You’ve still got time to enter my giveaway chance to win one of my books. I said the way to enter in my last post was to name one of my books that had a dog or cat character or the name of the dog or cat. Thanks to those of you who have entered. I’ve been a little surprised by some of your comments. For one, Jasper, Michael’s dog in the Hidden Springs mysteries who didn’t play a huge part in any of the stories but was on scene with Michael, has been mentioned twice. I liked Jasper and he did get in on the action some in Murder Comes by Mail, but I wasn’t expecting his name to be one readers remembered.
To top that off, a couple of you did remember cats from those Hidden Springs mysteries. That wasn’t as surprising since they were on the covers. Grimalkin, Aunt Lindy’s cat that was in all the books but played the biggest role in Hidden Springs 2, Murder Comes by Mail, got a featured spot on top the mailbox on the cover. Loved the color of Grimalkin’s eyes and the best- not-bother-me look on her face. Grimalkin was not a cat to be messed with.
Miss Marble from Murder is No Accident also got a mention and made the cover. She did make some appearances at strategic times in the story. Do you remember the name of the cat on the cover of the first Hidden Springs mystery, Murder at the Courthouse? He started the cats on the covers, but nobody has mentioned the barbershop cat yet.
A couple of you also mentioned Zebedee, the answer to Jocie’s dog prayer in the Heart of Hollyhill books. He played an important part in one of the pivotal scenes in Scent of Lilacs, but he didn’t make the cover. When I look at that cover now, I think a dog on the porch steps below her while she’s reading would have been great.
I did get a dog on the cover of one of my books, These Healing Hills. That was the dog character I thought more of you would remember, and Sarge did finally get a mention. He was a great character in that story. His picture is up top. I had never enlarged the picture to get a better look at him until tonight. The cover designers got a perfect dog to be Sarge. He looks a little rough the way a mountain dog should and intensely ready to please my nurse midwife, Francine. One of his claims to fame was killing snakes which was much appreciated by Francine.
But the other claim to fame for Sarge was how he kindled some romantic sparks in the story. Ben tried to tell himself he was just giving Francine the dog because the poor guy needed a home and she needed protection on the trails, but something more was stirring in his heart. Here’s a bit of the scene where Ben first meets the dog and decides to give him to Francine.
This other one, the sweet dog looking at him with dark yearning eyes, he didn’t intend to keep. He knew the perfect person for him.
The dog stuck his head out the window to let the wind brush his fur back. A person didn’t have to be mountain to appreciate a mountain dog. Ben tapped his fingers on the steering wheel and began humming. It took a minute for him to realize what he was humming. That silly song he’d heard Francine singing with Becca and Sadie. Froggie went a courting.
He shook his head. He wasn’t a frog and he wasn’t going courting. He was just giving this dog that needed a home to somebody who needed a dog. Besides, he remembered that song from when his grandmother sang it to him. That courting frog got eaten by a duck.
Finally here’s an animal on the cover of one of my books for middle readers. Discovery at Coyote Point is out of print now, but copies still float around on the internet. In the story, my young character makes friends with a coyote.
As best I remember – I wrote that story a long time ago – the coyote doesn’t have a name, but it did make the cover of the book.
You can still enter the giveaway to have the chance to win a book. Deadline to enter is midnight EST on Saturday, February 27, 2021. You have to be at least 18 years old to enter. Just leave a comment about one of the dogs or cats in my stories to be entered.
Can you name a dog or cat character from any of my books (or name the title) that I didn’t mention? Or you can just comment on one of them I mention here.
A new comment on this post will get those of you who commented on the previous post another entry. It’s always fun hearing from you all.