Guest Post: Why My Dog Lexie Stars in my Mystery Series

My name is Linda O. Johnston, and I'm a writer.  Among other things, I am the author of the Kendra Ballantyne, Pet-Sitter mystery series.

The protagonist, Kendra, is a lawyer.  So am I.  She lives in the Hollywood Hills.  So do I.  She is a litigator, though, and I am a real estate transactional attorney.  That's one difference between us.  Another, even more major, is that she is a murder magnet and solves a lot of mysteries.  I, on the other hand, just create them.

One of the most important similarities between us, though, is that we both own tricolor Cavalier King Charles Spaniels named Lexie.  Or maybe we're owned by them.  For as different as Kendra and I may be in some of the ways that count, we're both suckers for snuggly, loving animals.  And that's what Cavaliers are all about!

As you probably figured, Kendra is an alter ego of mine.  She sometimes does things I wish I could do--like have a much better trained and socialized Lexie than mine.  (Okay, Cavaliers are people-pleasers, so my Lexie would be better trained if I trained her!)

But my Lexie helped to inspire the creation of Kendra and her Lexie.  She's my companion and muse, and she enjoys lying at my feet as I write.  She loves to be on my lap, too, when I'm reviewing things on the computer, but she's annoyed when I'm not paying full attention to her and dare to disturb her by using my hands to type on the keyboard. 

She's especially unhappy when I don't allow her to fool me at dinnertime.  She can tell when it's six PM, which is when I always feed her.  She stands up on the floor beside me, her paws on my chair, and snorts for my attention, to make sure I'm aware of what time it is.  But now and then, she decides she'd rather eat earlier and--especially when I'm so deeply engrossed in my writing that I'm not really aware of anything else--she stands up and tries to convince me it's six!

I recently acquired another Cavalier--a puppy named Mystie, who's a real character.  She loves to chase shadows and bugs and reflections.  I wouldn't be at all surprised if, eventually, Kendra and her Lexie find a Cavalier puppy as complicated and charming in their lives... 

Come visit me at my website: www.LindaOJohnston.com   I also blog weekly, on Thursdays, at www.KillerHobbies.blogspot.com