Skye O’Malley

Typing With Wet Claws: Thinking About Things Edition

annabowling 1 Comment

Hello, all. Skye here, for another Feline Friday. Anty has been very busy this week, doing a lot of writing, which is a very good thing. I rewarded her efforts by sitting still for my picture, even if I would not look up at her. I had my reasons. This morning, a realtor human came by with an inspector human, to look at some things about the apartment that do not concern me. Anty put me in my and Mama’s room while the strange humans were here. I do not like it when strange humans come into the house, but if that is what has to happen for a while, I will find a way to deal. Probably from under one of the beds.

Since the deal is that I have to talk about Anty’s writing before I can talk about anything else, I will get right to that. First of all, Anty had her usual post at Buried Under Romance this week. Anty apologizes for not including a picture, like she usually does. This was a very full week, and some things slipped her mind. That was one of them. This week, she talked about new reads for the new year. That post is here, and it looks like this:

burnewreads

Anty already said, last week, how much she liked her first story by  Piper Huguley, and that she wanted to read more books by Miss Piper. That is exactly what Anty did, this week, when she read another book of Miss Piper’s, The Lawyer’s Luck, and she liked that one very, very much. Her review for that is here, and it looks like this:

grlawyersluck

I do not know how Goodreads decides who it should ask Anty to whom she wants to recommend a book, but it asked Anty if she wanted to let Miss Piper know about this book, too. I may not know a lot about the publishing business, being a kitty and all, but I think that if the person’s name is on the book cover, they probably know that the book exists. I would also hope that they know the book is good. Anty liked this book so much, as a matter of fact, that she wrote a post on it for Heroes and Heartbreakers. It is not live yet, so I cannot give you a link to it or picture of it. I also cannot give a link or picture of the other post Anty wrote for Heroes and Heartbreakers this week, because it is not live yet, either. I will be sure to let all of Anty’s readers know when they are live. The posts, I mean. I assume all of Anty’s readers are alive, too, although Anty does like zombies, so I guess that would be okay, too. Maybe vampires. She talked about some books that have vampires in them in the other post, but that post is not about vampires. There only  happen to be some vampires in part of it. Explaining these kinds of things can be difficult for a kitty, so I will let you figure it out when the posts (and hopefully you) are live and read it for yourselves.

Most of the work Anty has been doing this week is on her books. By that, I mean the ones she is writing, not the ones she is reading (though if any humans reading this can help Anty figure out the whole ascm file thing, she would be reading even more than she already is.) For part of most of the days this week, she worked on Her Last First Kiss, and then, for another part, the Beach Ball, which she writes with Anty Melva.

That is a lot of writing. It is also a lot of researching. For Her Last First Kiss, which takes place in 1784 England, Anty sometimes has to stop and check to see if what she wants to do is all right for that time and place. There is one part in one chapter, where Hero thinks a really bad word, several times (he is a grownup,. but really, really scared, and really, really mad. That is not an excuse, but an explanation.) Anty was not sure if the bad word was the right bad word. She had to consult with some writer friends who might be able to help her figure this out. Thankfully, Miss Vicki knows this story very, very well (she has known about it since Anty was babbling random things about “the new historical,” that is how long) so she knows what Hero would probably say, and was able to offer some suggestions. This resulted in using more old-timey bad words. I am thinking this is probably not a book for gentle readers. Maybe another one will be.

Anty has also been thinking about what comes next. After she is done with Her Last First Kiss, and she and Anty Melva are done with the Beach Ball, she would like to know what she will be writing after that. One of those is already settled. Anty and Anty Melva already know that they will write two more books related to the Beach Ball. I do not know what they will call those until they get names for them. She still has some thinking to do about the next historical project, though.

In the historical romance genre, linked books dominate the market right now, but Anty naturally thinks in standalone books. That means stories that are complete in themselves, that do not continue to other related stories. Anty is not going to stop writing those, because those are what she loves the very best, but she also knows that the “commercial” part of “commercial fiction” means that market trends do come into account. That also means that Anty now gets to figure out what sort of linked books would work best for the sorts of stories she likes to tell. She has a couple of ideas on that front, and will keep thinking -and writing- about those, but she also is very firm about telling herself “this book, now,” so that she does not get distracted. She is pretty sure she will have what she needs, when she needs it.

That is about it for this week. Until next time, I remain very truly yours,

skyebye

Skye O’Malley Hart-Bowling
(the kitty, not the book)

 

Typing With Wet Claws: This Is the New Year Edition

annabowling 1 Comment

Hello, all. Skye here, for another Feline Friday. I did not want my picture taken today, so I tried to hide under my mama’s bed, but Anty was too smart for me and caught me before I could. That is why I look grumpy in this picture.  My revenge, though, besides looking grumpy, was that the lighting was very very dim, so Anty had to use all of her photo editing skills (she does not have a lot of them yet, but enough to be dangerous) to make sure the photo showed an actual kitty, and not only the black square that showed in the preview on her phone. Then she had to send the photo from her phone to the computer, which took some time. By the time it arrived, I was in the living room, sitting very nicely in a sunbeam in the middle of the floor. I believe this means I have successfully catted today, and deserve treats for my trouble.

Speaking of trouble, there is more of that, but I am not allowed to talk about it until I have talked about what Anty has written so far this week. So be it. Anty started off the new year (actually, ended the old one, because her posts on this site run on Saturdays, and this Saturday was New Year’s Eve, so not the new year yet) at Buried Under Romance by talking about reading resolutions. My resolution is to make Anty get rid of the carpet in her office, so that I can come inside and sit right next to her while she is writing or reading. Humans, especially those who do not live in our apartment, probably have different ones. That post is here, and it looks like this:

bur060117

Anty also put a review on Goodreads, for the historical romance anthology, Christmas in America. That review is here, and it looks like this:

christmasinamericareview

This book had some surprises for Anty, besides finding new authors whose other works she would like to read. One of those surprises was a funny one. After Anty wrote her review, Goodreads asked her if she would like to recommend the book to any of her friends. Since Anty liked the book very much, she did want to recommend it, and the site made some suggestions. Here is one of them:

christmasinamericarecommendsskyeedit

Anty thought that was funny, because Miss Piper wrote part of that book, so I think it is safe to say she already knows about it. (Anty checked; Miss Piper does.) I did not have permission from the other readers to post their names, so I blacked those out. I hope that is okay. Anty is now reading another book of Miss Piper’s, The Lawyer’s Luck, because she liked the story anthology so much, that she had to check and see where the stories in that world started. Anty already has a lot of books on her to be read list, but she does not mind adding more. Reading really, really good books is one way for writers to keep their wells filled and stay excited about the genre in which they write.

So far this year, Anty has been doing well on the writing front. She is using her planner to keep to a schedule. If she sees the tasks she has for the day, and for the week, written down, she is more likely to make sure that she accomplishes them. That is very helpful when life gets changey. It is getting changey over here because the building where our apartment is will be changing owners soon. That means that, because Anty works from home, she is there during the day, and can let in the realtor humans and their clients. It also means that I do a lot of hiding under the beds, because I do not like strangers coming into my home. I kind of know Landlady, though (the human who owns the building now) and, sometimes, I will come out if she is there. She tells me I am a good kitty. I think Landlady is very observant.

One other thing Anty is doing to keep her creative well filled is to listen to a lot of musical theatre, because musical theater songs tell stories. When she finds a composer/lyricist she especially likes, then she tracks down as much of their work as she can find and watches different performances of it. Her most recent find is Drew Gasparini, who wrote a song, “Disaster,” that Anty has been listening to, a lot. I mean so much that I think I know all the words to it. She recently found a video where Mr. Gasparini gives some advice to songwriters, and Anty thinks it applies to other kinds of writers, too. She was going to put a quote in her blog, but did not know where to cut it, so she asked if I could show everybody the whole thing. If there are gentle readers, or human kittens in the room, the actual song has some language that is only for grownups, but the talking, which comes first, does not.

Sometimes, it can be scary for a writer to throw everything on the page and let it bleed, but it can also be tiring to hold back. It is an interesting process to learn how to push past that scariness, but if that is what the story demands, then that is what Anty wants to do. That is what Anty wants to put into her stories. Critique partners can help keep Anty on track with that. At least that is the plan. Tomorrow, Anty will talk with Miss Eryka, to focus on some ways she can make sure that is exactly what she does.

The stranger humans came while I was in the middle of writing this entry, so I hid under Anty and Uncle’s bed. Anty had to lure me out with treat, which was not really extra, because it was my treat time anyway. I am not sure if this means I need yet more treat to make up for that. Anyway, that is about it for this week. Until next time, I remain very truly yours,

skyebye
Skye O’Malley Hart-Bowling
(the kitty, not the book)

 

 

Typing With Wet Claws: Reading Rambles Edition

annabowling 4 Comments

Hello, all. Skye here, for another Feline Friday. It is now almost exactly two weeks until Christmas. Anty has hopes the tree will be up before then (so do I; I do not climb it, like some kitties do, or sit underneath it like my predecessor, Olivia, did, but I like to look at it, because it has sparkly lights and shiny balls and I can imagine what I would do if I could get to it.) but Anty and Mama put the white lights around the doorways to the dining room and Uncle’s office, so it is starting to look festive around here.

It is also starting to sound very clicky around here. By clicky, I mean the sound the computer keys make when Anty pounds on them. With her fingers, that is, not a baseball bat. She only does that in her imagination when she is frustrated. That happens sometimes. The end of the year is coming (one week after Christmas, so that is soon) and that makes Anty want to clear her desk of writing obligations for 2016. She is already working on goals, especially regarding fiction. She would like to be both reading and writing more of it, which means I will have more to report on my days to blog. I like to be useful, so this is a good thing.

Before I go any farther (or is it further? Ha, ha, fur-ther. That is funny, because I have a lot of fur. Maybe that joke is funnier for kitties than for humans. Oh, well. Can’t win them all.) I need to tell you where you can read Anty’s writing this week. Her latest Buried Under Romance post is all about reading rituals. Do you have any reading rituals you observe? I highly recommend having a super fluffy kitty sleeping peacefully nearby, preferably with a full tummy from food and treats. That always makes the reading experience better. Especially for the kitty. If you would like to read Anty’s take on the matter, the post is here: http://www.buriedunderromance.com/2016/12/saturday-discussion-reading-rituals.html#comment-9267  and it looks like this:

 

burritual

What are your reading rituals?

 

 

Anty’s binge on Matthew Quick novels continues, as you can see in her review of The Silver Linings Playbook (only of the book; she has not seen the movie, and now is not sure if she wants to, because she researched the differences and she knows what they changed. Word of warning, do not get her started on the movie version of Paper Towns cutting out her two favorite parts, because she is never going to be over that. Trust me on this one.) here:

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/1832682800?utm_medium=email&utm_source=rating  and it looks like this:

grsilverlinings

Anty is now over halfway done with Love May Fail, which is told in four different parts, in four different viewpoints, all combining to make one story. Anty likes that kind of thing, and she very much likes the author’s voice (that is his writing voice, not his speaking voice, which she has never heard, so she cannot talk about that) and the kinds of stories that he tells. She would like to be reading more historical romance, and that will come, because that is still her favorite, but when she gets one of these urges to gobble everything by a new to her author, then she will follow that. Mr. Quick often has love stories in his novels, but because they are not genre romances, those love stories do not always have to end happily (but they can, and some of them do; the point is that they do not have to) nor are they always the focus.

In a genre romance, the love story does  have to be the main focus, and it does have to have a happy ending. That does not mean that the humans who fall in love never have anything bad happen to them ever again (that is a pretty naïve outlook, if you ask me; I have seen things) or that their story is over-over, and nothing interesting ever happens to them again (Anty and Uncle have been in love a long time, and interesting things happen to them all the time. For instance, they have a cat who can blog. I think that is pretty interesting.) What it does mean is that, no matter what happens in the future, the humans who are in love will have each other. They are together and happy to be that way. Believe it or not, that is the only requirement for a romance novel. The only one, seriously. That is why it puzzles me (and Anty) when people who do not read romance think that all romance novels are the same. That is not even close to being true.

Since Anty has been reading and writing romance for a long time now (three cats’ worth, including me; five, if we count Michelangelo and Francesca, who did not live with Anty, but whom she cat-sat on a regular basis) she is pretty familiar with how a romance novel goes. This year, she has been reading a lot of Young Adult fiction and general fiction by authors who also write Young Adult, because she likes getting some fresh voices in her head, and because she likes the edge many of these stories have. She would like to harness some of that and put it into her historical romances. (Note: I have been right there while she wrote the initial daft of Her Last First Kiss, and I think she is on the right tack for that particular goal.)

Suffice it to say (that is fancy human talk for Anty wants the computer back) that things are going to get very interesting, story-wise, around here, as Anty analyzes the books she is reading and takes from them things she would like to put into her own books. As a dedicated Mews, I will be sure to stay on top of this (figuratively, that is. I am a floor girl.) and let you know what is going on. I think there may be some surprises in store.

That is about it for this week, so, until next time, I remain very truly yours,

skyebye

Skye O’Malley Hart-Bowling
(the kitty, not the book)

Typing With Wet Claws: Successfully Extended Edition

annabowling Leave a comment

Hello, all. Skye here, for another Feline Friday. I think that I would probably be blogging today, even if it were not Friday, because Anty is in a mood. Anty did not sleep that great last night, and she had to make two trips to the Laundromat this morning. It was almost three. When she came home from the second trip, she noticed right away that there was a particular aroma. That aroma was my um, stuff. A big stuff, actually, right near the apartment door, and exactly where Anty’s foot went when she took her first step inside. Anty leaves her outside shoes on the landing, so she took that step in her stocking foot, and her step turned into a skid. Uncle says he cannot describe the sound Anty made, but he knew it had to be something interesting. He was right.  Anty had to do some creative walking to get to the bathroom so she could put her dirty socks in the next laundry bin, and get my scoop so she could get rid of my stuff. Then she fed me, so it all worked out okay in the end.

Before I talk about anything else, I need to talk about Anty’s writing first. Her most recent post at Buried Under Romance is here:
http://www.buriedunderromance.com/2016/11/saturday-discussion-making-a-reading-list-and-checking-it-twice.html

and it looks like this:

bur

Anty also posted a review of a book that had a big effect on her, Every Exquisite Thing, by Matthew Quick, on Goodreads. If I ever get a turtle brother (I do not think that is likey, but one never knows) Anty says his name will be Unproductive Ted, because of a turtle that is a book that is in this book. I did not mistype that (even though I have special paws) – there is a book inside this book that is special to the main character and her friends. Anty had to hug this book after she finished reading it, and she went right back to the library, to get two more books by the same author. Those had a similar effect on her, and she will probably talk about that more, later. For now, her review is here:

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/1823317233

and it looks like this:

goodreadseet

 

Anty is going to find more books by this author, so she can figure out what she likes about his work this much, and how she can incorporate it in her historical romance writing. One of his books, Silver Linings Playbook, was made into a movie, and it won an Oscar, which is the award for really good movie things. Anty is going to watch that movie, too, but she does not know when. She has a lot going on these days, especially now that she and Mama got the wifi booster. The booster worked, and now Anty can talk to the interwebs from her office. When she goes into her office to work, I either wait outside the door, if it is only a little time she is in there. If she is in there a longer time, I will go sleep by her recliner, because I know she will go there eventually. Yesterday, she wrote a chapter for her book with Anty Melva, and got it all done in one go, because she was able to concentrate. Anty said that felt super good. I still think she might want to consider getting rid of that carpet, because then I would spend more time in there with her.

Christmas decorations are slated to go up tomorrow, but it is not out of the question for things to get bumped back a little further if something unexpected comes up; Anty loves to get her decorations up as soon as possible, but she is also a realist. Sometimes, things happen. The decorations will get put up in plenty of time for Christmas, so there is no use getting all concerned about it. In the same way, the books are going to get written, and they are going to find their ways into the hands of readers, so there is no use in getting worried about that, either.

As long as Anty keeps moving forward with both books (and with her posts for other sites) then she will, probably before she knows it, find herself at The End. Then it will be time to write more books. She has to remind herself to focus on this book now (actually these books now, because she is working on two) but that does not mean she cannot make notes and file them away for later. That is actually a good thing, because Anty does best when her tank is filled, and she knows what she is doing. The more she knows before it is time to start writing the story, the easier the writing goes. Anty says the view is pretty good from up there, back in the saddle.

That is about it for this week. Until next time, I remain very truly yours,

skyebye

Skye O’Malley Hart-Bowling
(the kitty, not the book)

 

 

 

Typing With Wet Claws: Black Friday Edition

annabowling 1 Comment

Hello, all. Skye here, for our regularly scheduled Feline Friday. The picture for this blog entry is a Greatest Hits picture, because I was not having any part of any picture taking today, even if it is my blog day. Nope, no way, not even for Anty. She got a couple of pictures of my butt, because I kept walking away from the camera. That is how I tell her I would prefer not to participate in her photoshoots at any given time. This may or may not have anything to do with the fact that I had regular cat food yesterday, because somebody did not write down that Mama and Uncle should get me special turkey flavored cat food when they bought Thanksgiving stuff. It also may or may not have anything to do with the fact that Anty took a movie of me washing myself and put it on Instagram. Granted, it did get a lot of likes, and I am super, super fuzzy, so my modesty is intact, but still, are there no limits?

Anyway, even when sick, Anty wrote her post for Buried Under Romance. She did, however, forget to post about it (that is an occupational hazard with bad colds like the one Anty is getting over) so this may be the first people have heard of it. It looks like this:

bur25nov16

and you can read it here:

http://www.buriedunderromance.com/2016/11/saturday-discussion-favorite-families-in-romance.html

If you had seen Anty this week, you would not blame her for forgetting to post about her post.  It was a pretty rough week. She is doing better now, and she did finally get enough brain together to watch things on Netflix. One of the things she watched, besides Thanksgiving themed TV show episodes,  was a movie called Results, which actually did have a kitty in it. It also had a dog in it, and, of course, some humans, but the kitty part is the part that mattered. Anty liked the characters and storyline, and thinks the actors all did very good jobs throughout the whole movie. My favorite part was when the kitty walked out of the loud human party at the end. I love movies with happy endings. I like to think he went under a big bed. where it was quiet, and had lots of treats.

Even though I had regular flavor cat food (it is really good, so I am not complaining) I did get lots of treats, too. That makes it a good Thanksgiving. In case you were wondering, here is what the humans had for dinner. Uncle says not all the food made it into the picture (also, this is only one plate, and yes, it is on top of a legal pad, because the humans ate in the living room. Anty needed to be under her blankey.)

fudthankgsiving2016

Uncle had a very good time making everything. The humans had to put other things on their plates when they finished the first ones, because Uncle made a lot. Then there was pie. I do not eat pie, because I am a kitty, but the humans seemed to like it. Anty threw me a napkin that smelled like the birdie the humans were eating, and I was very interested in that. I considered pouncing on it, but then I got distracted. Maybe another time.

I sometimes forget how to play, and my humans have to teach me again, but I do not think they mind. I catch on sooner or later, and then it is fun time. Anty has said she thinks I might like a toy that moves on its own, because I am interested in the toys she throws me as long as they are moving, but when they stop moving, I lose interest. Anty thinks that is because playing is really hunting practice, and I am not interested in hunting things that are already dead (because not moving =  already dead.) She is pretty smart, so she may be on to something here. I guess I will find out on Christmas, which is not that far away. Anty, Uncle and Mama talked mostly about what to serve for Christmas dinner, while eating Thanksgiving dinner.

Anty is doing Black Friday a little differently this year. Since Mama has to work the morning shift, and Anty is getting over the cold (but still determined to get out and do stuff; a week of Anty being inside all the time is driving all of us nuts) they are going to go and see what deals they can get in the afternoon. I have seen the list, and “cat food” is one of the first items on it, so I am not bothered about anything else they might get while they are out buying that.

Until then, Anty is bundling under her blankey and reacquainting herself with this whole writing thing. A non-writing Anty is not a good thing for anybody. so I will not let that happen. I must return to m y mews duties, so that is about it for now. Until next time, I remain very truly yours,

skyebye

Skye O’Malley Hart-Bowling
(the kitty, not the book)

Typing With Wet Claws: Special Pre-Thanksgiving Edition

annabowling 2 Comments

Hello, all. Skye here. for a special, pre-Thanksgiving edition of Typing With Wet Claws. As you may have guessed, since it is me blogging today, and not my Anty, Anty’s cold is still sticking around. She is pretty sure she will feel better soon, though, which is a good thing. One of the duties of a mews is to take care of things like this when my human is down, so I am writing Anty’s blog for today. She thought about writing her own blog, but nobody wants to read the word, “phlegm,” as many times as she would have had to use it.

Because this is a special edition, I do not  have to talk about Anty’s writing first (there would not have been a lot to talk about anyway, because that would require her to access the storytelling part of her brain, and she has not yet found the deciding what to watch on Netflix part, which is usually pretty easy to find.) There will be more writing when she feels better, but for now, she does like to give staring at a screen or page a couple of times a day. Sometimes, there are words there by the time she stops staring. I think they are even English words, so that is a good sign.

Anty has been doing more reading than usual, which may be the one plus of this whole cold. Okay, that and the fact that Anty’s cold came at exactly the same time as Mama’s vacation. Do not worry, Mama had not planned on going anywhere (apart from helping Uncle get to work on days when it is cold or rainy or snowy) so this is not disrupting any plans, and Anty gets a built in nursing staff. That is pretty cool. Also, Uncle planned on doing all of the cooking himself anyway. That is always a good thing, especially because Uncle used to cook professionally. That means for monies. He is not charging Anty or Mama anything for making Thanskgiving dinner, though. They know where he sleeps. Also, he bought all the food. I will still have cat food, because I am still a cat.

Back to Anty’s reading. She is pretty much at the acceptance phase now, of having read all existing historical romances by the author who got her into historical romance in the first place. There are a lot of other books, in historical romance and other genres, so she is not out of books. Because Anty is a writer herself, she can also write her own, which is a pretty sweet deal, if you ask me. That will probably happen much faster after this cold is gone.

Mama is betting the cold will be mostly gone by Monday. Anty wants it gone now, but she will take it being gone by Friday.  That is because Friday is Black Friday, and Anty loves Black Friday. Anty is a morning person and an extrovert, so getting up early, with the specific reason of going places where there will be a lot of people is actually a good thing for her. There was one year, before I was born, when Olivia was the kitty in this family, when Anty got up early-early-early and walked to the mall (she could, because it was on the same street: this was in the Old Country) so she could be there when it opened.

She had a list with her (those of you who have been with us a while know how much Anty loves lists) and went by herself. She did not mind the long, long line to get into a particular store that we will call Bullseye. There were some very special deals at Bullseye that year, and Anty was determined to get all the shopping done in one go. It was a long wait, but she had he mp3 player, so she could listen to music that corresponded to the story she was writing at the time. Once she got into Bullseye, she followed her list and the store map, and got everything in her cart relatively quickly. Then she parked her cart in the book aisle (astoundingly, nobody was going there; she was not making that up) and phoned Mama to come get her. Mama did, because Anty had also picked out gifts Mama needed to buy, so Mama would not need to do it herself. One big haul, and it was all done.

That is probably not going to happen this year. For one thing, Anty would need to take a bus to the mall, because it is too far to walk, and also the whole cold thing. Anty even let Mama do her own laundry (Anty usually does all the laundry for the whole family. It is kind of her thing.) on Monday. That should tell you something. It is okay, though, because she has a fully loaded Kindle, a packed TBR shelf, and there is that whole Netflix thing. Plus naps. I am a very big proponent of naps. All that good-smelling food Uncle will make will probably help her, as well.

Things are starting to look up, though. Yesterday, Anty washed her hair, and today, she put polish on her hind claws…excuse me, they are called toenails on humans. Those things help her feel less gross and more human. I think that is a sign of life.

That is about it for now. I look forward to joining all of you again on our regularly scheduled Feline Friday. Did you know that, if Anty gets one more follower, she will have five hundred? Five hundred is a nice, round number, and it may inspire Anty to post something special, to celebrate. It is the season, after all.

Until next time, I remain very truly yours,

skyebye

Skye O’Malley Hart-Bowling
(the kitty, not the book)

Typing With Wet Claws: Turn Off and Tune In Edition

annabowling 2 Comments

Hello, all. Skye here, for another Feline Friday. As usual, I have to tell you about things Anty wrote this week, before I am allowed to talk about anything else, even though there is a major holiday coming in fewer than seven days. For those of you who were wondering, I am not allowed to eat people food, but I will get a special turkey cat food so I can celebrate Thanksgiving, too. I am very thankful that I live in an apartment and have humans who love me, and that I get to write my own blog once a week. How many cats can say that?

Talking about Anty’s writing is the price I pay, which is not entirely a bad thing. This week, it is a little different, because there was some collateral damage resulting from efforts to get that blog back in fighting trim (that is a fancy, old-timey phrase that means read to go) and some posts did not make it. We will have a moment of silence for those posts. All right, the moment is over. What I can do is point you to the page where you can read all of Anty’s posts at Buried Under Romance. There will be a new one up tomorrow, so we can all look forward to that. The link to all her surviving posts is here:

http://www.buriedunderromance.com/author/annab

and it looks like this:

01bur

Okay, only part of the page looks like that, but I already showed what the top of the page looked like before, so this is a different part of the page. Anty is very happy to have a place to talk about different things regarding romance novels every week, because, trust me, she can go on about that stuff all day. Sometimes, she does.

Which brings me to our topic for this week, here. The first part of the week was not Anty’s favorite part. She did not like the lost wallet part (but she did like the finding it again part) or the getting caught in the rain part. She did not like the part where two of her friends’ pets went to Rainbow Bridge, or when another friend got some news she had hoped she would not hear. There is a lot of noise on Facebook and other social media, and, at one point in the middle of this week, Anty wanted it to stop.

So, Anty made it stop. Every morning, Anty makes tea and goes into her office, to write her morning pages first thing. Usually, then, she will leave the office, turn on her computer and go about the regularly scheduled parts of her day. This week was different. This week, for a big chunk of it, she stayed in her office. It feels calm in there, it is very close to the kitchen (for the making of more tea, which is very important to Anty) and she has all her writing things around her. Well, except for her laptop. That is usually in the living room, when she is home, because the modem is in the living room, and Anty’s office is at the other end of the apartment. Computer connection is not the greatest all the way out there, but that does not, as Anty found out, have to be a bad thing.

Anty likes writing her morning pages, because they get her brain in writing mode, and she does not do anything else (besides drink tea, that is) while she is writing them. On one of her morning pages spreads, she wrote about how she is grumpy because she does not have the reading time she would like to have. That makes it harder to get into story mode. It is like feeding a race horse, or putting gas in a car. To perform, there needs to be fuel. (Also, feeding kitties. Feeding kitties is extremely important. Anty is very good at feeding kitties.)  This week, Anty added reading to her morning pages time, and that worked very well. When Anty took in story, she found it was easier to put out story.

Yesterday, Anty got done with her morning pages, and her morning reading, and felt as though she was not done after all. She took out an old notebook she had started, many years ago (Olivia was the family cat when she got this notebook, that is how long ago it was) to write about her reading process. She wrote two whole pages in that, without even any effort. That felt good, but there was still more she wanted to do. That is when she saw a Picadilly notebook with butterflies all over it. She had been wanting to start a notebook to talk about personal style (that means things like hair and makeup and clothes, and things like that.) She already knew she wanted to use a particular pen and ink with that one, but she had never taken that notebook out of its wrapper. That day, she did, and wrote five pages in that one. If you are following the math, that is two morning pages, two reading book pages and five style book pages. That is nine pages, all before she opened her office door to go get more tea.

Anty will be the first to admit that those pages were not novel work, but what they did was get her in a writing mood, so that when she was done with them, the next thing she wanted to do was write on her stories. Time to open those notebooks and take out those pens and get down to business. She even took notebooks and pens to the coffee house with her, instead of her laptop. Revolutionary, I know, but it was the same thing. Once she put pen to paper, she wanted to keep on going. I think that is a very good thing.

That is about it for this week, because Anty does need some computer time after all, so, until next time, I remain very truly yours,

skyebye

Skye O’Malley Hart-Bowling
(the kitty, not the book)

 

 

Typing With Wet Claws: Mucho Laundry Edition

annabowling Leave a comment

Hello, all. Skye here, for another Feline Friday. Before I get into anything else, and there is always an anything else, I first have to talk about Anty’s writing this week. This week, Anty sent off the first chapter of Her Last First Kiss that is ready for critique, to Miss N. This is her second draft, with some new things in it, and she is a little nervous and a little excited to have other eyes on this new version. She will see what Miss N thinks, and know more about that on Tuesday. That is still a few days away.

Miss Ezrah at Buried Under Romance fought the hackers and won (I think she is a warrior princess) so Anty was able to post a new installment of Saturday Discussion there. It is here:

http://www.buriedunderromance.com/2016/11/saturday-discussion-tainted-love.html#comment-9167

and it looks like this:

burtainted

Anty is also working to get current with her chapter for Anty Melva in the Beach Ball, which she had hoped to get done sooner than now, but it has been a week. She is also working on posts for Heroes and Heartbreakers. Some of those mean she needs to do some reading first, so she is looking at her available time to see when she can do that. Her goal is to get her desk clear and then pitch new posts, as well as work on books.

Sometimes, being a domestic warrior queen does not play well with that goal. Take today, for instance. Anty had wanted to get my picture for today’s blog before she had her big laundry morning. She had one load to do for Mama and then a big load to do for herself and uncle. I am a kitty, and do not need laundry because I do not wear clothes. I have fur. I also did not want my picture taken, and kept walking away any time Anty had her phone out. I did not feel like staying still. Anty did not know why, but she was focused on the laundry anyway. She likes to get laundry done in the morning, when the Laundromat is most quiet, so she can spend some time reading or writing while her clothes get clean.

Today was not one of those days. It was not quiet. The first time Anty went to the Laundromat, she shut off her phone, because there was a person there who wanted to talk to her, and she wanted to listen. Also, the custodian was there, making sure the building was clean. Anty figured she could read things and listen to music on her second laundry trip (it is a good thing we live kitty-corner -I am disappointed that it does not have anything to do with actual kitties, except maybe that I am one- from the Laundromat.) Anty had been wearing old clothes to do laundry in, and, while she was getting the big load together, she heard a tear. She had figured she could get one more wear out of that pair of jeans, but she was wrong. Time to change, so she did.

Then she came home. I was curled in a very nice ball, in front of the heater, and Anty knelt to take my picture. Then she stopped. Something was wrong. That thing would be that she realized she was kneeling in a puddle of my, um, stuff. For those of you who are new readers (hello!) I have special paws, so I do not climb. That means that I do not use a litterbox, even though many other kitties do. I have a special spot on the floor where I do my stuff, and, usually, I will let a human know when I need to go. This time, though, Uncle was at work and Anty was at the Laundromat. I did what I had to do.

As soon as Anty figured out what was going on, she got up, put the pee pads down on my puddle, and then Febreezed herself. That did not do the trick. She let out a long breath, stared down at her clothes and vowed she was not going to make three Laundromat trips in one day. Even if that would allow her to get current with the linens. Anty considers laundry to be therapeutic, but even she has her limits. It was laundry or writing, and, this time, writing won. That is a good thing, because Anty gets cranky when she is away from her writing for too long. Some times, writing has to come first, even when cat, um, stuff is involved. That is a sign of true dedication, if you ask me. Plus, humans seem to like putting on clothes warm from the dryer, so, from a certain perspective, I did her a favor.

That is about it for this week, because Anty is burning daylight. Until next time, I remain very truly yours,

skyebye

 

Skye O’Malley Hart-Bowling
(the kitty, not the book)

 

Typing With Wet Claws: Urrrrgh Edition

annabowling 2 Comments

Hello, all. Skye here, for another Feline Friday. This Feline Friday is a little bit different, because it is one of those days. Anty did not get a lot of sleep last night, so she is extra grumpy today, which is not helping the fact that this is an urrrrghy day overall. Not that she is wearing overalls. Those are not her kind of thing. They are not my kind of thing, either, because I am a kitty and am covered in fur, so I do not need clothing/ I am very, very fluffy. But this part of the post is not about me.

Normally, this is the place where I would put Anty’s latest post at Buried Under Romance, but I cannot do that this week, because the site was hacked. That is not a happy thing. I guess somebody really does not like romance novels. I do not understand why. They make Anty, and many other writers and readers, very happy. Miss Ezrah, who is the webmistress at Buried Under Romance, is working very very hard to make sure the hackers are defeated and Anty, and all the other people on that site, can post again as soon as possible. In the meantime, here is the page where you can read all of Anty’s Saturday Discussion posts so far: http://www.buriedunderromance.com/author/annab and the top of the page should look like this:

burfail

 

Please note that the picture on this screenshot is of Grumpy Cat. I did not plan it that way, although I am always happy to further the career of other cats in social media, but that is not the big thing I am here to talk about today. The big new is that it is now official, that Anty will be co-presenting the Blogging Isn’t Dead workshop, along with Corrina Lawson and Rhonda Lane, at this year’s Let Your Imagination Take Flight conference. That will be April 7th and 8th, in Burlington, MA. If you are there, Anty would love to say hello. Miss Corrina and Miss Rhonda are very nice, too, and Anty is happy to be working with them. The official roster of programs and presenters looks like this:

necrwaflyer

If you would like more information, such as how to register, so that you can go to the conference, and hear Anty, Miss Corrina, and Miss Rhonda talk about blogging in person, then you can find that information here: http://necrwa.org/blog1/conference/

Even though I write pretty much one third of Anty’s blog posts (at least at this site) for her, I will not be attending the conference, because I am a kitty, and kitties like to stay at home. I would like it if Anty stayed at home, too, so that she could feed me, but I have Uncle for that. He gives me big dinners, so that is not a hardship. I am sure Anty will give me the chance to impart some of my wisdom. At these conferences, people have come up to her and told her they like my blog. Those people have very good taste. Maybe Anty will hunt down a new paw print rubber stamp (we had one in the old country, but it got lost in the move) so that I can give autographs. My actual paws are staying at home, because they are part of me, so any such autographs would be symbolic. Maybe Anty could draw a paw print. She has been known to do that on greeting cards.

Anyway, that is the good writing news for this week. Other than that, this has been an urrrghy week. Anty is glad that she did not try to do NaNo this year, as she would be a nervous wreck by now (which is to say, more than usual) because word counts and domestic tornadoes do not generally mix well. Anty is not worried. There is a calm after every storm, and if there is one thing she has learned from al the urrrghy experiences, it is that the writing will be there. With all the notebooks Anty has going, I do not doubt that at all. Sometimes, the writing takes a little longer, and that is okay, as long as it still gets done, and Anty will make sure that it does.

This has been a day that helps Anty see how important conflict is in writing. She wanted to be well rested for all she had to do today, but she did not get a lot of sleep. Okay, Laundromat time is good for resting (but not sleep) and reading and quiet time, but even though Anty was early, it was not quiet or peaceful. Okay, she would nap when she got home. Well, that was the plan, but we also have a sleep-deprived Uncle at home, and Uncle likes to walk around a lot when he is at home. Since we have old floors, this is noisy. Anty went off to get Uncle’s pills from the pharmacy, but there was a complication there. She fixed that, then wanted to get a calm lunch at Panera, where she could write, but she forgot one important thing It is across the street from a major hospital, and it was lunch hour. Anty had to wait a long time for a table, and then it did not have an outlet for her computer. Also, the Diet Pepsi dispenser was empty and she had to settle for caffeine free. Anty could use some caffeine. Really, a lot of it. She would have ordered tea, but the sign on the hot water dispenser said it was filled at 6AM. Not helpful after noon.

All of these things are annoying, but if everything went according to plan, it would not be an interesting story of how Anty found some space to write, after all. She even has plans to Skype (still miffed that has nothing to do with Skye pee) with Miss Vicki, before diving into the afternoon errands. That all sounds very tiring, but Anty will get through it, because it is best for everyone involved if Anty makes sure she gets at least some writing time even with all the aggravation. Non-writing Anty is super cranky Anty, and nobody wants that.

That is about it for this week, so, until next time, I remain very truly yours,

i1035 FW1.1

Until next week…

 

Skye O’Malley Hart-Bowling
(the kitty, not the book)

 

 

Typing With Wet Claws: Seasonal Change Edition

annabowling Leave a comment

Hello all. Skye here, for another Feline Friday. It is cool today, but not as cold as yesterday. We had snow yesterday. Anty loves snow. It is her all time favorite weather. Rain is her second favorite, and she would like a few more rainy fall days before snowy winter days kick in. She likes those, too, and her super powers do extend into the winter, but even she thinks it is a little early for winter to begin. I, of course, am a Maine Coon, and therefore was born ready for winter. I am getting super fuzzy, because I am going to need the extra warmth when winter really begins.

Before the part of this blog where I get to talk about whatever I want begins, we have to have the part where I talk about what Anty is writing this week. That is the deal, and one of my duties as a mews. This week, Anty’s post at Buried Under Romance is about the blurred lines between historical and contemporary timelines in books. Sometimes, there are both in the same story, whether time travel or time slip. Those two, by the way, are not the same thing. I thought that was very interesting. That post looks like this:

bur28oct10

and you can read about it here:  http://www.buriedunderromance.com/2016/10/saturday-discussion-blurred-time-lines.html#comment-9149

This week was a little bit different from other weeks, because it was the week of Anty’s birthday, and you all know how much she loves birthdays, including, and especially, but not limited to her own. She probably did not want to brag, but I did give her the very first present of the day, so she could start it off right. I even made it myself, but I was not quiet about it. Then again, it is very difficult to cough up a hairball quietly. Anty cleaned that , and gave me my breakfast, after a little while. She wanted my tummy to settle first. This was only a normal sized hairball, not the big awful kind that means she has to smear medicine on my mouth. I have learned my lesson on that one.

Anty had a special celebration with Uncle on Saturday, and went out with Mama on the actual day, which was Monday. Mama and Anty first became friends because they loved some of the same books, so Mama took Anty to two libraries, so Anty could binge and get all the books she wanted. That is a very good present for a book lover. Here is what Anty got, in the picture below. Anty had been saving the experience of reading the very last Bertrice Small historical romance she had not yet read, for a special occasion, and this was it. She is a little sad that this is the last new-to-her book (it came out a while ago, but she did not read it then) but there are still all her old favorites, and other books by other writers. If that is not enough, she creates her own. I think that is a big super power.

bookseses.jpg

Since this birthday had a zero at the end of it (I have never had a birthday with a zero at the end of it, because I have not yet hit the big 1-0.) this one had Anty extra-thinky. Some things that she thought would have happened by now, have not happened yet, but that does not mean that they will not, ever. Other things already have happened, and, some, she would like to have happen again. This is called introspection. It is also called planning. If you have known Anty for any length of time, then you will know that she loves to plan. She has her planner already for this year, and has had it for some time. It is an eighteen month planner, which means she can start planning earlier than having to start out of the gate on January first. She likes that. She would like it if wall calendars would do the same thing, but she has not found one of those yet. Maybe she needs to do more looking.

She definitely needs to do more writing. It is exciting for Anty to be working on two projects at once, and, now that she  has her nifty new ergonomic lap desk, it is much more comfortable to do that. The box says her new desk is a smart desk. I think it is right, because it knew exactly what Anty needed in a lap desk.

lapdesk241016

Anty agrees that it is not the tools that make the writer, but the right tools do make the writing easier, and, in this case, more comfortable. Anty can also take this desk into her office, so she can sit in her super comfy office chair, with the keyboard in her lap, and watch the story spill out onto the big monitor. It does not hurt that the office is filled with things that Anty loves, and it is super toasty warm. My only objection is that the office has that strange carpet that I do not like, so I have to do all of my mews-ing from the linoleum on the kitchen floor outside Anty’s office door. This will be a challenging season.

What is good about that, though, is that writing makes Anty happy. Spending time with her imaginary friends is a pleasure now, not a chore. She knows, now, that she needs to close the office door, or leave the house, to make sure she can concentrate on her stories, and not be distracted by other things. Distractions are bad things for writer type humans. Staying in the story is what matters. Last night, Anty did not want to stop staying in the story, even though it was bedtime, and so she did not. I stuck right by her until she did stop, at midnight, and she rewarded me by giving me some food. I could get used to this.

That is about it for this week. Anty has more writing to do, and some errands to run, so she is going to need the computer back now. Until next time, I remain very truly yours,

 

i1035 FW1.1

Until next week…

Skye O’Malley Hart-Bowling
(the kitty, not the book)