Hey Jennifer! Lovely to have you here! Shepherds are such characters, aren't they? A friend of mine had one that used to chew golf balls... like, until they cracked open and all the rubber came out, LOL. Your Marley sounds like a real delight! Cigarettes? OMG. Still snorting with laughter.
Dawn--thanks so much for stopping in to chat! And I gotta admit, I'm glad that my current cat has no desire to bring wetas into the house. Spotting those wavy antennae right by my feet, just before the thing started to crawl up my leg used to give me conniptions. Do. Not. Miss. At. All. Cripes, your puss is pure stealth, isn't she? What a worry! You'd have to scrape me off the ceiling if something clawed jumped out at me as I wandered past. Sneaky puss!
Hi Jennifer & MaryAnne -- thanks so much for dropping in and reading my post! Hope you enjoy Kat & Jace's story. It was a whole heap of fun to write and the first story I ever plotted before sitting down to write! Pity the characters didn't exactly stick to the plot *g*
Peggy--yikes! I've never had a close encounter with a skunk but I imagine that would have been dire! Tomato juice really works, huh? Good to know. And as my brother's dog used to eat cherry tomatoes straight off the vine in the garden, I can just imagine Bandit licking the juice off herself. What a great memory. Thanks so much for sharing it!
Lisa--dogs are so very focused on the prize at times, aren't they? Bet it wouldn't have even occurred to your pup he couldn't run straight up a wall until he landed in a heap on the ground. Bet the astonished expression on his face was priceless *g*
May -- Kyo's my favorite character, too! He makes out like he's all staunch, and bites everyone's head off, but he's desperate to be included, and so terribly wounded. Oh, and I'm making a note to check out Special A, and His and Her -- that last one rings a bell. Bet my daughter will be able to tell me all about it *g*
Carly -- Hiya! *waves* Thanks heaps for dropping in and reading my post!
Jennifer -- OMG, that's soooo funny. Dripping wet doggie careening around the place and running right over the furniture.... I wouldn't be able to quit laughing!
Theresa, oh noes! That is just kinda tragic. Those rotten birds. Talk about teases.
Shirley -- thanks for the recommendation! I'll check it out. I'm rather partial to the Vampire Knight series, too.
Alyson -- what a duo! I'm totally impressed by the working in tandem thing. I don't think my cat would share. She's ALWAYS hungry. She'll even eat fish-food if it's left out *eyeroll*
Brandy -- yay! Nice to see you here, and I'm glad you made it!
Gayle -- I love Maine Coon cats! I first heard of them in Julian May's "Saga of the Exiles" books. Rogi Remillard had a Maine Coon called Marcel and I was intrigued enough to find out about them. Our Minna is an Ocicat--a rather neurotic one, since she had a bit of a tough life before she "found" us. She's got some definite doglike traits--loves lying on her back with her paws in the air. Very elegant--not!
Marjorie and George, thanks so much for stopping by and leaving a comment. I appreciate it very much!
Deb--Monkey is one very smart cat indeed! That's above and beyond mere "cupboard love" don't you think? If only cats could talk... or perhaps not. It might be rather scary--and very humbling! LOL.
Pam-- a hopping cat? That's totally awesome! I remember that cartoon, so you're comment is giving me such a great visual right now. I'd love to see a video of your puss up on YouTube--bet you'd get heaps of views! Actually, my editor for Kat On A Hot Tin Roof, Judith, sent me a video link after she contracted the novella of a real live "cat" burglar. This puss was just like "Slinky Malinki" from Lynley Dodd's story. It stole all manner of things and trotted home with each item in its mouth. You'd have to see it to believe it *g*
Patti -- LOLOL! Did he have a hang-dog expression when he crawled out of the pool? Sorry, couldn't resist. But they do look dreadfully embarrassed when they are caught out like that, don't they? Our old cat, Hazel, used to nap on the arm of the chair, and then just fall off and lie there on the ground looking dazed-- all, "Huh? What just happened?" Poor old thing.
Chele -- oh yes. Your cat will definitely be laughing at the dog. I love dogs, but sometimes I'm sure they're just put on this earth to amuse our cats.
Anne -- earplugs? Really??? OMG, that's hilarious! Can't wait to tell my kids that story when they get home from school. And do y'all have the "Rolly" dog loo-paper ads on TV? It's one of those cute wrinkly dogs that look like they have yet to grow into their skin. And the things Rolly gets up to with rolls of loo-paper.... Way cute! But sure am glad I don't have to clean up that mess. Bet you're glad your puss has decided earplugs are more fun to play with *g*
Margaret -- ah yes. I'm not looking forward to cicada season. Minna (our Ocicat) might look like a lazy puss, but she's darned quick! We'll have cicadas left all 'round the house this summer, I'm sure.
Desiree -- thank you! I have been very lucky with my covers. Red Sage have allowed me a huge amount of input on From The Ashes and Scent Of A Man especially -- basically they let me pick the main stock photos that were used! And that's how I discovered that the cover model used for From The Ashes is ex-UK Gladiator and bodybuilding champ, Sam Bond. He's a lovely guy. He even let me interview him on my blog.
Elizabeth -- thanks for stopping by, and feel free to check out the excerpts on my blog or my Facebook author page. I've been told I have quite a strong "voice" and I'm aware it might not always appeal to people, so I try to post long excerpts to give readers a sense of the style. Scent Of A Man for instance, is my take on a historical, so it's very different from the sarcastic "modern" style of my other books. A reviewer once mentioned "Valley girl" style of speech, but I'm not quite sure what that is! It's just me being me, LOL.
Colleen -- the budgie we had we I was a kid used to do the same thing as your parrot, Oscar. And Joe-Brush (as we called him) used to be a real chatterbox. He talked very well indeed. He once got a hangover after perching on the edge of my dad's rum and coke-filled glass and having a drink. Mom had to haul him out of there. And the next morning, we found him with his head stuck under his bell in his cage, and he could be heard saying quite clearly, "Poor Joe. Poor Joe." I'd forgotten that until now. What a hoot! Poor Joe, indeed.
Pam, my daughter and I started reading Fruits Basket at the library and got hooked on it. Then we went to Armageddon, the SciFi convention, and found the entire series on DVD. Epic Win! I've gotten behind on the Manga series, and DD tells me the ending differs a bit on the Anime version, so I'm eager to catch up at some stage and read the Mangas from start to finish.
Christine, your Mittens sounds like a real character. Maybe she really wants to be called Muffin? LOL. Our puss has eaten through a plastic shopping bag to get to the meat inside when I got distracted and left it out on the bench. And she has been known to lick an empty margarine tub or two in her time. She's such a worry.
Debbie.... ROFL! Yep, I would say it was definitely your puss 1, your mom 0 (maybe even negative figures *g*)
Lynn, your tale of cats posing for cameras reminds me off this saying I have on an SPCA magnet: "Thousands of years ago, cats were worshipped as gods. Cats have never forgotten this." Yep, I'd say that just about summed it up.
Omigosh, I've just gotten up to check my emails (it's morning here in NZ) and these are fantastic stories! Thank you so much for sharing and helping me start the day with a smile! I have to go do the school run, now, so I'll be back to read them through in more detail, and talk to y'all in an hour or so. Have a great day/afternoon/night...
Carla, I'm cracking up at your description. Poor puss! And poor you! Still, at least your cat has enough sense not to try and eat the spiders.... unlike mine *eyeroll*
I don't mind spiders -- generally. But really big ones? *shudder*. When we lived in Wellington, we were haunted by huge big brown spiders--Huntsmen spiders, I think they were called Nothing worse than looking up at the ceiling while you're in the shower and finding one looking right back at you. I'm sure I got my first grey hairs around about then *g* And I'd often find one in amongst the washing that had gone into the clothes dryer -- all curled up and thankfully, dead. I don't miss those those things one bit!
OMG, Linda, that would have totally freaked me out for sure! My mom's cat has a habit of lurking in the ceiling. She's gotten herself stuck in all sorts of weird little tight spots. Just as well her "Daddy" is a builder, and knows how to get her out, LOL.
Hi Sharon, Just got in from our RWNZ conference and am wading through my inbox *g*. Saw your post and wanted to stop by to say, "Hi", and to tell you how much you post resonated with me. Thanks for the "Aha!" moment. Hugs! Maree
Suzanne, What a fabulous story! Thanks so much for sharing your ups and downs with us and being so honest about how you felt. This business is tough and we have to love it to bits and beyond to want to keep on going and pushing through the pain of "thanks, but no thanks!". Mego-kudos for not only finishing your manuscript, but continuing to polish it and revise it and believe in it. And I'm so thrilled you found the right home for your story!
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