"It's Slash."

          So says my niece about my titular character.
I devoted an entire blog post about my canine crime boss on July 18, 2012. My oldest niece has lived with many of my stories since we were little, so she was constructively critical as I explained how a beloved bedtime tale had evolved since she last lived with us.
After I told her which key elements had been changed, updates, and the illustrations that accompanied the novel draft, my niece stopped me with the statement: "You need to make Stacey prettier."

It rendered me speechless. I fumbled with an explanation that the character was young and unfortunately dressed frumpy, and would, as story progress, learn to dress better, or more fashionable.

My niece wasn't having any of it: as she read romance books, she was fed-up that one person in the couple never looked up to the standards of the more attractive partner.

I took what she said, and realized how good it was that I hadn't made this a graphic novel or illustrated story. Slash has inspired, provoked jealousy, and more than one person has shown their displeasure at my female protagonist put next to my gang leader. It's been suggested that I 'bump off', or, in some way, compensate the idea that, by Slash's good looks, even his partner must add up! This niece once told me to stop drawing the character in brown suits, which I since added as a subplot!
Slash Castellano continues to infiltrate people's imagination, long before this story became a full novel. It excites me that there will be fans of this guy and other characters long before this hopefully sees publication!