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Just a little on me: I write. A lot. I've got a novel going on right now that once finnished I seriously hope to get published, Kingdom Animalia: Time of the Liger. It has been weaving together beautifully as I experiment with it(no serious final work is being done at the moment, it took a year and a half just to get all my ideas pieced together) but a complete, stable plot has been lain out as a basis for everything I do with it. In other words, I'm VERY satisfied with my storyline. I've written over 15 complete short stories, all on animals/animal rights. I love gritty stories that aren't afraid to throw salt on wounds, stories that make you think and feel maybe in a strongly different way than you have before. On the other hand I'll always appreciate a good, heartwarming tale, just because I've grown up writing them.

I come to you with two stories from either "catagory" if you will; "A Beautiful Light" and "The Terrier King". Not only have I been playing with both of these in my head for the longest time, they've manifested themselves in a few of my recent works as well(leaking out I suppose). They need to get down in concrete before I drive myself crazy. So here are my summaries/whatever-you'd-like-to-call-them for both:

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"A Beautiful Light"

A Beautiful Light is essentially the story of a battered pit bull mix named Magnum who, at the begining of the tale, is slowly slipping away while in a cage within a dark animal shelter. She unfolds the brutal story of her life to a young border collie, Skip, in the cage beside hers. As he acompanies her through the last moments of her life his eyes are opened to how awful a stray's life could possibly be. Her story begins when she is born in a horrific backyard breeding facility in New Orleans, Louisiana(not specifically a fighting dog breeding facility, just your everyday gruesome backyard breeder). She is the only surviving pup of her extremely young mother's litter and goes on to a puppyhood of scarring trauma and neglect. When she finally escapes the facility she begins her life as a stray. Throughout her years she experiences both the kindness and abusive fury of the human species, the true love of another dog, the betrayal of her own kind against her, and the ungraspable need to feel welcome in this world in which she never truely gets to experience.

This particular piece will try to include as much of reality as possible. Dogfighting, backyard breeding, breed specific legislation, animal hoarding, animal abuse, animal neglect, animal testing; the works. It will be based to the extreme on the issues that effect the lives of millions today. I don't want to overload though; it's got a cute little boy dog meets girl dog story and also a genuine girl and her dog story thrown in there to mix with the strong emotion. I think a pit bull's tale told from the point of veiw of the animal itself will be much stronger of a reading experience than if I was to write a story ABOUT a pit bull. I think this one will be one of my favorites, hopefully you'll get to read it.

"The Terrier King"

Ahhh, sterotypical New York City. Big, exiting....kinda' grimey. The perfect setting for a semi-lighthearted fic about a street-lovin' Jack Russell Terrier by no other name than Arguss. His parents are famous among the stray-scene; the envied Miss Lola and Jackson "The Duke", both purebred JRTs, both extremely talented singers. He has the chance to follow in the pawprints of his father to become the next greatest canine to croon a note and the leader of the largest pack of strays in the Big Apple. But Arguss takes another road, away from the spotlights that call him by destiny, to follow a rowdy band of other young males. Then after the group rubs him the wrong way he goes on to become a lone wolf, roaming the streets with only his wits to guide him and a pack of escaped pet birds as companions. By this time it comes to his knowledge that both of his parents have been captured by Animal Control and his brother Vegas and his mate have taken over the pack. He disregards his father's pack's desparate need for a new lead pair(being the only other male of Jackson's litter) and continues his lonely but pleasant life alone. Of course his loner way of living is flipped upside down by the lovely Bella, a black toy poodle with an incredible need for a secure situation unlike her life before. After completely falling for her he sees the urgency of the two of them needing a pack and sets out to claim his father's territory from his lazy brother.

Just a fun story I've been itching to unleash. It may sound a little cliche' but I left out all twists and really what's at the heart of it.

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So, what do you think?

Both these stories look really good!

But if I had to vote I'd choose 'A Beautiful Light' Just by reading the summary I know it's gonna be good!

I can't wait to read it!