Happy New Year!

Dream Big This New Year-you may just find yourself in print!
Anon,

Nancy

Halloween Approaches

Bailey here, I've commandeered the blog again like I did last year at this time.. I just want to remind everyone to be especially kind to the hyper-pigmented cats out there. As I have said before, we are not the devil's minions and we don't bring bad luck just by crossing some human's path. Frankly, for some of you bookstore people out there, this is a concept I can get behind, but I digress. Halloween tends to make normal humans act strange this time of year--you dress weird and you go around begging for candy. What's up with that? Anyway, please be kind to us cats--especially us hyper-pigmented ones.

-Bailey out.

Lucky the Cat

About six months after I adopted Bailey, it came very clear that she was getting restless being home by herself when I was working. So, I decided it was time to expand our feline family and made a trip to the Warren County Animal Shelter. I looked at a couple of the kittens but Lucky caught my eye. He was very active and played with all the toys in the kitten room but he was also attentive to me as well. I knew he'd be a good match for Bailey and me. When I was completing the paperwork for his adoption, one of the workers mentioned that he was almost adopted the day before, but when they were placing the id chip in his neck, the lady balked. She thought id chip was the mark of the beast and refused to take him home. He's named Lucky, because it was luck that saved him from having to go home with that lady. He came home with me instead and I think we're all better for it!

Don't forget June is Adopt-A-Shelter-Cat Month!

Anon,

Nancy

Creatures of Habit

Every morning after my shower I find my cat Bailey sitting  at attention on my bed. She’ll let me pet her on the head two times and then she lets out a meow and leaps from her perch and scampers toward the kitchen. This is my cue to feed her breakfast. It happens every morning. On weekends, she does the same thing but she’s come to realize that if I sleep in, there may not be a morning shower to delay her breakfast. She’s a creature of habit that’s for sure.


I’ve realized that I’m a creature of habit when it comes to writing. When I begin a story, I don’t write it down right away, I like to think it through before I put pen to paper. I think about the major plot points to make sure that I have a clear direction and to ensure that I have a beginning, middle and an end to a piece. Once I think it through, I write the story longhand and then type the pages into the computer. I find I edit myself as I type to it gives me an extra revision.

What about you? Anybody out there a creature of habit like Bailey and me?

Anon, (yep another habit I’ve formed)

Nancy

Cats and Writers...

Cats and writers. The two go together like margaritas and tortilla chips on a Friday night. While you certainly don’t need to have a cat to be a writer, it does make the journey less boring. Lots of famous writers obviously agreed because many of them kept cats as companions.

Raymond Chandler referred to his black Persian cat, Taki, as his secretary and even read his work aloud to her. I wonder how she critiqued his work.

While in Key West, Ernest Hemingway apparently made the acquaintance of a ship captain who had a six-toed cat. It’s said that Hemingway became so enamored of the cat that when the captain was to go back out to sea, he gave Hemingway the cat. The result, a generation of 6-toed cats inhabits the grounds of the Hemingway House in Key West, Florida.

Charles Dicken’s cat sat in his study as he wrote and when she wanted his attention, she would snuff out the candle he used to write by.

When Author/Artist Edward Lear moved to Italy, he constructed an identical house to the one he resided in so that he would not traumatize his beloved cat, Foss.

As for me, I can't imagine writing without my feline friends by my side, or by my computer.

Authors like cats because they are such quiet, lovable, wise creatures, and cats like authors for the same reasons. ~ Robertson Davies

"A catless writer is almost inconceivable. It's a perverse taste, really, since it would be easier to write with a herd of buffalo in the room than even one cat; they make nests in the notes and bite the end of the pen and walk on the typewriter keys.” author Barbara Holland

Anon,

Nancy

There is Superstition...

Bailey here, I've commandeered the blog for my own purposes. As Halloween approaches, I want to remind blog readers that this time of year hyper pigmented felines (Black Cats)are often maligned by humans. This rather unfortunate situation is brought about by a misguided fear some humans have that Black cats are the devil's minions. This, I assure you, is not true. Incidentally, we don't associate with witches, we cannot transfigure into witches- nor would we care to. We also don't bring about bad luck to those humans whose paths we cross. I like the concept, but we just don't have the means to accomplish such a feat.

Consequently, some cultures believe that Black Cats actually bring good luck. There is a Celtic legend that suggests that if a Black Cat appears on your doorstep and you treat him with kindness, prosperity will surely follow. Also, fishermen's wives often kept a Black Cat as a companion to ensure that their husbands would return safely from the sea. In some areas of England, a Black Cat is believed to bring luck to a new marriage.

So as Halloween approaches, I ask that you show kindness to the cats you see- especially the hyper pigmented ones, like myself. It's good karma, no matter how superstitious you are.

Bailey out,