Contemporary,  Fiction Furbaby

Fiction Furbaby: Meet Gump from Ask Me To Game by Zoe Forward @AuthorZForward @RobsRescues #RLFblog #Pets

Fiction Furbaby: Meet Gump from Ask Me To Game by Zoe Forward @AuthorZForward @RobsRescues #RLFblog #PetsZoe Forward, welcome to Romance Lives Forever. I’m Kayelle Allen, author and owner of this blog. Happy to have you here! We support all furbabies, real life or fictional. We want to know all about your Fiction Furbaby, but first, please tell us about your book.

Ask Me To Game by Zoe Forward

Genre: Contemporary romance

Book heat level (based on movie ratings): R

Emma Duarte just volunteered to be the ultimate badass. She agreed to try out for an elite eGaming team to draw out the criminal mastermind behind the dangerous, illegal underworld of video gaming. The problem? She doesn’t know jack about the game she has to pose as an expert of. What makes it worse? The guy hired to train her on the game is her brother-in-law (not the one married to her sister, but his older brother). Oh, did she forget to mention the ill-advised one-night-stand with him after her sister’s wedding?

Michael Harrison loves seeing straitlaced Emma off-kilter. Sure, she rebuffs him every chance she gets, but that just makes it more challenging—and fun. But at the end of the day, the goal is to get her on the Dynasty eGaming team and catch a criminal. Michael already lost his brother to this underworld, and he won’t lose Emma too.

Meet Gump from Ask Me To Game

Full name: Gump

Gender: Male

Species: Labrador Retriever

Physical description: Yellow, English variety (got the big blocky head)

Relationship to main character: Seizure alert service dog; alerts the hero (Michael) when he is about to have a seizure

Relationship to the villain/antagonist: none

Where this furbaby came from: Service training organization that matched him with Michael

Do you have any working or service animals in your stories? Tell us about them.

YES! Gump is a seizure alert service dog who alerts the hero, Michael, when he is about to have a seizure. Since he entered Michael’s life he has made a huge impact on reducing the number of epileptic seizures Michael had by prompting Michael to medicate before the seizure hits. This means Gump goes where Michael goes. In our story, Michael has been hired to train the heroine in playing a video game that he used to play competitively online.

What inspired you to create this character?

As a veterinarian, I remain awed by my service dog patients who assist their person with dignity, quiet poise and devotion. I have now met and treated two seizure alert dogs over the years who absolutely won my heart not only by how their presence has entirely changed their person’s life, but also their beautiful demeanors and dedication. One was a black Labrador who helped an eight year-old epileptic—went to school with him and everywhere in his kid’s life. He remained focused on his job even when limping with a broken toe and through a horrendous bilateral ear infection.

I must also say that I named him Gump as a tribute to one of my all time favorite patients who had cancer but I swear it wasn’t only the anti-cancer herbs that kept him alive for 1.5 years beyond what we expected. It was his optimistic, loving attitude, and his incredible family’s love for him. Positive attitude and love go so far.

What does the main character think about this furbaby?

Gump is not just critical to his health, but he’s also Michael’s best bud. I’m not saying he’s Scooby Doo and they eat all kinds of weird food, but they do everything together and in the low moments of his life, he’s the one who’s there.

How do other characters react to or interact with this furbaby?

Gump’s a working dog which means he’s not generally friendly to everybody. He respects other people but he’s on duty all the time. The one person he warms up to almost immediately is our heroine. Maybe that’s because Michael’s got a thing for her, but Gump trusts her right away.

What is this furbaby’s natural habitat?

This guy’s in the bed or on the sofa when he’s not on duty. No outdoors for him. As an alert dog he’s by his person at all times.

What about this furbaby will readers like, and why?

He’s got the heart of a hero, a characteristic that explodes at exactly the right moment to save the day, or the heroine as it so happens.

About Shelby (personal pet)

Fiction Furbaby: Meet Gump from Ask Me To Game by Zoe Forward @AuthorZForward @RobsRescues #RLFblog #PetsBreed: Labrador Retriever

Age: 11 yrs

Gender: Female

This post is called Fiction Furbaby, but perhaps your own pet does not have fur. If you have a pet that has fins, wings, scales, or other features, please tell us about them here.

Which, if any of the pets in your writing are modeled after your own pets? In what way?

To date I have not used any of my own pets in my writing. Each of our dogs is a unique goof. Since I’m a veterinarian I have met so many charismatic pets that if and when I have a pet in one of my novels, I’ve got a lot of sparkling personalities to choose from.

What do your pets do when you are writing?

The cats (there are 4 of them) are often walking across the keyboard or trying to sit in my seat at the same time as me when not batting around a LEGO mini-figure head or tearing apart my toddler’s newest craft project. The dogs sit on their beds staring at me. If I move they jump up. Then I think they need out, but usually they just want a treat. And those sad eyes usually earn them one.

What do you feed your pet?

I do a combination of Grandma Lucy’s freeze dried and high quality kibble (I do vary the kibble brand).

Describe a toy or favorite item your pet loves.

Shelby has some vision issues so shiny floors give her the willies. She’s not really a toy dog, but what’s her favorite are the areas rugs that she travels between to move about the house. She’s given many of them love bites in the corners, which is one of her nervous habits.

Fiction Furbaby: Meet Gump from Ask Me To Game by Zoe Forward @AuthorZForward @RobsRescues #RLFblog #Pets

Where to buy Ask Me To Game

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B084F3C4HP/
Barnes and Noble: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/ask-me-to-game-zoe-forward/1136303408
iBooks: https://books.apple.com/us/book/id1497441338
Kobo: https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/ask-me-to-game

Zoe Forward Social Media

Zoe Forward might admit to you she’s almost prepared for the zombie apocalypse before the fact she writes contemporary and paranormal romances. She’s a board-certified veterinarian. You can ask her about your pet’s problem, but be warned she’s into integrative medicine so her answer might involve treatments you’ve never heard of. You can find her residing in the south with the love of her life, a menagerie of four-legged beasts and two wild kids.
Website http://www.zoeforward.com
Blog http://zoeforwardblog.blogspot.com
Twitter https://twitter.com/AuthorZForward
Facebook https://www.facebook.com/authorzoe.forward/
Goodreads https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/6591244.Zoe_Forward
BookBub https://www.bookbub.com/profile/zoe-forward
Amazon Author Page https://www.amazon.com/Zoe-Forward/e/B00AESQL24
Get to know Zoe Forward better by signing up for their email newsletter. http://www.zoeforward.com/contact/

Shout out to Rob’s Rescues – founded by a 9-year-old animal activist

Rob’s Rescues is a non-profit organization in Georgia helping people in need care for and feed their pets. It was founded in 2014 by a then nine-year-old boy. Rob’s Rescues is dedicated to collecting pet food for people in need to reduce shelter surrenders, and to advocating for the adoption of shelter pets. Rob writes monthly articles advocating for shelter animals in the Around About Local Media magazine publications. His column was first published in 2014. He also has pet food collection sites for people in need in the community and interviews amazing people. His interviews appear online once they are published in his column. Rob volunteers for Pet Buddies Food Pantry, the Cherokee County Animal Shelter and Cobb County Animal Control and collects pet food for these organizations and the communities they serve. He also wants to bring attention to smaller, rural shelters. Mostly he wants to get kids to be Rob’s Rangers to teach kids that they can help shelter animals. Rob has also talked to kids in a classroom setting. Rob’s Rescues is a Non-Profit Corporation and all donations are tax deductible.
Website http://www.robsrescues.com/
Facebook https://www.facebook.com/robsrescues/
Twitter https://twitter.com/RobsRescues

 

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