Have you hugged your pet today?

Did you know May was National Pet Month? 

I love animals, personally, and I don't need to observe a month telling me to celebrate my pet because I spoil my cat rotten 365 days a year. Heaven help me if I owned a ranch. I'd basically have a zoo — cats, dogs, rabbits, horses, foxes, unicorns, dragons, Gizmos. You name it. I'd adopt it. Except snakes. Yeah, I can't really handle even thinking about snakes, but I'm sure they'd be on my ranch whether I put them there or not, and I'd be OK with that as long as they didn't, you know, come near me or let me see them. Anywho.

Needless to say, I make a point to include pets in the stories I write. I know not everyone loves animals. Shut up. These are my stories, so I can write cats and dogs into the plot if I want. In my current series — which features sexy psychic investigators solving unique and unusual mysteries as they fall in love in oftentimes humorous situations — I have three fur balls who help play matchmaker and tend to steal the spotlight whenever they're on the page. I know what you might be thinking. Oh, no, not more pets as plot devices in a romance novel!

I can't speak for any other authors who've realized how full of awesome pets in romances can be, but having cats and dogs in my stories is probably way more fun for me than my readers. I don't think of them as plot devices, exactly. I think of them as full-fledged characters. Writing them is kind of therapeutic because nothing adds comic relief to a writer's day like writing cats and dogs, especially when your human characters' can hear their thoughts. Check out the first book of the series, "On The Scent," and you'll discover what I mean. OK. I have a confession. I stupidly tried to keep them out of the second book of my series — “Something Wicked” — it’s set in a different city, after all — but the animals weren’t having it. Nope. They found a creative way to be a part of that story, too, in the end, so I didn’t even try to keep them from wiggling to the forefront of book three’s story. Maybe that’s why “Spirited Away” seems to be everyone’s favorite book in the series so far. 

“Spirited Away” also features my favorite heroine to write so far. She’s not psychic, but she’s still 100 percent awesome sauce. She calls herself Spider because she can, and she's a total geek girl who loves technology, watches far too much sci-fi and fantasy television, plays video games, and collects action figures of superheroes. Team her up with the mischievous pets Charlie, Abbott and Costello, and hilarity ensues. Especially when the hot guy next door keeps getting involved and recruits her to help him solve the mystery of his possibly haunted house.

All right. Enough shameless promo. Let's get back to National Pet Month.

Obviously, I love pets. Do you? Please take a moment on this last day of May to pet and hug your pet kitty, doggie, rabbit, fennec fox, unicorn, dragon, or whatever cute creature you share your humble abode with. Go ahead and give 'em a few extra treats, too. They're worth it, don't you think?

Angela Campbell is the author of the psychic detectives series from Harper Impulse. Learn more about her and her books at www.AngelaCampbellOnline.com.

***

Who knew pet sitting could be so dangerous…or so sexy? 

Socially awkward Emma “Spider” Fisher prefers her laptop to people, so she’s more than happy to oblige her boss when he asks her to pet- and housesit while he honeymoons in London.

It doesn’t take long for accident-prone Spider to lose a dog, get locked out of the house, and set off the house alarm. Thankfully, her hot new neighbour is more than happy to come to her rescue.

But Noah West is a mystery to Spider—and one she intends to solve.