...for readers who love animals, and animal lovers who read!

Sunday, March 9, 2014

Doggy Lit

by Lois Winston


Over the last few years there have been many sub-genres of lit-fic cropping up. It started back in the late nineties with an onslaught of chick lit. These were stories not about furry yellow-beaked farm critters but about twenty-somethings with jobs they hated, serial bad dates, a tendency to indulge in too many margaritas, and an obsession with designer shoes and handbags. Chick lit led to lady lit, lad lit, mom lit, hen lit, boomer lit, and geezer lit.

And now we have doggie lit. I’ve noticed over the last few years that no matter the genre, whether romance or mystery or straight fiction, a huge percentage of books have dogs in them. It’s not just that the protagonist has a pet pooch. These dogs are becoming major secondary characters in many books. Sometimes they even have a point of view in the story.

I’m not sure how I feel about giving a point of view to a pet, but I do like the trend of making dogs in books more than just window dressing or a convenient way to get a character from Point A to Point B.  (Dogs do have to be walked several times a day.) If done well, dogs can add quite a bit of texture and color to the story because they have distinct personalities.

In my Anastasia Pollack Crafting Mystery series, Anastasia’s mother-in-law Lucille, a die-hard nineteen-fifties style commie, owns a French Bulldog she calls Manifesto (after the communist treatise.) Everyone else calls him Mephisto or Devil Dog. He’s got that kind of personality. Since the best stories always have characters who are polar opposites, thus creating conflict, I’ve given Manifesto his own nemesis, a corpulent white Persian by the name of Catherine the Great.

Catherine the Great belongs to Anastasia’s mother Flora, a former social secretary of the Daughters of the American Revolution. Lucille, Manifesto, Flora, and Catherine the Great all live with Anastasia, her two teenage sons, and their pet parrot in a small suburban rancher where Lucille and Flora (and therefore Manifesto and Catherine the Great) are forced to share a bedroom. Not only do Flora and Lucille fight like cats and dogs, but so do their cat and dog. Conflict, conflict, conflict—the basis for all good stories, right?

Another component of a good stories is character growth. So I wondered, why should that growth be limited to the two-legged characters in a story? Revenge of the Crafty Corpse, the third book in my series, presented the perfect opportunity to delve into this subject. Because Lucille is in a rehab center convalescing from surgery, the rest of the family must care for Manifesto. The results are quite surprising, but I won’t spoil the fun for you. You’ll just have to read the book to find out for yourself.

Revenge of the Crafty Corpse
Anastasia Pollack’s dead louse of a spouse has left her with more bills than you can shake a crochet hook at, and teaching craft classes at her mother-in-law’s assisted living center seems like a harmless way to supplement her meager income. But when Lyndella Wegner—a 98-year-old know-it-all with a penchant for ruffles and lace—turns up dead, Anastasia’s cantankerous mother-in-law becomes the prime suspect in her murder. Upon discovering that Lyndella’s scandalous craft projects—and her scandalous behavior—made her plenty of enemies, Anastasia sets out to find the real killer before her mother-in-law ends up behind bars.  


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Award-winning author Lois Winston writes the critically acclaimed Anastasia Pollack Crafting Mystery series featuring magazine crafts editor and reluctant amateur sleuth Anastasia Pollack. Assault With a Deadly Glue Gun, the first book in the series, received starred reviews from both Publishers Weekly and Booklist. Kirkus Reviews dubbed it, “North Jersey’s more mature answer to Stephanie Plum.” Other books in the series includes Death By Killer Mop Doll, Revenge of the Crafty Corpse, Decoupage Can Be Deadly and the ebook only mini-mysteries Crewel Intentions and Mosaic Mayhem.

Lois is also published in women’s fiction, romance, romantic suspense, and non-fiction under her own name and her Emma Carlyle pen name. In addition, she’s a literary agent and an award-winning craft and needlework designer. She
often draws much of her source material for both her characters and plots from her experiences in the crafts industry.

Visit Lois at www.loiswinston.com, visit Emma at www.emmacarlyle.com, and visit Anastasia at the Killer Crafts & Crafty Killers blog, www.anastasiapollack.blogspot.com. Follow everyone on Twitter @anasleuth.

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Coming Wednesday....author Kaye George on researching the mega fauna of North America for her Neanderthal mystery series. (If you sign up at the right to follow this blog, you won't miss a thing!)
- Sheila





38 comments:

  1. Stories with pets and children are not only heartwarming, but add a sentimental touch to a "human" character.

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    1. Or in the case of my books, they add comic relief! ;-)

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  2. It's about time doggies got good roles in books. And cats, too, I guess. As usual, the timing in what I laughingly call my writing career stank. I wrote a book from the POV of a Yorkshire terrier before this trend became a trend. Of course, I also had a guy named Harry Potter in a book before J.K. Rowling's first book was published. I'm glad pets are "in" again, but I'm still cranky. That may have something to do with this being the first morning of Daylight Saving Time.

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    1. Alice, I so know what you mean. My timing has been off my entire life, and Daylight Savings Time isn't helping this morning!

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  3. Fun piece, Lois. Not all series/books with dogs (and cats) as vital characters anthropomorphize, of course. As a long-time dog & cat writer (i.e., nonfiction books & articles), my biggest gripe about animals in many novels is inaccuracy. I admire series in which the animals are realistic and accurately presented, and that's what I strive for in my Animals in Focus mysteries. Thanks for being here today - always a pleasure.

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    1. Thanks for inviting me, Sheila. When my kids were little, they loved the Richard Scarry books. My father-in-law hated them because of the anthropomorphic characters. Your comment reminded me of that.

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    2. I wouldn't say I hate anthropomorphic characters, or even animal pov, if it's well done. I just feel that using animals as human stand-ins has the potential to further distort people's mis perceptions of their pets' behaviors and motivations, and that's often a recipe for problems.

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    3. I totally agree with you Sheila. I prefer realistic portrayals of animals, although an animal viewpoint character is speculative. *s*

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  4. I agree. Animals add a wonderful element to stories. I want my stories to be a fun read and inform the audience, for me, that includes middle grade and young adults. I did a lot of research with Service Dog organizations and asked a lot of questions.to make sure the dog facts were correct. While teaching, I found my students got immersed in stories with almost any kind of animal, but most related to dogs or cats. Look forward to checking out your books.

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    1. Thanks, Sheri. Hope you enjoy them. Along with dogs and cats, little girls love stories about horses.

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  5. A French Bulldog named Manifesto. Does it get any better than that?

    I'm with Sheila on presenting things realistically. Of course, then I turn around and have a dog who had the first pet LiveJournal (she says, giving her dinosaur status away) and have a couple of mysteries with tiny bits of doggy POV, but I swear...I tried to do them as a dog *would* think. Which is why they're short, because no one can read a whole book of that. (Or write one...) But hey, realism for the other books, I swear.

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    1. Hi Doranna--
      The pets in my books add color to the story but aren't part of the plots.

      I've read a few books written with the dog's POV. At first it bothered me, but then I just thought of them more like fantasy or paranormal stories, and I was OK with it.

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    2. I also love the idea of a bulldog named Manifesto. It makes someone as craft-impaired as I am want to try the books!

      I use a dog narrator in my Doodlebugged mysteries (and they're fairly short) but also try to make my dog realistic as to how he behaves--more nose driven than sight driven, metaphor impaired, and generally living in the present. What I love about writing in that pov is the opportunity for humor through the dog's misunderstandings. He sometimes functions as an amiable unreliable narrator, and lightens scenes that otherwise might be too emotional for the tone of the books.

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    3. Thanks, Susan. I'm intrigued by the way you've described your doggie narrator.

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  6. Well said. But don't discount a cat having a point of view in a good cozy mystery. I've written three cat mysteries and the cat does seem to take of the stories as we go along. We'll see what the public thinks as Black Cat's Legacy is coming out NOW. I've also added a Search and Rescue dog, so I believe in equal opportunity. Luck with all your great stories, ladies.
    www.mindcandymysteries.com

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    1. Elaine, there are many people who enjoy books where the pet has a point of view, but you can't please everyone. You may get a nasty comment or two. Then again, we all get those snarky reviews from time to time, no matter what we write. It's all part of the business. Good luck with your book!

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  7. Animals can provide a new or different dimension to stories and also add relationship elements. The way characters relate or respond to animals opens a window to the human characters too.
    Elle

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    1. Exactly, Elle. That's the way it works in my books.

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  8. Nice post, Lois. I agree with Elle. Pets can "show" us another dimension to our characters, one that is usually caring and compassionate. Also, I wasn't sure how I'd feel about reading a story from an animal's point of view until I picked up Spencer Quinn's Chet and Bernie series told by Chet the dog's POV. I was hooked immediately, but then good writing is good writing.
    I'm sure that we will see another side to Manifesto now that his surroundings have change.

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    1. Manifesto is definitely evolving, Kathleen. He and Anastasia have had a "meeting of the minds." ;-)

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  9. Animal/pet sub-genres will hopefully continue to grow as pets become more entrenched as family members. Dog lit, cat lit, it's all good or should we call them bark lit or meow lit ;-)

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    1. Layla, I'm wondering if some author might eventually move beyond cats and dogs to turtles or ferrets, perhaps? You never know how the muse will strike someone.

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    2. Richard Adams' novel Traveller is narrated by Robert E. Lee's horse, is is very well done.

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  10. Kathleen, I agree!! I LOVE the Chet and Bernie books. So deftly handled with excellent characterizations all around--both human and dog. As you say, good writing!

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    1. I'm not familiar with the Chet and Bernie books. I'll have to look them up.

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  11. Companion animals are so much more than "pets." I'm glad that fiction can help reflect a growing understanding of our fellow creatures.

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  12. Kathleen, I think whenever authors can educate their readership about any issue, it's a wonderful thing. Thanks for stopping by.

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  13. I can't resist picking up a book with a cute dog on the cover!

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    1. Unfortunately, no dogs on my covers. At least not yet. But Manifesto, AKA Mephisto the Devil Dog, gets lots of pages.

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  14. Great post! And a confession...just had my 2nd "dog viewpoint" thriller published. As a behavior expert, I like to think that my "best guess" is more realistic and doesn't fall into the fantasy genre, but the only one able to tell us that is...the dog. And he ain't talking!

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    1. LOL, Amy! Someday that dog might surprise you.

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    2. Amy, yes, your talking dog is based on serious knowledge! As we know, there are all-to-many inaccurate portrayals of animals, whether their pov or not.

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    3. Oops, had to send too soon - my dog was talking to me.

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  15. LOL! And actually, my dog doesn't "talk" in the books (other than with tail, ears, fur, etc), but he does "think." *s*

    Gotta run, my cats are talking to me, too. Me-wow!

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    1. I meant thinking - I think of dogs as "talking" when they send their "thinks" to us via eyes, ears, posture, tail.... Your dog talks to us, the readers. :-)

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  16. You can tell a lot about a person by the way they treat dogs, cats and other animals and I've used that aspect of my characters in my "Immortal Relations" series of Paranormal-Romance. Of course I would never stand for a character's ill treatment of one!

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  17. I think you can also tell a lot about a character's ill-treatment of anyone, Vamp Writer, whether pets or people. There are some "rules" about cozy mysteries, and one of them is that you never harm or kill an animal or a child. However, there are many very gripping suspense and thriller novels where these things happen. It all depends on whether the violence is gratuitous or a vital part of the story arc. And, of course, readers should make the decision whether or not to read those books based on their comfort level. For me, there's already too much real violence in the world. I read to escape real life. So I stay away from those books as much as possible.

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  18. Hi Lois. For me, a pet fits anywhere. I usually have a dog somewhere in most stories and books. Even in GIRL Z: My Life as a Teenage Zombie I have a brief German Shepherd appearance to show a little of my character Becca's fears and problems to deal with.(And to add a little humor, too)

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