Alright, maybe I’m crazy but the dog and cat adoption van showed up on 104th street and Broadway last weekend and I was just at the supermarket buying some mundane things like soap, milk and breakfast cereal. Well, the supermarket happens to be right in front of the adoption van and lo and behold there’s this little dog on the sidewalk wearing a vest that said ‘adopt me’ and well, I bent down to say hello and to make a long run on sentence shorter, here I sit with Peanut.
Peanut is obviously a little dog with blonde hair and if you can believe it, green eyes. No kidding. Turns out he’s only a year old and I said I’d never get a puppy. He’s very well behaved, completely house broken and very, very cute. I was told there was some abuse in his past but I can’t see it yet. This little guy is friendly, loving and full of the devil.
Alright, so what novel will incorporate my little Peanut’s soul? In my first published novel, Dancing Backward in Paradise, my shrewd little Pomeranian found herself represented by Little Starfish. In the novel I am presently readying for publication there’s an obstinate little Pug owned by the very eccentric Eleanor, a character who nearly screws up a diamond heist. The Pug is snarly but lovable, very much like my incomparable Roxie, a Bejinji/ Chihuahua mix.
Roxie doesn’t really like too many people aside from me but she seems to have taken to Peanut, well, sometimes. She’s trying to maintain her position as top dog. Peanut, however, is male and he curls his little lip up in a menacing snarl that is more comical than frightening. He’s half the size of Roxie. But he doesn’t taken any you know what.
I was raised with dogs all my life and I love them, but there comes a time when you have to put a lock on your heart. I mean, I’ve only got a one bedroom apartment in New York City. No more! Always great characters in books though, they add so much to one’s life. I read a novel recently that I loved, the main character was the dog, Enzo. It was called The Art of Racing in the Rain – excellent read by the way.
Okay, at the moment, I’m editing a lot of novels I wrote years ago that have not yet been published so I’m not really working on anything new, but I can’t help thinking ahead. Perhaps I’ll put Peanut into a novel about two old eccentric ladies who solve a crime. It’s not that I associate old ladies with Chihuahuas but this could be good. All I have to do now is come up with the crime – I’ve got my main character – Peanut. Think I’ll write it first person, from his point of view.
I would be terribly remiss not to mention that in my last published novel, Lies a River Deep, I used a cat as my very wise, Spider. He was very attuned to the weather and to people, knew when hearts were broken. I love cats and I’ve had a few in my life, still do, Sassy and Sweetie Pie. They are inspiring as well. They are beautiful, mystical and mysterious.
I can’t wait to sit down and start a new novel. Now who will I fashion my two dotty old broads after? I wonder….Perhaps when Peanut looks at me he is mirroring at least one of them.
Vera Jane Cook
Dancing Backward In Paradise, Vera Jane’s first published novel, received an Eric Hoffer and Indie Excellence award in the Literary fiction category in 2007. Dancing Backward in Paradise will be re-released by Musa Publishing in November. Also published with Musa are Annabel Horton, Lost Witch of Salem, Lies a River Deep and The Story of Sassy Sweetwater. To learn more about her books you can visit her web site at www.verajanecook.com
To contact the author send an email to verajane@verajanecook.com
