Both of tonight’s posts on my websites are inspired by a dramatic weekend with my border collie, Mabel, which I write about in more detail on my Facebook page.
FAIRYTALES WITH BITE
The Role of Animals in Fairytales looks at how I like the way animals are generally depicted in fiction, especially fairytales. For example, Puss in Boots is a fully rounded character in his own right and is clearly far more intelligent than his human master. Watership Down, for me, is the classic example of wonderfully drawn animal characters. And I like non-human characters in my stories, as long as they are not twee, are shown with motivations and reasons for those motivations, the same way human characters would be portrayed.
THIS WORLD AND OTHERS
What Your Characters Care About the Most came about as I reflected on what (and whom!) I care about most. Naturally, what I care about (and whom!) makes me the person I am and this should be true for our fictional creations as well.
FACEBOOK PAGE
Tonight’s post is all about my border collie, Mabel, after a dramatic weekend with her. And I end it with a plea not to buy puppies from puppy farms EVER (just look at all the reports on the cruelty involved to the breeding mothers for one thing) and equally not to buy puppies at Christmas at all. A dog needs your time and commitment and Christmas is not the right time to make that kind of decision. So definitely a post for the animal lovers tonight.
This picture was taken by me as I was walking my border collie, the lovely (but sometimes noisy) Mabel. Mabel has not been at all well this weekend but has shown great determination and grit and is slowly recovering. Keep fighting, Mabel.
Allison Symes: Collected Works 