Pets and small children in SF and Fantasy

Many new writers are taught not to include pets and small children into their Adult Science Fiction and Fantasy stories. Supposedly, the inclusion of pets and small children in adult fiction detracts from the story and especially the Romance. However, if you’re writing Young Adult Science Fiction and Fantasy, you would have pets and small children because you’re writing about their world and their reality.

I disagree. In my opinion, including pets and children as secondary characters makes the story more realistic and believable. They flesh out the background of the world-building. After all, pets and children are a natural and normal part of our lives, aren’t they?

Robert A. Heinlein incorporated pets and children in his Young Adult Science Fiction. Classic examples are PODKAYNE OF MARS en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Podkayne_of_Mars
and THE STAR BEAST en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Star_Beast

In David Drake’s Honor Harrington series, web.telia.com/~u54504162/honor/index.htm
Honor is one of the few people adopted by a Sphinxian treecat an intelligent indigenous species. This occurred when she was a child, a rarity among treecat adoptions. She has dubbed her 'cat Nimitz. After conducting considerable research on them, she has eventually become one of the foremost experts on treecats.

Andre Norton’s www.andre-norton.org/books/date.html
Beast Master series of books takes the relationship of humans and their pets to a higher level of an equal partnership and blending of physical and psychic abilities. In her Moon of Three Rings, the aliens have a “circus and pet show” where the animals are equal partners in their presentation of their acts.

In the Liaden Universe books by Sharon Lee and Steve Miller, www.korval.com/liad.htm
cats are honored pets within many of the Liaden households. In I DARE, www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0441010857/blookangarue/107-2494529-45437/blookangarue
the cat plays a major role in bringing down the villain of that tale.

For the second book in my Sidhe trilogy, DOWN CAME A BLACKBIRD, www.atlanticbridge.net/publishing/blackbird.htm
Indio’s eight-year old daughter Socorro stows away on the mining expedition spaceship with her pet kitten, Licorice. The miners on the spaceship voted to hide their presence on the ship from the scientists and captain because they didn’t want to have to cancel their mission in order to return her and Licorice to the space station.

Readers and book reviewers have written to me to express how much they enjoyed the different scenes with the kitten. Especially, the chapter where Kevin has created a cat spacesuit and has to put it on the struggling kitten. Needless to say, blood is shed in this chapter and none of it belongs to the cat. LOL.

In THE HUNTRESS, www.king-cart.com/cgi-bin/cart.cgi?store=linda018&cart_id=2724621.20752&product_name=The+Huntress&return_page=&user-id=&password=&exchange=&exact_match=exact
my award winning Erotic SF novel, the alien hero Rulagh is an exo-biologist working for the Interstellar Humane Society. He’s on Earth to handle the animal control problem of the chupacabras, the feral descendants of alien pets left behind by UFO tourists eighty years ago. In addition to killing off wild chupacabras, Rulagh and Sonia wind up adopting two orphaned chupacabra pups.

Here’s a scene from THE HUNTRESS where Rulagh teaches Sonia how to handle the baby chupacabras and bond them to her. (Special note: When Rulagh speaks, there's a double ss in words beginning with s in order to indicate the fact that he hisses because of his forked tongue. Those double ss's are not typos. )

THE HUNTRESS: EXCERPT

Rulagh squatted in front of the cardboard box and removed Suma, the chubbier one of the chupacabra pups. He cradled her against his chest and stroked her belly. She gave a delighted meep and stretched her body like a courtesan begging for attention.

Sonia lifted a tentative hand and stroked the baby chupacabra’s soft belly. Miniscule scales tickled her fingers. The puppy was too small, too trusting for Sonia to feel afraid of it.

Rulagh’s quiet voice deepened into a raspy whisper. “Now’s a good time to give them their first blooding.”

Sonia pulled her hand away as if she’d been bitten. She peeked at the tips of her fingers and saw no bite marks. Her heart skipped a beat. Chupacabras was Spanish word for goatsuckers. “First b-blooding?”

Rulagh cocked his head and flicked his tongue at her for a split second. “It’s nothing to be afraid of. The feral ones were never taught how to control their bloodlust. They’re omnivores. They need meat and plants, not just blood to ssurvive. When the first blooding is done properly, it binds them to you for life.”

He thinks I’m afraid. Was she? Sonia pursed her lips. No, she wasn’t, not with Rulagh hunkered down on his heels calmly cradling one of the pups in his arms like a baby. She slanted a defiant look at him, picked Anga up and tucked the tiny body into the crook of her arm. The pup snuggled against her with legs splayed apart, coiled her tail around Sonia’s wrist and gazed up with glowing red eyes. The feathery soft crest on Anga’s back and head tickled Sonia’s arm.

Rulagh hugged Suma to his chest, extended his fore claw and crooked his finger. “I promise you, after the initial cut you will feel no pain.”

She held out her right hand. He inserted his claw into the tip of her index finger with a swift, delicate touch. It felt like a needle had pricked her. A bead of blood formed on her finger. Anga turned her head, flicked her tongue out and stared at the blood on Sonia’s finger. A shiver rippled through the pup’s body.

Sonia stuck her finger in the pup’s mouth before she could change her mind. No way was she going to act like a sissy for Rulagh’s amusement. Anga latched on to the finger eagerly. A contented croon burbled from her throat while she sucked with innocent greed and clung to Sonia’s finger with her paws. Anga’s tongue had the same sand-papery feel of a cat’s.

A slightly deeper croon burbled from the other pup. Sonia risked a look and saw Suma sucking on Rulagh’s finger with the same greed. He pulled his finger out of the pup’s mouth. It gave a sad meep. “Now we sswitch.”

Why was he doing this? Why didn’t he just bond the puppies to him and leave her out of it? If he planned to take them with him when he left the planet, it didn’t make any sense to bond them to her too, and then leave her behind. Did this mean he planned to take her off planet too? The implications, the possibility of being able to actually fly in his spacecraft whirled around in Sonia’s mind.
She tugged her finger out of Anga’s mouth and inserted it in Suma’s mouth while Rulagh placed his finger in Anga’s mouth. The pups sucked for about thirty seconds more and released the fingers with satisfied sighs. Their heads lolled back, they yawned and their eyelids slid shut.

Sonia followed Rulagh’s lead and returned her drowsy pup to its adoptive mother’s side. She rose to her feet and studied her finger. The pinprick mark had already sealed shut. “How often will we have to do this?”

“Once a week. As long as we give them blood as a regular treat, they’ll develop a taste for our blood only and won’t even consider drinking from anyone else.”

“What about when they get bigger, won’t they need to drink a lot more than just a couple of drops?”

Rulagh touched Sonia’s arm and stroked it with his blunted fore finger. “They won’t ask for more because by that time, they will love us too much and accept whatever amount we choose to give them.”


IMPLOSION ZONE www.loose-id.net/detail.aspx?ID=531
is my newest Erotic SF novella. It’s also the sequel to FLARE ZONE, which debuted in the FANGS anthology www.loose-id.net/detail.aspx?ID=333
at Loose Id. IMPLOSION ZONE is scheduled for release within the next two weeks at Loose Id.

In addition to trying to find and arrest the serial killer who’s terrorizing the space station, Maris and Pierce have their hands full acting as godparents for Kayle, a week old A.I. (Artificial Intelligence).

Kayle is eager to prove himself by trying to solve the mystery of the serial killer with the help of his friends, the children who are supposed to be helping him learn how to socialize properly with others. Kayle is frustrated by the limits placed on him because he’s still considered an A.I. child. He hopes to be able to upgrade to AdminNET level instead of being restricted to only KidNET Internet access at the station.

Here’s a short excerpt from IMPLOSION ZONE where Kayle and his friends wind up in the middle of danger on the deck where spacers and stationers are fleeing in a panicked stampede from a undead vampire on a berserk rampage.

EXCERPT: IMPLOSION ZONE

Kayle hadn’t anticipated this vast warren of space where the five-level-high ceiling curved into the distance. Gantries loomed two and three levels high, holding the lopsided weight of the massive robotic cranes that loaded and unloaded cargo. Every fifty yards, holographic message boards rotated and showed constantly changing data updates about arriving and departing ships, stock market reports, prices of commodities, and job openings.

Dockworkers monitored the loaders. Ship captains, cargo-masters, and stationers exchanged loud and raucous discussions over availability of passenger and cargo space. Assorted spacers on shore leave strolled to and from the side corridors where various shops, restaurants, sleazy bars, gambling parlors, and sexual entertainment houses catered to their needs and vices.

Suli stood beside Jason. Her straight black hair flipped over her shoulder while she moved her head back and forth to watch the sights. Jason’s red hair and pale skin kept him readily visible in comparison with the normally dark-haired and dark-skinned population of the station.

Cataloging the immense variety of human coloration and body type still kept Kayle occupied each time he wandered about the station. He looked forward to increasing that visual database even further when Lilith and Caliban decided he’d matured enough to upgrade to AdminNET instead of KidNET.

Suli kept a tight, white-knuckled grip on Jin’s hand. He’d wandered off in the wrong direction right after they exited the tube-train. She’d freaked out when Jin disappeared from view, and wasn’t taking any chances on him getting away again.

Jason jammed his hands in his pockets. “This is fragging! I always wanted to see the docks, but my dad never had the time to take me here.”

Kayle turned to Abrized. “Are you sure this is the right place?”

The Avee child spun around in a circle. “Deck 10, Sector 13 is where Station Security said they found my second-father’s body.” He stopped. His nostrils flared and the blue feathers on his scalp rippled. He pointed to the left. “Och-Eoce blood scent is very faint in that direction.”

A high-pitched scream of endless fright scaled up. Echoes bounced off the walls in confusing tangents. Kayle damped down the background noise and turned his audio sensors up to full power in an attempt to pinpoint the source of the scream.

People stopped. Heads swiveled in every direction.

Hooting sirens wailed overhead. Suli, Jason, and Jin stuck their fingers in their ears. Abrized sunk down to the floor and covered his head with his arms. Ramps retracted into docked ships. Machines loading and unloading shipping cans ground to a stop, their flexi-metal grips and extensions frozen in midmotion.

The words RED ALERT! RED ALERT! followed by PLEASE PROCEED TO THE NEAREST EXIT POINT IN AN ORDERLY FASHION flared inside Kayle’s head. The same bland and frustratingly noninformative instructions scrolled across the holographic message boards in flashing red letters.

He opened his illegal backdoor link to Security Central to find out what information the police and station administration were holding back from public links in order to avoid any panic. His link shunted to an automated reply node. All lines are busy. Please hold until the next available line is open.

The booming, bone-shaking crash of emergency seals closing at both ends of Section 13 reverberated through the metal-plated deck. Garbled screams and yells exploded from around the left-hand curve of the dock. The cascading logic of chaos math failed to encompass the sudden storm of frightened humanity that exploded from every side corridor onto the dock.

A very faint whisper of smoke tainted the airflow. A mass of adult humans, all sizes and shapes, stampeded around the curving line of the corridor straight for Kayle and his friends. Approximately forty-six percent of the panicked mob waved work tools and jagged lengths of pipe over their heads.

Sara’s Combat Law #6: Mobs are bad news. Panicked mobs are worse news. Avoid them at all costs.

Kayle blinked. Who programmed Sara’s Laws into my brain? Sara wasn’t even a sentient being. She was a minor science fiction vid heroine with a cult following that encompassed eighty-four star systems. He discarded the thought as irrelevant to the present situation.

Jason pointed at the rear wall. “Go that way. We have to get out of their way. Fast.”

Obviously Kayle wasn’t the only one with a working knowledge of Sara’s Laws.

Suli tugged Jin along with her and ran toward the wall. Jason pulled Abrized to his feet. They raced after Suli and Jin.

Jin’s toy clattered to the deck and rolled backward. He yanked his hand free from Suli’s hold, ducked under Jason’s arm, and barreled past Abrized’s grasp to retrieve his prize.

Adult legs blocked Kayle’s view. He pelted at a sharp angle that cut across the deck a few feet ahead of the river of panicked humans and caught sight of Jin.

Tears streaked the little boy’s face. Eyes wide with fear, he squatted down on the deck and hugged his toy to his chest, making his body as small as possible.

Sara’s Combat Law #2: Don’t be a hero, but if there isn’t any other choice, go for it.

Between one step and the next, Kayle morphed from his Avee shape into a shimmering flexible panel with feet. He lunged forward, grabbed Jin, and wrapped his flattened body around the little boy in a protective bubble. The mob crashed into them. Legs, hands, and feet kicked and pushed Kayle and Jin in random directions like a soccer ball bouncing across a playing field.

He rolled to a stop. The thundering roar of feet slamming against the deck damped down into a faint vibration. He unfolded his body from the bubble shape, released Jin, and morphed back to his default form of a two-foot-tall silver humanoid.

***
In conclusion for today’s blog, my advice is as follows:

Don’t limit your horizons when you write Science Fiction and Fantasy. Include pets and children in your stories as part of the normal lives of your characters.
Thank you.

Barbara Karmazin
www.sff.net/people/selkiewife
www.myspace.com/barbarakarmazin
groups.yahoo.com/group/TheSensuousAlien/

Animals that inspire

I'm under deadline at the moment, so cannot take long. If you watch this video of MATING NET, at the end you will be offered --by YouTube-- an array of animal videos that have absolutely nothing to do with me or my work.

I did write a scene inspired by the horse and the golf bag... but then I decided it was not in the best possible taste!





If you are on YouTube, check out my sites RowenaBCherry also rowenabeau also rowenacherry.

I've started to collect some videos for my Cherry Picking radio program... sea otters, manatees, seals.

All the best,
Rowena Cherrry

Animal heroes of the furry kind

I came across a couple of links in my research files that I thought might be useful.

For Dogs:
http://animal.discovery.com/guides/dogs/selector/selector.jsp


For Cats:
http://animal.discovery.com/guides/cats/selector/selector.jsp

Best wishes,
Rowena Cherrry

Males and other animals ... indeed!

Males do some pretty disgusting and unromantic things from time to time. No doubt females do, too.... such as eating the head of the male while, or just before, he impregnates her.

Infant cockroaches, and infant koalas eat their mother's waste. And one type of infant spiders eat their mothers.

When it is a matter of survival, one does what is necessary, no matter how gross.





That was gross!
Moreover, it's not something that inspires me to write a scene for a romance. I just cannot imagine any heroine wanting to kiss him for any reason under the sun any time soon after that.

I would have loved to have been a fly on the nearest object of great attraction to flies, in order to have heard the camera crew's remarks during filming. Unlike SURVIVORMAN, who was filming his own, original series, in Africa during February/March --and who carries 50lbs of his own, self-operated filming equipment--, "Bear" Grylls has a cameraman with him.

Judging by the quality of the video, I'd guess that the cameraman was shaking with laughter.


Males are better equipped to carry out this survival trick. There is a long tradition of unspeakable things that thirsty men will drink. Warm beer. "The stale of horses" to quote from one of Shakespeare's plays with Roman heroes. "Goat's" in a recent film about a Beerfest (involving competitive drinking).




I wonder what kind of toast would be appropriate?
Here's looking at you?
Bottoms up?
Your very good health!

All the best,
Rowena

Hybrids in fiction

Hybrids aren't just cars that run on more than one fuel source.

There are hybrid animals, and hybrid plants which occur either naturally or with the assistance of mankind, also hybrids in Greek and Roman mythology. Some hybrids are sterile, and some are not. Some hybrids are called after a combination of the father's name and the mother's (father's name first).

The mythological creatures do not appear to follow this convention... and in fact, now I understand the convention, my mind boggles over the Manticore (man-lion-scorpion).

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hybrid
wikipedia.org/wiki/Hybrid


The etymology is delightful. According to wikipedia, hybrid comes from the ancient Greek for "son of outrageous conduct."

I could have called my Tigron world's black sabre-toothed tigers ... pangers, or tigthers, but I think that would have complicated matters.

After the discussion with Josh about what carnivores in fiction should and should not eat, I spent several hours reading the ingredients on dry pet food for research purposes, I do have to wonder under what circumstances a dog in the wild would eat corn on the cob. Or rice!

There are some schools of alternative healing thought that claim some of our painful ailments (such as arthritis) are a consequence of us eating fruits or vegetables that we are not adapted for, or to which some of us are allergic. My mother cured very painful arthritic swelling in her hands by giving up all produce in the tomato families. Other people have a problem with potatoes. (Some have a problem but don't know it.)

In Insufficient Mating Material, the hero and heroine are marooned on an island on an alien world, and they have to test food and deal with the possibility that the heroine might not have a tolerance for some of the fruits and vegetables growing there.
They also notice some strange and apparently inappropriate alien animal behaviour and wonder how those animals evolved.

(For those who like to watch such things, it's quite instructive to see some of the videos that You-Tube in its wisdom has decided should be bundled with Insufficient Mating Material... a lot of animals going about their business!)

Best wishes,

Rowena Cherry
Insufficient Mating Material
"racy, wildly entertaining futuristic romance" ~Writers Write

What Josh said on Werewolves

Josh's remarks are too cool to be left in "Comments"

When I asked what would happen if a werewolf guzzled chocolate, Josh (author of PET HATES) said...

Werewolves and chocolate? Real (high-cacao) chocolate would certainly excite them as their livers would be intermediate between humans' and dogs' at metabolising theobromine. There's a possibility that they could have fatal seizures. On the other hand if you palmed them off with the inferior so-called chocolate that many Brits seem to love then they might explode with rage.


As for animals with strange, expanding genitalia (of the sort that develops a natural "anchor" to keep the male parts inside the female parts for prolonged coitus).

Josh said...

Interrupted mating? There's a possibility that you'd be severely bitten! The genital tie is very firm.


Best wishes,
Rowena Cherrry

Animals in love stories

On one social loop, the conversation has turned to strange sights seen in Spring time, such as astonishingly well hung male tortoises trying to mount small, mewing felines (they were mewing before the pursuit began), but that is not what I mean.

Got you going, though!

And if Josh, author of PET HATES, wants to explain how animals can make such a horrible mistake, I'd love to know more.

Deborah Anne mentioned the monkey in Pirates of the Caribbean. In the first Pirates, there was another pet: the psychic, and strategically incontinent parrot.

I don't think this is the first time a pet bird has been used for comic relief in a romance. (Pun intended)

A couple of years ago, at the Amelia Island concours d'elegance, there was someone with a really well trained parrot. When nature called, it climbed down its owner to the ground, did its business, and then climbed up him again. Which goes to show that a bird doesn't have to be messy.

Fieldfares (I believe) used divebombing as a coordinated method of deterring raptors such as crows. Apparently, there is something in bird poop that is not good for wing-feather condition and functioning, so after the crow has taken a few hits, it leaves before serious damage can be inflicted. I wonder if my local geese are under the impression that my black car is a threat to them! They'd probably like my house to move away, too.

I'd like to conclude with a mention of a bird with a starring role in a love story. Lady Hawk.

Best wishes,
Rowena

Don't you love the editing process??

I know Rowena is running into the "do as I say, not as you think" wall.

I am busy editing--though at the moment waiting for some Green-eyed male to fix me breakfast. Handy things to have around once they are housebroken.

Now, if only I could get one editor similarly trained...mwahahaha.

nixsnay on the fake ice cream!!

Hard working writer-reviewer kitty FOUTCHIE, loves to take a break from all the work and chow down to a drumstick. She also loves strawberry ice cream, enjoys getting the berries!

Only, she is on strike. I have been in a mood for sherbet - Lime and Pineapple. She is not amuzed. She gets her tongue going and then gets close enough to smell, and has to stop in mid lap! This is FAKE ice cream and she is getting bloody well tired of me tormenting her in this fashion.

It could possibly be on par with shooting undead monkeys!

At least, she thinks so!

Capt'n Jack Sparrow -- sexy pirate or vicious cruel abuser of undead monkeys?

Does shooting an undead monkey constitute an act of cruelty?



Mwahahaha... In Pirates of Caribbean 2, Capt. Jack shoots the undead money. Now, I wonder. Will this precipitate poor undead monkeys to have a new fear from piratehood in general? How about little children exposed to this random act of violence? Might they not try this at home with their undead monkeys??

Inquiring Minds want to ken!!???

This is what happens when you have edits!

What PET HATES author Josh said.... (wine)

Could a fictional big cat drink wine?

Josh said...

Wine bad for cats? Depends on how the owners behave after having imbibed it! Surely you don't mean to give your cat alcohol? Cats' livers are very poor at detoxifying chemicals as they are obligate carnivores and so have not evolved to cope with the array of chemicals that plants contain.

----
I am so glad I asked!
Fortunately for me, I write about Alien cat-like creatures (the black, saber-toothed Tigers of Tigron) and they are not the apex predator. Maybe I can find an evolutionary loophole.

I suppose it would be plausible for animals on an Earth-like moon of a gas giant to evolve differently, especially if the world had large arid areas. Perhaps they have to get their water by chewing succulents, like cactii.

Would that work, Josh?

I've seen dogs and cats chew on, and swallow grass, so I'm sure the behavior could evolve under the right conditions.

You'll say, perhaps, that the blood of their prey ought to provide all the liquid a predator needs. I wonder how I get around that one. Is blood salty? Might too much of it interfere with a creature's sanity?

Another possible loophole would be your comment about "the array of chemicals".

What chemicals are in plants? Are all the problematic chemicals in plants natural, or are some of them the result of farming methods? Or of mankind's pollution?

Rowena Cherry,
Insufficient Mating Material

Animals are better at understanding...

Animals are better at understanding people...

A generality, yes, but very often generalities are spot on.

But think on it. An animal gives you devotion, true devotion and trust. People don't display this open acceptance. I know Josh will cringe, but I do a lot of vet style work. Force to. Often when you are far away from things, it's hard to get vet to give a herd of cats shots, hard to get one to come treat a horse when it's sick. Poke one of my cats with a needle, he will fuss and fight, but never takes it personally. Kitty's love doesn't change. Without words to justify my actions, she has an understanding of me that I won't do anything to hurt her. So if I poke her with a needle, she may not like it, but she comprehends I'm doing it for a reason. Two minutes after, she is back to loving me, all forgiven.

I'm sure if I poked my husband with a needle, he would not be anywhere so understanding.

If I could "Ask A Vet..."

As an author of speculative romance, I make up animals as part of my world-building, but that doesn't relieve me of the obligation to be plausible, and also to be responsible.

If I create an apex predator, he has to be constructed like a predator. His eyes should probably face forward, unless there is a very good evolutionary reason (such as convergence -- where he evolves to look like his prey in order to mingle better and pick off prey without having to chase it, or spoil its flavor by frightening it.)

Here are some questions I'd like to ask a vet.

1. I know chocolate is bad for dogs. Is wine bad for big cats?

2. If chocolate is bad for dogs, should it be bad for werewolves?

3. I've read that dogs have a knob that acts as a sort of anchor once mating is underway. What would happen if a knobbly mating was forcibly interrupted?

4. Is it true that cats have "barbs" on theirs?

5. Do wasps (yellow jackets) really get drunk on rotten fruit? And if they do, is it because they like getting drunk? Or is it accidental?

6. Is there still animal cruelty involved in movie-making these days?


Best wishes,
Rowena Cherry

Archetypical male stupidity

The camera often lies. What are we seeing here? And why is it interesting?

For instance, looking at this astonishing picture, my first thought is not to ask myself whether the photographer put the doggy equivalent of Spanish fly on the dog's belly. Or hamburger.

To be honest, when I looked at this photo, I laughed to think of the shock he seems to be about to inflict upon himself. How nasty of me! Why do I think that is funny?

Would I find it equally funny if the contortionist in question was not a dog but a man? (Not as much! I wouldn't believe that he was going to follow through). Suppose it was a tom cat? Do I like cats better than dogs? Having read excerpts from Josh's clever and amusing book PET HATES, I'm not sure I want to admit to any animal preferences.

Dogs --and cats-- chase their tails for fun, don't they? They even catch their tails. Why do they do that? Doesn't it hurt when the triumphant jaws snap shut on a tail?

In real life and in art (or in our literary endeavours) do we all do the equivalent of chasing our tails? Do we repeatedly set out to bite ourselves in the butt (metaphorically speaking) even after we've done it once, and ought to have learned not to make the same painful mistake again?