by Sparkle Abby
We write fiction. Cozy mysteries, no less. We
make that point because sometimes we have to remind ourselves.
We feel strongly about certain things, such
as pet rescue and that’s why we’ve chosen to write a mystery series that
focuses on animals. The series features two cousins, one a pet therapist and
the other, the owner of a pet boutique. So the animals are not simply sidekicks
in our books, they are truly the heart of the stories.
However, even though we write fiction we do
our very best due diligence to thoroughly research the information we intend to
use. As a result of that research we learn fascinating and sometimes disturbing
facts. That was the case with our most recent book, Fifty Shades of Greyhound.
Fascinating facts
The greyhound is one of the
oldest breeds. The source of the name is somewhat uncertain, but regardless of
its origin it has nothing to do with the greyhound’s color. Gray is actually
not a common color for greyhounds.
Each racing greyhound puppy is registered
with the National Greyhound Association (NGA) and tattooed with the pup’s birth
date (month and year) in the right ear and their litter number in the left. The
NGA keeps ownership records of all registered hounds and details about a
racer’s bloodlines.
Racing greyhounds aren’t used to being alone
because they’re housed with other racers during their career. They make excellent
companions and are very loyal and affectionate dogs.
Disturbing facts
Before the 1980s most greyhounds were put
down at the end of their racing career. (In recent years, thanks to the efforts
of people in the industry and dedicated rescue groups, there has been a
dramatic change. Tens of thousands are now adopted. However, more work remains
to be done.)
Most Greyhounds are at the
end of their racing careers at two to five years of age, but they still have a
lot of life to live. The average lifespan is twelve to fourteen years.
Greyhounds are sometimes
returned or surrendered because they have snapped or growled at a family
member. They are not aggressive dogs by nature but in their former life they
did not romp and play with humans. It may take some patience to help them adapt
to their new life.
Most retired racers have
never been to a park or inside a house. They often have to be taught how to
navigate stairs.
The more we researched the breed and talked
with people, the more strongly we felt there was a lot about greyhounds that
most people (us included) didn’t know.
But we write fiction. Entertaining,
lighthearted, fiction. Additionally with a mystery, it’s especially important
not to slow down the pacing and to make sure you don’t throw the reader out of
the story with large chunks of background. Writers often refer to that problem
as “info dump.” The approach we took in order to avoid “info dump” in Fifty
Shades of Greyhound was to slip in kibble-sized bits of what we’d learned.
At the opening gala, Caro (our pet therapist
amateur sleuth) notes the posters around the room with greyhound factoids. As
Caro visits the rescue group and some of the greyhound owners, we slip in a
little more info. What we hope is that we’ve not overloaded our readers with
facts, but rather that we’ve stirred their interest and then hopefully they’ll
want to find out more.
It’s also important to know which facts to
include and where in the storyline those tidbits work best. Often we fall in
love with a piece of research, but it doesn’t move the story forward, or add to
the understanding of the character, or feed the mystery. As much as we may want
to include that information, it just doesn’t fit.
It’s a balancing act, but we think it’s
working. We’ve had several emails from readers who’ve shared that they learned
a lot about greyhounds from our book. And a couple of emails from readers who
say their next rescue may be a greyhound.
What do you think? How much is too much info for
you? Are there particular books that you
feel do a great job with both educating and entertaining?
Please leave a comment. We’d love to send a
copy of Fifty Shades of Greyhound to someone! (We’ll randomly select a winner
after midnight.)
Sparkle
Abbey
is the pseudonym of mystery authors Mary Lee Woods and Anita Carter. They write
the popular pet mystery series which features whodunits set in the wacky world
of pampered pets, precious pedigrees, and secrets. They chose to use Sparkle Abbey as the
pen name on this series because they liked the idea of combining the names
of their two rescue pets - Sparkle (ML's cat) and Abbey (Anita’s dog). The
first book in the series Desperate Housedogs, an Amazon Mystery
Series bestseller and Barnes & Noble Nook #1 bestseller, was followed by Get Fluffy, Kitty Kitty Bang Bang,
and Yip/Tuck. Fifty Shades of Greyhound is the latest in the series and
will be followed by The Girl with the
Dachshund Tattoo.
They love to hear from readers and can
be contacted via their website: www.sparkleabbey.com or on Facebook: www.facebook.com/sparkleabbey
Thanks for letting us stop by!
ReplyDeleteAlways happy to have you ladies!
DeleteAwesome! Love my 3 greyhounds!
ReplyDeleteLinda - Somehow we managed to post our reply in the comments instead of the reply. :-) But what we said was with three greyhounds you are truly blessed!
DeleteI'm happy with lots of research included in the novel, especially about dogs and cats.
ReplyDeleteSome of it is so interesting you can't help but want to include it. :-)
DeleteKibble sized bits of research. What a perfect phrase in this setting. Loved this post, very informative. Thank you. The first greyhound I ever met was so calm and sweet, and kind of scared. Gracie. What a darling. She was my boss's dog and came to the office and slept in her basket sweetly. She was a retired racer and lived to age 14. I have your e-book but would love to win a signed paperback copy!
ReplyDeleteKay - What you describe is what we heard from so many greyhound owners. Such sweet dogs!
DeleteLinda - Three greyhounds? You are very blessed!
ReplyDeleteVery good question. I let it all hang out in my first drafts, which I write in longhand because I don't want to edit or second-guess myself at this stage. I do some abridging when I type it into the computer. In my writers' group, we do a lot of reading aloud -- very helpful, because I can usually hear where an info dump slows things down. If at least one group member flags the same place, I know I've got to cut. The main canine character in my novel in progress is based on my now-6YO malamute. Travvy had, shall we say, a difficult adolescence. He's reactive and a resource guarder. All fascinating stuff, but many of my readers won't be dog people, and most of the dog people won't know much about northern breed dogs. The novel isn't Travvy's biography and it's not a training manual. Generally I keep the details that serve the plot or reveal something significant about one or more characters.
ReplyDeleteGreat points, Susanna! It's so easy to get excited about a piece of research or even special knowledge you have and want to share. But, as you say, we have to remember that we're writing fiction. And readers have different expectations than they would if they were reading something more instructional.
DeleteI am reading 50 Shades right now & loving it. You guys do a great job of sliding in those interesting tidbits -- and not just about the greyhounds but other breeds as well. But where are the goldens?
ReplyDeleteNeil, they're in The Money Bird, along with a bunch of other wet dogs. :-) Fifty Shades is great, huh?
DeleteThanks, Neil. Great to see you here! You and Sheila have the goldens well covered but you never know...
DeleteSparkle Abbey, after doing so much research, have you any reservations about rescue as an enabler and legitimizer of the racing industry, which many people (myself included) see as cruel and abusive? Because even now, not all former, or unsuccessful, racing Greyhounds land on soft couches. I don't mean to put you on the spot, just curious.
ReplyDeleteInteresting question, Sheila. Yes, we did have reservations the more we dug into the background on greyhound rescue. There is even quite a bit of disagreement within the rescue community. Some rescue groups work with the racing community while others not only work to rescue the dogs but also very actively work to shutdown dog tracks. Add to that, you're absolutely right in noting that while the numbers are better there are still so many dogs who are not rescued.
DeleteFascinating blog post. I think the saddest thing I've heard about Greyhounds is that they were used by labs and requests went out from laboratories for them years ago because "they stand well for bleeding." On a happier note, I have judged at least one Greyhound in Canine Musical Freestyle and that was one happy dog. :-) My question: how do you work at a team? Is it difficult or easier to work with another fiction writer?
ReplyDelete