Authors are famous
for their furry friends, cats curled up on warm keyboards, dogs curled up on
cold feet, cockatiels perched on their monitors. Kurt Vonnegut wrote with his dog nearby. Barbara Cartland is infamous for having a ball
of white fur at hand. Mark Twain's writing
mate was a cat named Bambino. So the
Pink Heart Society has a new monthly column starting today - we give you...Pets
and Their Authors! First up Ally Blake
tells us about the menagerie gracing her home.
I love books with animals. Give me a great literary dog and I'm yours
In my books my husband names the pets. It's the only way I allow him to be of any
help - otherwise my contemporary romances would be swarming with UFOs and intergalactic
warfare ;)
In real life, I grew up with cats and dogs. With fish and budgies and a horse. Animals have always been a big part of my
life. My border collie, Pete, gave the
best cuddles of my childhood. Any dramatic
teenage tears were subdued by a snuggle with that black and white furry cushion
who took it all as par for the course.





After our snakes - Mary and Frederik - passed on to the great grass plains in
the sky, we decided to turn the snake cage into an aviary, and after much
research ended up with Mork and Mindy, two gorgeous Kakariki parrots. The hope was they’d pair off, but these
things are never certain. There’s no
writing a happy ending for two crazy kids like in one of my books, it was
simply up to them.
Mork was a show-off, a big glossy, colourful male who puffed
out his feathers and dilated his pupils - on, off, it was a show and a
half! Mindy was a feisty little thing who turned her
back on his efforts, flitting about the cage, playing hard to get like the best
of them.

Alas, a few weeks back, in the vein of many a great old
romance, tragedy struck. We've wracked
our brains to figure out how we found them both alive in the morning, and
perished in the afternoon. Perhaps we ought to have named them Romeo and Juliet.

Apart from the guinea pigs, we've yet to go fur. With three little kids we've planned to wait
til they're older, til they can take responsibility - I know you're all
laughing your heads off at that one, right???!!!
Though we've made a couple of trips to the local RSPCA of
late, and I can feel the tug of the need for a furry friend growing. An aristocratic Russian Blue, perhaps? Or a bouncing beagle? Either which way we have room in our home -
and by my desk - for an adopted bundle of furry love. As to what kind? You, and Facebook, will be the first to know
;).

Her latest Mills and Boon Modern Romance, THE SECRET WEDDING DRESS, is
out now in the UK, Australia and New Zealand, and is set to hit North American under the
fabulous new Harlequin KISS banner in April. Her December Harlequin Presents extra THE RULES OF ENGAGEMENT, was accused of having
“So much sizzle you could toast marshmallows on it!” and is still available worldwide in paperback and
ebook.
Find out more about her books at www.allyblake.com.
I'm sorry about your parrots. You have such a great amount of animals both domestic and wild about your place that I'm not sure if you want a fur baby.
ReplyDeleteThanks Kaelee! My husband has been googling dog breeds...we are just a fish and fur and flying things kinda place ;).
DeleteAlly, I look forward to hearing how you decide to expand your menagerie next. I have to say there's nothing quite like writing to the sound of doggy snores. So comfortable!
ReplyDelete