Recently, I had to list all of my publications. I’ve been publishing since 2015 and average about 200,000 words a year. So it wasn’t too surprising to reach the number of twenty-three (with six more under contract and another two first drafts).

What surprised me? Picking a favorite character from all of those works was easy.

Colby.

Colby is the scene stealing rescue dog from Finders Keepers, Cowboy. And that’s only the start. She appears in every book.

She is entirely based on my dear Shelby. Shelby was a stray. My husband found her listed with a rescue group. We don’t know much about her history. We don’t know how old she is. I always joke she is here for a good time not a long time.

What we do know is she is my absolute sweetheart. She is about fifty pounds and loves a long walk. But then she likes to go home and sleep the day away.

She likes to be around us but isn’t demanding. She is my companion more than anything else. When I was recently ill, however, she decided I was too much work and spent the day downstairs.

Writing a beloved pet into a book is a mixed blessing. I love that I’ve captured her spirit (and I hope this encourages more people to adopt and not shop. We feel pretty confident she was a backyard breeding mix) but I know re-reading the words will be hard in the future. (Rebecca Yarros based one of the dragons in her wildly amazing, successful series off one of her dogs.) Still, I’ll always be glad for the time I’ve had with her and that I included her in a book.