Tag Archives: books about cats

Book Birthday For “Miss Fatty Cat’s Revenge!!”

Today is officially the publication day and Book Birthday for “Miss Fatty Cat’s Revenge!” If you follow my blog, this book is not big news for you, and if you follow me on other social media you are more than aware that this is the big day. Book releases and Book Birthdays are not subtle events!

Click on the cover to get your copy from amazon.com now!

Personalized and autographed paperback are also available here at my website, so just look for the shopping cart on the right hand column or go to the Purchase Books page.

Today is also Samantha’s (aka Miss Fatty Cat) 9th birthday. She is not sure what all the fuss is about as far as the book goes, but she’s hoping for some extra food and love today. I’m sure “Leia” will take care of that. You can celebrate with special prices on “Why Kimba Saved The World” (FREE) and “Vacation Hiro” (99 cents) too.

Kimba is not too sure about this nonsense about a book that doesn’t have her image on the cover, but I have assured her that it is still all about her and the adventures that she has at Turpentine Creek Wildlife Refuge. Convincing her that I should spend time on “Max’s Wild Night” where she will only be a side note is a different challenge altogether. Maybe we can distract her with Disney plush toys. Buzz Lightyear was waiting for me this morning on the floor outside my office, so he must have gone for a wild ride. To infinity and beyond, indeed!

I’m really grateful to the bloggers who have supported today’s book launch. I didn’t reach out to as many this time, but most that I contacted answered the call at one time or another in the process. Some have already posted reviews, and I’ve shared them. Today Chris at The Story Reading Ape share a nice interview with me and information about all three books, and Johanna Rae shared a separate interview at her blog. There are a couple of others scheduled that have not been published, so I’ll just have to share them when they come out.

Summer is busy with our guest house business, but fall is when the book tours and fun really get going. There is something nearly every weekend, and I’m so excited to get back out and share the Cats in the Mirror series face to face with new readers and talk with fans. On Sept. 20th & 21st, “Leia” and I will be in Joplin for the Cat Fancier’s show, and September 27th we will be at the Springdale Library for their annual author event. I’m sure I’ll be blogging about that cat show! I’m also participating in two blog tours for other authors this month. Stay tuned!

Free Books, A New Cat, and Great Reads Recommendations

First, I don’t usually post on the weekend, but “Why Kimba Saved The World” is free on kindle Aug. 30th & 31st. Making sure to get that out there spurred me on. Who doesn’t love free books? I’m betting most anyone bothering to follow this blog already has a copy, but you can certainly tell your friends and get them hooked on the series as well! Click here for the amazon.com link.

Okay, that said we can move on to what’s new. Some big exciting news is that we have a new feline grandfurbaby. “Mindy” felt that Tabitha was lonely, so she and her roommate adopted a kitten from Good Shepherd Humane Society in Eureka Springs. Here’s the latest photo in my brag book.

Meet Rhaego!

Wait. Let’s get a close up of that face…

From the reports I’m getting, that look about sums it up. He’s a wild boy and loves to try to steal their food. Tabitha has ceased making terrifying noises any time he comes close, and “Mindy” found them on the sofa together. Hopefully they can become friends once that kitten energy runs out. Yes, I now have a new character for Book 4 (“Slinky Steps Out”) and even more plot ideas. I can’t call him Rhaego. There might be come copyright issues there. Besides, it’s hard for kids to read, let alone pronounce. The shelter had named him Willow, so that’s probably what I’ll stick with. Where will he fall into the alien agent hierarchy? You’ll have to wait until next summer to find out!

I have a couple of books to recommend: “Noisy Creek” by Pamela Foster and “Thursdays at Coconuts” by Beth Carter. Just the covers alone are so inviting! I freely admit that I know both authors, and they are delightful women. That alone won’t get me to read a book, however. I’m halfway through “Noisy Creek” and loving it. The first person voice Pam uses for this story is just fantastic. It even inspired me to try reworking a middle grade story in the first person for the main character, and I’m excited to play with that some. I was waiting for the paperback of “Thursdays at Coconuts,” but I happened to win a free ebook copy through a blog tour giveaway so that’s next up on the agenda. It just means I’ll have to wrestle my husband’s kindle away from him more often. I’ll share the full reviews when I’m done. If only I could tuck away and read for hours.

All the contest entries for the Ozark Writer’s League and the Ozark Creative Writer’s Conference are done and submitted, but September doesn’t leave much time for writing. Between the fall activity at our guest house, book events, and doing some substitute teaching (“Leia’s” braces and “Mindy’s” college tuition are not going to pay for themselves!) I’ll be lucky to spend time doing some tweaking on “At the Corner of Magnetic and Main” before I start talking to High Hill Press about it again in October. I may just need to come up with some lock down time. It makes me grateful for a husband who can cook and isn’t afraid of the vacuum cleaner.

I hope you each have a fantastic holiday weekend. I’m going to try to take some chill out time. Maybe hide away and read a bit. Maybe write a bit. You never know.

Much Ado About Kimba & Hiro

Paperback formatting is complete for Book 3 in the Cats in the Mirror series: “Miss Fatty Cat’s Revenge.” The cover reveal will be coming shortly before I set up some giveaways at Goodreads, and we are spot-on schedule for the September release. The full book cover work is being done now (thank you, Lesley), and I’m ready to begin formatting on the kindle version. That should be interesting!

I’ve also been busy with some author events. May 2nd, 3rd, and 4th I was at the War Eagle Spring Craft Fair with Kimba & Hiro’s stuffed touring reps and books to share with visitors.

Kimba & Hiro took a tour of the grounds. Guest thought they were adorable.

War Eagle Mill & Bridge are fantastic tourist sights.

We were there and ready to share our stories!

Scott made his first official Pringles duck lips for the season. He doesn’t sit still well.

Tracy Adams was next to us with her pottery. What talent! Of course, I went home with a new pot–but sadly not this one. Someone beat me to it when I wasn’t looking. We traded merchandise and everyone went home happy, but I owe Tracy a copy of “Miss Fatty Cat’s Revenge.”

Spring at War Eagle is only about 30% as busy as the fall festival, but we earned our stripes and were able to get booth space for the Fall Craft Festival in October. I’ve attended it before, and it is PACKED! All three books will be ready by then, so we will be there and ready to roll. I hope we get to be next to Tracy again. Nearly everyone stopped at her booth. You can find her in Branson, MO, at Peter Engler’s Design at the Grand Village Shops.

Kimba and Hiro tagged along with me for my Ozark Writer’s League (OWL) meeting on May 17th in Branson. Several members went home with copies of the books, and two have already posted 5 star reviews at amazon.com–because every writer knows how important those reviews are. So grateful!

Kimba & Hiro meet Jan Morrill

I reviewed Jan Morril’s book “The Red Kimono” a few months ago, and it was fun to get to share her with Kimba and Hiro during a quiet moment at the OWL meeting. They learned a little bit about what life was like for Japanese-Americans who were banished to internment camps during WWII. Jan also has a new book of Haiku poems available called “Life: Haiku By Haiku.” You can find out more about her great books at her web site.

Kimba and Hiro (and me too actually) got to officially meet Pamela Foster. I think I blogged about her hysterical book “Clueless Gringos In Paradise” a while back. Our book tables were next to each other, so the cats were able to get in a special reading of her new book “Ridgeline.” It doesn’t even have an amazon.com link yet, it’s so new!

Pamela Foster treating Kimba & Hiro to a reading of her new book. Bigfoot was tired and needed to take a nap, I guess.

The May meeting is also when the OWL fundraising event is held, and I was able to get my hands on the one item that really caught my eye. I love this painting, and it now hangs on the wall next to my bed and greets me each morning.

Artist Sue McCaniel with my new painting.

I took advantage of a pitch session with an agent who came to the meeting and was blessed to hear those magical words: “Send it to me.” Three Cheers!! The manuscript she’s interested in is my adult spiritual/paranormal book that has been in process for about two years now: “At The Corner of Magnetic and Main.” The only catch is that she wants it to be MUCH longer. I guess I know what I’ll be up to this summer. I’m not a fan of padding a story just to reach some publisher’s required length, but I will spend some time looking at where I can naturally expand the story.

Taking part in the Kid Lit Blog Hop last week was a blast. I actually won two books and am looking forward to reading (and reviewing) them. If you are ever interested in what I’m currently reading, you can send me a friend request at Goodreads. I never say no to friend requests on public forums!

That should get things caught up for now. Today begins a bit of a diversion for me. In order to transfer my teaching certification to Arkansas, I have to take a class in Arkansas history. I would love to be qualified to teach some adult ed or community college courses, so that will be accomplished before mid-July by taking one online through Northwest Arkansas Community College. It is a shortened summer schedule class and may require a good deal of time. That will probably mean less blogging, but I’m sure I’ll keep some updates coming with Book 3’s release so soon. With that class, our hopping guest house business, Book 3 creation to finish, and edits on “Magnetic and Main,” I will have plenty to do. Needless to say, summer is not a vacation time for me. I’ll catch my breath in January.

Hope your summer is filled with warm memories–and a big glass of grape juice.

Jeep Festival Fun

Our first big spring event this year was the Jeep Festival on Holiday Island on Saturday, April 27th. It was the Holiday Island Chamber of Commerce’s first time to host this event–and a rainstorm came through for the beginning hour or so that may have kept some visitors and vendors away–but we were not dissuaded. Once the skies cleared, some every day and some amazing jeeps showed up, and we had a delightful time meeting new friends from the island area.

We spent the day under a giant helicopter. Can you see Kimba & Hiro?

There they are!

That helicopter and all of the Veterans statues and memorials around us made me think of my grandfather (WWI) and my father (WWII) and both of my nephews who are on active duty right now. Pat & Andy argue over who is crazier. Andy jumps out of airplanes, and Pat repels out of helicopters. Since you couldn’t pay me to do either thing, I think they should call it a tie. I’m grateful that someone is willing to do it and serve our country, so they both win.

It started out rainy and very chilly. The kitties and I wrapped up in the tablecloth, but the sun came out soon.

There were fun activities going on all around us. Even an old-style fire truck was available for kids (and cats) to play on.

One of the jeeps there looked like an old army jeep, but the owner said not a single part on it probably ever saw action. Ah well.

The owner thought we should all get inside for a photo too.

These jeeps were crazy and did all sorts of tilting and had wheels going every which direction. We kept expecting them to transform into a dinosaur. Kimba was glad it held still during her photo moment.

Lynn from Eureka Springs KESA 100.9 did a quick radio interview with me.

Lynn Worley from Eureka Springs KESA 100.9 fm did a quick radio interview with me.

Kimba thought she should get a few words in too, though she doesn’t know much about jeeps.

Kimba tried for a selfie with the helicopter. It was pretty impressive.

Overall, it was a fun day with beautiful weather. We even had the honor of sending off two copies of “Why Kimba Saved The World” with the Elk’s Club ladies for a part of their annual distribution to 700 first graders in the area. Happy to help!

It was also great training for our busy upcoming weekend at the War Eagle Spring Craft Fair on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday (2nd-4th) from 8:00 am – 5:00 pm. This will be our first time participating there, so come out and say hi.

In totally unrelated news, I’m thrilled to have been featured by The Fussy Librarian on Monday of this week. She requires very tight standards for the books that are featured, and we love that “Why Kimba Saved The World” was considered up to snuff. “Vacation Hiro” will be featured separately on another date in the near future.

I’m also very excited that I have nearly mastered the InDesign program, and print formatting of “Miss Fatty Cat’s Revenge” is well underway! Once that is complete, Book 3 still needs another pass by my editor, and probably another pass or two by me and my tech writer mother, and then advanced reader copies (ARCs) will start to go out to reviewers who have already taken on the first two books and been so supportive. The plan is to have ARCs out in June! Then we start formatting for the kindle version, but that’s a whole ‘nother pile of fur for another day.

Hope you enjoyed our Jeep Festival photos, and be sure to check out The Fussy Librarian and sign up for her email recommendations!

Upcoming Events

The best sign of spring around Serenity Mountain Publishing these days is how quickly our dance card is filling up with events for the spring and summer! Here are a few of our upcoming events.

On March 20th, I will be the featured author at the monthly meeting of the Writers Colony at Dairy Hollow here in Eureka Springs. If you are ever looking for a writing get-away, they offer fantastic residency programs. I’ll be talking about my middle grade Cats in the Mirror series and lessons about self-publishing. Dinner is pot luck and everyone is welcome.

We are also super-excited to have gotten into the War Eagle Spring Craft Fair at the War Eagle Mill in Arkansas on May 2-4. Hundreds of vendors from all over come together to share their work, and it should be a great day to make new friends and share my first two books with new readers.

This spring I am planning to take advantage of some kindle free days for “Vacation Hiro” from April 17-19 in celebration of both Kimba and Hiro’s 7th birthdays. Don’t worry, I’ll remind you when we get closer. I am also in the process of pulling “Why Kimba Saved The World” from other internet vendors and will be focusing on the special kindle opportunities that amazon.com offers when you work with them exclusively. It takes a while to accomplish it all, so more on that later!

“Miss Fatty Cat’s Revenge” is on schedule to come out in September. The amazing Lesley Vernon has already started work on the cover art, so watch for that reveal in a couple of months.

New copies of both “Why Kimba Saved The World” and “Vacation Hiro” with the updated cover art to show the Silver Mom’s Choice Award should be in my hands shortly. With nicer weather at hand, we are ready to hit Basin Park and any other local events to share them with everyone we can! Many events are closed to self-publishing authors, no matter how great your reviews are or how many awards you win, but I’m always open to new ideas. Let me know if you have an event where I would be welcome or know of something I should check out.

Here’s hoping for nicer weather in everyone’s future–though I do have friends in Michigan who are rooting for a few more inches of snow this year so they can set the all-time record. And just for fun on Throw Back Thursday, here’s my very young self and my first cat, Satan.

Hanging out in a sunbeam.

Read An Ebook Week & Freebie

Freebie of “Why Kimba Saved The World” this week! In honor of Read An Ebook Week, I have put out a coupon code at Smashwords so you can get Book 1 of the Cats in the Mirror series for free. This includes gifting it to someone else. I tested the system today, and it is beyond easy. If you have the email address, you can send a copy out for free in about 10 seconds. It’s really that easy. Share the love!

Click on this link to go to the Smashwords page and get or share a free copy of Kimba’s book right now.

With this special week going on, I also decided to leave the .99 kindle sale for both of my books up at amazon.com through March 9th. Grab a copy of the award-winning books!

Click here for “Why Kimba Saved The World”

New book cover with Mom’s Choice Award in place.

Click here for “Vacation Hiro”

New cover with Mom's Choice Award in place.

New book cover with Mom’s Choice Award in place.

In other fun news, I had an interview posted recently at Between The Covers. Thanks, Anita! You can follow her at twitter at RacePointUS.

I am also really excited to be attending the Northwest Arkansas Writers’ Workshop meeting on Saturday, March 8, in Fayetteville. Last year’s meeting was fantastic, and I got some great ideas for “blinging” up my writing. That’s hard to do with middle grade books, but I was inspired to add almost 3,000 words of bling to “At The Corner of Magnetic and Main” that made it so much better. Can’t wait to see what I take home with me this year–along with a few new books from the authors present as well, I’m sure. The conference is free, so sign up and come on down!

The only other things going on around Serenity Mountain Publishing right now are the final revisions on “Miss Fatty Cat’s Revenge.” You know, this is the time where I over-think every detail and fuss and bother with commas until I go a wee bit mad. We are snowed in once again, so there’s not much else to do anyhow. Cover art is already in process, and I can’t wait to share it all with you in a few months.

Stay warm! Spring will be here someday, even if it feels like it never will.

Look for great sales at Smashwords and other ebook sites this week. Give indie authors some love and try one for free!

Silver Mom’s Choice Awards for Cats in the Mirror Series

So exciting! We just got the news that both “Why Kimba Saved The World” and “Vacation Hiro” have been honored with Silver Mom’s Choice Awards in the category of Juvenile Books, Ages 9-12, Series.

The Mom’s Choice Awards pride themselves in being a respected source for “excellence in family-friendly media, products and services.” I have heard traditionally published children’s authors express great pride at being honored with one of these awards, so it makes me extra-special-over-the-moon happy to have earned one as a self-published author. It’s just the kind of pat on the back that every author needs while they are working on the next book in the series!

And you can still get both books about these alien rescue cats for only .99 cents at amazon.com! I have not taken down the Valentine’s Weekend Sale because I want the Goodreads fans to have a full chance to hear about it and pick up a copy. In celebration of this Mom’s Choice Award, I’ll leave the prices at .99 cents until Feb. 28th. Click here to share a copy with someone you love today!

New Facebook Fan Page For Kimba

Kimba has been tweeting for over a year now (click here to follow her personal twitter feed), but the time as come for her to have her own Facebook fan page. Click here to like her page and follow the silliness that is my Kimba Baby.

Over the next two years, I will be branching out into much more than my Cats in the Mirror book series, so my Facebook page will be evolving along with my published works. Kimba’s activities will move more to her own page. Just in case you didn’t know, there is already a fan page for each book in the Cats in the Mirror series: “Why Kimba Saved The World” and “Vacation Hiro.”

I’m also thankful for a review of “Vacation Hiro” that was shared by the Kidz Review Krew blog site. Eleven year old Rhiannan enjoyed this book as much as the first, and I love the fact that this site is actually kids reviewing the books themselves. Stop by and give them some traffic for their other reviews!

Here’s part of her review: “‘Vacation Hiro’ is another great book to add to the series. If you love cats and wonder why cats act a little strange sometimes, you will love this book. I now wonder if my cat is visiting an alien spaceship when he disappears sometimes!”

I hope y’all enjoy whatever plans you have for Superbowl Sunday. Football is fun, though I don’t really care who wins this game, but the food and family…and the commercials…are always the best part of the day for me. Kimba has already posed for some pregame photos.

Kimba picks the Broncos to win because she’s pretty sure even she could beat a Seahawk.

By Sunday I should also have a completed rough draft (okay, very rough draft) of “Miss Fatty Cat’s Revenge.” That’s more exciting than ANY football game, ever!

Have a wonderful weekend!

Author School Visits: The Branch School, Jan. 9, 2014

The Branch School

You can only imagine that I was super excited to make my first author school visit a few days ago at The Branch School in Houston, Texas. As a general rule, independently published books are not as in-demand for school events, so I don’t spend a lot of time trying to arrange this type of visit. And Houston is a long way from our home in Arkansas. But I was on vacation in Houston, and I have worked for The Branch School as a librarian and substitute teacher in the past, so we all knew each other well. The cards all fell into place at the same time to make this visit work out perfectly.

Besides the chance to visit with old friends, I was thrilled to find the students interested and attentive. The school runs from pre-kindergarten to 8th grade, so we broke up my talks into four age groups. With the older kids I could talk about writing as a career and even options they have right now for publishing and blogging. I loved sharing the This Kid Reviews Books blog of twelve year old Erik as a wonderful example of ways to share their love of reading and writing right now. With the younger groups, we talked more about finding the inspiration for writing and just letting the ideas flow. Some students were already enjoying writing stories and putting together book projects, just like I did at their age. “Keep all of it,” I told them. “You never know what it can turn into.”

Talking with the middle school students in Melcher Hall at The Branch School.

Not every author school visit can be this great. There is certainly an added bonus to working with a private school where parents and students are super-vested in education and appreciate the benefits of books and reading. They were supportive in buying copies of both “Why Kimba Saved The World” and “Vacation Hiro,” but more than that everyone was just welcoming and polite and involved. It certainly makes me want to take the chance on doing more school visits when the match is right. The second graders even made me a special drawing inspired by Kimba, using their pinkies to make paint prints around the frame. Priceless!

Second grade class at The Branch School and the artwork they made for me.

Art work by The Branch School 2nd grade class. Kimba looks very cool.

Talking with kindergarten and first grade. I think I was talking about how tiny Kimba and Hiro were when we found them.

Today has been a hard writing day. It can be tough to stay inspired when it is just you and the computer (and sometimes Kimba) day after day. No matter how many great reviews you get, one snarky critic can break your heart. In the end, it’s about those smiling faces who think Kimba is hilarious and enjoy reading about her imagined adventures. That is what keeps me going when I just want to chuck it all. Hitting the wall today I thought, “I should write that school visit blog and look through the pictures again. That will get me back on track.” And it has.

Signing books for students at The Branch School.

I loved watching new and old friends fall in love with Kimba and Hiro, and their stories, and I look forward to sharing Book 3 with all of them in the fall. Thank you, Branch School, for letting me share my books with your families…and for keeping me inspired to write more.

Kimba sings: cat video success

On Thursday, January 9th, I spent a wonderful day with four different groups of students from The Branch School during a visit to Houston, Texas. As a self-published author, school visits are not on the top of my focus list because they want more traditional authors, but I had many friends at this school from working there as a substitute teacher and temporary librarian a few years ago and was happy to accept their invitation to stop by. It was an absolute delight to see those familiar faces more grown up and make so many new friends. More on that visit later as I get photos in next week.

What was really hilarious was to watch a video of Kimba with the 3rd and 4th graders. It is one of my favorites of her, and it took many days of clandestine video monitoring to catch her in the act of stealing my stuffed Disney toys and carrying them around the house, singing. The first graders also watched it during lunch and were very excited to tell me about their favorite parts. All of them did a great impersonation of Kimba singing “Hello!” You can watch the video of Kimba carrying around my stuffed toys and singing right here. Be sure to have the volume on. If you have a cat anywhere in the house, I bet he or she will come running once the singing starts. As cat videos go, I think it’s right up there with the best.

I ran across this photo today from about the fourth day of my secret video taping mission. I think she’s on to my plan. Enjoy the video!

Kimba is not amused.