I got the idea for the book long ago - 2012 to be exact. Back then, I wrote 4 pages about a woman visited by her fairy godfather - only he's afraid of dogs, so he's terrified of her Dachshund. I stashed the idea away though, because then I got busy with Rescue Me, Maybe and House Trained.
At one point in 2013, I saw a blog post on A Tail of Two Cardis about "Faerie Steeds." You can read the whole story here, but, in a nutshell, there's a legend that long ago the faerie folk needed a steed they could ride, so they came up with the "dwarf dog." (Apparently gi is dog in Welsh, and cor is dwarf, so corgi = "dog of the dwarfs." See more here.) The dogs were helpful and loyal, and the faeries used them to pull their carts or even rode them into battle.
The corgi in the book is named Llewellyn, after my "nephew" angel Lou. If you've been around the blog a long time, you'll remember Lou.
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| Such a sweet, handsome boy! |
The Llew in the book is sort of a combo of Lou's and Reggie's personalities, and he features prominently in one of my favorite chapters in the book!
Reg says "Read that chapter to me right now!!" (Reg is helping proofread it, which is why he has a copy.)
I'm a little anxious about having it be out in the world but hopefully folks will find it to be a lot of fun and enjoy it!
If your dog was "invented" by a fairy/magical creature, what service would he/she provide?
Thinking Rita would be Defender of the Realm.
Thanks to BlogPaws for hosting Wordless Wednesday! Stop by their site to check out all of the other blogs in the hop.
How cool! I helped with your inspiration! Can't wait for your book!
ReplyDeleteYes! You did! Can't wait to send it to you! Will hopefully be able to send as soon as proofreading is done!
DeleteThat is exciting! I loved Rescue Me, Maybe and House Trained. I don't think you can go wrong with a Corgi! I could see Theo pulling a plow for the fairies. He's about the size of a Corgi, but with wider shoulders.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Beth! Plow-pulling sounds like a good job for a wide-shouldered corgi size dog. :)
Deletei like that pic of Reg in the red chair. Red is a good color for him as it is for me. Can't wait for the book.
ReplyDeleteThat's my fave pic of Reg.
DeleteBoth of my books have my dogs and cats as the characters. It is the best way to really know and understand the "people" in your books. Good luck with your newest book. I can't wait to read it ♥
ReplyDeleteIt is the best way. :) But Rita is getting annoyed that she has been featured yet....
DeleteGood luck on your novel! I remember Fractured Fairy tales...used to be my favorites. Beautiful Corgi, by the way!
ReplyDeleteMy Jack Russell inspires my writing as well. Only she likes to do it by jumping up on my lap while I'm trying to type. Sometimes she tries to type herself but it doesn't go well.
Haha. If only they'd learn to type, eh?
DeleteNow, whenever I see a Corgi I'm going to envision a fairy riding on its back!
ReplyDeleteIt's a charming legend, isn't it?
DeleteI love the idea of the Fairies riding the Corgis. It just looks so cute to picture!
ReplyDeleteMini's service would be to cheer everyone up! I say, one hug from her would fix everything. We joke about her having the power of cuteness in her eyes and that she can control people with them! Haha :)
That's a most fabulous service! She definitely has the power of cuteness!
Deletesounds like a Doodlelightful story line. Congrats to you!!
ReplyDeleteThanks. It's a little nerve-wracking!
DeleteGood luck with the new book. It does sound interesting and like a lot of fun too.
ReplyDeleteI hope readers will think so!
DeleteThanks for the back story on this. What cute dog photos. I can't wait to get my hands on this new book. I've never cared for fae much in urban fantasy books but hey, if they ride Corgis, they can't be all bad!
ReplyDeleteHopefully this one will change your mind on that - lots of cute dogs!!
DeleteGood luck of course on your new book but extremely disappointed not being about a Doxie! Love Dolly
ReplyDeleteNever fear, Dolly - there's also an adorable adoptable Doxie-mix in the book!
DeleteI love everything you've written so far, so I'm sure this will be awesome to. Can't wait!!!
ReplyDeleteYay! Hope you'll love this one too!
DeleteSpeaking from having read your other books, I have NO DOUBT that this one will be marvelous too!
ReplyDeleteOh, thank you!!!
DeleteCorgis are awesome. Many people in my German shepherd dog club have transitioned to Pembroke corgis as they got older. Apparently corgis think and train like GSDs. We lovingly refer to them as "Condo shepherds."
ReplyDeleteI look forward to your new book as well. I've been a fan of yours since the first chapter of "What he Dog Ate."
Awww, thanks! ("Condo shepherds" - that's awesome! I refer to the dog in the book as a German Shepherd on 2 inch legs. Lou really did look a bit GSD-ish - when he was laying down - since Cardigans are usually quite a bit bigger than the Pembrokes. Plus,... the tail!)
DeleteHow exciting!!!
ReplyDeleteExciting... and scary!
DeleteI can't wait for your new book - it sounds like it's going to be a lot of fun!
ReplyDeleteI love hearing about your process - it's so interesting that you put your ideas away for several years and then come back to them. I also love how your characters are based on real dogs in your life.
I think Luke would also be a Defender of the Realm, and Cricket would be "Keeper of the Balls"! :)
Good luck with everything. I can only imagine what it must feel like to put a whole book out there. I get butterflies in my stomach every time I hit "publish" on my blog - LOL.
haha. Yes, I sometimes get butterflies when I "publish" my blog posts too. Or even a Facebook comment! So... yeah... multiply that by about 1000 to get the anxiety with hitting the "publish" button on a book. :)
DeleteYour book sounds delightful, congrats on the accomplishment! My Husky loves to run & hike for hours, so If she were a fairy creation she'd be the one who travelled far & wide, carrying the fairies to farway lands!
ReplyDeleteLove & biscuits,
Dogs Luv Us and We Luv Them
That sounds awesome. I can see your Husky taking the fairies off to visit new lands. :)
DeleteSqueals! No doubt it will be a blockbuster! Can't wait for it to come out. Sam would love to bounce along with the fairies steed, Elsa would probably try to nosh on the fairies. #ohthatdog! Well done and give Reggie boy an ear scratch from us. 😍
ReplyDeleteHehe. I can picture Elsa carrying a fairy around by the wings. :)
DeleteI'd never heard of that legend until you told me and now I love it! Though Rudy really is too tall to be a true fairy steed, if they got up there he could take them really long distance :-) Rosie would make an excellent nursemaid to any new fairies!
ReplyDeleteOh, that's so sweet of Rosie. :) You'll be happy to know I also made her fairy godfather light as a feather (even though he looks paunchy) so he's no weight on the dog.... but do you think I'll still get hate-reviews about riding the dog?? We'll see... I bet I'll get at least one or two. :)
Deletehello pooch smooches its dennis the vizsla dog hay my dada sez if i wer invented by a majikal kreetcher i wood probly provide noorotik advice and komik reeleef!!! i am not shoor but i think he may be beeing meen to me!!! krool krool dada!!! ok bye
ReplyDeleteOh, your dada is krool! But, hey, komik reeleef is needed! Especially these days!
DeleteDelilah would be in charge of food. ;-) Looking forward to reading this!
ReplyDelete