This is Luca, our papillon, also known as His Lordship of Eternal Cuteness, Light of a Thousand Suns. I wrote him into the second Jared McKean book, largely in the hopes that I could someday take him to signings. "But...," I would say, when clerks tried to invoke the no-dogs rule, "he's in the book."

Fitting him in there was a challenge. Luca is the antithesis of everything Jared, my detective, thinks a dog should be. Jared's dog of choice is an Akita. He owns a 12-year-old Akita named Queenie, who is based on our Akita, Kiri. We had her for 15 years, and I still can't pass the Akita ring at a dog show without welling up. But Akitas are big dogs, and after carrying her up and down the stairs for the last years of her life, my husband and I turned to each other and said, "Our next one has to be small."

At six and a half pounds, Luca fits the bill. But getting a man like Jared to own a dog like Luca was a challenge. I resorted to trickery--by which I mean, I had someone foist the dog on him as a kind of inheritance. Being the compassionate man he is, Jared looked after the little fellow, who eventually won his heart. Good thing, too. Turns out Jared's Luca plays a small but vital role in the book, one I didn't foresee when I put him there.

Luca, his sister Willow (Empress of the Moon and Stars, She Who Would Topple the Throne) and I are learning canine freestyle. Canine freestyle is heeling and tricks to music--dog dancing. Luca enjoys it, but in a laid-back, this-is-just-for-fun way. Willow has a passion for it. The girl is built like a gazelle--a very tiny gazelle--and she especially loves the spins and twists.

We're beginners, so there are no videos of us out there, but if you'd like to know what it looks like when the experts do it, here are a couple of links:

Here is border collie Fly and his owner with a presentation known as "Gladiator Dog."

Here is Caroline Scott dancing with her golden retriever, Rookie, to "You're the One That I Want" from Grease.

And here, Pepper the border collie does some pretty cool moves to "Achy Breaky Heart."