Sometimes a writer just has to do some silly stuff. Why? Because as we create our stories the imp within demands some quality time, and because you want to pepper your story with believable facts that help embellish an historical romance with a degree of veracity. Several of my historical romances have these little streaks of humor and/or facts, so in Wicked Wagers I included a few odd but fun touches: first, the Irish Water Spaniel. In reading through one of the many issues of Country Living (the UK edition) I tend to hoard, I came across an article about this somewhat rare breed. But, I must confess, it was the image of these wild and wooly hounds that made me want to incorporate them into the romance. Pretty cute, uh? These dogs are excellent retrievers for waterfowl, which was perfect for the area that WW is set -- on the west coast in the Whitehaven area, not far from the Lake District. How can you resist a dog that lo...