Which is why animals tend to figure so much in my books.

The first photo is of Zoe, our dog who passed away in March. She was eleven, had bad hips and cataracts and she was deaf. Zoe was my writing buddy. She spent long hours snoring in her bed on the floor in my office while I wrote. She had a talent for turning the air toxic which I would complain about in emails to Kate Stone at HarperCollins who edits my books. Kate awarded Zoe a nickname – but that’s between Zoe, Kate and me. Zoe came to live with us when she was five. It was the first time we’d rehomed a dog; previously we’d had a golden retreiver who we got as a puppy in the UK. When we moved back to NZ he came with us, settled into life as a beach bum and never looked back. He died when he was 14 and we loved him very much. We weren’t sure if we’d feel the same way about a dog we hadn’t raised but Zoe proved us wrong. She was the gentlest, kindest girl. When she arrived she was so overweight if we’d put a piece of wood on top of her she’d have made a great coffee table.  She couldn’t jump into the back of the car, just stood there looking at us with an “Are you kidding me?”  expression. I was on the way to a hernia lifting her into the car.  We took her to the local vet and Zoe joined Weight Watchers. Yep, there’s one for dogs and cats too. She went on a special diet, was only allowed carrots or apples for treats (not cool for a Dustbin Ladbrador), had regular weigh-ins and Before and After photos. She reduced to 34kgs and in the After shots looked like Playmate of the Month. Zoe was entered in “Pet Weight Watcher of the Year” – yep, they have one of those too – but got beaten by another black lab called Rosie. As a consolation prize she got a pedometer, something she’d always wanted and that I wasn’t sure how to use because she had four legs instead of two. Was I supposed to divide her steps by two? Her fame spread and she was a regular visitor at my children’s primary school when Health Eating and Exercise was being taught. We’d show the kids her before and after shots and she’d lie on her back and let them scratch her belly. Even the most timid ones patted her. She belonged to my son, slept in his room at night and was such a creature of habit that if he wanted to stay up late and put Zoe to bed without him she’d get out of bed, come down the hall and stand in the lounge staring at him until he joined her.

The other two photos are of our new puppy. After Zoe died, we were too upset to consider getting another dog but the house seemed so empty and there’s alot of dogs that need homes. We got her from the SPCA . She’s nearly five months old and is a Labrador/Border Collie X. She’s busy, energetic, hilarious and pees when she gets excited – working on that. She knows the value of a human butt i.e. it’s not just good for sniffing but makes a great pillow as well; in the second photo she’s got my husband right where she wants him. Things keep going missing and turning up in the garden, particularly shoes. Last weekend, my husband and son discovered their soccer boots had vanished. The puppy had hidden them in the garden and thought it was great following them around while they tried to find them. “Are they here? Are they there?”  her happy little tail wags taunted. The International Sisterhood knows no boundaries, it crosses species as well, I know that because I regularly gripe about soccer boots being abandoned on the deck instead of put away in the garage WHERE THEY BELONG, and just as regularly I get ignored. The puppy is a girl, she is on my wavelength. When I see her steal those boots I look the other way. She is my secret weapon. As you can see in the third photo, she is also a bit of a tart. We have her booked in for Obedience Classes next month. Let’s hope she’s got the old excitement/bladder thing sorted out by then. I don’t want to get thrown out of the class. 

 Best Wishes, 

Michelle. 

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