One of our goals here at Today’s Author is to help all of the writers among us to do what we love to do: write. One of the best ways to accomplish this is by talking to each other and learning from each other. Our Writers Circle series is designed to do just that – provide a chance for us to discuss writing, editing and publishing questions.
This week’s topic is:
In many people’s lives, pets are a large part of every day life. They are our companions, helpers and friends. How often do animal companions get included in your writing? What role, if any, do companion animals play in your stories? What are some examples in popular writing of animals who play a key role in shaping or improving a character’s life?
Let’s discuss this in the comments and see what our community thinks.
Today's Author 
Ooh, good question. I love animals. Not sure what role they play in my stories. They make an appearance occasionally, I guess. One story was about a dog. Hmm, will have to think more.
Dogs are a big part of my stories. I even had a working title for my military thriller, “A Girl, Her Dog, and a Missing Submarine”. I love how Robert Parker’s Spenser always includes snippets about Pearl the Wonder Dog in his stories.
Great question! I have included them probably every other story. They’re usually a good companion for my hero, sometimes a way of characterizing them because I feel like you can tell a lot about a person from how they treat animals. I usually do dogs, but my latest has an ancient cat for one of my protagonists.
Absolutely animals play significant roles in all of my stories. In The Inlaid Table, a family lives in a rural area along with a horse and several goats and a small flock of geese, all of them serving as companions as well as important parts of the family’s economic success. In The Tree House Mother, a dog is trained to facilitate emotional well-being of people in temporary distress. In Where Did Mama Go? a parakeet provides a friendship bond for a man with Alzheimer’s and plays a major part in his story. All the animals in my stories are natural parts of the fabric of those societies, and all the stories read with more charm and dimension because of them.