"What should I put on my website?"
That's a common enough question. Cathy Clamp polled more than forty thousand prospective readers for answers. The respondents included readers of romance, science fiction, fantasty, mystery, horror, literary works, non-fiction, biographies/memoirs and even...gulp, Westerns.
Amazingly, 17% said they'd liked to see photos for the authors' cats. As Cathy added, parenthetically, "Weird, huh?"
Maybe not.
We've all noticed how this site gets a lot of comments when we write about our dogs. Maybe we've been, uh, barking up the wrong tree. It's furry, it's four-legs and a tail, but...we've missed the mark.
With those readers in mind, I dug through my many, many boxes of unscrapbooked photos to unearth pictures of my two favorite cats: Stanley and Seymore Kitty.
Seymore's mother was a Persian, and I still think that this little grey-striped guy with his adorable pink nose and white blaze is the most beautiful cat I've ever seen. He single-handedly--uh, single-pawedly--turned me into a major cat lover. I chose him from a litter of pure white cats because...I thought him lovely. He was a sweetheart, too.
Stanley's real name was Stanley Cup. He was dropped off at the pet shop where I worked. Unwanted. Well, I fell for him. He has the distinction of being the smartest cat I ever owned. So smart, in fact, that he taught himself to urinate in the toilet. One night my mom got up, stumbled into the bathroom, pulled down her panties and started to sit--only to discover a furry feeling, um, down below. It was Stanley. And he was already busy. Yep, she thought she was dreaming, but it happened again and again.
Both cats have since gone to kitty-heaven. I have discovered I'm major league allergic to cats, which is a real shame because I absolutely love them.
Apparently I'm not alone.
10 comments:
I've been trying to keep this a secret, because of the risk of being run off this blog and also losing any number of readers.
I don't do pets.
It's not that I don't like animals. I just don't "do" animals. I don't do anything other than humans that requires feeding, cleaning up after, medical attention, and the occasional backrub. That includes plants.
So, here I am a cozy writer, and I skip past the pets.
Now you know.
Joanna--
Yes, it appears that the numbers of cat people are overtaking the numbers of dog people. Or maybe they're now ahead. In any event, even though my best friends are dogs, I understand how cats can be charming, too. I'll have to blog about cats in my family one of these days, too.
Camille, I know there are people who don't dig pets, and you're absolutely welcome to your opinion --even if I don't identify at all with it!
--Linda
I love cats! I love dogs! Right now, I have 2 cats and 1 dog and I want more. But I'm using restraint. The teenagers are heading for college and I'd like to have more freedom. It's going to be hard.
Camille, you're smarter than I am. I'd love to admire from a distance.
Joanna, Thanks for sharing the great Stanley story and the photo of your kittys!
Unfortunately, I know EXACTLY what you mean . . . We got this wonderful kitty "Lowe" Lion, in Germany. The week we got him, everything bloomed and I ended up in the hospital with an asthma attack. NEVER thought to blame it on the cat.
When we came back to the states, we shiped him. We drove cross country with him. Finally, after 18 years, he went to the rainbow bridge. We had the carpets cleaned and the ducts cleaned and about 6 weeks later - my asthma was better. MUCH better. No more fur bearers for us either :(
Regards,
LindaB
On Sunday, I volunteered at the Peter Zippi Fund for Animals garage sale near the beach in Southern California. What a dedicated group! They raise money for homeless kitties (currently, mostly kittens), who are housed at the local VCA Coast Animal Hospital. I wish I could take them all home! But if I did, I think my husband would pen a new murder mystery, "How I strangled my cat-loving wife," lol!
Camille,
We love you anyway.
Joanna
Dear Anonymous,
It's that the pits? I had a lovely rabbit, but became soooo sick we had to find him another home...
joanna
whew, thanks, Joanna!
CM
Kathryn,
I'm with you, babe. I'm at a friend's house on the Lake of the Ozarks, and we've found a stray dog. I'm busy thinking how to smuggle him home--which isn't fair because it's possible he just wandered away from his family.
j
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