Scooter, Part One

One of the oldest scenes in Bryony is when Melissa's younger brother, Brian, acquires a small tan and white dog. Three years ago, when I began writing Bryony as a novella birthday present for my son Timothy, then only seventeen, I impulsively named the dog, Scooter.

Scooter was the name of our terrier mix who, at the time, was battling kidney disease. Since I assumed Timothy was the only person who would read Bryony, I added the name to make him smile.

Less than eight weeks later, Scooter was dead. When I ripped the novella apart to create the novel, I had mixed feelings about keeping that name for Brian's dog--and so did my children.

Brian's Scooter was smaller than our Scooter, so, in my mind, I did not confuse the two dogs. Yet, in the end, I decided to keep the name, because it now also belonged to the little dog in the story and because I wanted to immortalize the dog that brought us years of joy.