I live on a farm, and all of the animals have names, even the hens, who are named for Gilbert & Sullivan heroines, with the Barred Rocks being Members of the Women’s Chorus. I have Ruby The Crazy Corgi, and 4 Cavalier King Charles Spaniel’s; Peach, puppies Boone (Daniel) and Kit (Carson), and Little Tony, who I know sounds like a Mafia member. At one point I considered naming all the dogs after made men, but I was the only one who thought it was funny. The dogs didn’t. The horses did.
How old these animals came to be in my life is an excellent question. I wrote a nonfiction memoir called WHY MY THIRD HUSBAND WILL BE A DOG, which about sums it up. I love animals, and I live alone, so there’s nobody around to tell me I can’t keep acquiring them, rescuing them, or adding to my pack. The only thing that stops me is my worry that I’ll show up on an A&E hoarding show. The animals have not only changed my life, but they’ve made my life. As any animal lover knows, each has a special spirit and personality, and so my life is full of a lot of beings. I stopped eating meat as I’ve come to know chickens better, so right now I’m down the cheese and crackers. Yet I still haven’t lost any weight. How is this possible?
Lisa
Lisa Scottoline is a bestselling and Edgar Award–winning author. She has served as president of the Mystery Writers of America and her recent novel, Look Again, has been optioned for film. She is a weekly columnist for The Philadelphia Inquirer and her columns have been collected in two books and optioned for television. She has 25 million copies of her books in print in the U.S. and has been published in thirty countries. She lives in the Philadelphia area with an array of disobedient pets.