Dogs play a role in multiple of Barron's stories, mostly as companions and occasionally as a main character. ### __Laird Barron & dogs__ Laird Barron himself has experience in sled dog racing and used to have a dog companion named Athena. He goes in-depth on the subject in [this great interview](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=caA1o0O58qw), where he says the following about Athena's passing: "Luckily I'm a writer, and I could immortalize her. So I did." ### __Dogs in Barron's works__ The most obvious example of Athena living on in Barron's fiction is Minerva, the dog companion of [[Isaiah Coleridge]], who stars in [[Blood Standard]], [[Black Mountain]], [[Worse Angels]] and the novella The Wind Began to Howl - together known as the [[Isaiah Coleridge Series]]. Isaiah Coleridge used to own a dog named Achilles. Erica Coleridge from [[The Blood In My Mouth]] also used to own (or owns) a dog named Achilles. The story Frontier Death Song also features a dog named Minerva. In the story [[Strident Caller]], the main character travels with a loyal dog companion named Artemis. The story [[In a Cavern, in a Canyon]] features a person named Artemis and a dog named Tony Orlando. The story [[Ears Prick Up]] features a cyborg dog named Rex. The story [[--30--]] also mentions a dog named Rex. The story [[LD50]] revolves around the mysterious serial killing of dogs somewhere in Eastern Washington. The story [[Tiptoe]] features a family dog named Odin. We learn in [[Termination Dust]] that Jessica Mace owns a dog called Atticus when she lives somewhere in [[Upstate New York]]. Atticus is a Latin name [that translates to "Athenian"](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atticus), which makes this a fairly obvious nod to real-world Athena, Laird's old dog. The [[Antiquity]] story [[The One We Tell Bad Children]] also features a dog named Atticus and its littermate Fluffy. [[Delia]], the protagonist of the story [[Girls Without Their Faces On]] owns a dog named Atticus as well. Custer Poe, the protagonist of [[The Glorification of Custer Poe]] mentions owning a dog named Thule. Skylark Tooms, the protagonist of [[Fear Sun]] owned a dog named Cheops when she was a teenager. Minerva, Artemis and Odin are all named after deities, much like the real-life Athena. #Theme