Today we have as our special guest, Summer Wilde. Welcome Summer!
Despite my name, my favorite season is actually spring, when nature comes alive again, the farmer’s market begins, and the horses can graze. I wanted to be a large animal vet, but never got around to going to vet school. When not writing, I can be found riding my horses, or driving my yellow convertible with the radio up loud.
Readers constantly comment on my characters. Not the human ones. The four-legged ones. They seem a little surprised that the animal characters have a personality and are more than just a ‘reason for the heroine to be in the park’.
I am both pleased and puzzled by the comments. Pleased, because I want readers to appreciate my furry characters. Puzzled, because they seem surprised that the animals have character. Don’t they have a pet? Why does it seem strange that the dogs, cats, and horses in my books are more than just ‘props’. Ever since I can remember, animals have been part of my life. I grew up on a farm. Being an only child, the barn cats and dogs were my playmates. Currently, I have three horses, three cats, and a dog.
If you are an animal lover like I am, I’m sure you have your own collection of anecdotes. For instance, when I was a teenager, we were having a rather formal dinner party when my cat strolled around the corner dragging my Dad’s ‘whitey-tighties’ into the dining room. Talk about embarrassing!
I had an Aussie puppy that dragged a bag of grass seed all over – inside my barn. We had grass growing in there for what seemed like years. I have had two cats that like to be draped over my shoulders while I do dishes, type, or even vacuum. One of my palomino geldings thinks it is funny to hold on to a mouthful of water, then dump it on me.
Weaving animals into my stories is just as natural to me as putting in dialog. In my Red Sage novel, Ojeria’s Journey, an erotic fantasy, the warrior women of Handor can communicate telepathically with their war horses.
As a reader, I enjoy the story more when I realize the author is an animal person like I am. I seek those authors out to read again. If you like animals, a hot hero in leather pants, a heroine with a sword, and sizzling sex scenes, then you might enjoy Ojeria’s Journey, an e-novel available from Red Sage.
Does anyone out there notice the lack of animals on television shows? On the channels I get there are a million doctor, cop, and lawyer shows mixed with sitcoms, but I can't think of a single dog, cat, bear, horse, or dolphin....can you?
Summer Wilde
Summer Wilde
