THE STORY OF HOW SIMBA BECAME A HERO IN MY LATEST BOOK DREAD RECKONING
In early 2023, my stepson found a stray puppy outside a convenience store and brought him home. As happens now and then, his dog became our dog, We took him into our family with our golden retrievers Stella and Sassy, and everyone loved the rambunctious little pup that wanted to play all the time. When I began working on Dread Reckoning, an eerie ghost story set in New Orleans during Mardi Gras, I realized that after 24 books, and after being a dog-lover all my life, I had never included a dog in one of my novels.
It was high time to remedy that oversight, and the perfect candidate was our new pup Simba. As I wrote during 2023, he grew and grew, becoming a strong, sturdy boy with a great name. A DNA test revealed he was a mixture of many breeds, including retriever, shepherd and pit bull, and he was perfect to be the canine hero who would save the day in my book. When the book released in December 2023, I had a dog protagonist at last!
Simba is a full-grown boy now and he lives not far from us with a friend who needed a companion to love and care for. He’s doing great, and he will continue to be featured as Landry Drake’s dog in upcoming books. Stay tuned for more heroic adventures featuring Simba the dog!
