I have always attracted cats. I must send out some sort of homing signal to the universe that says: “loving human resides here.”
I’ve rescued a fair number of cats in my day. But now that I have a daughter, who wants to adopt every cat in the neighborhood, it’s complicated.
My own three cats are all rather elderly, as I’ve written about before. I’m loathe to disrupt their lives at this point. They should be able to spend their final years in peace.
But outdoor cats keep adopting us (or trying to).
We share one outdoor kitty—a female we’ve named Twist because she has a (now healed) broken tail that curls under at the end—with our neighbors across the street. They also care for her and feed her, but she comes to us for affection (and snacks). She used to let the neighbors love on her, but then they betrayed her by taking her to the vet to get spayed (apparently violating some agreement they did not know they’d entered into—silly humans). She looks a lot like my Sydney.
A very sweet young girl who looks a lot like my Max started showing up on Sundays, which is very odd. She really wants to come in the house. She’s very playful but never hungry at all, so I think she’s new to the neighborhood and goes adventuring sometimes. But we’re keeping an eye out just in case. Nola calls her Gemini.
And about six months ago, a sweet orange boy started showing up. He looks a lot like our Truman, so Nola named him TJ (Truman Jr.). He’s very affectionate and technically has a home, I’m told, but I fear he’s not being well cared for. Him I’m watching very closely. I might need to intervene there.
I find it very strange that of all the cats who wander our neighborhood, it’s the ones who look most like my three cats who have adopted us. I have no idea yet what that means.
Other than that I’m very much a cat person. Something I share with all of my colleagues here at WMG.
Point in fact, the two books we have publishing this week have cat stories in them. The first, which publishes on Tuesday, is all about cats, in fact. It’s Book 11 in our Year of the Cat series.
Here’s the synopsis for A Cat of Feral Instincts:
Make nice with cats and other creatures? Not feral cats.
Domestic cats cuddle and purr, but feral and wild cats hiss and roar and scratch. For survival.
And sometimes for nefarious motives.
In this fantastic group of ten stories, expect some dark stories, some even gruesome ones.
Unlike the other eleven volumes in this series, expect some truly dark stories, with villainous cats. Sometimes evil stalks and prowls. And sometimes it bites.
Includes:
“Cat and Mice” by Jamie McNabb
“The Undoing of Morning Glory Adolphus” by N. Margaret Campbell
“The Black Cat” by Edgar Allan Poe
“The Story of the Brazilian Cat” by Arthur Conan Doyle
“Pride” by Mary A. Turzillo
“Five Starving Cats and A Dead Dog” by Kristine Kathryn Rusch
“Cat Running Wild” by Dean Wesley Smith
“Out of Place” by Pamela Sargent
“The Destroyer” by Kristine Kathryn Rusch
“Honed, Sharp, and Ready” by Brigid Collins
Click here to read more about it and find buy links on Tuesday.
Our second release this week also features a fantastic cat story, along with eighteen other non-cat-related stories. It’s Issue #11 of Pulphouse Fiction Magazine. Here’s the synopsis:
A three-time Hugo Award nominated magazine, this issue of Pulphouse Fiction Magazine offers up nineteen fantastic stories by some of the best writers working in modern short fiction.
No genre limitations, no topic limitations, just great stories. Attitude, feel, and high-quality fiction equals Pulphouse.
Includes:
“Tinker Henry and the Clockwork Whore” by Jim Gotaas
“A Rough Day at Theophice” by Kathy and Jerry Oltion
“Protagonist” by Steve Perry
“Lost Friends” by R. W. Wallace
“Death by Cookie” by Robert J. McCarter
“Honor Thy Father” by Annie Reed
“Market Street” by O’Neil De Noux
“An Incursion of Mice” by Kristine Kathryn Rusch
“Divinity School” by Kent Patterson
“Yesterday, When I Was Twenty” by Angela Penrose
“In All Your Sparkling Raiment Soar” by Robert Jeschonek
“The Amazing RBG” by David H. Hendrickson
“Intercontinental Ballistic Missile Boy” by Ray Vukcevich
“Urine Deep Trouble” by Cèline Malgen
“Vital Force” by P. D. Singer
“Reunion Seeking” by Rob Vagle
“Bravo and Jazz” by Ron Collins
“The Last Backyard Defender” by J. Steven York
“Down to the Last” by Lee Allred
Click here to read more about it and find buy links on Thursday.
So, you go read while I give love to the many cats in my life.
Allyson Longueira is publisher of WMG Publishing. She is an award-winning writer, editor and designer, working mother, and brain tumor survivor.