The Dangers of Children and Animals by Alison Henderson

I've heard many actors refuse to work with children or animals because they're cuter and tend to upstage plain old ordinary adults. This could easily apply to books as well, so what do I do? I boldly step out on the tightrope and include both a precocious four-year-old and a monkey to my current manuscript!

This is not a groundbreaking technique. Many romance authors have featured babies and pets in their books for years, but it's new for me. The heroine in my first book was a widow with a newborn, but he was too young to play much of a part in the story. In Child's Play, the plot centers around threats to the hero's young niece, Grace, so she's front and center for a large part of the book. And then there's Balthazar. While most authors stick with dogs or cats, I decided to add a monkey--and he's not just any monkey.

 To give you an idea, here's the scene in which Casey, the bodyguard heroine, meets Balthazar:

“Oh, and I have to warn you…don’t leave any jewelry or valuables out in your room.”

She frowned. The university might not be located in the best part of town, but the up-to-date security system she’d noticed when she arrived should be sufficient to deter any garden-variety local thieves. “We’re on the second floor. You don’t have a problem with cat burglars, do you?”

Alec’s lips tightened. “Not cat. Monkey.”

She halted. “What?”

“Balthazar.”

“Who is Balthazar?”

He grimaced. “Follow me, and I’ll introduce you.”

He headed around the open center stairwell, past the bathroom and Grace’s room, to a smaller room that could once have been a nursery or servant’s quarters. In the center of the room stood a large kennel, the kind one might use to house a Great Dane—or a small polar bear. Standing on his hind legs and clasping the bars like a convict in a ’thirties prison movie was an angry-looking monkey in a diaper who shrieked the moment he spied Alec.

“Meet Balthazar.”

Casey took a couple of tentative steps, but froze when the monkey glared at her and shrieked again.

Alec walked closer to the cage. “You don’t have to be afraid. He needs a major attitude adjustment and will steal anything that’s not nailed down, but he won’t hurt you.”

Balthazar bared his teeth in a wicked parody of a grin.

Casey kept her distance. “What kind of monkey is he?”

“He’s a white-faced capuchin from Costa Rica. They’re exceptionally intelligent. I just wish this one could be persuaded to use his brainpower for good instead of evil.”

“It’s none of my business, but why keep him if he’s so much trouble?”

Balthazar coiled his tail around one of the bars like a snake and sent her a simian death stare.

“He’s only here for the term. He actually belongs to Tomas Huerta, a colleague of mine in the Anthropology Department. Tom adopted him after he was kicked out of a companion animal training course for being an anti-social little klepto. We agreed to monkey-sit this quarter while Tom’s away digging in Central America.”

“How does Grace feel about having a monkey in the house?” Casey knew how she felt.

“She’s the main reason he’s here. She’s crazy about him.” Alec gave a soft snort and shook his head. “Tom made sure to ask me when Grace was in the room. He knows how hard it is to say no to her.”

“Why would anyone want to say no to me?” a small voice interrupted.

They turned to see Grace standing in the doorway. She marched up to the kennel and stuck her fingers in to rub Balthazar’s furry cheek. The monkey nuzzled her hand then shot Alec a defiant so-there look.

Alec glanced at Casey with raised brows, as if to say See what I mean? then smiled at the back of his niece’s small, blond head. “I know it’s hard to believe, but on occasion, I do know more than you.”

      Grace turned her head and gave him a long-suffering eye-roll. “Oh, Uncle Alec, don’t be silly.”

So far, I'm managed to keep the child and the monkey from taking over, but I'm having lots of fun writing them both. Grace is adorable, and Balthazar is an incorrigible pain in the patoot, but ultimately, he saves the day. 

Alison 
www.alisonhenderson.com