The Inspiration Behind the Blog

I was born to be a writer. When I published my first novel Wild Point Island, my orange and white rescued feral tabby Chuck decided he wanted to travel and see the island for himself. Chuck's desire to travel inspired me to begin the blog and take Chuck with me whenever I traveled, which I do frequently. This was not an easy task. First, I had to deflate the poor kid of all air, stuff him in my carry-on bag, remember to bring my portable pump, and when I arrive, I pump him back up. Ouch. He got used to it and always was ready to pull out his passport and go. Now it's Theo's turn. Smart. Curious. And, yes, another rascal.

Showing posts with label Italy. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Italy. Show all posts

Saturday, March 30, 2013

Chuck and Bunny Love


       

          Years ago, before Chuck, the rascal cat, was even part of our family, my sister owned a pet rabbit.  Well, let me rephrase that.  She decided to adopt a rabbit.  And this particular rabbit became a treasured member of her family.  Mopsy (and honestly I can’t even remember the bunny’s name so I’ll just call her Mopsy from the famed Peter Rabbit story) lived in a cage which Cheryl kept in her bedroom.  She ate carrots and other bits of rabbit food.  Cheryl was quite taken by her and incessantly talked about all the different things that she did--rabbit things that never seemed all that outstanding, but still I listened, of course, because Cheryl is my dearly beloved sister, and if she loved the rabbit, well, what could I say?

I would never, for example, tell her that I had eaten rabbit once, when I’d stayed with friends in Italy.  Rabbit is served up like chicken in that country and it would have been very rude not to have partaken of the feast.

But I digress because even though I’d never adopt a rabbit myself, I still have tremendous respect for them, and I was beginning to notice that Chuck didn’t.  Have respect for them, I mean.  Not that he has that many opportunities to engage with rabbits, but we do have property around our house and rabbits come and go.  Chuck sits at a window, watches them hop by, and he snarls at them.  

So I decided - in honor of Easter - that I was going to do a bit of therapy with Chuck.  I sat him down, the day before Easter and with the promise of some tasty SNACKS, I offered him a proposition.  “Chuck,” I said, “I have some lovely vintage postcards to show you. Of rabbits.”

Well, he looked at me as if I were crazy. 

“I know what you’re thinking,” I said hastily.  “But, remember, you had a cousin who was a rabbit.” 

       Postcard #1 - rabbit sits under a beautiful flower
          


         Chuck yawned and ate a snack.
          
        Postcard #2 - two rabbits in the grass
          


          Chuck looked mildly interested and ate another snack.
          
          Postcard #3 - rabbit with flowers
          


           Chuck really looked at the postcard and ate a third snack.

           Postcard #4 - rabbit family goes for a walk
           


                      Chuck smiled at the postcard.

           Postcard #5 - beautiful girl with rabbit in her backpack
           


       Chuck was impressed.  He grabbed the postcard and scooted away with it.  

Did Chuck like rabbits now?  Or was it the pretty girl?

        Happy Easter!

        My paranormal romance, Wild Point Island, is now available in mass market paperback and ebook formats at Amazon.com and BarnesandNoble.com.  Average Amazon Reader Ratings: 4.7 stars

        Digital Book Today is reprinting my blogpost -- "What People Read 100 Years Ago" as part of their Best Guest Posts series on Sunday, March 31 (Easter) at 5 p.m.   If you're even vaguely intrigued . . . this blog sums up the research that was done at a midwestern library -- collating all the books that were taken out to be read over a one year period at the turn of the century.  What were Americans actually reading 100 years ago???  Simply fascinating and surprising!!!