CLEA SIMON!!!

I am thrilled to have a very special guest come to you "live" today. Her third Theda Krakow book is currently available (see the link below) and has earned some fabulous reviews. If you're looking for some great escape reading (and who isn't at this time of year?) you'll love Cries & Whiskers.

Without further ado, I present, Clea Simon! {applause; applause}

Are you addicted to cats?

Sometimes I think I am. No, I’m not a “crazy cat lady,” one of those sad old women (and they do tend to be elderly women) who “collect” or hoard so many animals that it becomes unhealthy for both people and pets.

But I love having a cat in the house. Even while I was mourning my last cat, a lovely long-haired grey named Cyrus, I longed for a feline presence. It wasn’t that I didn’t love Cyrus. At times, years later, I still think about his particular affectionate-and-yet-dignified personality, the way he would silently “mew” and then let me rub his white fluffy belly. I still think of him with love.

But I was also missing the physical presence of a cat. Any cat. There’s just something about having the soft warm bulk of a shin-high body press against you as you stand cooking in the kitchen or sit staring at another blank page. It’s not exactly inspiring, not all the time. But it is comforting. “I’m here,” that soft pressure says. “We’re in this together.”

Therefore, I confess it was a relief when we got the call from the animal shelter. A friend who worked there knew how we felt, and she’d called to say, “I have a kitten here that I think you’ll love.” “I’m not ready,” I told my husband. “We’ll just go visit,” he said. Needless to say, we left that day with Musetta, a spunky, plump black-and-white kitty who has found her own place in my heart, next to Cyrus, and her own spot behind my chair where she sometimes snores and mutters while I work.

There’s been a ton of research recently about why we love the pets we do. Some of it, like this article in the New York Times, suggests that our affection for cats might be a result of a parasite!

But I prefer to think of my connection as pure affection. She definitely inspired me through Cries and Whiskers. When I need a break from writing, or from dealing with any of life’s stresses (an ailing, elderly mother; yet another snowstorm; bills), Musetta is there for me, purring and head butting me. When we go to sleep, I feel the soft “thud” as she jumps up on the bed. When I come in, she twines around my ankles, chirping and mewing to tell me about her day. I hate to think of the day when she won’t be there. But I know, when that time comes, there will be another shelter kitty who needs a good home. Because I need that feline presence. Maybe I am addicted to cats.


Thank you Clea, for making even those of us without a cat want one! (What is it with writers and cats anyway?)

I appreciate you taking the time to make a special appearance today, and wish you all the best in 2008.

It's all better with friends.