Cat Treat Monday: Elysa Hendricks and Kyle

I'm very excited today to introduce you to a lovely author, Elysa Hendricks and her  sweet fur baby. Elysa is sharing a short story she wrote about meeting Kyle.

HOME FOR CHRISTMAS

Christmas Eve my life changed.

            The day started out about the same as the rest of the days during the last month.

            Harsh fluorescent lights sputtered reluctantly to life; revealing stark cinder block walls, bare cement floors and steel bars. Plaintive cries echoed down long, empty halls. The acrid smell of urine mingled unpleasantly with the strong odor of pine disinfectant. My bones protested as I stretched out the kinks caused by sleeping on the hard metal ledge provided in place of a proper bed.

            As far as prisons go, this one wasn't as bad as some and it was better than most: warm and dry, with three square, if bland meals a day. After spending most of the month of December on the streets of Chicago, my toes a mere half-degree away from frostbite, I almost jumped into the officer's wagon.

            Almost. Life on the inside can be iffy. Two others, who came in with me that day hadn't been seen since.

            Shortly after lunch, the cellblock door opened. I heard a brief snatch of the song I’ll Be Home For Christmas before the door clanged shut again. It had been a long time since I’d had a home, for Christmas or otherwise. Two strangers, a middle-aged woman and a teen-aged boy, walked into the room. In every cell the inmates sat up. They crowded against the bars, each crying his own sad song. One by one, the people checked them out.

            Then they were there. Right in front of me.

            This was my chance. Eagerly I arched my back and pressed my nose through the bars. I set my motor going. My whole body thrummed with the effort to be heard above the others, to be noticed. Excitement locked my vocal cords. All that came out was a strangled squeak.

            "How 'bout this one?" the woman asked.

            The boy peered at me. "He's kind of skinny," he said.

            I held my breath. The cell door swung open. His hands gripped me behind my front legs and pulled me against his chest. "You want to come home with me, Kitty?" he asked.

            Before he could change his mind I wrapped my paws around his neck and licked his chin. He grinned and nodded at the woman.

            I was going home for Christmas.

Thank you Elysa. I wish all people would consider adopting a homeless cat and bringing more love into their life. Elysa's book looks like a heartfelt romance 

Book Description: 

Race Reed doesn’t want a wife, but to save his ranch he needs a baby. To gain custody of her stepsister, Claire Jensen needs a husband, but she wants love. Wants and needs are bound to clash when they run The Baby Race. 

I hope you'll check it out and give it a try:

http://tinyurl.com/thebabyrace

http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/77032

http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-baby-race-elysa-hendricks/1104729049

You should also visit Elysa at her website: http://www.elysahendricks.com

Cat Treat Monday: Cathleen Ross and Chicken

We have a fantastic cat treat this holiday week. Mum and I are pleased to introduce author, Cathleen Ross and her unusual pet. Without further ado, here's Cathleen.

I adore animals and have had plenty. This is my pet chicken named CHICKEN. I've had her since she was a pullet and she's getting used to being patted by me. I found her in a pet shop in the country with lots of other pullets. The other pullets ignored me when I squatted to look at them but she begged me to buy her by jumping up and down and looking me in the eye, so I bought her. She's very spoiled and jealous in nature. If I walk my dog she tries to attack her by flying onto the dog's head and pecking out her eyes. She gave up laying over a year ago and now just rules the front garden. She sits outside my bedroom window and wakes me up with her constant calls for food and as you can see she is getting very fat as i buy her fresh corn on the cob. I think she gets lonely sometimes as she sits by the front door and watches me write. Once I left the front door open and found her sitting at my desk waiting for me.

What a darling Chicken! I never knew they could have such personality. Thank you so much Cathleen for sharing your story.

Cathleen 's recent release is called Highlander. 

About the book: Highlander is the second of the Forbidden Fantasy stories by best-selling erotic writer, Cathleen Ross. It is a 10,000 word erotic romance set in Scotland. When Sir James Bruce conquers enemy territory, his reward is the hand of beautiful virgin, Lady Isobel McLaird. Although Isobel has no intention of marrying Sir James, he intends to change her mind by taming her to his touch. Only James has the power to save her imprisoned brother and the stubborn tenacity to win her heart. 

Mum's review: I'm a sucker for stories of gorgeous Scots in kilts, so I found Highlander a greatly enjoyable read. Highlander has a dash of the period  politics of Braveheart and a sassy heroine reminiscent of the Taming of the Shrew. Add in the flair of a contemporary voice along with a HOT romance and you have entertaining fun.

You can follow Cathleen on Twitter @CathleenRoss . You can also sample Cathleen's work on Wattpad http://www.wattpad.com/user/CathleenRoss

Cat Treat Monday: Author Edie Ramer, Belle, Rose and Sky

We are very pleased to introduce you to our guests today. Mummy just finished Edie Ramer's book Cattitude and she loved it. She said she would like to give it more than five stars on Amazon but they only allow five. 


Cattitude blurb: It's all in the Cattitude...

After Belle the cat switches bodies with a psychic on the run from a murderer, she wants her perfect cat body back instead of this furless human one. But she doesn't count on falling in love with her former owner. Or that a CEO and a beauty queen want to use up her nine lives. Now is her chance to prove anything a human can do, a cat can do better.

Edie has some adorable babies to tell you about so I'll just turn it over to her with no further ado. 

 CC said to write a few paragraphs about my fur babies. I could write a book about them, but I’ll restrain myself. The English setter came first. We’d lost Lulu, our beloved English springer spaniel a few months before, and I couldn’t stand being without another dog. We decided to go with a different breed this time to avoid comparing our new dog to Lulu. (Which didn’t work.)

After reading a half dozen books on dog breeds, we decided on an English setter. We got Sky from a rescue association. She was just under a year old. Beautiful. Super high energy. In great health. She even came with her original papers, including her vet information. (Which we really appreciated.) We knew she’d be energetic, but what we didn’t pay so much attention to was the part in her breed description that said “stubborn.” The books should say “super stubborn.” Or “makes a mule look malleable.”

But she’s a sweetheart. Great with children. Loves to be petted. Hates to be alone. Which is where the cat came in...

My husband refused to get another dog, and I’d heard that cats had a calming effect on a dog. Sky had been dropped off with all her papers at a cat kennel, so we thought she must be used to cats. We got Belle from our local humane society. The minute I brought her home, Lulu sniffed the carrier and I could just tell what she was thinking.

“Lunch!”

It took a couple of months before Belle got used to us. I quickly fell in love with her. I’d thought I was a dog person, but now I know I’m a cat person, too. It’s because of her that I wrote Cattitude. While on a break at a previous workplace, eight of us talked about what kind of animal we’d like to be if we could have our choice. The majority of my co-workers wanted to be a cat. That conversation stayed in my head and one day when Belle was purring on my lap, I wondered What if the opposite happened? What if a cat turned into a woman?

That’s when I knew I was going to write a book about a cat who changes bodies with a woman and keeps her cat attitude. I tried to give the cat in the book a different name—because she really isn’t my cat—but none fit as well as Belle.

We inherited Rose the beagle when my father-in-law died. She was 17; now she’s 19. Very old. It’s amazing because when we got her, she was obese. She could barely drag herself up the stairs. (She follows me everywhere.) Now she’s trimmed up nicely and she scampers, and I take her and Sky for long walks. Though she has arthritis and limps, she doesn’t let that stop her. My only regret is that we didn’t have her much sooner.

I’ve exceeded my few paragraphs. It’s a pleasure to be here and I’m grateful to Confucius Cat and Patricia for letting me talk about my fur babies.

Mum's Cattitude Review - Five Stars

I LOVED this book. As a cat lover, I was drawn to the tagline: Anything a human can do a cat can do better. How perfect! That's a sentiment I see my cat thinking every day. *Confucius Cat says: darn right! * In her heroine, Belle, Edie Ramer has managed to capture the feline thought process and translate it into a humorous and endearing character who charmed me from the first page. The book is often laugh out loud funny, as when Belle is considering living life as a woman instead of a cat and decides she'd rather have a hairball in her throat. Or the passages on Belle's Harry Potter obsession. I could definitely relate to those and at one point had to take a drink of water, I was laughing so hard.  The hero, Max, is loveable and relatable as well. He's so attractive and wonderful, ...well you'll have to read the book to know more. Ramer has also done a fantastic job with the relationship between Sorcha (who becomes a cat) and the little girl she grows to love. Cattitude is a must read for cat lovers...and everyone else.


You can follow Edie Ramer on Twitter @Edie Ramer and check out her other books at http://www.EdieRamer.com

Cat Treat Monday: Minna and Author Maree Anderson

Today, I am so excited to introduce a fascinating cat and her owner. I don't think I've ever met an Ocicat before. What a beauty. Take it away Minna:

Name: Minna (short for Minnaloushe, after the cat in a poem by William Butler Yeats.) I’m a purebred ocicat *buffs her claws on her Owner’s best couch cushion*

Favorite Pastime: Sleeping. Eating. Hunting for yummy things to eat that have been left out on the kitchen counter, like margarine containers (excellent to lick), cheese buns (crunchy cheesy toppings--yum), and muffins that have just come out of the oven (my favorite are banana choc-chip). Smooching my Feeder and acting all purry and adorable so my Feeder will feed me. Eating. Forgetting I’ve been fed 10 minutes after I ate. Eating. Sleeping.

Favorite Human: My Feeder. Though I must say, she is a very frustrating creature at times. I’m doing my best to train her to my exacting standards, but oh, it’s such a chore. Sometimes I have to resort to jumping on her pillow and yowling in her ear while she’s sleeping before she’ll get up and feed me. Or even scraping my claws down her bedroom windowpane if I happen to be stuck outside. Goodness. I feel tired just thinking about it. *yawns* Must have a nap....

Most embarrassing moment: When my Feeder’s sibling chose to write all about me for his school speech. I was flattered at first, until I realized it wasn’t a speech about my star-studded past as a feline cover-model and heroine of the bestselling book The Nine Emotional Lives Of Cats. No, it was a tell-all expose! All my little foibles—like the time I went hunting and brought home a delicious piece of stale Madeira cake from the neighbor’s front lawn—were revealed to a bunch of evil children. I was a laughing stock! To add insult to injury, he got a very good mark for delivering such an amusing speech. Oh, the shame..... 

BTW: Since my Owner cooks all my food specially for me so I don’t get all itchy and scratchy and lick my fur off, I guess it would be nice to give her a mention. She has published a book called The Crystal Warrior. It’s not anywhere near as fascinating as “my” book, but it’s won a writing award, and I’ve heard people say it’s not half bad. (And just between you and me, one day my Owner hopes to be famous as I am!)

Here’s a bit about my Owner’s book:

The Crystal Warrior by Maree Anderson

She’s a dancer, and the most important thing in her life right now is the success of her new dance studio. He’s an alien Crystal Warrior with one big-ass curse hanging over him. In a moment of weakness she lets him seduce her. Now they’re magically bonded and his life is in her hands. (Winner of the Romance Writers of New Zealand Clendon Award for full-length romantic manuscript.)

Chalcedony (Chalcey) has given up on men. Who’s got time for all that angsty dating crap when she’s got a new dance studio to run? Then she’s given a piece of wulfenite crystal and Lord Wulfenite, Keeper of the Shifting Sands fief, literally pops out of the crystal and plants one on her. Wulf is the man of her dreams… or at least, dressed like an ad for We Love Leather, with killer abs and delectable pectorals, he sure looks like the man of her dreams. But if there’s one thing Chalcey’s learned: If it looks too good to be true, then it sure as heck probably is too good to be true! And Wulf proves to be no exception.

Wulf doesn’t stop to wonder why he’s so attracted to Chalcedony. All he knows is he’s finally escaped from a centuries-long hell and he wants this woman – more than anything he’s wanted in his entire life. Chalcey doesn’t stand a chance. Before she realizes what’s at stake, she’s bonded with him and his life is in her hands. She knows she should walk away and leave him to his fate. No way is she planning on getting stuck with a guy who used to steal women for breeding stock! But the more she learns about Wulf and his past, the more conflicted she becomes.

Only when the Crystal Guardian’s curse threatens everything Chalcey’s worked so hard for, does she finally realize what’s truly important. But even if she can figure out how to save Wulf from his fate, it might be too late.


Confucius Cat's mummy read The Crystal Warrior and gave it five stars. The sexy alpha male hero had us hooked from the beginning and we loved the sassy heroine who tamed him (just enough). The plot unfolded at a fast page-turner pace. Can't wait for the next book in the series. 


As an aside, we just started the Nine Emotional Lives of Cats. I'm not sure I want my mummy knowing so much about what I'm thinking and feeling. ..(MOL) But she's loving it.

The Crystal Warrior by Maree Anderson available now at:

·      Smashwords: http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/80048

·      Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/The-Crystal-Warrior-ebook/dp/B005H6Y60M/

·      Barnes & Noble: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-crystal-warrior-maree-anderson/1105098939

·      iTunes: http://itunes.apple.com/us/book/the-crystal-warrior/id458552017?mt=11

For more information, please check out Maree’s website: http://www.mareeanderson.com or: http://www.thecrystalwarrior.com You can also follow on Twitter @MareeAnderson

Purrs 4 Peace - December 2011 - Thank You

This month I am soooo proud and happy to present a sweet, adorable canine who has not only been a wonderful and supportive Twitter friend to Confucius Cat but also is an inspiration for helping others in this crazy would. As a side note, my sister Zelda who just passed OTRB was a ShithTzu and they are the sweetest most upbeat and happy dogs you can adopt. Anyway, here she is: Mattie.

My name is Mattie, some of you may know me as I tweet on Twitter as @MattieDog. I'm a sweet little, golden Shih Tzu who brings joy and love to everyone I meet.  My momma and dadz believe I am a reincarnated buddha because I help them recognize the truly important things in life.  I know it is my mission to see the positive in all aspects of life..sweet life, it is such a blessing. I came in to this world a little sideways - I was found wandering around the city, approximately a year old, without a care in the world.  My parents found me in an animal shelter, and it's been a joyous journey since then.  If you'd like to read the full story of my adoption you can do so here.  My days are filled with a peaceable existence where I share my family's love with my furry sister and brothers - a menagerie of adopted, mostly special needs Shih Tzu's and one crazy little Chihuahua; and once a week my momma takes me to visit children who are receiving cancer treatments.  I am very grateful for my time with the little ones, they have taught me that the spirit is a powerful thing.

That's me...MattieDog, a little dog making a big impact in this world!

What a cutie pie! Thank you so much Mattie for sharing your story and for being you. And thank you to your human parents who's generosity and compassion are to be admired. 

And my appreciation and thanks to all the cats and honorary cats around the world who Purr 4 Peace. You add the vital positive energy of love to the universe. Bravo. I bow to you all. Purrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr.