Talk to the Paw: A weekly column featuring writers and their pets

My name is Karen Duvall and I’m a writer. And a pet owner, or a slave to my pets, depending on your perspective. I work at home and my animals are my constant companions.

Writing can be a lonely endeavor, and many of us have pets to keep us company (or to distract us) as we work. I have four wonderfully spoiled animals whose antics inspire and infuriate me, so I thought it would be fun to share as it applies to my writing life. But it won’t all be about me, I promise. I plan to invite other authors to share their pet stories and interviews with their cats, dogs, lizards, mice, spiders… Pets come in a variety of species and I don’t discriminate when it comes to the creatures we choose to bring into our families.

Meet my dog, Kinsey. She’s a four-year-old border collie/pitbull mix (aka border-bully) and quite the character. Kinsey hangs with me 24/7 so it’s no wonder we get on each other’s nerves sometimes. She’s self-absorbed and stubborn and too smart for her own good.

My dog has grudgingly agreed to be my first guest. You’ll be hearing a lot from her in the coming weeks. I don’t know about you, but I sometimes wonder what my pets are thinking and what they might say if they could talk, especially if they talked with each other. First let’s see what my dog has to say to me.

KD: Kinsey, say hello to the nice people.

My Dog: She yawns and an orange Chuck-it ball drops from her mouth.

KD: Can’t you put that away for just five minutes?

My Dog: No. Life is all about the ball, man. Wake up and smell the Chuck-it. Play with me. Now.

KD: Maybe later. I’m still wiping the slobber off my keyboard from last time.

My Dog: Rolls her eyes. You were supposed to grab it and throw it before it landed.

KD: You ambushed me. Look, we’ll have our ball time, I promise. This is my time now.

My Dog: No. It’s MY time. Play with me.

KD: First let’s talk about the writing life and the part you play in mine.

My Dog: Seriously? What does your writing have to do with me?

KD: You’re my inspiration. I always include animals in my stories.

My Dog: But you never write about ME. You never even write about a dog. You include cats, a mongoose, dodo birds, a coyote—

KD: A coyote is like a dog.

My Dog: No, it’s not. You write about Chimeras, even gargoyles of all things, and most recently I saw a tiger in the book you’re writing now. And a pig! Never any dogs.

Awkward silence.

KD: You ready to go play some ball now?