When considering whether to put an animal in a story, it is probably wise to decide what role the animal is going to play. Is it just to be there because you happen to like dogs, or cats, or rabbits, or birds? Or because you are trying to attract all the dog and cat lovers to buy your book? The books in the popular K9 series mentioned on May 8 by Patricia Stolty are good examples of animals being an integral part of the plot and characters in their own right. Not just a ploy to increase sales. Being a firm believer that all elements of a story need to be organic to the story, not just plopped in there, that is what I thought of when my co-author, Margaret Sutton, wanted to put a cat in Doubletake . I asked her why. "Because we both love cats," she said, as three cats wandered across her desk and bookcases in her office. My instinct was that that was not reason enough, but had a hard time articulating that to her at the time. It was later, after reading enough books ...

Laura Caldwell is a lawyer-turned-author-turned-life-saver. She is a former civil trial lawyer, now a professor at Loyola University Chicago School of Law. She is also director of Life After Innocence, published author of 14 novels and one nonfiction book (to date), and speaker, daughter, sister, aunt, and friend. Caldwell’s fictional work began as chick-lit and soon turned into the mystery/thriller genre. Her first book,   Burning the Map , was voted as one of the year’s best books by BarnesandNoble.com in 2002. The Chicago Tribune called   A Clean Slate   “a page turner.”   The Year of Living Famously   and   The Night I Got Lucky   prompted Booklist to declare, “Caldwell is one of the most talented and inventive ... writers around.” In 2009, Caldwell released a trilogy on character Izzy McNeil, a Chicago lawyer who finds her way into a myriad of situations in which she must use her wit and legal skill. While researching her sixth novel, Cal...

What’s the laziest way to find a plot? Let it find you! It happened to me recently in my kitchen in central England. Believe it or not, this little story will help you find a plot at once. Courtesy of Wise Geek I found my wife inspecting a brochure about pet insurance. “We don’t have a pet, dear,” I reminded her gently. “Yes, we do. It’s you.” She pointed at my rheumy eyes, stubbly jowls and odorous bathrobe. “Look, just £49 a year will insure you against mange, dropsy and gout. If you fall ill, they’ll take you to a pet clinic and feed you with premier dog chow rich in vitamins. That’s a lot healthier than the slop you’d get at a hospital.” “Or here,” I murmured, inspecting my breakfast of carbonised fried eggs. “Isn’t that more humane than the default method favoured by the National Health Service of sticking an empty saline drip in your arm and pushing your trolley into a corridor?” “Well," I conceded "it’s certainly cheaper than paying £2900 a year for p...