... strutting on the CATWALK with Sharon Archer
Name:
Tansy: I’m Tansy, and I’ve been here forever. The little one is the Squirmy-Wirmy-Always-in-My-Face puppy. I call her Sqwamf for short.
Skye: I am not Sqwamf! My name’s Skye, and I’m cute and playful and adorable and I’m not really a puppy anymore ‘cos I’ve had a birthday and I’m all growed up now. Even if I am still littler than you.
Human Slaves:
Skye: Bron and Gordon. We’re Border Collies, and Tansy trained them pretty well before I came, but I’ve been teaching them some new games, too.
Abode:
Tansy: We’d like to live in the Really Big Kennel with Bron and Gordon all the time, but they insist on us going out into the dog run sometimes. It’s big enough to race around in (I don’t run around so much anymore, but the Sqwamf dashes around like a maniac), and there are our kennels and trees and possums and cheeky birds that swim in our water bowls, and we’re out in the bush so it’s quiet and peaceful. However, we like our baskets and mats in the Really Big Kennel best.
Likes:
Tansy: Sitting next to Bron and getting my back rubbed. That’s something it was easy to train her to do. I also love when she makes pork with a mango sauce, ‘cos she gives us some in our bowls, and mango is my Favouritest. Food. Ever. (I think she should get two mangoes instead of one, so I can have a bigger share.)
Skye: Toys! Playing! Running! I love to run with Gordon in the morning – we go all the way down the driveway and right out onto the road and along it for miles and miles, and then we turn around and run back again. I love running in the dog run, too: it’s huge – almost as big as a paddock – and I dash from one corner to the opposite one, and then around and about the trees, and then as fast as I can right around the fence.
Dislikes:
Tansy: Being outside in the dog run when there’s a thunderstorm. But fortunately we’ve taught Bron and Gordon to bring us inside – that is, if they’re home. Just as well Bron works at home most of the time.
Ambition:
Tansy: One day, Bron will have the sense to put two Border Collies in a book, who save the hero and heroine from certain death. It’s going to be so good it will be a blockbuster film and we’ll star in it. I’ve already picked my screen name – Tangelina Collie – and I’ll play the wiser, smarter canine heroine.
Skye: And I’ll be the cheeky young sidekick who sniffs out the bad guys. How about Skylie Mynose as an actress name, huh? I can bounce around and bark and I’ve got a very sexy little butt-wiggle
Tansy: You and your butt-wiggle. Life’s not all about attracting the boys, you know.
Skye: Ha! I know about you and the dingo. I’ve seen the way that you look at him when he comes snooping around.
Tansy: Yes, well, looking is all we do. He may be the strong, silent type, but he’s also a wild, rebel lad from the wrong side of the taxonomy. He was never going to settle for a pink food bowl and a comfy basket in the living room, that’s for sure.
Skye: You never know... Hey, don’t give me that look. Bron writes romance. It radiates from her computer, so of course I believe in happy endings.
Sociable or Aloof:
Skye: Well, Tansy can be aloof sometimes – I think she’s brooding about the dingo – but I LOVE playing with others. I make sure that Bron doesn’t spend too long at her computer. I reminder her whenever it’s Play o’clock – which it is several times each afternoon. And I make her get up at Walk o’clock and Food o’clock, too. We’re out in the bush and don’t get many visitors (not of the human variety anyway) so we always get very excited when two-legged ones come, and we bounce and bark and bark and bounce and lick and bounce some more.
Night Owl or Early Bird:
Tansy: The night owls hoot in the trees above us, and the day-birds start twittering (and splashing in our water bowls) at dawn. But if we’re allowed to sleep inside the Really Big Kennel, we’re very, very quiet and don’t wake up the humans... except for the time Gordon was away, and a Masked Owl was hunting right outside the house, and I absolutely HAD to go outside at Dark o’clock to chase it away. ‘Cos I had to protect Bron from it, didn’t I?
Favourite Pastime:
Tansy: Sitting beside Bron and getting my back rubbed. And going for walks with her and sniffing all the interesting sniffs and eating blackberries.
Skye: Running! Playing! And wriggling on my back while playing with my toys, ‘cos I’m really good at holding them between my paws.
Favourite Toy:
Tansy: Ted is my favourite toy, but because the Sqwamf always steals him and tries to chew his head off, I don’t get to play with him much now. He sits on a shelf, but sometimes Bron gets him down so I can have a snuggle and a lick.
Skye: I love all my toys! I mean, a girl can never have too many toys, right? I love my squeaky toys, and the ball that jingles when I roll it, and my soft toys with ears and tails to rip off, and my ropes to play tug of war with, and my doggy Frisbee - I’d like to chew that, but Bron insists on throwing it. And I especially, especially love to pull the stuffing out of our doggy cushions and spread it all over the floor. That is SO much fun!
Best Friend:
Tansy: Bron & Gordon are my best friends. I’ve been with them since I was a little, tiny, fluffy puppy, with my blonde sister. She got sick and isn’t here anymore, and I’m still getting used to the Sqwamf. But I love Bron & Gordon and I lick them lots and lots so that they know they are mine.
Skye: Tansy’s my best friend. She’s just not quite convinced of it, yet. She can be a bit growly sometimes when I lick her face and snuggle up to her, but underneath I know she really likes having me around.
What do you like to sharpen your claws on:
Tansy: We’re not cats, so we’re not obsessive about our nails.
Most embarrassing moment:
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| CAPTION ME TO WIN! |
Skye: When Bron snapped this photo while I was sleeping:
Tansy: I bet she’s going to embarrass you even further by tempting people to write a caption for it, and offering a copy of her latest book as a prize for the best one.
Skye: She wouldn’t really, would she? Maybe people won’t enter, ‘cos there’s no Border Collies in the book.
Tansy: Well, there is a dingo. Not that he’s the hero, or anything. But I bet if she wrote a book with Border Collies in it, she’d become a best-smelling author.
Skye: Even better-smelling than she is now?
Tansy: Even better-smelling than when she walks uphill with us on a hot day. Come on, she’s starting her next book - let’s go sit at her feet and look intelligent and cute and make her realize that her new hero really, really needs a couple of Border Collies.
So cool to have Tansy and Skye visit, Bronwyn! Thank you!
Bronwyn and Tansy and Skye are giving away a copy of Bronwyn's latest book to one lucky captioner! An awesome prize!
Here's the cover and backcover details...
Backcover:
National Parks Ranger Jo Lockwood is often alone in the wilderness, and she likes it that way – until she discovers the body of a man, brutally murdered.
Detective Nick Matheson’s new posting to the north-west of New South Wales is supposed to be an uneventful return to normal duties and a normal life. He knows organised crime from the inside out and suspects that the victim in the camping ground is not an isolated murder.
Jo is committed to helping the investigation but she has seen the killer’s face and now she’s at risk. Nick’s determined to protect her but as the body count starts mounting, his past and present collide, threatening the people he cares about most.
Trapped in rugged country in scorching summer heat, pursued by hunters who can’t afford to fail, Nick and Jo will need to trust each other completely, and use all their skills and knowledge in order to survive.
