. We can watch the horses grazing in the fields or goggle at the wild turkeys as they gobble on by.

This little guy hops around our campsite.

I am a true blue animal lover. I have loved animals as far back as I can remember. The most influential books of my childhood were those that featured animals—Bambi, Black Beauty, Call of the Wild, Lassie. If the book was about an animal, I’m sure I read it.

My neighbor's spaniel Kiowa. Isn't he adorable?

Did you read Jeff Gerke’s article last week on the Irresistable Novel? He talked about enticing those oxytocin chemicals in our readers so they will want to keep reading. Scientific studies abound that show animals also excite oxytocin. If they are in the story will the reader want to put that book down?

Kathy's holding Ki tight so I don't take off with him.

I watched an interesting feature on the National Geographic channel showing how dogs became domesticated. Baby wolves that featured that cute little puppy dog look in their eye were fed more by our ancestors than the growly wolves. So the cute puppy dog looking wolves ended up as pets. And over the centuries, the cuter the puppy look, the more domesticated the dog became. This process happened with other species as well. So does it make sense to use animals to excite those warm fuzzy feelings we want our readers to have?




The fact that many of the most popular commercials on television feature a pet or animal is no accident. Think back on the Super Bowl lineup of commercials. The Clydesdale horses are always featured. There are always more than one commercial featuring a dog.  In fact, one of my favorite commercials running on television right now is a man crossing off his dog’s bucket list. You know the one I’m talking about?

Look at book covers? How many feature an animal? Love Inspired covers often feature puppies.  Here is Maizie featured in Janet Dean’s coming January release THE BOUNTY HUNTER’S REDEMPTION. This is a preview btw.  The cover isn't even up yet, but you can pre-order the novel.

Maizie

How many book covers have a horse? There is a reason for this. Animals bring on those warm fuzzy feelings Jeff Gorke was talking about.

All of the books I have written feature an animal.  I fell in love with the hero in LOVE’S REFUGE when he brought the heroine a puppy after her beloved dog died. Skye fell in love with Danny too. Smile.

My Lab Cody who inspired Skye's Lab.

In my Christmas Novella, A HEART FULL OF HOPE within the contemporary anthology HOPE FOR THE HOLIDAYS, the characters ride horses on the beach in Spain. Also in that novella, Elena, the heroine, feeds feral cats. I do this myself, so recognized the feral cats while visiting in Matalascañas, the town where HEART FULL OF HOPE is set.  I was hoping readers would identify with the heroine when she has compassion for the kitties.

My feral cat Boo. Elena's feral was named Boo also.

Julie Lessman uses a parrot to not only bring humor into her story but that silly parrot definitely deepens our knowledge of the characters. Judge for yourself in this excerpt from:

LOVE AT ANY COST, by Julie Lessman:

Alli glanced up, her face the picture of innocence. “Rosie says Uncle Logan’s a pain in the posterior.” She gave him a wink. “Of course, the term she actually used may have been ‘rump’ . . .”
“Awk, pain in the rump, pain in the rump . . .” True to her name, the family parrot, Miss Behave piped up while she danced back and forth on her perch with pinwheel eyes.
“See?” Logan stabbed a finger in the parrot’s direction, his voice reduced to a hiss. “She’s even turned the blasted parrot against me and my nieces and nephew as well.” He scowled. “First you, the parrot, then my own flesh and blood.”
Aunt Cait rose to adjust his tie. “Don’t be silly, Logan, nobody’s against you . . .”
“No, we all love you, Uncle Logan.” Cassie’s smile was angelic. “Who else would have taught us poker?”
“Good gracious—you taught them poker?” Aunt Cait took a step back, hand to her chest.
A loud whistle pierced the air. “Awk, ante up, ante up . . .”
“Traitor.” Uncle Logan glowered at Cassie, the semblance of a smile tugging his lips.

I’ve used birds also. An eagle is featured in WHERE THE EAGLE FLIES, my novella in the anthology WITH THIS KISS. Whenever Melissa, the heroine, prays the eagle appears and gives our hero Sid ideas that help solve their needs.

This is actually a red-tailed hawk. Do you know they use its call in movies instead of an eagle  because an eagle call is not as mighty sounding as the hawk's?  Piece of trivia my hubby shared.  

I do believe God uses animals to communicate with us. Several years ago I wrote the children’s book CODY THE COYOTE. During that time I was having a particularly rough time with sick parents. I went hiking and there appeared this beautiful coyote who stood for over fifteen minutes and sang to me. He pranced his front paws and danced and sang. I felt in my heart that the Lord had sent that coyote to tell me everything was going to be all right.

Illustrator is Jeff West

When my mom was in hospice, a hummingbird built her nest on a bougainvillea branch four inches from my bedroom window. I had a sunscreen on the window so I could see the hummingbird, but she could not see me. She hatched four babies and I was able to watch the whole process as they grew until they left the nest. I believe that was God’s gift showing me birth and beginning of life as I was facing death and the end of an earthly life.

Mary Connealy and her famous baby calves.

So do any of you use animals in your stories?  Comment and let us know how you deepen your character and/or plot by using these animals.

Guess where I am? This guy weighed 30 pounds.

I have a lovely surprise for one lucky winner. They can have their choice of an autographed novel, or a children’s book, and they will also receive this lovely glass chocolate candy kiss. This chocolate has no calories.  Smile

Sandra Leesmith  writes sweet romances to warm the heart. Sandra loves to play pickleball, hike, read, bicycle and write. She lives in Arizona with her husband and during the hot summers she and her husband travel throughout the United States in their motorhome where she enjoys the outdoors and finds wonderful ideas for her next writing project. You can find Sandra's books here on Amazon. Three of Sandra's most popular books are also audio books at Audible. You can read more posts by Sandra here.

Suz was my mil's toy poodle. We adopted her at 6 when mil's alzheimer's got bad. Suz lived with us 11 more years.