Sit, Stay, Love

So what do J.K. Rowling and I have in common, you might be wondering? Hint: it’s not number of weeks dominating the bestseller lists (she edges me out), not our royalty income (hers, a tad higher), or even our sultry accents (damn Brits, they always win).

Answer: We are both Greyhound owners. Or rather, they own us.

Rowling and Sapphire

My daughter, Claire, and Gus

Our muses are elegant, chiseled athletes, pure-bred retired racers. Dignified, sleek, meek, beasts of ripped haunches and silky coat, fast as a flying Quidditch broomstick, gentle as a Sunday afternoon.

Gus, my quite gorgeous Greyhound, is not only the perfect pet, he’s the consummate writer’s companion, everything one wants and needs in a muse. Reliable—always right there, I mean ALWAYS… I don’t have to say “heel,” he’s glued to my heels. Patient. Undemanding. Understanding. He models good writerly traits: curiosity, an eagerness to sniff everything out, an ability to sit for hours at a time, pensiveness, keeps a regular schedule, doesn’t call attention to himself, playful but well-mannered, wise and wily. And for bonus points, he hails from a breed with an honorable and distinguished literary legacy. Greyhounds are the only dog mentioned in the Bible, were beloved by the ancient Greeks, and waxed poetic by Ovid and Homer. Did I mention he’s adorable and glamorous, too?

But enough about MY pooch. Come to tonight’s book launch for Literary Dogs & Their South Carolina Writers and learn how the tail wags for Jo Humphreys, Dottie Frank, Mary Alice Monroe, Beth Webb Hart, and many others. And, here’s an added Milk Bone for you—proceeds from the books benefit the Charleston Animal Society.

Tonight, Tuesday, November 27^th

5 to 7 p.m.

Charleston Library Society

Literary Dogs & Their South Carolina Writers