We’re at the end of a holiday weekend here in the US, not that our cats have noticed. I have the day off of work and Nola doesn’t have school, but because we don’t actually leave the house for those things these days, the cats have lost all sense of time and perspective. And they really don’t get the concept of work time versus home time.
Apparently, having us home all the time means we now live in Cat Standard Time.
Take my cat Sydney, for example. He has taken to “supervising” my work. Both Sydney and his brother, Truman, offer very vocal commentary when I’m not practicing cat-approved ergonomics and will go so far as blocking any attempts to have a laptop in my lap (it’s right there in the name!).
Throw in the occasional reminder to get up and stretch (courtesy of a well-timed hairball threatening my shoes), and their lack of human language bears no impediment to their supervision.
My cat Max, on the other hand, thinks I should work more. His cat bed is right next to my desk so he gets extra pets throughout the day, and he will swat at either of my other boys if they try to interfere with my work schedule.
We have a small dog, too, but she gets no say in the matter. As the boys seem to imply: “Cats rule, dogs…well, we don’t recognize the validity of dogs.”
Despite the conflicting messages from the cats, they all wholeheartedly support our newest book release, the first volume in The Year of the Cat series, which we are launching thanks to our Kickstarter of the same name earlier this year.
Because, you know, it’s all about cats.
Here’s the synopsis for Book One:
In A Cat of a Different Color, the first volume of WMG’s The Year of the Cat series, editors Dean Wesley Smith and Kristine Kathryn Rusch worked to find stories that featured cats that were just a little surprising (an impressive feat for cats, anyone would have to admit).
Just a little weird. A little different.
Which makes these stories amazingly fun to read. After all, for cat people, reading about cats equals the fun of being with one.
Almost. Just don’t tell the cats.
Includes:
“Familiar Territory: A Winston and Ruby Story” by Kristine Kathryn Rusch
“The Conscientious Cat” by Agnes A. Sandham
“The Mouth that Walked” by Dean Wesley Smith
“Do Not Resuscitate” by Dory Crowe
“Myrtle’s Boxes” by Louisa Swann
“Ornamental Animals” by Ray Vukcevich
“Christmas, Interrupted” by Lisa Silverthorne
“Blame it on the Ghosts” by Annie Reed
Click here for purchase information.
We’ll be releasing one book a month over the course of the next year, so keep an eye out for each new volume. My cats insist on it.
And I think Sydney has figured out how to use Zoom, so you’d best do as he says…
Allyson Longueira is publisher of WMG Publishing. She is an award-winning writer, editor and designer, working mother, and brain tumor survivor.