A Rough Week in Review

It started out bad since I knew I had surgery coming up on the 12th. I knew it was going to be horrible when the kitty my husband and I have had for the past 14 years was actively dying. When she died on the morning of my surgery and we buried her before we went to the hospital, it was just plain awful.

It's been about 48 hours post-op now and I'm still very sore. It's getting better. I can walk around and even manage to get myself up and down out of bed now. I walked around the house and yard for a good long while yesterday and today, and Dave hasn't needed to help steady me as much. I stopped the Percocet the night I came home. (I took one before bed just because of the awful pains in my back and not being able to get comfortable). Since then I've been able to manage with nothing but Tylenol. Which is good. I don't like the muddle-headedness of the Percocet. I like to be able to think.

I have to admit to being a little bored in my recovery. I want to be able to do things and move and go and be able to sit in a chair, or the couch or somewhere for longer than ten minutes without getting uncomfortable. I have a couple of contests I really wanted to enter and haven't been getting anything accomplished towards them and the deadlines are looming. Ughhhhh....

And then there's the grief. I knew Kittygirl was getting up there in age. She was 16, which I'm told for Persians is still kind of young since they can live to be 19-20. I think in this last year she had been in some pain with her joints - not moving around as well as she had been before. But hey, I don't get around as much as I once did either, so I thought...just a part of aging. I don't know...I guess I thought she'd live forever.

It's odd but I keep expecting to see her in my office when I sit here, or laying in front of her bowl when I go in to get something to drink. The worst part is seeing her little empty bed. Since Dave's been taking care of me the last few days the only thing he's managed to do is take her litterbox away. Even the place where we kept that in the bathroom looks really empty.

She was such a good little kitty. Never jumped up on the counters. Only scratched in one specific location. Loved to come and sit with us in the evenings to just be with her mom and dad. She was a love.

I guess she planned to die that day. At least it feels that way to me. I had a sixth sense about it. Even told my friends at work that I had the feeling she was going to wait until the day I had surgery to pass away. I think maybe it was he last act of kindness to me. She knew if I was thinking about her instead of concentrating on my surgery, I wouldn't be as scared by it. And you know what? She was right. I had my mind on her and not what I was going through.

We buried her in the backyard, in a nice bit of shade. Built up a little cairn and placed a standing stone for a marker. It's a good spot for her. Ironic though, since she'd only been outside once in her life and had no idea what grass even was. I'll never forget that. We took her with us on vacation and took her out of her transport cage at a rest stop and let her sit in the grass. She had no idea what to do and looked up at us with such panic on her little face. We laughed so hard. She couldn't wait to get back up in my arms. At the time I had no idea that cats needed long adjustment periods to new spaces. I thought they were like dogs in that wherever they were was where they were supposed to be. Felt kind of bad about that in retrospect.

Anyhoo. I must move on now. I've been sitting in this chair for about twenty minutes and that's about all I can stand these last few days.

Kat Updates

Lots of things going on.

Triskelion, one of my publishers has gone out of business. What this means for getting my rights back, I'm not sure. I'm in a waiting game with all the other authors in their stable.

My original schedule for the year has been seriously blown out of the water. I'm finding it hard to concentrate on any one project for longer than ten minutes at a time. Oh well. I'll get finished with them eventually.

Samhain, one of my other publishers, has signed contracts with Kensington to have a Samhain imprint published and distributed by Kensington. Not sure yet all the particulars of that deal, but I'm sure I'll learn more as it all unfolds. At this juncture it doesn't include me, or change my publishing that is already contracted with Samhain, but who know what it means for some of my future projects.

I'm in love with Sci-fi. I know this is no earth-shattering confession or news to those who know me. But I think I'm going to concentrate on some of my other sci-fi stories and get them out the door. And I know right where I'm going to send them.

Finally sent The Last Keeper to a fantasy/sci-fi publisher who asked to see more of my work about ten years ago. Ok, so I didn't have anything to send them at the time. It never quite fit with any of the romance publishers I have, so I finally bit the bullet. Might take up to a year to hear from them on it. Oh well. It's not like it's doing me any good sitting on my computer not being sent out.

I've been asked to join a blog called Beyond the Veil. It's a paranormal authors' blog with some of the other Samhainettes. Looks like it's going to be a great experience and fun/lively time. Can't wait to start in. My first posting is on Monday July, 2nd. So, look for it. (I'll add a link here when I have more time.)

Well, that's about it. I have to get ready for the paying job now.

-Kat

Look At Me I'm a Car

I went to Lynda Scott's blog and found this really cute test you can take to determine what kind of car you are.

Now, anyone who has read any of my contemporary work know what a nut I am for muscle cars. Imagine how surprised I was that I would be....

I'm a Chevrolet Corvette!

You're a classic - powerful, athletic, and competitive. You're all about winning the race and getting the job done. While you have a practical everyday side, you get wild when anyone pushes your pedal. You hate to lose, but you hardly ever do.

Take the http://www.tomorrowland.us/sportscar">Which Sports Car Are You? quiz.

Isn't that a hoot?

-Kat

Sold Again...

MIND GAMES will be included in a future edition of Red Sage Secrets.

Woohoo. I got the call yesterday afternoon and I'm really feeling very good about this. It's the first time I've sold a sequel, and since it's a sequel to the first story I ever sold, that makes it even more special.

This story takes place 30+ years after FATAL ERROR and stars Jesse and Soran's son, Damien.
Once again the government is trying to interfere with the daily lives of citizens, but this time in the form of an agency out to eradicate the use of psychic abilities. In a world where genetic mutatation makes speaking telepathically a real and provable commodity, this is no small fete. Damien and his Vartek partner, Jade, must use their link to help stop the agency and free all the other Varti that are held imprisoned and awaiting surgical intervention that will sever their links forever.

If you know anything about my sci-fi and futuristics than you know this book too will have it's share of gadgets and impliments to make life easier for those inhabiting the futuristic worlds. I think that's one of the funnest things about creating these worlds, is coming up with these gadgets. I think some of the best ones appear in my July release, FALLING STARS, in Secrets Volume 19: Timeless Passions. I actually have nanobots that mimic blood cells in that story. Now, that was fun to come up with!!

I still have a few other stories out there making the rounds with agents. Seeing if they want to represent me. I'll keep you posted if I get a bite.

-Kat

Plot Problems....

Ughhhhh....

Stayed up last night reading a book. It was a futuristic that was really pretty good, throughout. I should have started asking myselt WTF about the time I realized I was almost all the way through the book without a consumating love scene. Now, normally, this wouldn't have mattered, but the spine said "erotic" so, I was a little curious as to why the hero and heroine hadn't even tried to have hot monkey sex yet. Hmmmm... weird, but the way the conflict was set up, I could kind of see the reluctance of the characters to consumate. However, I don't understand the categorization by the publisher that made the book erotic. But that's a separate issue.

So, I'm reading along and the mystery aspect of the book was really pretty intriguing, so I'm trying to figure out the "whodunit" and am getting into the story. Suddenly.....the love scene happens. But it's not just any love scene.....

Ughhhhhhhhhhhh..... I can't stand it.

The hero and heroine have to make love so they can kill off the villian. Yes, you heard it here first. When they finally got to it...it was so frantic and emotional the villian exploded! Exploded!!! And not in a good way. Blood and guts everywhere. Death and destruction. Dogs and cats living together. Mass hysteria. (Ok that last bit was borrowed from Ghostbusters, but you get the drift.)

Now, I'm a sci-fi buff. I love it. I love paranormals and futuristics. Put one in front of me and I'll devour it in one sitting. And for a book that had so much promise, and had such a great plot, and interesting intricacies of world-building, I was shocked that this resolution was allowed to have a stamp of approval.

Which brings me to this point...

What?????

My enjoyment of the book took a sudden nosedive and I put it down. Turned out the light and fell asleep. I couldn't help it.

Now, to the rest of you out there...have you ever read something that you were enjoying very much and then all of a sudden the plot folded in on itself and winked out of exsistence? Didn't someone take this author by the hand and say, "I don't see this happening, not even with the way you've set your characters up. It's going to pull your readers right out of the story."

Now, I'm not claiming to be the Mistress of Perfect Plots, but come on.... the villian exploded!!!

(If you wrote this book, I'm sorry if these comments upset you. But if you need a critique partner who won't steer you wrong, my email is located on the side of the blog.)

-Kat

Tag..I'm it!!

I've been tagged by Natasha to tell everyone 8 things they didn't know about me before.

In case I tagged you, here are the rules:

1) Each player starts with 8 random facts or habits about themselves.
2) People who are tagged need to write their own blog about their 8 things with a copy of these rules.
3) At the end of your blog you need to choose 8 people to get tagged and list their names.
4) Don't forget to leave them a note saying they've been tagged.

1) I'm by nature an anxious person. Heights, crowds, travel, a break in routine all send me pretty close to the edge and shake me up to where I have physcial symptoms of illness. Planes really freak me out, though I do fly.

2) I still tell myself bedtime stories.

3) I wish DS9 really existed so I could live there. (That's the geek in me coming out)

4) I like to sit in the tub for hours and read.

5) I'm addicted to email.

6) I'm a pretty decent singer.

7) People always tell me I have great nails, though in reality I neglect them horribly.

8) I could spend an entire day in the office supply store and never get tired of it.

I'm tagging, Antonia, JAC, Lynda, Kissa, Debbie, Jennifer and Cassandra.

-Kat

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