Earlier this week, I introduced Crabby – Toby’s cat from The Christmas Vow.
Crabby is… well… Crabby. Opinionated. Obstinate.
And just like our cat, Drooley.
In fact, our finicky feline inspired Crabby’s cantankerous character.
Drooley operates under the slight misconception that he is in charge around here and the humans (also known as his minions) are here to serve his every whim. He gets a little miffed (okay, a lot) when the minions don’t follow his commands. For example, no matter how many times he informs this minion he’d like to be a house cat, I insist he stay outside. He isn’t sympathetic to the fact I’m allergic to cats and tells me with some regularity to get over it and let him inside.
Part of the problem stems from the fact that we feed him in the garage which means he traipses through the family room and kitchen twice a day to get to his food bowl. He used to hustle right in and back out but the past few months, the trips from garage to back door take longer and longer. The rug by the back door has become his personal space and if you try to rush him outside, he digs in with all four paws and refuses to budge.
In a rush one evening, I hurried into the garage to grab something out of our freezer, forgetting the cat was in there. He sneaked into the house when I wasn’t looking and half an hour later, I found him smugly perched on my favorite chair in the living room.
He and I had a long discussion about his unacceptable behavior, but I’m pretty sure he ignored every word I said.
A few months back, as I tried to hurry him out the door, he stopped and stretched, licked one paw and gave me a look that said, “I dare you to throw me out, just go on and try.” That’s when Crabby was born.
I love writing animals into stories. They have such unique personalities and are so fun to weave into my romances. One of my favorite animal characters is Baby the dog from Learnin’ The Ropes.
Crabby was a great little character to create, too.
Although Crabby loves kids, he only tolerates Tia… until Adam comes along. Adam is the only adult who has not only picked him up without getting scratched, but made the cat purr.
Crabby is extremely protective of Toby and Tia. When a stranger shows up at the door, Crabby wasn’t impressed with him.
Here’s a little teaser of what happened:
~*~
A blur of white fur launched across the room and latched onto Mr. Nivens’ leg. He howled in pain as Crabby dug in his claws and rapidly climbed upward. Screeches rang through the house as Mr. Nivens attempted to shake off the enraged feline while the cat snarled and spat, furiously inching toward the man’s head.
Bits of white fur floated like fluffy snowflakes in the air as the man tried to grab the writhing feline. Sharp teeth sunk into his palm, drawing blood. Mr. Nivens waved his bleeding hand in the air as he gaped in utter disbelief at Crabby.
“Get this demented beast off me!” he shouted, panicked as the cat continued his ascent.
~*~
Only a week until release day!
Is anyone else excited?
