Vicki Lewis Thompson | The Truth About Cats and Dogs

I’m absolutely thrilled to be here today! Picture me as a cocker spaniel dancing around in total excitement, tail wagging, ears flopping, big smile on my face.. But don’t picture me piddling on the floor, which sometimes happens with excited cocker spaniels.

I was lucky to grow up with both dogs and cats, so if you’d asked me as a kid whether I was a dog person or a cat person, I would have said both. But now I’ve changed my mind. I still love the doggies, love their eternal optimism and undying affection and loyalty. But these days I’m drawn to cats.

I heard someone describe them as living sculpture, and so they are. My all-black cat Eve seems to know exactly how to drape herself over the furniture or curl up on the bed so that she’s part of the décor.

Eve’s her own person . . . um . . . her own cat. She greets me at the door when I come home . . . most of the time, if she’s not napping or otherwise engaged. She’ll sit in my lap if she feels like it, but sometimes she’d rather not. And that’s okay with me. We respect each other’s space. I think that makes me a cat person.

Don’t get me wrong. I still love dogs, and one in particular. Serra is my daughter Audrey’s Rottweiler mix, and Serra visits me regularly. I have a bed for her and treats in the cupboard. But whenever I’ve considered whether to adopt a dog of my own, I’ve always decided not to, because I really am a cat person at heart.

That’s one reason I had such a ball writing BLONDE WITH A WAND (out now), in which my heroine Anica is definitely a cat person. The fun begins when she turns the misbehaving hero Jasper into a black tomcat. What a blast to write from the viewpoint of Jasper as a cat!

Anica’s sister Lily, however, is a dog person. So in CHICK WITH A CHARM (out March 2) Lily uses her magic to transfer her Golden Retriever’s devotion to Griffin, the guy she’s crushing on. My role model for that dog was the lovable Serra, which is why I dedicated the book to her.

So, would you say you’re a dog person, a cat person, both, or neither? Are you sharing your life with any furry friends now? I’d love to hear your pet stories, and at the end of the day, one lucky commenter will win an autographed set of both books!

To comment for a chance to win a set of autographed books please click here.

Vicki Lewis Thompson | How I killed off the "Reading With Ripa Book Club"

It’s not my fault. I swear, I wasn’t the one who killed Kelly Ripa’s book club. Sure, I know it looks suspicious. In 2002 she was rockin’ along with her anti-Oprah picks, six of them, and didn’t we love it? Books with happy endings were getting on a TV talk show! Carly Phillips made it! Romance writers had a shot!

More important – it was all about me – I had a shot. I figured Nerd in Shining Armor might make the grade with Kelly. Then she went on maternity leave and Reading with Ripa took a short break. But the book club message boards were still up, and no one was throwing in the towel, least of all me.

Time marched on, however. My book came out the end of April, 2003, and no word from the LIVE folks indicating the book club would resume. It seems Kelly was home nursing her baby. I ask you, where were her priorities? Had no one suggested that she could nurse a baby and read a romance at the same time?

In May, Kelly returned from maternity leave, and I held my breath. I held my breath for a very long time, so if I look a little peaked when next you see me, remember that I held my breath for approximately five weeks back in 2003 while I waited to see if a)Reading with Ripa was back in business and b)whether my submission had a chance in hell of making it.

Oh, glorious day, the answer was YES. I found out the first week in June that I was the seventh pick, baby! I could breathe again, which allowed me to drink copious margaritas in celebration. So I was on the show, the book hit the Times and my life changed forever.

Today LIVE with Regis and Kelly is celebrating twenty years on the air, and I’m thrilled for them. I wish them the very best! But it pains me to tell you that Kelly won’t be using the occasion to announce another Reading with Ripa Book Club Pick.

You see, there was no eighth pick. After my appearance on the show, the book club DIED. There, I’ve said it. Dear God, was it the white Capri pants paired with the deep blue blouse? Should I have gone with gold instead of silver jewelry? Was it my use of the word crucible? How did I go wrong? How did I manage to screw it up for the rest of the romance writing world???

Whatever it was, I deeply apologize. I’m very sorry, and mostly I’m sorry for myself, because I have this new series coming out, starting with Over Hexed on October 2, and I could really, really use the boost.

Vicki Lewis Thompson
http://www.vickilewisthompson.com/