Shannon here: Susan Barnett Braun shares about her real-life pets, along with the type of pet that showed up in her Young Adult Fantasy Romance, The Tiny Crown. Comment or answer the question in this post to enter the drawing for an e-book copy. Deadline: March 8th, 11:59 pm central time. Here’s Susan:
Pets and Writing
I’ve always been a rabbit person: it started in childhood, when one summer evening my dad promised a treat to the first of us girls to eat her lettuce at dinner. Neither my sister nor I liked lettuce, but I wanted that treat, so I ate mine. I didn’t expect much by way of a treat, but it ended up being … a pet rabbit! My sister still has not gotten over losing out on a rabbit by failing to eat a piece of lettuce.
From then on, our family enjoyed a procession of pet rabbits; Thumper, Tar Baby, and Chanel to name a few. As I grew into young adulthood, I had several pet-free years. But one year when I was teaching, a student told me they needed to get rid of their pet rabbit. They’d gotten a dog who enjoyed picking up the rabbit in its mouth, which was a bad situation for the rabbit. I adopted the rabbit for our classroom, and this was the beginning of pet rabbits in my adult family.
Since getting married and having my own children, we’ve always had pet rabbits. Our bunnies live in our house, in cages but often coming out to “binky” in the living room or hop up onto the sofa to be petted. I find them wonderful companions; they’re affectionate without being too needy or demanding.
Rabbits have played such a big role in my life that you might expect to find them in my books—but they’re not there. However, my latest, “The Tiny Crown,” does feature a pet: a dog. My inspiration for the book actually came from the breed that the British royal family loves, the corgi. I was intrigued by the notion that a corgi might appear while I was on a tour of Buckingham Palace. Would I follow it? Where exactly did it come from? My mind was off to the races, and “The Tiny Crown” was born.
That stray corgi does lead to quite an adventure for the book’s main character, Cinda. She’s looking for more from life, and she gets it, in a big and totally unexpected way.
Question for Readers: What’s the most unusual animal you’ve ever had (or known someone to have)
as a pet?
About Susan: Susan Barnett Braun currently has five published books, although her writing hobby began in third grade with her masterpiece, The Mystery in Maine. She taught elementary school for eight years, including annual summer courses on medieval times. She has traveled to England to study on a Lilly Teacher Creativity Fellowship, and has researched the wives of King Henry VIII through a National Endowment for the Humanities grant.
In The Tiny Crown, she combined her interests in history, British royalty, and London. She hopes you have enjoyed your time in Crownsgate, and will consider a trip to London yourself, if you can find that affordable travel agency. Just don’t touch any walls in the Tower of London, and ignore stray corgis in Buckingham Palace. Learn more & connect:
Girls in White Dresses Blog Susan’s Pinterest
About the book – The Tiny Crown:
What if you woke up to the life you’d always dreamed of? Lucinda is discontent. At 16, she faces problems at home, challenges at school, and an aching emptiness where romance should be. Surely, everything would be better in England, right? A sudden trip to the Land of Hope and Glory offers more than Cinda has ever hoped for–and maybe more than she bargained for.
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My cousin had a pet skunk.
Oh wow! I bet she/he? had stories to tell! 🙂
When I was a kid, my dad used to tell me true stories about his life. When he was a teenager, he was looking for a lost cow on a really cold day, and he rode by a neighbor’s cabin. The old man who lived there invited him to get down and come inside for a little while and warm up. My dad went in and sat down in front of the fireplace. It was pretty dark in the cabin, the old man didn’t have electricity and not even a candle or lantern, so the only light was from the fire. After awhile, my dad noticed what he thought was a skinny log laying on the hearthstone. He looked at it for a few minutes, and then it moved! It turned out to be a HUGE rattlesnake, all stretched out enjoying the heat! My dad very carefully got up and eased away from it. The old man laughed and told him that the snake wouldn’t bother him. It lived in his cabin year round and took care of any mice that came in. My dad politely thanked him for letting him warm up, went back outside, rode away, and never came back!
Oh my! That sounds like something from pioneer times. Pretty sure I wouldn’t have returned there either …!
A ferret – not very unusual to some but it was to me at a young age! We now have wild rabbits in our yard, they are so adorable. Love to see them about!
I’ve seen a few ferrets as pets, but not many, so I’d consider them unusual! I love the wild rabbits too. I call them my “free” pets 🙂
You got me at the cover! My daughter loves corgis 🙂
Our relatives had chinchilla as a pet – so soft!
Awww I’m glad. I’ve always had a thing for corgis too (although I have never had one). We do have a chinchilla and he *is* so soft; my little piano students love petting him at the end of their lessons 🙂