During the lead-up to and the completion of :link1552105:, I had told Manic.Pranic , who I used to have long, therapeutic talks with back and forth, that the heroine in the story was at least partially inspired by her habit of smoking organic tobacco for reverent and meditative purposes. She was so taken with the idea, and so grateful to be have been even somewhat inspiring, that she dashed off an abstract painting of the character, Ohawas the Crow-Witch Woman, and sent it to me over Skype (remember Skype?).

I kept it, and, over the years, added it to the canon of official Dogsverse artwork.

The story would end there, I guess, but I feel that I have to add that, in this age of Internet Friends that often disappear for no reason -- we all know that feel, I'm certain -- I confess that I have no idea where she went, or what happened. I remember her saying that she felt unhappy in her marriage and that, more seriously (to me, anyway) she was suffering from an unhealthy amount of White Guilt and spiritual rootlessness. I hope she's better and I hope she knows she helped me out when I really needed it.

This picture will have to suffice -- Ohawas, Crow-Witch Woman, who sets off the action of the Dogsverse in North America, inspired in a small but not insignificant way by a distant, now absent, friend.