T.J. Laverne
author of supernatural historical fiction
News
Meet the cast
July 28, 2014
I’m coming right along with my next book, Hairy Jack, which is about halfway done, so I decided it’s time to share my secret about its characters. Anyone who has pets must agree they all have their own individual, unique personalities. Having unhealthy attachments to my own pets, I therefore came up with the idea of having them star in one of my books. Don’t worry, it won’t be The Lion King or Babe, with talking animals or anything like that. My characters will still be humans, but they will be all of the pets I know, personified, keeping their own individual personalities and their names. Let me introduce you to the main characters of Hairy Jack:
Wyatt
Wyatt was my childhood dog, a loyal old boy who, though I believed he would live forever, lived to the impressive age of 16. When he died, my family was struck with such grief, I think it later prompted my idea of having a book starring him, thereby making him immortal. He was always the protector of us girls in the family, serving as our guardian when my father was on military assignment and my mother needed someone to sleep in her bedroom with her until he returned home. He was an outdoor dog the first few years of his life, so he wasn’t much for hugging or cuddling, but he was loyal to his very core, and loved his family more than anything. In my book, he will be a young man, once again.
Ivy
Ivy joined our family when my parents realized I needed another dog to help lower my blood pressure. When my sister came with me to pick out a new puppy, alas, she fell in love with the puppy’s sister, Maggie. Ivy very soon proved to be a character of her own – a goofy little tomboy (in the book she won’t eat her own poop, though), wild and stubbornly independent, never to be told what to do and frequently getting into trouble. Maggie, as is probably obvious from her picture, is a rather prissy little princess, who is highly sensitive and scared of virtually everything, though she has a stubborn, independent quality of her own. Their transition to 1920s flappers in the midst of a liberating time for women was only natural.
Maggie
Roxy Ray was adopted when I moved out of the house and acquired a husband, and I decided to leave Ivy with my parents for their emotional well-being. Roxy is a rescue dog with a troubled past, who was cruelly mistreated and abandoned by her previous owners, and was found roaming the streets of town in a not-too-good condition. Though she is a pitbull terrier who is apparently supposed to elicit fear in others, she is the sweetest, most loving and gentle creature, who loves nothing more than to cuddle with humans. My loyal guardian and protector, she’s extremely obedient, and suffers from an unfortunate dose of separation anxiety.
Roxy Ray
Not only do my characters reflect their canine or feline counterparts, but their stories reflect those of their counterparts, as well: Far more pampered than Wyatt ever was – being indoor dogs allowed on furniture, as he was not – Ivy and Maggie are therefore of a rich, well-to-do family, while Wyatt comes from a more humble upbringing. Partway into the story, Ivy and Maggie’s parents take the orphan, Roxy, into their home, much to the sisters’ chagrin, as they are suspicious of her troubled and shady past on the streets. And, of course, it seems only fitting for Wyatt, who loved to bury his bones in the dirt, to have an interest in studying Archaeology.
The remaining cast of characters are pets I know, as well – not just dogs, but cats and birds, too. And so I arrive at the best part: In just a few weeks, I will be announcing a contest in which your lovely pet will have the chance to compete for a role in my next book! I know you love your hairy children as much as I, so please check back soon for your chance to enter the contest!