Of Dogs and Blogs...
Who let the dogs out? At least one is on the loose today, Doggone Love!
I expect everyone knows by now that I am a dog lover! I have a dog in the greater number of my stories and if not, there is probably another critter or two. Anyway, Doggone Love has a special canine in an almost-starring role! She plays a major part in getting the two guys together. This story was released today as part of the Allure Amber PAX. I had a great time writing it and wanted to share a few little tidbits about this particular story and its writing and how it meshed into my real life.
Last fall about the time “Amber” and I went to the Sonoita, AZ rodeo, I made some belt/purse/cell phone charms. One had a red star and a small red bell on it and I said that was for “Belle Starr” the girl outlaw, who was a real historical character.
After Treading Dangerous Ground did so well, I knew I wanted to try another man love story or two so I bid on the next man love Pax, which was Allure. My first plan was to do another futuristic but the story that emerged ended up with a regular male/female couple so it was back to the drawing boards. In mid-November, I had to have my late husband’s old Lab-Setter mix Sadie put to sleep when she just quit eating and let me know she was ready to go. I took her to my regular vet clinic, but a new doctor was the one who gave her the shot and shed a few tears with me.
The character of Eric Vann emerged from that. I knew the other man would be a rancher but how would they get together? No, I would not have a dog put down in a story; no way!! So Dixie Belle, Damon’s beloved Australian Shepherd, came to be. Dixie is a VSD (very special dog) and a family member as far as Damon is concerned. When she is kicked and hurt he wants the best care for her. At first he mistrusts Eric who is subbing for his regular vet but he soon sees this handsome young vet has a real gift for his profession and is a special guy in his own way. To say more would give away too much of the plot, but you get the gist of it.
Now comes the next “far out” part. I got Rico, my first Aussie, back in January 2004 to replace Butch, my Brittany Spaniel who went with my late husband across the Rainbow Bridge together—they passed on within about 5-10 minutes of each other. With Sadie gone, I hated to leave Rico home alone when he couldn’t go with me, so I checked with the Aussie Rescue folks to find him a partner. Early in February I learned about a little girl with discoid lupus, an auto-immune disorder that affects the nose, very common in certain breeds of mainly herding dogs. I was sent a picture of her and fell in love at once! If no one would take her, she would have to be put down because she was a special needs case and will require some meds and care for the rest of her life but those sweet little eyes were pleading and I knew I could not say no, so Miss Belle came to live with Rico and me.
When I named Dixie Belle a few weeks earlier, I had no idea that a Belle would soon come into my life. I described the story dog to Trace for the cover as a red merle and he found a darling dog to use as his model. Except for the color, as my Belle is blue merle with copper points, she could have been the model for that dog! And she is so feisty and spunky that I often call her Belle Star. She is also an accomplished sneaky counter surfer and will snatch anything left to close to the edge of the kitchen counters almost without a sound! So she is a bit of a little outlaw too. And the pattern all comes together. Coincidence? Serendipity? Or outer limits stuff at work behind the scenes? Who knows! But that gives you a few highlights of the story behind the story for Doggone Love.
In closing I will warn you that I am planning several more Canine Cupid stories for the next year or two! One is in progress right now and will feature not one but two dogs –the Maltese (sometimes incorrectly called Maltese Terriers) of architect Nick LeGrande and the Australian Cattle Dog of Caleb Storm, Colorado rancher. Suffice to say Nick gets stuck in a Colorado blizzard and finds shelter in Caleb’s rustic home along with his pet Cedric who had to come along on a trip with his master unexpectedly.
BTW, Australian Shepherds and Australian Cattle Dogs are two different breeds with some common traits as they are both herding dogs but quite a few differences! I won’t bore you with the AKC descriptions! ;-)
Now here is a very short excerpt from Doggone Love to pique your interest. And do check out the cover; I think this is my favorite of my covers so far. Trace just keeps getting better! I hope my stories do too!
Slainte,
Deirdre
PG-13+ Excerpt--language!
Damon made it to the Caliente Veterinary Hospital in thirty five minutes, near record time. A regular customer, he pulled around to a back door. That one wasn’t used by the town customers who brought their pampered pets into the reception area up front. He was in no mood to deal with so-called dogs that looked like dust mops on stubby legs or ill-tempered cats and their fussy female owners. As he strode down the hall, someone stepped out of an examination room into his path.
“Hold on a minute. Just where do you think you’re going? Customers are supposed to check in with reception up front. We can’t have every tom, dick and harry traipsing through here.”
Damon almost bowled the shorter man over. The other man caught his balance by grabbing a door jamb.
“I ain’t tom and I damn well don’t have a hairy dick. Where’s Doc Palmer? I’ve got an injured dog out in my truck, a working dog. She needs care right away.”
The husky blond man folded his arms, feet apart, effectively blocking the hallway. “Dave Palmer had a family emergency. He had to go home to Texas for a few days. I’m taking over until he gets back.”
“Who the fuck are you, anyway?” Damon had no desire to deal with someone who was not used to handling working animals--or their owners. This guy might be good with the ladies and their lap dogs but so far he didn’t impress Damon sufficiently for much confidence.
When it came to Dixie, only the best would do. The red merle bitch was no longer young but he counted on at least one more good litter from her. A few more years of her companionship would be nice, too. She was as much a pet as a working dog could be. Truth be told, he loved her like the family he didn’t have.
“I’m Doctor Vann, Eric Vann. I’ll be glad to take a look at your dog. What’s the problem?”
Damon glowered at the young vet’s surfer-boy appearance. “Are you familiar with stock dogs? She made the mistake of trying to heel a cranky gelding. He kicked her. She knows better, but we all do dumb things sometimes. Accident happened about an hour and a half ago. I got her here as quick as I could. Right now I’m most worried about shock.”
Spinning on one heel, Damon heading back out. He was half-surprised that Dr. Vann followed. Dixie lay quietly but her eyes looked clear. She was still alert. So far so good. As Damon watched, the other man approached, held his hand down for her to sniff and then touched her neck very softly.
“Let’s get her inside.” Without Damon saying a word, Dr. Vann moved to unlatch the tailgate. Together they lifted the sheet of plywood. Then they carried it inside, dog and all. At that, Damon revised his opinion up one notch.
At least the young doctor wasn’t afraid to get his hands dirty. He didn’t shrink from the manure crusted on one edge of the board. His manner with Dixie seemed calm and sure. Working in tandem, they slid the dog easily from the board onto an examining table.
Damon steadied her while Eric gave her an injection of tranquilizer to keep her quiet. Then he proceeded with the examination. After he listened to her heart and respiration, he gently ran his hands over her body, finding a tender spot on her left side. He looked up at Damon, a frown creasing his brow between eyes the color of a cloudless Arizona sky. ”I can’t tell for sure but I think she may have some cracked or broken ribs. I want to do an x-ray to be sure. That might also reveal if there are any internal injuries.”
Damon shook his head to bring his awareness back to the present. He could not imagine why but as he watched the vet’s gentle but capable hands move carefully over the dog, he had a sudden vision of those hands on his own body. A strange sizzle of awareness flashed through him. Hell, if he didn’t know it was impossible, he’d have called it arousal, but that was loco. He wasn’t attracted to other men!
I expect everyone knows by now that I am a dog lover! I have a dog in the greater number of my stories and if not, there is probably another critter or two. Anyway, Doggone Love has a special canine in an almost-starring role! She plays a major part in getting the two guys together. This story was released today as part of the Allure Amber PAX. I had a great time writing it and wanted to share a few little tidbits about this particular story and its writing and how it meshed into my real life.
Last fall about the time “Amber” and I went to the Sonoita, AZ rodeo, I made some belt/purse/cell phone charms. One had a red star and a small red bell on it and I said that was for “Belle Starr” the girl outlaw, who was a real historical character.
After Treading Dangerous Ground did so well, I knew I wanted to try another man love story or two so I bid on the next man love Pax, which was Allure. My first plan was to do another futuristic but the story that emerged ended up with a regular male/female couple so it was back to the drawing boards. In mid-November, I had to have my late husband’s old Lab-Setter mix Sadie put to sleep when she just quit eating and let me know she was ready to go. I took her to my regular vet clinic, but a new doctor was the one who gave her the shot and shed a few tears with me.
The character of Eric Vann emerged from that. I knew the other man would be a rancher but how would they get together? No, I would not have a dog put down in a story; no way!! So Dixie Belle, Damon’s beloved Australian Shepherd, came to be. Dixie is a VSD (very special dog) and a family member as far as Damon is concerned. When she is kicked and hurt he wants the best care for her. At first he mistrusts Eric who is subbing for his regular vet but he soon sees this handsome young vet has a real gift for his profession and is a special guy in his own way. To say more would give away too much of the plot, but you get the gist of it.
Now comes the next “far out” part. I got Rico, my first Aussie, back in January 2004 to replace Butch, my Brittany Spaniel who went with my late husband across the Rainbow Bridge together—they passed on within about 5-10 minutes of each other. With Sadie gone, I hated to leave Rico home alone when he couldn’t go with me, so I checked with the Aussie Rescue folks to find him a partner. Early in February I learned about a little girl with discoid lupus, an auto-immune disorder that affects the nose, very common in certain breeds of mainly herding dogs. I was sent a picture of her and fell in love at once! If no one would take her, she would have to be put down because she was a special needs case and will require some meds and care for the rest of her life but those sweet little eyes were pleading and I knew I could not say no, so Miss Belle came to live with Rico and me.
When I named Dixie Belle a few weeks earlier, I had no idea that a Belle would soon come into my life. I described the story dog to Trace for the cover as a red merle and he found a darling dog to use as his model. Except for the color, as my Belle is blue merle with copper points, she could have been the model for that dog! And she is so feisty and spunky that I often call her Belle Star. She is also an accomplished sneaky counter surfer and will snatch anything left to close to the edge of the kitchen counters almost without a sound! So she is a bit of a little outlaw too. And the pattern all comes together. Coincidence? Serendipity? Or outer limits stuff at work behind the scenes? Who knows! But that gives you a few highlights of the story behind the story for Doggone Love.
In closing I will warn you that I am planning several more Canine Cupid stories for the next year or two! One is in progress right now and will feature not one but two dogs –the Maltese (sometimes incorrectly called Maltese Terriers) of architect Nick LeGrande and the Australian Cattle Dog of Caleb Storm, Colorado rancher. Suffice to say Nick gets stuck in a Colorado blizzard and finds shelter in Caleb’s rustic home along with his pet Cedric who had to come along on a trip with his master unexpectedly.
BTW, Australian Shepherds and Australian Cattle Dogs are two different breeds with some common traits as they are both herding dogs but quite a few differences! I won’t bore you with the AKC descriptions! ;-)
Now here is a very short excerpt from Doggone Love to pique your interest. And do check out the cover; I think this is my favorite of my covers so far. Trace just keeps getting better! I hope my stories do too!
Slainte,
Deirdre
PG-13+ Excerpt--language!
Damon made it to the Caliente Veterinary Hospital in thirty five minutes, near record time. A regular customer, he pulled around to a back door. That one wasn’t used by the town customers who brought their pampered pets into the reception area up front. He was in no mood to deal with so-called dogs that looked like dust mops on stubby legs or ill-tempered cats and their fussy female owners. As he strode down the hall, someone stepped out of an examination room into his path.
“Hold on a minute. Just where do you think you’re going? Customers are supposed to check in with reception up front. We can’t have every tom, dick and harry traipsing through here.”
Damon almost bowled the shorter man over. The other man caught his balance by grabbing a door jamb.
“I ain’t tom and I damn well don’t have a hairy dick. Where’s Doc Palmer? I’ve got an injured dog out in my truck, a working dog. She needs care right away.”
The husky blond man folded his arms, feet apart, effectively blocking the hallway. “Dave Palmer had a family emergency. He had to go home to Texas for a few days. I’m taking over until he gets back.”
“Who the fuck are you, anyway?” Damon had no desire to deal with someone who was not used to handling working animals--or their owners. This guy might be good with the ladies and their lap dogs but so far he didn’t impress Damon sufficiently for much confidence.
When it came to Dixie, only the best would do. The red merle bitch was no longer young but he counted on at least one more good litter from her. A few more years of her companionship would be nice, too. She was as much a pet as a working dog could be. Truth be told, he loved her like the family he didn’t have.
“I’m Doctor Vann, Eric Vann. I’ll be glad to take a look at your dog. What’s the problem?”
Damon glowered at the young vet’s surfer-boy appearance. “Are you familiar with stock dogs? She made the mistake of trying to heel a cranky gelding. He kicked her. She knows better, but we all do dumb things sometimes. Accident happened about an hour and a half ago. I got her here as quick as I could. Right now I’m most worried about shock.”
Spinning on one heel, Damon heading back out. He was half-surprised that Dr. Vann followed. Dixie lay quietly but her eyes looked clear. She was still alert. So far so good. As Damon watched, the other man approached, held his hand down for her to sniff and then touched her neck very softly.
“Let’s get her inside.” Without Damon saying a word, Dr. Vann moved to unlatch the tailgate. Together they lifted the sheet of plywood. Then they carried it inside, dog and all. At that, Damon revised his opinion up one notch.
At least the young doctor wasn’t afraid to get his hands dirty. He didn’t shrink from the manure crusted on one edge of the board. His manner with Dixie seemed calm and sure. Working in tandem, they slid the dog easily from the board onto an examining table.
Damon steadied her while Eric gave her an injection of tranquilizer to keep her quiet. Then he proceeded with the examination. After he listened to her heart and respiration, he gently ran his hands over her body, finding a tender spot on her left side. He looked up at Damon, a frown creasing his brow between eyes the color of a cloudless Arizona sky. ”I can’t tell for sure but I think she may have some cracked or broken ribs. I want to do an x-ray to be sure. That might also reveal if there are any internal injuries.”
Damon shook his head to bring his awareness back to the present. He could not imagine why but as he watched the vet’s gentle but capable hands move carefully over the dog, he had a sudden vision of those hands on his own body. A strange sizzle of awareness flashed through him. Hell, if he didn’t know it was impossible, he’d have called it arousal, but that was loco. He wasn’t attracted to other men!
posted by Gwynn-Deirdre Morgan at 7:55 PM
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