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Sunday, May 15, 2016

THE SCARY THING ABOUT CAT EDITORS, by Mollie Hunt




Editor Cat-There are Days, by Rogena Mitchell-Jones Manuscript Service


Tinkerbelle is looking at me from her bed behind my monitor where she does her best editing. She knows what I’m thinking. She knows I don’t have a clue what I’m about to write, and she knows I’m going to fudge my way through in spite of that. Cats know these things, but…

How do they know?

 

Tinkerbelle, Prime Editor


I turn slightly and see Tink is not alone; Little is also watching. She wants to see what I do next. She looks exceedingly smug, knowing that if she doesn’t like it, she will drift her feathery fur across my touch screen and make it all disappear in a fizzle of pixel-fire.

 “No, Little, no! It can’t be that bad. Can it?”


Little, Hands-on Editor


There has been a lot of buzz on the internet lately about cat editors. You think we’re kidding? That the phrase, cat editor, is just a cute way of saying we like to work with a cat on our laps? Not true. Cats know a good story when they hear one, and since they are essentially telepathic, they often know a writer’s work before the writer does.

Tinkerbelle is purring as she pushes me for full disclosure. Okay, I admit my title is misleading: I don’t find cats scary, and certainly not my own little clowder.


Keep Writing or the Claws Come Out, by Jordan L. Hawk


No, I’m not afraid of cats or their arsenal of arcane abilities. Bring them on, the more the better! (Limited only by my finances and how many litter boxes I can clean in a morning.) Their talent for reading my mind and at times, influencing it, is a good thing; after all, what would a cat writer be without cats?
The fact that my books revolve around cats doesn’t seem strange to me.
When sometimes I find myself writing from their perspective, well, that isn’t so weird, is it? Someone needs to tell their stories.
When I have crazy cat lady dreams and wake up with a cat on my head, that’s just normal, right?
But sometimes when I close my eyes, I begin to purr…

 
Be afraid! Be furry afraid!

 
Tinkerbelle, the black floofy female with one white whisker, is a 15 year old rescued stray who until recently worked with me as a therapy cat. Little, also female, black (with a pendant), and a rescue, is 9 and sassy. Big Red, the orange tabby male, adopted me. His age is thought to be around 12.
 

 


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4 comments:

  1. I laughed my way through your article, Mollie. It was entertaining, funny, and sorta true.
    All the best to you...

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    1. Thank you and forgive me for such a late reply - I only now saw I had comments.

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  2. Mollie, I love this post! We sound like birds of a feather - or maybe I should say cats of a clowder. (I'm also thrilled to see someone else use the word 'clowder.') I too have a clowder of feline editors. (Loki is currently draped across my arm as I type, requiring more back-spacing that usual.)

    I refer to my clowder as my "mewses" and the only thing stopping them from world domination is their lack of thumbs.

    May the fur be with you!

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    1. Forgive me for such a late reply - I only now saw I had comments. I like "mewses".

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