Typing With Wet Paws: Annnnd We’re Back Edition

September 16, 2024annabowling Leave a comment

Tails up, Storm Troopers! I’m Storm, you’re awesome, and this is Typing With Wet Paws.

Do not adjust your screens. Mama Anna is back to blogging and so am I. It has been a long, hot summer, with Papa not feeling that great (he is much better now.) As if that weren’t enough, Aunt Linda is now home during the day, so things are a little different. Well, except for when she helps Papa get to work. Also home from work. Or runs errands. Shockingly, she does not take me, even when she takes Mama Anna. I get to stay home with Koolio our air conditioner. I get to smell everything they bring back from their hunts, and then make it smell like us, which is part of my job as cat.

My biggest job, though, is to provide support for Mama Anna. We have moved into a new kind of routine, now that Mama Anna is getting ready to release a new novella, and I need to stick close. I am also here to supervise what she calls “unfluffing (actually, she says a word I can’t say, but Big Sister Skye used to say ‘fluff’ instead of the word I can’t say, so I will use ‘fluff’ as well.) the depression dungeon.” I am not entirely sure what that means but it does seem to involve boxes and trash bags and moving furniture around. I find this all very interesting.

One of those things she is thinking is trading in her current folding desk for a real desk, which would be normal sized (this one is too small) so that there would be room on it for not only her laptop and its stand, a place for seasonally appropriate beverages, storage, and most importantly of all, a dedicated space for me. A big part of my support services includes napping as close as felinely possible to Mama Anna while she works. Right now, I can do that in the dresser drawer that she opens while she works, but room on the desk itself, with a bed or box, would be great. In case you are wondering, one of the ways I sleep is like this:

Or sometimes, I look at her like this.

As you can imagine, I am very much looking forward to the upgrade, and I can definitely smell Mama Anna’s superpowers coming back. I think they are coming back for Papa, too. He is the only one who plays with string toys right. He is also my catnip dealer and the provider of gushy food. That is why I look at him like this a lot:

That is about it for this post. Papa and Aunt Linda will be bringing laundry home soon (the clean kind) and I will need to focus entirely on making sure it is ours and that it smells right. What’s going on in your neck of the woods?

Headbonks,
Storm

Title Goes Here

August 22, 2024annabowling 2 Comments

Hi. If you’re new here (which would surprise me, because it’s been a while, but stranger things have happened.) I’m Anna. I write stuff. For a while, I haven’t been, and I’m going to talk about that. For my gentle readers, trigger warning:

*anxiety
*depression
*PTSD
*homelessness (past)
*trauma work

After this post, I intend to get back to talking about reading, writing and pens and paper. I am feeling better now, and the first topic that came to mind for my first post back was why I’ve been away. Talk starts after stock kitty picture. (Storm is great; Google Photos is giving me guff.)

So. Yes, I did indeed fall off the face of the earth. At least that’s how it feels. Life is funny that way. Survive homelessness (it was thirteen months, several years ago, now, and we are very much secure in our current situation) and expect to pick up where normal life left off, or alternatively, do the hard trauma work then, but not in this case. When I asked Wonderful Therapist (WT) why it took me three years to fall into isolation mode, she said most likely because that’s when my brain figured out the security was probably going to stick and thus it was safe. Well okay then.

The presenting complaint when I first started seeing WT was that I love reading and I…couldn’t. Kind of important for a writer, especially one who plans on making that their career. I did manage to co-write two contemporary romances with my awesome contemporary co=writer, Melva Michaelian, and we have more in the works, but writing on my own, even getting back to the solo historical romance in progress, that I passionately loved and love, was a big NO. Want to, need to, but brain says NO.

Blogging, much as I loved and love it, was a HECK NO. Not because I didn’t want to, as I very much did and do, but because when I went to start an entry, there wasn’t anything there. Talking about writing felt like the same thing over and over again if I didn’t have a new release to promote. Not going to lie, getting very good rejections for the second two books in the Love by the Book series started with Chasing Prince Charming, was discouraging. Melva and I still love those stories and they will still be available to readers. That’s another topic. I felt like I was treading water in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, and my arms were tired.

At no point did doing bad things to myself come to mind, so that’s good, but there was still…a lot. Even so, the radio silence descended. I love taking pictures. I did not take many pictures (except of Storm, who will also be back to blogging soon.) I love chatting on social media. I did not engage much on social media. I love writing snail mail letters. I did not write snail mail letters. I did and do journal, though, and going forward, I will probably be adding more content on journaling, because that was the first thing to come back on my road back to me.

It’s a very interesting journey. I did participate in the April Camp NaNo, with weekly check in chats with an awesome former RWA chapter sister and came away with a full historical romance outline. Yay. I also outlined what could be a low fantasy romance or at the very least needing a fictional country. Those are both percolating. I am working on my first indie publishing venture. There is a plan. Next week is final final edits. Then Melva gets a pass through. Then I take care of any errata, and then off to the formatter and cover art form and all of that stuff.

I count this as, if not “back,” then close to it. As I’ve said, it’s a journey. There was the summerlong heat wave, or more accurately back-to-back-to-back heatwaves that mistook New York for a spit-roasted chicken. Not the greatest summer for Real Life Romance Hero, but he is also doing better now, and we have affectionately named our new portable air conditioner, “Koolio.” RLRH nixed the idea of giving Koolio googley eyes, though Housemate was on board with it. Kind of a three yes, one no on that sort of thing.

On top of it all, we are staring September in the face, which is the time of year my superpowers come back. That’s how reverse seasonal depression works. I can’t say whether future posts are going to be this rambly or touch this much on mental health but the main reason for making today posting day was to end the radio silence. The first step is often the biggest one, so here we are. Again. At last.

How are things with you?

As always (again) Anna

Typing With Wet Paws: Where We’ve Been and Where We’re At Edition

June 14, 2024annabowling Leave a comment

Tails up, Storm Troopers. I’m Storm, you’re awesome, and this is Typing With Wet Paws. It has been a while since the last entry here, so let me bring you pretty much up to date. First, I am still cute. Here is proof:

Let’s focus on the last couple of weeks. Here are the big points, bullet style:

There was a heat wave.
Aunt Linda got sick (big cold)
Then Mama Anna got sick
Then Papa got sick.
Then Mama Anna’s laptop died.
Then the plug for her earbuds broke off inside her tablet.
Then the fire alarm battery beeped for a long time. (Fixed now.)

Needless to say, there was not a lot of writing during that time, let alone blogging, but Mama Anna is optimistic, not to mention stubborn. She got a new computer pretty much right after the other one died (and she may look into getting the first one fixed if that is possible) and it comes with a year’s subscription to MS Word, which will make it easier for her to share documents with Aunt Melva. That is going to be a big help as they work super hard at getting books out to all of you. Well, the ones who want to read them. They aren’t going to force the rest.

Mama Anna is also researching both portable air conditioners and full room circulation fans (aka big fans) because she is not doing another heat wave like the last one, and guess what, another one is headed our way. It is summer and we live in New York. I am pretty comfy regardless, because I can find all the cool places. The bathroom floor tile is smooth and cool, and the bath mat is soft. Also, under the bed is pretty dark and chill.

Mama Anna is doing pretty good on the taking in story part of things. That means reading books and watching stuff on streaming services. Right now, she is liking the second season of From, and will be giving special attention to two of her favorite vintage historical romance authors, Valerie Sherwood, and Anita Mills, this summer. She is very much feeling the old school adventure and sweep and all that good stuff. Oh, also Yellowjackets. She is up to date on that TV show. Also the Walking Dead Universe. She is ready for more Dead City and Daryl Dixon.

That is about it for right now. Mama Anna gets to reward herself with a cool drink and a new episode for helping me with this blog, and she’s going to need a belly to rub.

What are you up to this summer?

Typing With Wet Paws: Pre-Summer Edition

May 24, 2024annabowling Leave a comment

Tails up, Storm Troopers. I’m Storm, you’re awesome, and this is Typing With Wet Paws. Okay so it’s been a minute. Mama Anna is not thrilled with that, but who can resist this face?

Yeah, didn’t think so. Anyway, hi. Summer is not Mama Anna’s favorite season, but she’ll handle it. If I didn’t mention it already, she did win Camp NaNo, even going over her planned 20k words.

She liked the experience, especially checking in with a writer friend who was not officially camping, but with the second camp session coming up, she is probably going to be focused on something else this time around. That something else is giving her post-apocalyptic medieval novella, “A Heart Most Errant,” one more look and then tossing it out on the indie market. She learns best by doing and that will teach her what she needs to know so she and Aunt Melva can do the same thing with Drama King.

Since summer is the time of year when my hoomans need more help from me than usual, I should probably update on a new trick I have added to my arsenal. There was this one day when Mama Anna had remembered to feed me, but not herself (I don’t understand that. Seriously.) She was napping, which okay, because it coincided with my nap, but it was also seriously mealtime, so I did what I had to do. I popped her on the mouth with one of my paws. Gently, of course, only the beans, not the needles. Once I got her attention, I led her into the kitchen. That’s where the people food lives. She’s a smart one, so she caught my drift and did the right thing.

So am I, so expect more helpful tips from me as we enter this new season. I also have to make sure Mama Anna gets Her Last First Kiss back up and running. High time and all that stuff.

What’s going on in your world?

Random Valentine Blather

February 14, 2024annabowling Leave a comment

Hello, all. Happy Valentine’s Day, or it’s Wednesday, depending on any number of things. Feeling very rusty about blogging at the moment, but there is no time like the present to jump back into the swing of things, so hi.

Above, we have my current everyday carry of planning whatnot. I like being able to pick up one thing (or two) and go, especially since I am still using a backpack and knee brace. Technically, I could fit the contents of the leather cover inside the Delfonics pouch, but I like it this way, with my cover, and a small box of ephemera inside the pouch. There’s something special about pen and paper that have a quicker route to the place where my brain keeps fiction, specifically the kind I create myself.

Valentine’s Day is an interesting one for romance writers. It’s the big romantic love day. People who do not normally engage with the romance genre might be tempted to try one in honor of the holiday (yay, welcome, grab a book and stay a while) and hopefully find something they like. It’s also when other people sometimes detract from the romance genre without engaging with it. Okay I don’t have time for that right now. I love the romance genre and have ever since I stole The Kadin by Bertrice Small from my mother’s nightstand when I was eleven. Right then, I knew I had found what I wanted to read and write for the rest of my life. So far, so good.

Sometimes, there are pauses. This latest one seems big and it seems long and it seems oddly misplaced, as things are pretty stable. That’s…curious. Once again, okay. It is what it is. One foot in front of the other from where I actually am, and at some point, I’ll be back on track. Right now, I am fewer than one hundred pages away from the end of a vintage historical romance I have wanted to read for literally decades. Yes, it is worth the wait. Also, Roger de Mortimer was not a nice man. (Stuff like this is one reason I love medievals.) I am eyeing Camp NaNo in April (it is April, right? Anybody want to make a cabin?)

This is feeling babbly, so I will wrap, after a mention of how Valentine’s Day is always interesting around here, as Real Life Romance Hero is in the restaurant business, which means the big date holiday means he is working. We will celebrate later. I kind of like it that way. Storm, of course, will get her due amount of attention, a wee sniff of the nip, and, fingers (and paws) crossed, her own entry by the end of the week.

How are you doing?

2024 Roadmap, Maybe

January 30, 2024annabowling Leave a comment

2023 was the worst reading year of my adult life. I’m still puzzled about that, as it was worse than the year I was homeless and worse than the years before and after. Ah, trauma, you are a strange one. I have not yet set a Goodreads goal, but I probably will. I don’t know when. Probably when the time feels right. How will I know? I just will, most likely. That’s the working theory.

Today, my contemporary co-writer, Melva Michaelian, sent Drama King off on query to an agent, so time will tell on that one. My job on that book is to get on the indie side of things, as well as pursuing a similar venture for my two out of print historicals. Melva and I want to get the next two Love by the Book books out in 2024, and we are each pursuing solo projects as well. Last year wasn’t as great for publishing as we had hoped, so once again, the bar is low. That’s a good thing.

This all feels like I’ve been over it a thousand times before, which gives me the mental issue of treading water for eternity. That feels pretty accurate for the last year or so. Still figuring things out, and moving forward while I do. Poopy first drafts for the win.

I am a big believer in “story in, story out,” and I need to work on that for this year. My best and easiest writing has been when I am involved in a fandom. I am speaking of commercial fiction here, not fanworks read/created within said fandom. The two feed each other. Part of that comes from community. Talking about things I love fills my well as much as engaging with those things.

Social media, in general, was not a big priority for me in 2023. Not thrilled with that, so it’s a priority to pick up in the year ahead. The platform formerly known as Twitter, meh. Might let that one go. I like Instagram. I have pretty stationery, a cute cat, and live across the street from a park. I can take pictures. There is also blogging. Big thanks to those who have stuck with this blog during the dry season. I’m not sure what I want to talk about right now, so expect a bunch of babble, and we will both trust that it’s going somewhere. If all else fails, cat pics.

Speaking of which, I am coming to capacity on the images in my current WordPress account, so there’s the decision to upgrade or move to the MelvaandAnna site, which has sat fallow for far too long, even though we do have an upgraded account there. Melva and I are planning some fun stuff over there in the months to come, including some giveaways.

It’s funny to look at the year ahead when the year behind was the way that it was. The hypercritical gremlins would say “well, that’s it, you failed. Shut it down and go dust something.” I am not going to listen to them this time. Right now, it’s acting as if, and the very loose, general plan :salute: (if you know, you know) is to become the mask somewhere along the way. I have stories, and they are worth telling.

How’s your year looking?

Typing With Wet Paws: Welcome, 2024 Edition

January 5, 2024annabowling Leave a comment

Tails up, Storm Troopers! I’m Storm, you’re awesome, and this is the very first Typing With Wet Paws of 2024. So far, so good. Well, there was the time Mama Anna faceplanted on the hardwood and did the same thing to her left foot that she did when she tripped over my food dish frame. She’s okay, but she says this does not count for starting as one means to go on, whatever that means. Anyway, here we are.

We haven’t had any snow yet. There may be some on Sunday. Mama Anna has not had the apartment to herself (ahem, ourselves) since before Christmas. Today is the first day it’s just us during the day, and I have to say its kind of nice. Mama Anna is working on her own blog for next week. She is also getting her planners in order and everybody is in organization mode. As you might imagine, this is both frustrating (nobody said the hoomans could change things) and exciting (so many smells! So much exploration!) As long as I can still park myself in Mama Anna’s sock drawer while she is working, I am good with whatever they do.

The holidays were pretty good around here. I got more gushy food than usual. No people food, but that’s okay. , The only people food I am allowed to have is people tuna. Mama D, my first hoomom, said I could also have people chicken, but so far, I haven’t wanted anything to do with that particular delicacy since I came to this family. Either Mama D was playing these guys, or people chicken is a me and Mama D thing. Either way, I’m not telling. But yeah, gushy food, and enough presents that Papa and Mama Anna decided it’s best to spread them out for a while. I am good with that. Especially because I got two, yes, two scratchy things. In case you are new, scratchy things are cardboard things that go on the floor and I can scratch. I also like sitting on them. Do not hang them from the doorknob, even though that is an option, because I am not inot all that. Floor or nothing, baby.

Mama Anna is still thinking about her reading goal for this year. I don’t have much news to report on that front though she mostly wants to focus on vintage historical romance, and modern historicals with similar vibes. The big plus for me, though is that Mama Anna has rediscovered how comfy it is to read when cozied up on a big pile of pillows, which means that is prime time for me to climb on top of her and make with the purrs. I call that a win-win situation.

Also, there is the backpack. I will have to ask a hooman to take a picture of it. Mama Anna thinks it is for her to carry stuff around while she needs to use the walker (not the Walking Dead kind, thankfully) but there is a problem. The problem is that it is mine. I love it. It is one of my many beds. She does not understand this. How much plainer can it be? It is me sized and me shaped, an if somebody were to leave the big part’s zipper unzipped while it is on the bed instead of hanging it up promptly upon returning home, I could probably get inside the big part. You know what happens if I do, right? I call it death in the shadows. POUNCE! On what, you might ask? On everything, obviously. I am a predator, after all. A cuddly, cuddly predator.

How’s your 2024 so far?

Dressing Gown Days

December 21, 2023annabowling Leave a comment

Yes, I am American, and I call them dressing gowns. Real Life Romance Hero calls them “enchanted robes of comfort.” His is a lovely smokey grey. Mine is burgundy or oxblood, depending on my whim. They are both fuzzy and warm and perfect for today. We are both having rest days, which for me means I finally get to sneak a blog in for this week. I’ve missed blogging and plan to be more regular in the coming year. Our tree is green this year, with white lights and minimal ornaments, because the rose gold tree is inaccessible at the moment, and I Had To Have A Tree. Worked out pretty well.

My most-played Christmas song this year is “Fairy Tale of New York,” in several different versions, including one all in Gaelic. Yeah, there is some kind of story brewing. I am more than okay with that. .;ppppppppppppppppp (that last bit is from Storm, even though she will get her own blog post tomorrow. She has to be in on everything. Only fair, as it *is* her home.) b She is in the mood today to remind me that this is a dressing gown day, and that means I have things on my list like “read,” and “watch TV” and “do journal things.” I am trying to tell her that blogging is like journaling, but I don’t think she’s accepting my argument. Ah well.

Housemate purchased this year’s tree at her place of employment, and far overbought both lights and ornaments, which are both tiny and glass, but this is fine for a couple of reasons:

there are no such things as too many ornaments; if we aren’t using them now, we will be using them later, perhaps when we have a house and multiple trees.
Storm can’t get to the tree anyway. If she could, she would have by now.
It goes really well with the fun family stories we already have, like the time I blindly picked out a far too tall for our apartment tree because it was dark and raining and it ended up being Christmas trees, plural, as Real Life Romance Hero sawed it in half and gave the other half to our neighbor.

For those keeping track from last year, that brings our tree count to five. We have the green tree above, the rose gold tree in storage, my pink bottle brush tree, and my pink ceramic tree. Tree number five, I am calling our foster tree, as we are holding onto it for a friend in transit.

I love last year’s A5 rings so much, I am keeping the same setup, only changing the pages for this year’s

The current planner lineup for 2024 is approaching its final form and looks quite different than what I had expected. That seems to be a theme around here these days. I am even going out of town for what is shaping up to be an annual trip to the two coolest places in CT, namely The Book Barn and my friends, Mary and Brian’s house. Obviously, The Book Barn is the number two coolest place. Yes, it has a seemingly endless array of books to buy, but my friends are there only some of the time but they are in their home every day, so that makes it the #1 coolest place. Plus there is a dog.

This year’s Book Barn jaunt is going to be different, because I will be using either crutches or walker (looks like a torn meniscus but healing well) and that will be an adventure. I acquired a backpack to make toting stuff easier, but Storm seems to think I brought home a(nother) cat bed. She is in love with it, to the point of abandoning Real Life Romance Hero feeding her to settle on it. She has priorities. Everything is a cat bed if the cat is comfy enough.

No real point to this post other than the above, which is exactly what one needs on a dressing gown day. How is your day going?

Typing With Wet Paws: Welcome, December Edition

December 1, 2023annabowling Leave a comment

Tails up, Storm Troopers! I’m Storm, you’re awesome, and this is Typing With Wet Paws. Mama Anna says it is also proof of life. That means that we are here and we are okay. Kind of like purring. I am very good at purring.

Apart from the fact that I did not get any people food (unless we count the times I stuck my ace into servings of baked potato soup or macaroni and cheese; Mama Anna tells me to get my face right out of those. They are not for kitties.) Thanksgiving was pretty good. Papa made a pork tenderloin, and Mama Anna stayed up to hit some super doorbusters on Black, White and Orange Friday. Surprising nobody, those super doorbusters were mostly about stationery.

This was not one of them, but I am including it because A) it is now time to turn over the autumn planner/journal decorations to Christmas and winter, and B) you are looking at her new blogging notebook. Notebooks, actually, because there is one for her blogs and one for my blogs, and then there is another for her media consumption journal. I should remind her to make a spread for her Spotify Wrapped this year. She did not listen to a lot of music overall which was one of her “hmm, smells like depression” flags. I am happy to say that she is over that no music thing now and discovering lots of new stuff. Apparently, her top genre of the year was something called “Neo Mellow.” Neither one of us knew that was a thing, but apparently so.

If you think another one of the super doorbusters she attacked was Sims 4 related, you are right. She is super into Sims. Reading and TV are still getting there, but music and gaming are good, and yes, there is some writing. Mama Anna is giving serious consideration to how she might get My Outcast Heart and Orphans in the Storm back out there in 2024, as well as what she and Aunt Melva have planned for the second two books of the Love by the Book series. If you loved Meg and Dominic from Chasing Prince Charming, and wondering what their friends and family are up to, 2024 should be your year.

She has also dusted off A Heart Most Errant (if you like both medieval romance and postapocalyptic romance, this one is for you.) and is looking at expanding it so that it can be longer than novella length and ready to go back out on submission rounds when it is bigger and better. Maybe then she will be able to figure out what that guy named Guy should be doing if he gets to be the hero in a second book.

Also important is that I have discovered how to use a heating pad. I don’t only know how to sit on it when it is already on. I figured out that there is a way I can smack the controls with my paw to make it go from off to warm. I say it’s perfect time for that now that we are in this particular season. We have had dustings of snow. Nothing has stuck so far, but that is not far off. Mama Anna has set up her reading nook with soft pillows, fuzzy blankets, space for a hot drink and easy access to journal stuff. As long as I have access to her lap, she will be warm whether the heating pad is on or not.

How is December treating you so far?

2023; The Worst Reading Year of My Adult Life

November 17, 2023annabowling Leave a comment

2023 has been the worst reading year of my adult life. That surprises me. Not that I am experiencing it but that I am experiencing it now, that we are three years securely ensconced in a comfy apartment, with no lack of books to read, both paper and electronic. I have multiple devices on which to read e-books, and to have audio books read to me. I am in walking distance of at least two libraries, and a short bus ride away from more. Even with all of that…no.

The first thing that I can think of is that my books, the ones I owned before our vagabond time began, are still safely in storage. It is most assuredly time to dig them out and set them up in the bookcases I have had since I was a literal baby. That will require some finagling and probably an entire day of playing storage Tetris. Books have always been the first things I packed before a move, and usually the first thing I would unpack, or one of the first. things probably will be different when I am able to touch my books again, but I do have newer to me books, acquired since we moved in here, that are still mine and I can still touch and still…no.

The first thing that came back on this healing journey, was stationery/journaling, and oh boy did it ever. I n a much bigger way than I had ever expected, so I would not be surprised if this ntime next year (or some other year) I might crank reading up to eleven and turn into some sort of book locust. I like that image. The lack of interest in reading waved a big ol’ red depression flag, which pointed me toward the awesome therapist I see now. Our big goal is to get me back writing, and one of the steps along that path is getting back to reading.

Not going to pretend there aren’t reverses and stumbling blocks. My current plan is to stick with books I either know I love (rereads) and the occasional whatever catches my fancy at the time. Getting back to some sort of reading tracker -a basic one at first, as much as I love the gorgeous, intricate kind I have seen from favorite influencers- is also on the table.

So, what are my reading goals for 2024? I like the “drop and give me 52” idea My reading tracker (handwritten) says I have read twenty-nine books so far, and Goodreads says thirty-two. Definitely a discrepancy there, so let’s go with the higher number. I want to complete 2023’s fifty-two and then start another for 2024. It’s okay if 2023’s goal finishes in 2024. In fact, I expect that it will. The reading bar is low for this year, sure. That happens sometimes. For the rest of the year, my focus when it comes to reading is finding stuff I want to read, then reading that.

How’s the reading year looking for you?

Typing With Wet Nails

for the love of romance

possibly pointless blabbering