Moocher, Border Collie dog extraordinaire - co-star of White Lies and Custard Creams - romantic comedy with a dash of mystery

I’ve received many emails from readers asking about Moocher, the Border Collie who co-stars with Liz Houston in my first novel, ‘White Lies and Custard Creams’. So I thought I’d write a blog post and try to convey what my old Mooch the Pooch meant to me. He’d always had a way with woofs and I know he will be happy to be on Monty and Rosie’s blog like this.

 

He was a stray. He just turned up one day and stayed. He knew he’d come to the right place, and I knew he’d come to the right place, too. This is a limerick I wrote after he rather inconsiderately popped his clogs and left me with nothing but an empty basket:

Into my life one day a Border Collie strolled

He smelt sweetly of that in which he’d rolled

He’d come to share his life with me

And now I’ll never be free

Of fox poo aroma, and love worth more than gold

He had such a sense of joy about him. He was exactly the sort of dog who would leap up and catch snowflakes on his tongue:

And he always made a point of rolling in autumn leaves - one of life’s greatest pleasures (especially if there was fox poo underneath them, of course):

  

He was a very clever dog. It’s no wonder my paperwork’s in such a mess since he’s been gone. He'd be shocked...

There was always a hug waiting if I needed one:

 

And his live and let-live philosophy definitely taught me a thing or two!

 

 He was a very generous dog in every way. He would have distributed bones and gravy to the world if he could:

 

 

No one could stay cross with him for long. He could wrap the most dog-hating person around his little claw in no time at all. He was such a charmer!

He was always ready for a game and would play for hours and hours just to keep me entertained:

 

 

He is always with me, just out of the corner of my eye; always there peering over my shoulder, checking I’m not making too much of a hash of things. He is the extra weight in Jeff-Dog’s head as he pushes it into my hands. He makes me watch out for myself more than I previously might, and he bolsters my courage when I need it.

He was the most extraordinary dog and taught me so much about so many things. This is why Liz, my heroine in ‘White Lies and Custard Creams’ has to have her dog with her all the time, or at least know he’s around and she can see him if she needs to. She needs him to keep going through life, no matter what, trying to make sense of it. And together they will make it through, even if not wildly successfully, at least always with a laugh!

And then he left me and life really was just an empty basket, and I felt as though I’d been punched with a big spike that took all my breath and gave nothing back.

This was when I was first introduced to the Rainbow Bridge. Someone sent me the poem which I shall paste in below for anyone who’s not read it. It is comforting. I’d always known Moocher would be there for me, wherever I was, in whatever plane, but with the Rainbow Bridge there is a ‘real’ picture in my mind which makes it so much more certain.

So - I know that Moocher is waiting for me at Rainbow Bridge (along with quite a few others).

In the meantime, I and others often howl tributes to absent friends and I could swear I can hear Moocher joining in:

If you have any more questions do feel free to get in touch and I shall answer them when I’m not bawling my eyes out like I am now. Jeff-Dog is pressing his head heavily into my leg as I sit at my desk, and Moocher watches us, grinning his furry face off, knowing we know he’s there.

Rainbow Bridge

Just this side of heaven is a place called Rainbow Bridge.

When an animal dies that has been especially close to someone here, that pet goes to Rainbow Bridge. There are meadows and hills for all of our special friends so they can run and play together. There is plenty of food, water and sunshine, and our friends are warm and comfortable.

All the animals who had been ill and old are restored to health and vigor. Those who were hurt or maimed are made whole and strong again, just as we remember them in our dreams of days and times gone by. The animals are happy and content, except for one small thing; they each miss someone very special to them, who had to be left behind.

They all run and play together, but the day comes when one suddenly stops and looks into the distance. His bright eyes are intent. His eager body quivers. Suddenly he begins to run from the group, flying over the green grass, his legs carrying him faster and faster.

You have been spotted, and when you and your special friend finally meet, you cling together in joyous reunion, never to be parted again. The happy kisses rain upon your face; your hands again caress the beloved head, and you look once more into the trusting eyes of your pet, so long gone from your life but never absent from your heart.

Then you cross Rainbow Bridge together....  

Author unknown...

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This corgi dog just feels like hiding away a bit at the moment...

And I know how he feels...

A literary birthday wish: The Cat in the Rye wishes Elizabeth a fabulously wonderful birthday!

Wanna hug? We have Border Collie hugs, Whippet hugs, Corgi hugs and Cat hugs. Come & get your hug here!

This is the 'You're so fab' hug.

The comfy hug

The 'I can always rely on you' hug

And the: 'I will always love you' hug. (and the 'I will always worry about you' hug, too)

Happy Birthday, Pia! This Corgi celebrates with a somersault (backwards - natch)

More head/neckgear/bling - no out-and-out hats, though. Got loads of hats as well....

Some (canine) neck/headwear/bling fancies

The Judy Adamson - Susan Alison interview - artist to artist

Last month, wonderful artist, Judy Adamson, ‘interviewed’ me for her blog (And actually posted the result too – what a fab hostess she is!)

I am reproducing that post here in roughly the same format. (‘roughly’ because I can’t pass a piece of writing without tweaking it…) (my own writing, that is – I wouldn’t tweak someone else’s…)

 Susan Alison, watercolour artist and author (who lives under the paw)

Links on the www if you wish to see more of Susan’s work:

Follow her on her Border Collies, Monty and Rosie's blog  - for regular artwork updates    

Click here for her eBay store

Click here for her Etsy store

Click here for her store on craftsUprint for designer cards to download and make up.

Judy asked Susan:

When did you begin painting?

I took up painting as a serious endeavour twenty years ago when I needed to earn a living from home. I lived in the Forest of Dean at the time, so it was no hardship studying all those trees and expanses of water and trying to get them down on paper. It was incredibly naive to think I could earn a living from it just like that though! And, I couldn't - but I gave it a pretty good go, and my first painting sold from an exhibition in Monmouth Museum (ie a 'proper' venue) so I was pretty chuffed about that. I painted that particular picture twenty-three times before I was happy with it, and it is still engraved on my mind...

Most of my paintings back then were landscapes - I still paint some vistas but nowadays there'll be a dog in them eg 'Good Morning, Morning' in which a Border Collie says hello to a new day.

My circumstances changed and I stopped painting, taking it up again five years ago when I decided that surely there was a way through the internet to make it work.

The most valuable thing I've learned from my current experience is that you simply can't tell upfront what is going to sell. 

This means that, if you have to sell your work in order to keep doing it, your most important characteristic is persistence. I paint to sell. It's my job. All kinds of artists succeed and all kinds fail, and I fancy the main difference between the two is persistence - the presence or the absence of it. You just have to keep pounding away at the keyboard if you wish to succeed online.

Did you go to Art College or have any formal art training?

My art training has been a do-it-yourself learning curve.

I've had no formal art training. I believe there are some things (for me) that are better learnt on the job, and painting is one of them. I could spend a long time learning about how to do it instead of just doing it. Not only that, but I learn something new from every painting I do, so the training goes on for ever, although I've never again painted a picture twenty-three times...

What is the most valuable thing you've learned about painting and who taught you that?

The most valuable thing I've learned about painting is to fight the fear that comes with a nice, new, clean, expensive piece of watercolour paper - just splash the paint on, and then resist the urge to fiddle with it. I learnt this from Edward Seago (see below). I also used very big brushes when I started out, which gave me lots more confidence.

What is your favourite medium and why?

My favourite medium is watercolour. It doesn't smell; it's quick to apply, quick to dry; easy to wash out of your hair and off the furniture. What I really love about it, though, is its translucence. Some very skilled oil painters can get close to that effect by painting it, but watercolour owns that effect and doesn't have to put it on. Its very nature is translucence and it only gives it up if one insists on messing with it.

Who is your favourite artist/illustrator etc? Have you been particularly influenced/inspired by any other artists? 

When I started out I was fascinated by people like Whistler, Sargent and Edward Seago because of the luminous quality of their work. I don't look so much now because I don't want to be influenced by anyone else and I don't want to subconsciously pick up other people's ideas. Mind you, I do sometimes watch the changing parade of cards on the front of GCU and marvel at the varieties of artistic expression. There will always be something new. That's how I feel, too - no matter how long I live I'll never live long enough to paint all my ideas. My inspiration comes to me now from my surroundings, wherever I am, in everyday life, but especially from nature and animals, particularly dogs. They can find joy where no one else can.

Where do you sell your paintings?

I sell my original paintings, mainly ACEOs, (Art Cards, Editions and Originals, sometimes called Artist Trading Cards or ATCs), but bigger sizes too, on eBay, along with prints, greeting cards, coasters and books.

My eBay store is here.

There is also a SusanAlisonArt store on Etsy

but my images can also be found on several print-on-demand websites:

click here for my Greeting Card Universe store

and here for my Zazzle store

here for SusanAlisonArt on Cafepress

and click here for craftsUprint designer cards to download and make up.

Which came first - writing or painting?

Writing came first, but then I felt compelled to illustrate what I'd written, so it’s a close run thing. My very first book was called 'The Cat' and was illustrated in wax crayons. This cat had many more than the usual nine lives and firmly believed that raspberry ripple icecream cured seasickness. I still paint cats now, so maybe the original one was a foretelling of what was to come...

These days, my cats are into so much more than just icecream though, whether they're stalking harebells...

...or line dancing to soothe 'their achy breaky hearts'.

I would love to write and illustrate my own children's books but so far I haven't managed to fit that ambition into my life.

The closest I've got to that is writing my own grown-up book and doing the cover art for that:

White Lies and Custard Creams is a romantic comedy with a dash of mystery - and, yes - there's a dog in it... (Well, there was bound to be...)

It's on Amazon for Kindle for $1.57 here

And it's on Amazon for Kindle for 97p here

Which is your best-selling/favourite greeting card?

I'm quite fond of my whippet and greyhound painting of an egg and spoon race which has made a successful greeting card and print.

Although my cool surfing Labrador dudes comes a very close second...

People seem to appreciate my less frivolous paintings too:

‘Forget me not’ ,

‘Wistful’

and ‘To Sleep, Perchance to Dream’.

What is your next project or your plans and hopes for the future?

I have my second romantic comedy novel, 'Out from under the Tiger', finished but for a final polish, and I have to paint the cover art. That will be uploaded to Kindle before Christmas and I want to upload a new book every year from now on.

The painting of pictures will go on as usual. I really need to get more organised about using the images though, so maybe 'getting organised' should be my main ambition for the forseeable future...

In the meantime, everyone's support is much appreciated.

I have a dog and cat artwork blog: click here for regular artwork updates and I’m on Twitter @bordercollies for more chat than links, or @SusanAlisonArt for more links than chat.

There is also a Facebook fan page here - it would be fab if you 'liked' it!

I love to hear from people and there is nothing more encouraging than when I get a response from someone telling me how cheered they are to see my pictures.

You keep me going and I thank you very much!