Inspirations

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Every so often someone asks where I got an idea.

Here are some of the answers.

My Baby Ball of Razorblades! Maximus Maul the long haired Chihuahua.

He's the not-so-secret model I crafted Mars the very choosy, crabby Terrier-Chihuahua mix breed in Dog Wild. Mars is a staple of the Dog Wild series and makes another very important appearance in the sequel Forget me Knot. Right now he is deciding whether or not he wants to be involved in the third book in the series, Trickster's Folly or the splinter series Fang Tower.

Maximus Maul... my 'pet quality' long haired Chihuahua

and Boo the Bassett

Anyone who has ever owned a Bassett will tell you the same thing, once you own one you just can't imagine life without them. Despite their rather pungent hound smell and complete slavish devotion to being house dogs without embracing the training, they are incredibly loving dogs and consumate hunters.

Boo is the basis for Beaujolais in the Dog Wild series.

the Family Cemetery, unsure on the name...

Towards the end of Memory and Dream, Sicily visits Knox Cemetery. In real life, the Knox family lived on a farm adjacent to the Spindler Farm in West Virginia where this very real cemetery is located. This spot was my inspiration for the scene where Sicily accepts her destiny and Suriel.

Decadence

Meet Decadence. For years I walked past it on my way to gymnastics and the library. In 2006 it was demolished. I took what pictures I could. I've always loved "Painted Ladies" the other name for Victorian designed homes here in the US. The houses got their wicked sounding name from the brilliant colors they were painted as well as some of the more notorious inhabitants. My time-bender of a short story, Descent Into Decadence was set in a house modeled after this one.

 

 

Another shot of Decadence

In the first picture (bottom of the page) I know it is incredibly hard to see... but that cut out in the roofline on the third floor is actually a pocket walk. In addition to the grainy windows you can see there are two doors at either end. In Descent Into Decadence the woman who inherits the old Victorian house finds a secret stair leading to the front tower and that stair empties into a pocket walk. I took some liberties with the design for the short story but wanted everyone to see the real deal before she was lost forever. DID hasn't found a new home as yet.

Coy-dog for Trickster's Folly

This is an Australian Blue Heeler, we'll have a very special new addition to the dogs of Dog Wild in Trickster's Folly. I'm having to fight the urge to name her Blue. In the tale, my small blue and red pup will be a cross-breed or a coydog but look very much like this pup. Maybe I'll let the character who adopts her decide on the name.