Tag Archives: Stanley & Katrina

Stanley & Katrina’s Book Blasty Tour

I’m thrilled to be the first stop in Stanley & Katrina’s Book Blasty Tour for the new book “The Observations of the Obstreperous Animals” written by Felicia Maziarz, which has already received a 5 Star rating from Reader’s Favorite.

My Reviewish Thoughts

Stanley the dog and Katrina von Cat the Master of Wisdom and Knowledge are the main characters and sort of authors of “The Observations of the Obstreperous Animals.”

Obstreperous means “resisting control or restraint in a difficult manner; unruly” or “noisy and disruptive.” I’ve been an English teacher and I had to look it up! What a great word. I wonder if that has been one of Stanley & Katrina’s Words of the Week yet. Anyhow…

The book is more a series of sassy and silly anecdotes about Stanley & Katrina’s lives and adventures instead of a full story. I found myself wondering how many of those stories had a little basis in fact, like the ones in my books.  Some chapters are from the perspective of one of the characters, and some from an all-knowing narrator (who is occasionally corrected by Katrina von Cat). I loved it and can see why it is getting such great ratings. I will be posting one myself on amazon.com today. 5 stars from me as well!

Kimba wanted me to be sure to mention that she felt that Katrina von Cat the Master of Wisdom and Knowledge was horribly maligned and mistreated throughout the book, and clearly Stanley and the owners do not understand that Katrina is not only a famous ice skating cat from Europe but she is also an alien — like all cats — and deserves more respect. She hopes Katrina will be the only star of any future books. Felicia can take that all with a grain of salt, as I’m sure she does with all advice coming from cats.

I should also offer huge congratulations to Felicia because on October 1 she won the Silver Award from the 2014 Moonbeam Children’s Book Awards in the “Best Book by Youth Author (Under 18) for her first book (she was 9 when she wrote it), The Perpetual Papers of the Pack of Pets. Go Felicia!!

Celebrating

Stanley and Katrina von Cat the Master of Wisdom and Knowledge are celebrating the release of their second book, The Observations of the Obstreperous Animals, by hosting their very own “Book Blasty Tour”. Thank you for taking the time to visit this special stop along their tour and be sure to enter the giveaway!

About the Book

Title: The Observations of the Obstreperous Animals

Authors: Stanley & Katrina, Pet Authors

Year published:  2014

Number of pages: 106

Recommended ages: 10+ Independent Readers; 5+ Read-Aloud

Summary (Amazon): Cat and dog. It is a love/hate relationship. Stanley and Katrina are back to share more humorous glimpses into their exciting lives in their second book via short stories. Yes, the pets are at it again but this time compete in a slam poetry contest, visit a pet psychic, and much more.This cat and dog writing team makes you stop and wonder what happens at your house when you’re not there.

Book Preview Video

Click Here For The Video Preview!!

Amazon U.S. * Amazon U.K. * Amazon Canada

Barnes & Noble

The Buzz

“All the animal snippets are very funny. If you like animals and a good laugh, this is the book for you.” ~Carly K., Age 10

“Hilarious! Instantly became my favorite book!” ~Stephen E., Age 12

“You did it again! I loved reading about your crazy adventures!” ~Rachael S., Age 13

“Another one? How do they do this?” ~Stanley & Katrina’s owners

About the Authors: Stanley & Katrina

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Stanley and Katrina are the pet authors of The Observations of the Obstreperous Animals.

Stanley is a three-year-old black Labrador/Rottweiler mix who does his best to ignore Katrina. Stanley enjoys snow, attention and turkey.

Katrina von Cat the Master of Wisdom and Knowledge is an eight-year-old grey tabby cat who loves her toy mouse.She enjoys treats, naps and bossing the dog around.

Neighbor Girl (Felicia) is the human who knows us (Stanley& Katrina) the best and helps us with everything. She loves writing, reading, acting, singing, reading gymnastics, doodling, reading, ice skating, painting, reading, doing computer stuff, oh… did we mention reading? She is the co-creator and co-host of “The Write Chat.”

You may visit the entire gang online at www.StanleyAndKatrina.com.

Twitter * Facebook  * Google+

Pinterest  * Goodreads * YouTube

* Free Printables For This Book! *

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Kid Lit Printables has created fun and FREE printables for The Observations of the Obstreperous Animals and will be adding more in the future. Click here to view all available printables now.

Get the First Book in the Series Free

10/6 & 10/7/2014

The pets are offering their first book for free, via Amazon Kindle, the first two days of the Blog Tour. Click here to download Book 1 in the Stanley & Katrina series now.

Stanley & Katrina’s

Book Blasty Tour Stops(2014)

*Denotes Book Review Stops

October 6

Meg Dendler’s Site*

Mother Daughter Book Reviews*

Michigan Saving and More

October 7

The Book Lovers’ Lounge*

October 8

BeachBoundBooks*

Writer Side UP!

October 9

Amanda’s Books and More*

October 10

Spark and Pook*

October 11

The Squishable Baby*

October 12

Bookaholic Chicks

October 13

Education is Special*

Kid Lit Reviews*

October 14

Adalinc To Life*

October 15

Stitch Says*

We are the DinoFamily*

October 17

Talking Animal Addicts*

October 18

Jemima Pett, Author*

October 19

The Sassy Schnauzer*

October 20

Lobo’s Follies*

October 21

Hey, Miss Adventures!*

October 22

Bookworm for Kids

October 24

My Devotional Thoughts*

* $25 Book Blasty Tour Giveaway *

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Prize: $25 Amazon Gift Card or PayPal cash (winner’s choice)

Contest runs:October 6 to October 31, 11:59 pm, 2014

Open: Internationally

How to enter: Please enter by clicking here.

Terms and Conditions: A randomly drawn winner will be contacted by email within 48 hours after the giveaway ends. The winner will have 72 hours to respond. If the winner does not respond within 72 hours, a new draw will take place for a new winner. This giveaway is in no way associated with Facebook, Twitter, Google+, Pinterest or any other entity unless otherwise specified. If you have any additional questions, feel free to send us an email at stanleyandkatrina (at) gmail (dot) com.

* This giveaway is sponsored by the authors, Stanley & Katrina.*

 

 

Welcome, Cheetara!!

She had us at meow.

We were certainly not in the market for another cat. Tabitha/Slinky had moved out with our older daughter, and we were quite comfortable in our three cat, one dog house. Then on Saturday afternoon I glanced out of the kitchen window and saw something moving in the tall grass. Something pouncing. “Oh my God. It’s a bobcat.” I was sure. We have heard of them coming up onto properties around here in the mountains, but it was usually not a good thing and involved being sick or injured and dangerous. I ran to another window where I could get a better look, and the creature seemed too small for a bobcat, though the coloring was right. A sweet face popped up from the grass. “Kitty?” I called and got a loud “Meow” in answer.

I called to my husband, and we both rushed outside to see what in the world a little kitty was doing so far away from any other houses. The tiny brown spotted tabby ran right to us, wanted to be picked up, and purred like a fiend. Our younger daughter joined the fun and we knew that we had a new cat. Just. Like. That.

Cheetara and "Leia" bonded immediately.

Cheetara and “Leia” bonded immediately.

Sitting there on the front porch, I wanted to name her Cheetigra because she has the most amazing coat of stripes and spots. My husband said that Cheetara was the only possible name. Did any of you watch Thundercats? Me neither. But he did and that was that. It mostly comes out as Chee-Chee now.

Look at the cheetah-like spots!

Look at the cheetah-like spots!

Where this beautiful cat came from we will probably never know. I sent photos to our local shelter, but they had no answers. We were kind of glad. She is ours now. She was not terribly happy about the trip to the vet, but she had worms and we did a flea treatment (even though we didn’t see any). She had already been spayed, so somewhere at some time this cat had a home. She seems to prefer the Blue Buffalo fruit and veggie nuggets to the lizards we saw her hunting in the yard.

She is normally pretty mellow, but game time is serious business.

She is normally pretty mellow, but game time is serious business.

After keeping her separate in the luxury of our game room for a few days, Cheetara has integrated well into the family. After a few dances and some hissing, she and Max now touch noses and he allows her to sniff his toes. Samantha/Miss Fatty Cat looked startled, but making a fuss takes some energy and effort and just wasn’t worth it. Hiro keeps an eye on her, and she growls if Cheetara comes into the master bedroom too often, but otherwise they have also come to terms. Kimba is mightily miffed. Fortunately, Cheetara is willing to lower her head and allow Kimba to remain the alpha cat of the house. They have had a couple of mild tussles, but that is now reduced to annoyed conversation. Cheetara wants to be cuddled and in laps, so Kimba should just be grateful that someone else is willing to take on that chore. I try to remind Kimba that she was once the kitten brought in off the street that other cats needed to welcome. This does not impress her. She remains aloof and glares a lot. But she does that most days, so it is hard to tell how she really feels.

For my part, I now know what the plot of “Kimba’s Christmas” will be. Now I just need time to get it written!

In other fun around here this week:

*My guest video for my friends at Stanley & Katrina is up this week. They do a Word of the Week program, and mine is for Hobnob. Click here to watch the video and sign up for their newsletter and future videos. 

*I finally got started on “Max’s Wild Night”–a companion book for the Cats in the Mirror series. Publication will come late in 2015. It will all depend on the schedule for my adult book, which leads me to…

*My adult book, “At The Corner of Magnetic and Main,” has been signed by my friends at Pen-L Publishing. We are just in the very early stages of editing, so there will be much more to come. Very exciting! It will be interesting to just be on the author side of things with someone else in charge of all those little details I am used to messing with. I promise to be cooperative and behave. Really I do. Really.

Now I just need to sit down and do inventory and book ordering so I’m ready for the big four day event at the War Eagle Fall Craft Fair in a couple of weeks. I hope you all have a wonderful week and enjoy the beautiful fall weather!