Interview with Corley, Elizabeth Eagan-Cox's canine companion

Say Woof to my canine guest today: Corley. She's here to spill the beans about her author mom, Elizabeth Eagan-Cox. Take it away, Corley!


“I’m Corley, a half lab, half Sharpei mix. It’s a good ancestry because I have the smarts and loyalty of a Lab and the Sharpei prowess for guarding and protecting. I love to fetch. I love to make doggie angels in the snow and in summer I love to swim in the creek. And I love our bed, it’s an air mattress, I have my own sleep number, it’s 35! Another number I like is 7, ‘cause that’s my age in people years.

"I hate free-loading animals, like the raccoons that come into my yard.
Rah-erh! You better watch out coons, I’ll get ya!

(I can relate to that, Corley--I hate the rabbits in my backyard. They pretend they're so cute and fuffly. It's all an act!)

"I’m the proud dog and BFF of author Elizabeth Eagan-Cox. She’s my Mom and she writes paranormal mystery novels. Her books have dogs in them, I think this is due to my influence over her. You can learn more about us on my Mom’s Web site: http://www.ElizabethEaganCox.net”

So, Corley, what’s with your name? Did Elizabeth choose it? What has this done to your self-esteem and what does that say about Elizabeth?

Huh? My name? It’s an Irish name. Whadda ya mean, what’s with my name? Can’t you pronounce my name?

It’s C-O-R-L-E-Y. Here, I’ll make it easy for you. It’s CORE , like an apple core, then LEE, like, well, I don’t know, um… like the name LEE. A Long time ago, it was MacCorley.

It’s a good name, a really good name ’cause I have my very own street. Yeah, for rea,l I do! There’s a picture of the street on Elizabeth’s Web site. It’s a proud name and it makes me feel proud! ‘Cause, well, I was adopted. And my Mom (okay, you should call her Elizabeth, but to me, she’s my Mom) wanted to make me feel special, she said she gave me the name of a street named for her great-grandmother Elizabeth Corley.

I’ve got the best name ever, because I’m the best dog ever! My Mom said it was a special name for a special dog, ‘cause, well… this is a secret, I chose my mom, she didn’t choose me. You see, it happened like this…

A puppy caretaker named Zara had taken me and my sibs to this big adoption day at a mega-giant pet supply store. And I told my sibs: “Hey, look cute, put a sparkle in your eyes, this is a great opportunity to put your best paw forward!”

I knew I could pick out the best mom for me. There we were in this little pen and I looked up, and W-O-W, it was like in a dream, there she was: my mom-to-be was walking down the aisle rolling a big basket with a huge bag of puppy food in it. W-O-W! Like magic, ya know. I jumped up and almost cleared the pen, but I got stuck, that’s when she saw me. She came over and picked me up and then I heard her say to Zara: “This is Corley, I just know it is.”

The rest of the day was a blur. We went for a long ride in a JEEP, a real JEEP, and when we stopped, we were home, in a place that is another world, maybe another planet! Mountains and forest! Trees are everywhere! Yippee! I’m a mountain dog!

So…uh, about my name…it’s a legendary name and was meant to be for me, ‘cause I’m special, I know this ‘cause my Mom told me so.

That's quite a story, Corley! Tell me the truth… is Elizabeth as disciplined as she said she was in her last interview?

Yep, she sure is, and then some! She works so hard, by the end of the day, she'’s the one who’s dogged tired. That’s when I’m super appreciated. I do things to make her laugh. Like when I told her she shouldn’t feel bad for not making up our bed, because “Mom, our bed is not messy. Uh-uh! Our bed oozes with doggie-lover’s ambiance!” Or I’ll ask silly questions like: “Mom, how come you have only two boobs and I have eight?” HA! We always laugh at that question.

Does Elizabeth plot like a madwoman or just write ‘down the bones'?

My Mom plots like the dickens, she does. A madwoman, you ask? No, not at all, more like a mad dog. She gets this crazy look in her eyes and starts to foam at the mouth, a real Cujo. She reminds me of a bloodhound on the scent of a criminal. ‘Cause ya know, it’s takes that kind of determination to turn an ordinary book into a page-turning murder mystery!

This reminds me of the time I stole my mom's piece of pizza... she started foaming at the mouth too...

Psst… if you want to know the secret to my Mom’s plotting strategy, well, she uses recipe cards to keep all the twists and turns straight! People think she’s writing food recipes, when actually she figuring out how to murder someone. My Mom is sly as a fox.

My mom uses index cards!

What’s the best part of having an author as a mom? The worst part?

Well, some times during our work day, we sneak down to the bedroom, kickback on the bed, switch on the TV and watch reruns of the Sam and Dean show….uh wait, wait! That’s not the real name that’s our code name for Supernatural. Yeah, Supernatural. Mom can’t decide whom she likes best, Sam or Dean. But me…most definitely, I’m a Sam girl! WOOF! I’d do a lab dance for Sam, cause, ya know, I’m part lab.

Hmm…the worst part? Well, when we go out for walks, I get sooo annoyed when people stop us and yakity yak about a book that they’ve written and they want my Mom to read their manuscript and blah, blah, blah. Those are the times I pretend I’m a boy and I mosey up to the wannabe author and ever so slowly I lift my leg! You should see the look on their face! Mom pretends to be shocked and pulls me away and then I take the lead and we get outta there, fast! So ya see, even the worst part can have a good part.

Will you be boasting to your other pet friends about this interview? Do you think they’ll be able to take it?

Boast…uh-uh, but I will do a lot of barking. Mom promised me she would too and she said we would tweet about it on Twitter! Though, it would seem to me that Twitter is just for the birds and I don’t think birds will give a hoot for what a dog has to say. And she promised I could howl at the moon about it. In fact, she said I could bay like a banshee and she wouldn’t stop me. And, Mom said she would talk about my interview when she goes on the radio. Boy-oh-Boy, my Mom does lot of radio appearances. I’m waiting with baited breath (hmm, make that bacon breath) for my interview to hit the cyber waves.

Will my pals be able to handle my celebrity status? Oh sure, why not. Now my foes, they might get their hackles up, but I don’t care and besides, the only real foe I have is Crabby Rose (that’s not her real name, it’s really Abby Rose), the cat that lives here. She’s just a cat, and a sour puss… whadda she know, anyway! Cats drool and Dogs Rule! WOOF!

Thanks, Corley! Good talk, girl!