Monday, May 10, 2021

A Charming "Tail"


by Crystal Moore from the May 3, 2021 issue

Tagline: After running into a handsome stranger at the post office, Kat, a professional dog walker, gets the chance to have a whole new "leash" on love.

Observations: This week, I wanted to point out the utility of having an animal in a story, beyond the fact that the editors seem to like animals in stories. The animal can come in handy when the hero or heroine needs someone to talk to, as in this story.

Here, Kat is regretting they way she'd acted and is berating herself via her furry client...

"Who am I, Cinderella?" she asked Gus, her long-eared companion padding beside her in the park. "A clock strikes and I take off like a greyhound. I could've spared a few minutes to find out if he was single. Turned on the charm--maybe gotten his number. No offense," she said, stooping to scratch the hound's ears, "but my love life is going to the dogs."

Sure, the character can talk to herself or have thoughts in the narrative, but this dog served as the perfect sounding board. I wouldn't necessarily put a dog in the story for the sole purpose of being a sounding board, but if your story already has an animal in it, this is something you might want to do.

Photo by Alex Beattle via Flickr Creative Commons License

3 comments:

Sandy Smith said...

Cute story. I agree it makes for someone for the character to talk to when they are otherwise alone.

Pat said...

Great comments, Kate.

I loved this story.

Crystal said...

Thanks for the kind comments, Sandy and Pat, and thank you, Kate, for the time and dedication spent providing such an invaluable resource that has been a tremendous help to me.

By the way, that is an adorable photo you used for the analysis. :)

On a side note, has anyone else noticed how bookstores such as Barnes and Noble and Books-A-Million sell the magazine for a dollar more than other retailers and omit the "God Bless America" line? Strange, to say the least.