Thursday 21 February 2013

Writer's Pets - Ruth Symes / Megan Rix


Most of my books have had an animal star in them - certainly all the picture books and the Megan Rix ones. Plus as a work-from-home writer (apart from when I'm walking the dogs by the river) I usually have a dog or two next to me while I'm writing and, when they were small enough, a pup fast asleep on my lap as I wrote at the computer in my office.





If I write on my laptop on the bed Traffy still crawls onto my lap for a cuddle - and she's pretty huge now.

To me, writing and pets just seem to go together. And as far as I can tell from the comments and writers of this blog lots of ABBA-ites agree. So I did a quick bit of research on authors and their pets and found some photos I'd like to share. There were far more than the few below but these are some that jumped out at me:


Stephen King working with Corgi Marlowe. #books BookLikes.com
Steven King with Marlowe


Beatrix Potter with rabbit Benjamin Bouncer. #books  BookLikes.com
Beatrix potter and Benjamin Bouncer


Maurice Sendak and Herman
Mark Twain with Huckleberry cat ;-) #books BookLikes.com
Mark Twain with Huckleberry cat


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Elizabeth Barrett Browning and Flush


I think Elizabeth's poem to her dog 'Flush' particularly resonates with me at the moment - having had a cold for the past week or so and knowing how much nicer taking an afternoon nap is with a dog cuddled up beside you.

Although my two would rather be having wild times!

What's your writer's pet like?




There must be something down here.




Ruth's latest book is Cat Magic published by Piccadilly and her website's www.ruthsymes.com

Megan's latest book is The Great Escape published by Puffin. It's been shortlisted for the East Sussex Children's Book Award. Her website's www.meganrix.com


4 comments:

Stroppy Author said...

I have a free-range tortoise called tor2 and I used to have a lobster in my office, but sadly she died.

Anonymous said...

We are in the process of trying to find a dog - my kids are saving every penny of their pocket money in a dog fund, so we had to say yes. I'm glad to think it might be a writing asset as well as a lovely addition to family life!

Jane Clarke said...

Bramble, a very ancient black Labrador, currently snoozing by my side.

Mark O'Leary said...

Nice to see those pictures Ruth, its a nice thought that authors pets had an influence on the books I have read. On a similar note, there is a lovely picture of Gerald Ford with his Golden Retriever in the Oval Office