Cats Rule! (or at least they think so)

Today I continue to feature our pets, the ones who own us, live with us, love us and make our lives better in so many ways. Animal communicator Karen Wrigley has generously allowed me to use one of the stories from her newsletters on my blog.  I hope you enjoy it.   

Karen is a well known animal communicator who has helped countless people and their pets— both nationally and internationally—with the process of communication, healing, and growth.  She has been featured as an expert in her field in numerous newspapers and publications, and  in the USA Today article titled, “Psychics Help Pet Owners Get a New Leash on Life”.  She has also appeared on several radio talk shows across the country including the very popular “Animal Talk” hosted by Dr. Marty Becker, author of Healing Power of Pets.  She is the author of Beyond Woofs and Whinnies.  

You can learn more about Karen's work by going to her website http://www.karenwrigley.com

Karen and Griz, her Lippizaner

Chester Black Cat

In life, some things look certain, yet are they?

He came running across my mother’s yard from the corn field the day after my father’s memorial. The grandkids named him Chester Black after their grandfather, James Chester Page. Originally my father’s name was Chester James, until his grandfather asked his grandson to change his first name to James, after him. Father’s reward was $10. For a young boy, it seems to me, it would take courage to change one’s given first name, yet father did. He bought a new bicycle giving him freedom to travel the country roads.

In life, some things may look certain, yet are they?

The grandkids carried Chester Black around their necks, held him like a baby, and came running when called. He told me he was a good mouser. I responded with a “thumbs up” attitude, and to show proof, would help his cause in staying. The next day a mouse was found by the front porch.

After family left, my mother and I, mostly I, were now attending to Chester Black’s needs. He was de-wormed, given quality cat food, and on a daily basis I worked with him to maintain his gentle nature. My mother thought he was sent to her for a reason. But, as the days went by, mother could not endear herself to Chester Black. She was perplexed why not, until a light bulb went on in her head. Throughout her life she had been a caretaker of elderly people and five children. She did not want more responsibility, including the needs of a cat.

With mother’s found understanding, I told Chester Black we were going to plan B, to find him another home. Chester Black Cat stayed calm and collected with this information. In fact, he helped me when I became concerned about his future, and continued to purr.

A few days later, Tracey, a childhood neighbor friend, spoke of her mother Treva, and how she wanted an animal to love and could use a good mouser. I believe Chester Black knew this, for I found a mouse at the back door on the deck where Treva would be sitting later that day.

When Treva sat in her chair I boasted of Chester Black’s catch. At that moment Chester Black came from the shrubs, walked past my mother and me over to Treva, and jumped into her lap. He purred and kneaded with his shiny black paws without using his claws. Treva petted and cooed. Chester jumped down, walked over to my mother, rubbed against her, licked her foot, and gave her a look of goodbye. He then sauntered back to Treva and jumped back into her lap. He turned his head, our eyes met, and in that second he brought me back to when he told me life works out when you let it.

Treva took Chester Black home that day. He now resides down a lane with barns to explore and mice to catch. Treva is madly in love and Chester Black is one happy cat.

Mother had been saying “yes” to others most of her life. All said to her this is the perfect cat for you, and was brought to her at a time and way that seemed magical. And it was, but not in the way we expected. Chester Black gave Mother an opportunity to say “no” to others, and “yes” to herself. This act took courage. Mother has always been a yes person. My spry mother at 83 years old now has her freedom to travel the road she chooses, and Chester Black found his perfect home.

In life, some things may look certain, yet are they?

Chester Black expresses:  Be true to you, with faith, and life will be better than your own expectations. Mouse anyone?

A while back I was in a communication with a lady who took in a young dog needing a home 17½ years ago.  The dog asked his person why she took him in. The short version―others thought she should. It took six years for them to bond and become friends. He told her at that time in her life she believed life was difficult, and so he fulfilled her belief system.

My mother at one time attracted those that were in need or needing tending to, and enjoyed doing so. But now she realizes she is ready for a change. Are you?

You can read more of Karen's newsletters on her website and order her book there.

And, well, what story about a cat is complete without the picture of a cat.  My cat Marley insisted on standing in for all cats this week. He looks so regal here, just after he has done something bad probably.                         
 

Cats and Dogs and Pets--Oh, My!

I talk a lot about animals in my interviews and on this blog.  I guess that’s only natural since I was raised on a farm.  At one point my husband and I travelled around the country in a tiny motor home with two cats and one dog.  Now we live with two cats (the house is theirs—we lease from them).

I thought it might be fun to include some thoughts about the pets that own us and those that find their way into our writing, so for the next several weeks this blog will be dedicated to all things pet.  This week the writer Jackie Vick shares with us a recipe for dog food.  When she sent it to me I was struck by how similar it was to a recipe I used with my cat.  I’m certain it kept her alive for years and contributed to her svelte body.  Maybe I should have used it on myself!

Jackie makes some important points about how careful as humans we are about what we eat, but are we as concerned about our pets?  Do we know what is good for them?  Jackie gives us an easy way to insure good health for them.

Author Jackie Vick

Chemicals and Corn in Dog Food: Oh, My!

Next time you visit the grocery store, take a look at your fellow shoppers. You’ll see them carefully scanning the labels searching for gluten-free foods, low sugar content, or whatever meets their dietary needs. These same well-informed consumers will move to the pet aisle and pick up whichever dog food is on sale!

Did you know that corn is hard for dogs to digest? Yet it’s a top ingredient in many dry foods. Then there are sinister-sounding chemicals, and words like “meal” and “by-product”. What exactly is the by-product of a chicken??? And the recent pet food recalls are enough to scare any pet parent.

That’s why I decided to make my dog’s food. Internet sites offered varying (and often militant) opinions. One site suggested adding garlic powder as a deterrent to fleas, while another swore this ingredient would kill your dog!  I was lucky enough to find a class offered by a local woman with a degree in animal nutrition.

Her recipes included grains, veggies, and meat, as well as additions like brewer’s yeast, calcium, flax seed, and the highly-debated garlic. I don’t add yeast because Buster’s tummy gurgles so loud I can hear it in the next room. You can clean, dry, and grind your own egg shells for calcium, but I’m lazy and buy bone meal from the health store. I do add the flax seed, but I avoid garlic, just in case.

When I rave about making my own food, most people respond with, “I haven’t got the time!” I’ve found with a few pots and a microwave, it really only takes a half hour. You can find 8 ounce storage containers and lids at Smart-n-Final, and they sell bulk meats, veggies and grains, so the cost isn’t prohibitive. Bone meal and flax seed are kept in stock at health food stores.

Here is a recipe I use for Buster. It’s adjusted for his colitis (lower protein), and I give him a doggie multi-vitamin just to be safe. I’m not a nutritionist or a vet, so keep in mind that your own dog’s needs might be different. Check with your vet. It’s great if you can find a class locally, but make sure to check the person’s credentials. 

Bone Appetite!

Thanksgiving Dinner

5 cups of cooked rice. (Brown or white will work.)

16 oz of green beans. (if canned, buy salt-free or rinse)

12 oz of butternut squash (I use frozen from the grocery store)

3 lbs of ground turkey

A handful of dried, unsweetened cranberries. 

1 TB of Bone Meal. 

2 TB of Flax Seed

Cook the rice according to package directions. If you have a microwave, the rice cooks up easily while you’re doing the other steps.

Brown and crumble the turkey until it’s thoroughly cooked.

Steam or boil the squash and green beans together.

Dump the rice into a large bowl when it’s finished.

Finely grind the turkey, cranberries, and veggies in a food processor (in batches). Add to the rice.

Sprinkle on the flax seed and bone meal.

Mix well.

Once it’s cool, put into containers. Keep a few days worth in the refrigerator and freeze the rest.

I’ve been known to toss everything into one pot and cook it on low until the turkey is done and the rice has absorbed the liquid. Like I said, easy-peasy!

Another new book!

Untreedreads released my new ebook Angel Sleuth on April 10.  Check out the cool cover with a pink pig (yes, it's a girl) balancing pool balls on her nose.  Here's a blurb to tempt you:

Kaitlin Singer needs time off—from a philandering husband, from a writing career stalled on a buzzard as a main character, and from the stash of chocolate in her lingerie drawer.  Her decision to return to her childhood home might seem like the perfect way to get her life back together were it not for her mother foisting two visitors on her, guests who claim to be guardian angels.  Perhaps not all is lost, for the angels might just be the companions she needs to help her solve the murder of a local newspaper columnist.  To uncover clues to the crime, Kaitlin takes over the dead woman’s work, writing the column as well as volunteering in the senior center, moves which put her in the path of the killer.  She and her guests will need assistance from a pot-bellied pig and some pool skills to bring the murderer down.

You can buy it from a variety of sources including Amazon, but I recommend you go to Untreedreads.com.

By the way, the pig's name is Desdemona.

Poisoned Pairings: Second in the Hera Knightsbridge Master Brewer Series

I've changed the blog and included the cover of the second Hera Knightsbridge Master Brewer series. 

The second book is Poisoned Pairings.  Here's a short blurb on it:

A student helping set up for a beer and food pairings event in Hera Knightsbridge’s microbrewery dies there under suspicious circumstances.  At first the death looks like a suicide, but the medical examiner determines it is murder, and Hera and her lover, Deputy Sheriff Jake Ryan again find themselves partners in searching for the killer.  Not only does murder threaten the community, but something more explosive has come to the valley—hydraulic fracturing or fracking, a controversial gas drilling technique whose proponents say can take the poor families of the region out of debt.  Hera and her fellow brewers are convinced it will contaminate the water supply, as it had in other places, and change forever the pristine beauty of the valley.  Connections among the student, the family of a dead brewer, a religious leader and the gas companies lead Hera and Jake into a maze of confusing and conflicting clues.  Before the two can unravel the case’s tangled threads, Jake is called away to another job, leaving Hera alone to uncover the identity of the killer before she becomes the next victim.

And a bit more to whet your appetite for beer and murder:

Rafe Oxley, my closest brewing friend, and I sat next to each other in a darkened room in the county office building. My fellow microbrewers in the Butternut Valley and other interested members of the county gathered to watch a video portraying gas exploration using hydraulic fracturing or fracking, a horizontal drilling technique injecting water, sand and chemicals under pressure to shatter underground shale and release the gas trapped inside.


Some individuals in our valley desperate for the income had already signed gas leases. Others worried the drilling would change the valley forever, destroying roads, polluting the air, poisoning our water.

The image on the screen was that of a drilling rig juxtaposed against the verdant background of virgin forest. To its left, a Caterpillar tore a trench through a nearby meadow leaving a gash which ran straight through grass and wildflowers into the scrubby pines behind the site. The camera panned to a fracking pond where the water and chemicals used to force the gas to the surface collected in a landscaping tarp to prevent leakage back into the ground.

The scene shifted to water tumbling over rocks in a small stream. A voice from off-camera said, “Let’s see if we can light this.”

A hand flicked a butane lighter and touched the flame to the water. With a whoosh, the stream caught on fire. The unexpected explosion startled me. I jumped and reached for Rafe’s hand.

“Mrs. Attenby down the road had her well explode on Christmas Eve last year,” said the man who had lit the water.

“The state has stopped the drilling, right?” asked the reporter covering the story.

“Right, but now the water around here is undrinkable. The companies are trucking in safe drinking water to the people who signed drilling leases. ‘Course, since there’s no more gas being taken, the people don’t get their monthly checks.”

Rafe and I glanced at one another, knowing what the other was thinking. Water was the lifeblood of micro brewing. We bought our malt, yeast and hops, shipped them in from other places. Some hops came from as far away as New Zealand. But the main ingredient in our beer, water, came from our wells.

Rafe leaned toward me and whispered what all of us must have been thinking.

“Our wells are connected. We saw that this summer. When one dried up, so did the others. If one well is contaminated, all of them will be. We have to stop this madness.”

Rafe and I turned to look at Teddy Buser, the largest brewer in the valley. He was scowling and shaking his head, the only one of the Butternut brewers who thought making money from natural gas seemed like a good thing. Teddy could afford to buy water, but what of the rest of us? Rafe and I scowled back at him.

The book will be available May 1 from Mainly Murder Press, Amazon, and your favorite indie bookseller.

The Virtues of a Small Publisher: Some Negatives

There you are on a beautiful August day with your hubby to help you, selling books in upstate New York.  What the picture doesn't show is how cold it was in the morning when we set up.  And how hot it got by midafternoon.

Then there was my first beer festival at Hunter Mountain.  In May.  I forgot how cold it can be in upstate NewYork in the spring.  I was dressed for it, but my feet still were frozen by the end of the day.

So there's one of the downsides of selling your own books, a must regardless of what publisher you have.  The weather is rarely your friend.  When it is, you find people are doing something other than buying books!

I promised we would continue our discussion of small publishers.  Not everyone finds advantages in going with a small press.  Hand selling in venues such as beer festivals for me or book events allows writers to meet the reading public, but weather is a consideration and so are the long hours of work with sometimes little return.

What are some of the difficulites you've encountered with a small publisher and how have you handled these?  Some writers find another publisher, others seek out an agent to get them into the larger houses, and there is always the choice of self publishing and/or epublishing.  What has worked for you?

As for me, I dress in layers (wool socks are my friend), I am published with several small publishers, I epublished one of my books, published with an epublisher, and now have an agent.  This girl does not put her eggs in one basket.

Let us know your strategy.  Sharing what you've discovered may help other writers as they try to aovid the potholes in this bumpy road to publishing.

The Virtues of a Small Publisher II: Why did you choose a small publisher?

Virtues of a Small Publisher Sleuthfest Panel Members: Back row from left: Lesley Diehl, Cindy Cromer, Mike Dennis; Front row from left: Lynnette Hallberg, Marty Ambrose

We are continuing our discussion of small publishers this week.  I think there are many good reasons for using a small publishing house.  During the Editors and Agents Panel at Sleuthfest, several panel members pointed out that advances with large publishers are getting smaller, publicity support is shrinking, less editing occurs, and midlist authors fear their contracts may be terminated.  Given this picture, many small publishers with their emphasis on more intimate and supportive relationships between author and press court talented writers and offer them a home where personal contact and input into the process is part of getting into print.

Myths about small publishers abound.  You pay them.  Not true.  That's a vanity press. They have no way of distributing your books once they are in print.  That depends upon the publisher, but most use Ingram and Baker and Taylor, as do the larger houses.  Your local bookstore cannot return the books.  Also not true in most cases.  There is no vetting process nor editing with a small publisher.   Again that varies from house to house.

I'm certain there are other myths.  I'd like to take this blog to clear up misconceptions about small publishers as well as be honest about what a small publisher can and cannot do for you.  This week I'd like your input on why you decided to go with a small publisher.  It's your decision whether you want to name your publisher or not, but I'd like to hear about the paths you took to publication and how they are working for you.

In the next few weeks we'll be talking about other aspects of going with a small publisher,so stay tuned here.

Inspiration in Orlando and the Issue of Small Publishers versus Epublishing

Early Spring in Mickey's Home

 

Mickey Inspires and I Respond

Okay, so now all of you who have read my blog know how I adore cows, but I want to confess another love.  I’m crazy about Mickey Mouse.  My husband has bought me two watches in the fifteen plus years we’ve been together.  One was a Mickey watch, the other Minnie.  As many years as we’ve been wintering in Florida, it was only five years ago I finally got to go to Disney for my birthday.  We were in the Magic Kingdom for the afternoon parade, and I think I was as thrilled by the characters as the kids there were.

That was then and this is now.  We just returned from the Mystery Writers of America Conference sponsored by MWA FL Chapter.  It was held in Orlando at the Royal Plaza.  There is no place one can go in Orlando without being exposed to the Disney brand.  It’s kitschy, I know, but I love it.

There’s no way hubby will repeat our visit to the Magic Kingdom or Epcot or to any of the parks (too bad Harry Potter), but we did go to downtown Disney several nights while at the conference, and I got my Disney fix.  It didn’t hurt that the weather was perfect all the days we were there with the exception of Sunday when a cold front blew in.  I could have walked around the Marketplace and Pleasure Island for hours.  I’m usually crowd-avoidant, but the throngs of people only added to my excitement.

Along with the ideal weather and fun setting, the conference continues through the six years we have attended to be a source of information and inspiration.  Theirs is nothing as inspiring as being around other writers, some still struggling, some highly successful.  I moderated a panel on the virtues of a small publisher.  Throughout the three days preceding my panel, I heard about traditional publishing, the big six, editors and agents.  At the other end of the evolution of the publishing process were numerous discussions on panels and in the bar about self-publishing, the e-book market.

I expected the attendance at my panel to be small, and coming as it did at the very last slot of the slot of the panels late Saturday afternoon, it was.  If I thought the attendees would be sleepy, they weren’t.  A discussion ensued about small publishers and e-publishing.  It was a heated encounter, one I decided to let spin itself out with advocates on both sides of the controversy over why publish with a small publisher when a writer can take everything by self-publishing.  Maybe I’m stretching a point, but I think our panel became a hot topic, one I hope the conference can address directly next year. 

Pair my childish pleasure at the fun venue with my favorite writing conference and the time in Orlando was near perfect, perfect enough that I recommitted myself to writing the really quirky, not the merely funny.  What would that be?  The answer is waiting for me on my computer, and I can’t wait to get to it.  I’ll keep you posted.