Saturday, April 27, 2013

Authors and Their Cats

This is gorgeous Lily Munster, a black female tabby with a white locket. She provides inspiration, love and—so I am told—exercise to the man she owns:

Author Robert M. Roberts.

Lily was born on Halloween in 2004 (hence the appropriate pose above), and she is strictly an indoor cat. Her one unique skill is to fetch toy mice. When these are tossed down the stairs, she brings them back. As far as she is concerned, this could go on for hours. When she is not exercising her owner, she curls up at a favorite spot (admit it, all you cat authors: the top of the fridge is your cat’s best vantage point as well).



Author Robert M. Roberts makes sure he features Lily in all of his books—sometimes in a cameo role, sometimes as a featured character. You can follow Lily Munster's adventures in his novels
The Monkey Toy
Reader age recommendation: Ages 17 and up due to language and unexpected graphic violence.

Souls of the Desert
Reader age recommendation: Ages 13 and up.

Both books are available from Amazon.com for Kindle and in Paperback:

Lily also has a spot in Mr. Roberts’ current work-in-progress:
Running Boy

Learn more about this author from his website:
Mr. Roberts is a Goodreads Author:

Follow him on Twitter: @RobertMRoberts
 


Tuesday, April 23, 2013

Rescued Animals Only as Pets

Jennifer Priester is an author and voracious reader of both fiction and nonfiction books about animals, the relationships between humans and animals, magic and the supernatural.

She currently owns a rescued Chihuahua named Taco (who rarely barks), two rescued Mini Rex rabbits called Chibi & Kojikaki, a ten-year-old goldfish (!) called Pumpkin. She won the lucky little guy at a carnival (we can surely call him rescued).

Never having been a stranger to pets, she owned a Toy Poodle called CeJaye, a Dutch Rabbit called Friendly, and many generations of fish. A Dutch Mix rescue bunny called Oreo was the second rabbit she ever owned. It also was the first pet she rescued; and since then, she has never bought another pet.
 

Jennifer loves to ride, and frequently works with her horse Levi while making friends with many cats including a formerly feral feline.

When reading books about critters, she prefers to read about rescued animals.
Jennifer also writes about them; and she draws.

Here are her Books 1 and 2.

Learn more about Jennifer on her sites:
Twitter:     animalsandmagic


Monday, April 22, 2013

Celebrating Writers Becoming Friends

 
...Readers turning into Followers.


In this solitary writer's life, no author can do without you. I have been fortunate to garner both, mostly through this "Internet-thing" I so eschewed in its infancy. Today, I celebrate it connecting me with you. To me, that's a BIG thing.

Friday, April 19, 2013

Celebrating Inspiration

Blog Hop, Friday, April 19



Pasha, From Animal Shelter to a Sheltered Life, was my first non-fiction book. As such, it did not spring from my imagination (and for those who read and suspect that Edward, Con Extraordinaire might fall into this category, I’ll deny everything). While the title belongs to Pasha, the book is dedicated to all those critters he and I came in contact with at the shelter.

Foremost is Lilliput, my other Maine Coon. She is not as blatantly outgoing as Pasha, and therefore seems to get less attention; but don’t be deceived: I cater to her every miau just as much. And she, in turn, inspires calmness and restraint (alas, not when it comes to food).



She, too, is my inspiration.


Sunday, April 14, 2013

If They Can Get Along, Why Can't We?

So different from each other;
yet, they became friends without encroaching on each other's lives, or territory...


Apparently, this deer visits every morning and the cat goes out to greet it.
(A friend sent this to me; and whoever put this on the net, thank you)

Friday, April 12, 2013

What is Time?

Blog-Hop, Friday, April 12

Celebrating TIME
(That precious thing I now can call my own)
But:

What is Time?

Time means Mornings
filled with laughter;
And Time means Days
streaked with sunlight.
Time means Evenings
engulfed in silv’ry moonglow
And Nights, carrying the gentle whisper of lovers
through their cool and quiet airs.

That is Time, that lingers on
and stands so still.
Yet hastens to begin another
of its Never-Ending Cycles.


(From Moments of the Heart,
A Book of Poems and Short Prose)

Friday, April 5, 2013

Celebrating the Fertile Mind

 Blog Hop - April 5, 2013

How a Small Idea turned into my Leitmotif

When my inventive cover designer, our fellow-blogger Diana Wilder, sent me the cover for KHAMSIN, The Devil Wind of The Nile, she had inserted a small Khepri, a Winged Scarab. “Wow, that looks cool,” I thought.

When I uploaded a corrected copy of the book, I inserted a paragraph where this scarab becomes the personal seal of Ramose, the High Priest of Ptah, chiseled onto the Golden Tablets.

As I wrote SIROCCO, Storm over Land and Sea, I highlighted this same scarab on the rediscovered Golden Tablets. Again, I asked Diana Wilder to superimpose a scarab on the cover, a stolen Rembrandt painting, to tie the two books together. The series of the Legends of the Winged Scarab was born. This, of course, would imply that there will be other volumes. They are in the works—or, at least, rumbling around in my head.

SOUTHERN TRADES (as in Trade Winds) Book 3
plays out in 2016 on the Venezuelan Island of Santa Margarita


KHEPRI, Legends of the Winged Scarab, Book 4
6000 years ago, an unknown civilization-NO, not from Atlantis), survive a volcanic eruption on Crete. They land in a lush and green Sahara—later weaving their legends onto the Ancient Mats (in 3080 translated onto the Golden Tablets under Ramose).



Please check out the blog about my historial fiction: http://devilwinds.blogspot.com/

PS: These drafts have not had the benefit of Diana’s input.
I urge you to check out Diana’s own fabulous covers for her Memphis Series here:

Your thoughts on these draft covers would be highly appreciated.