Authors and their dogs

It seems that the moment you become a writer you must have a pet. In fact, it’s mandatory. Preferable a dog, too, because dogs need walking and this gets the creative juices flowing. Dogs listen to author's harebrained plots and they never say, "that’ll never work." Cats...well authors would need to be careful what they tell a cat because a cat is likely to take an author's plot, perfect it, then shred it just so no human can ever see the bluepints to pure evil genius.

If you’re a writer, you'd better rush out and adopt or borrow a dog. Here's a look at a few authors and their dogs.

 

DEAN KOONTZ

has a pen name that was inspired by his dog, Trixie Koontz, a golden retriever. Trixie originally was a service dog with Canine Companions for Independence (CCI), a charitable organization that provides service dogs for people with disabilities. Trixie was a gift from CCI in gratitude of the Koontz's substantial donations, totalling $2,500,000 between 1991 and 2004. Koontz was taken with the charity while he was researching his novel Midnight, a book which included a CCI-trained dog, a black Labrador retriever, named Moose. In 2004 Koontz wrote and edited Life Is Good: Lessons in Joyful Living in her name, and in 2005 Koontz wrote a second book credited to Trixie, Christmas Is Good. Both books are written from a supposed canine perspective on the joys of life. The royalties of the books were donated to CCI. In 2007 Trixie contracted terminal cancer that created a tumor in her heart. The Koontzes had her put to sleep outside of their family home on June 30.  After Trixie's death Koontz has continued writing on his website under Trixie's names in "TOTOS", standing for Trixie on the Other Side. It is widely thought that Trixie was his inspiration for his November 2007 book, The Darkest Evening of the Year, about a woman who runs a golden retriever rescue home, and who rescues a 'special' dog, named Nickie, who eventually saves her life. In August 2009 Koontz published "A Big Little Life," a memoir of his life with Trixie. In October 2008 Koontz revealed “...we have adopted a new dog, Anna.” It eventually was learned that Anna was the grandniece of Trixie.”

 

STEPHEN KING

has had many pets over the years, cats, dogs, horses, a turtle. Ms Moderator of the Stephen King website has this to say about The Kings. “Although not the same ones as some have passed on, the Kings have always had a dog and at least one or two cats while I've been working for them. Maturin the turtle is still with them and they now also have 4 horses.”
 

 

MAGGIE STEIFVATER

is the author of The Wolves of Mercy Falls series and the Raven Boys novel and she has four neurotic dogs who fart recreationally.

 

BRINDA BERRY

 

is a young adult fiction author of the Whispering Woods series. She has 2 cairns terriers and doesn't mind being called "crazy dog lady".

 

 

J K ROWLING

has two dogs. She has a Jack Russell named Butch and in October 2007 she adopted a greyhound named Sapphire from the greyhound rescue centre after Sapphire made friends with Butch and the family. Celia Fernie of Greyhound Rescue Fife said "I had no idea at first that the woman who arrived with her family to view the abandoned greyhounds was the Harry Potter creator."

The nasty side of people...
For those that may not be aware, the dog racing industry is horribly cruel. Thousands of dogs are killed every year simply because they're not fast enough, and the ones who stay alive are warehoused in kennels barely large enough for them to stand up or turn around. Many people are adopting greyhounds.

Celia and Jimmy Fernie set up Greyhound Rescue Fife in 2005 in response to the sheer number of unwanted greyhounds reaching the end of their racing careers in the area. Their sanctuary is capable of kennelling nearly 50 dogs. Their dogs are usually vaccinated, wormed, treated for fleas and often neutered.

 

InterestTeen is pro animals. We love people who adopt and rehouse pets and are kind to animals. If you have any photos of your adopted pet, please email them to interestteen@gmail.com along with your story. We love good news stories. And we love J K for helping save a dog's life. Well done JK!


CAROLINE OVERINGTON

is Australia's answer to Jodi Picoult and she has a beautiful black dog, looks a bit like a staffy.