by Sue Trollip
This is going to be a short post because I’m terribly busy. I’m trying to find a name for my main protagonist, HD’s dog. It’s a sheepdog and no I will not call it Lambchop.
Now I’ve never given much thought to dog’s names because I’ve never actually owned a dog all of my own (sob). I spend a lot of time with people who have dogs but I’ve never had to name one, so now I’m thinking hard. The cogs of my brain are churning, and it sort of hurts. HD is not an alcoholic so Smirnoff won’t do, he’s not a reader of classics so there goes Lassie, he’s quite humane, so that’s a no vote for Dog.
Thinking quickly I turn to the family dogs, from my youth. We had Cindy and Copper and Tessie and as the family dispersed so more dogs appeared. There’s Indie, Sam, Butternut, Puddles. Not blown away with delight I look to the pooches of friends, Oscar, Rosebud, Princess, Tequila, Spike, Buttercup and Peaches. No, nothing is thrilling me there either so finally I consult my bookshelf to find out what other authors call their pets – I’m looking at dogs here, so forgive me cat people. I found Katie, Angela and Phoebe, all of which were owned by young girls. (Note to self: start reading books where men have dogs.)
I’m stuck, I’m suffering from dogged writers block. So I turn to my trustee friend Google and get Laddie, Brian and Moses. None of this is helping. I don’t want the old fallback of Rover and Sheeba, though now I see that Jeep seems to be high on a few lists. I’d rather have one of those in the garage than in the kennel, and I think HD would too.
Finally my brain switches gear. I can think, but seldom at high speed. Hello Amazon!
Enzo is in ‘The Art of Racing in the Rain’ and then of course there’s Marley and ‘In the Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time’ Wellington makes a brief appearance.
Now these are better names. I’m breathing again and the gasping has stopped. I can do this ...
This is going to be a short post because I’m terribly busy. I’m trying to find a name for my main protagonist, HD’s dog. It’s a sheepdog and no I will not call it Lambchop.
Now I’ve never given much thought to dog’s names because I’ve never actually owned a dog all of my own (sob). I spend a lot of time with people who have dogs but I’ve never had to name one, so now I’m thinking hard. The cogs of my brain are churning, and it sort of hurts. HD is not an alcoholic so Smirnoff won’t do, he’s not a reader of classics so there goes Lassie, he’s quite humane, so that’s a no vote for Dog.
Thinking quickly I turn to the family dogs, from my youth. We had Cindy and Copper and Tessie and as the family dispersed so more dogs appeared. There’s Indie, Sam, Butternut, Puddles. Not blown away with delight I look to the pooches of friends, Oscar, Rosebud, Princess, Tequila, Spike, Buttercup and Peaches. No, nothing is thrilling me there either so finally I consult my bookshelf to find out what other authors call their pets – I’m looking at dogs here, so forgive me cat people. I found Katie, Angela and Phoebe, all of which were owned by young girls. (Note to self: start reading books where men have dogs.)
I’m stuck, I’m suffering from dogged writers block. So I turn to my trustee friend Google and get Laddie, Brian and Moses. None of this is helping. I don’t want the old fallback of Rover and Sheeba, though now I see that Jeep seems to be high on a few lists. I’d rather have one of those in the garage than in the kennel, and I think HD would too.
Finally my brain switches gear. I can think, but seldom at high speed. Hello Amazon!
Enzo is in ‘The Art of Racing in the Rain’ and then of course there’s Marley and ‘In the Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time’ Wellington makes a brief appearance.
Now these are better names. I’m breathing again and the gasping has stopped. I can do this ...