CAT STUFF, by Mollie Hunt

I don’t consider myself a collector. The idea that I purposefully go out seeking cat objects is ludicrous. Yet when I look around me, at my desk, my shelves, my bookcase, my jewelry, even my clothing, I have to wonder. From every side, round furry faces with pointed ears and bright gem eyes stare back at me. Plush, wood, ceramic, paper – there are cats. Cats everywhere. But I’m not a collector. 

There is something about the fluid shape of a cat, the perfect symmetry (or in some cases, perfectly imperfect) that pleases the eye and soothes the soul. When I am sad or lost for words, I run my gaze over the long back and shapely tail. When I am anxious, the serenity of a sleeping cat calms me. And when I’m just here and present, I enjoy looking at their form. To me, cats are flawless.

I’m picky about the cat items with which I surround myself. I can tell whether the artist has a true affinity for cats or he is just doing a design job. Cutsie kittens or uncat-like caricatures are not my preference. On the other hand, I enjoy the strange colors of the whimsical post-war MIJ figures, the Oaxacan carved totems, and the Japanese maneki-neko, because the pieces embody the personality of a real cat. 

I have many pictures of cats, portraits of cats-gone-by, photos of my beautiful current cats. There is an original wood block print by San Francisco artist Louise Gilbert and a linoleum print made by an unknown child. In my office is a wall calendar, a day planner, and cat-a-day. Over my living room couch hang 6 photos by Best Friends Sanctuary photographer Clay Meyers. I once sent him a snapshot of my kitty Harry lounging on the couch back in front of his work.

Though I don’t keep them on my bed like a starry-eyes teenager any more, I have a number of stuffed plush cats, One growls when pressed; another walks, driving my real cats crazy; yet another is in itself a cat toy. I also have a tribble who trills, given to me by author David Gerrold, but that’s another story. 

There is more – much more: cat lamp, cat needlepoint, cat tile, cat vase, cat cup, cat salt and pepper. But I assure you once again, I do not collect cat stuff. Ask me about my Star Trek autographs. Now that’s a collection!

Check out more blogs by Mollie Hunt at:

Mollie Hunt: Crazy Cat Lady Mysteries and more

Happy reading!

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.

 

 

Check out more blogs by Mollie Hunt at:

Mollie Hunt: Crazy CatLady Mysteries and more

 

Happy reading!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A Gift of Words

Hi everyone, Isabella Norse here. It’s hard to believe that a month has passed since my last post! As we enter this holiday season, I have gifts on my mind.

Ernest Hemingway is credited with saying “There is nothing to writing. All you do is sit down at a typewriter and bleed.” While few authors still use typewriters, there is still much truth in that quote. You see, a book is far more than just words and paper (or pixels, as the case may be). Every book ever written contains a bit of the author’s heart and soul.

We write when the words come easily. We stare at our laptops, mumbling to ourselves when the words don’t want to come at all. We write in the evenings after a full day at work, after the kids are in bed, and after the elderly parents have been checked on. We write when we should be doing other things, such as exercising or balancing the checkbook. We laugh when our story amuses us and cry when a beloved character dies. We experience the magic that occurs when our characters say and do things that we never imagined. (What do you mean you want to be a missionary? You’re supposed to be a hairdresser!) We agonize over book titles and character names. We wonder if anyone will ever read our words and hope that if they do, they will laugh and cry in all the right places. We tell ourselves that we must be thick-skinned, that we must not read our reviews. Then, we read them anyway and curl up in a corner with a box of tissues, five pounds of chocolate, and at least one cat while we cry over the mean-spirited ones.

Mostly, we write because we have to. We have been given a gift of words. Not using that gift leaves us feeling incomplete. So, the next time you pick up a book, be it a paperback or ebook, remember that you are holding more than just a story. You are holding a magical gift that not only transports you to a new world, you are holding a tiny piece of the author as well. Handle it with care.

In the spirit of the gift-giving season, I will be giving one lucky commenter a signed copy of the Nine Deadly Lives anthology. So, sound off in the comments. I’d love to hear from you and who knows, you may win a free book. ;-) Good luck and until next month, Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!  

Website:  http://www.isabellanorse.com/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/IsabellaNorseAuthor/

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Why NaNoWriMo Works for Me

Hi, everyone! My name is Linda Ward, but I write as Isabella Norse. I’m thrilled to be a new member of the Fire Star Press family. (My short story, The Nerd in Shining Armor, is a part of the Nine Deadly Lives anthology which was published in October.) I’ll be blogging here the first Wednesday of every month. Since my first post falls in the month of November, I want to introduce you to NaNoWriMo and tell you why it works for me.

NaNoWriMo stands for National Novel Writing Month and it takes place every November. During the month of November, writers from around the world come together to cheer each other on as we each strive to write a 50,000 word novel in 30 days.

Now, don’t let the terminology fool you. The term “writer” doesn’t just mean someone that has already written a novel; it means anyone that has ever dreamed of writing a novel. And, our novels are as different as those of us that write them. Some of us focus on original works while others write fan fiction. It doesn’t matter what you write, only that the words are original to you and that they are written during the month of November. You can’t copy and paste 50,000 words from a pre-existing story. Well, you can, but that would be known as cheating.

I had never heard of National Novel Writing Month until 2011, approximately ten days before it started. I had a story that I wanted to write and thought that I would get around to it someday. That year, I decided that someday had arrived. I threw myself into the process and, at the end of the month, I had a rough draft of my first novel! 

In the process of writing that draft, I learned that NaNoWriMo actually works very well for me. Why? Well, I’m a perfectionist. It’s easy for me to spend a lot of time editing the words that I’ve already written instead of actually getting new words down, which means that a first draft can take me a Very. Long. Time. Successfully completing 50,000 words in 30 days means writing an average of 1,667 words per day. That’s a lot of words, especially when doing this on top of working full time, or going to school, or any of those things that make our lives so full. So, in order for me to reach that goal, I have to bind and gag my inner editor, shove her in a closet for the month, and just write.

Just writing isn’t always pretty. You may be thinking that no two characters should ever be forced to have such banal dialogue or that your action scenes have all the impact of snowmen fighting but… It. Doesn’t. Matter. You have the rest of your life to edit. The point of NaNoWriMo is to simply get the words down no matter how rough they may be. However, a few years of experience have shown me that when I go back and re-read my novel, a lot of the things that I thought stunk royally really aren’t that bad. As a matter of fact, some of it is pretty darn good.

Another reason that NaNoWriMo works for me is because I am a very competitive person. I’m not the type to just sit back and not make my goal while my Writing Buddies blow past me to the finish line. Nope. If I start the race, I’m going to do my best to finish it.

So, have you been dreaming of writing a novel? Well, you’ve still got time to sign up. Just go to www.nanowrimo.org and get started. When you get there, look me up, I’m known as RedHeadedViking on the site. We’ll cheer each other on to victory!

Until next month, take care. And, to those of you in the United States, Happy Thanksgiving! If you get a chance, look me up on social media (links below). I’d love to get acquainted!

Nine Deadly Lives Anthology: https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/580457

Website:  http://www.isabellanorse.com/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/IsabellaNorseAuthor/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/AuthorIzzy

Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/isabellanorse/