Thursday, March 29, 2018

#CatThursday - How to #Cat


Welcome to the weekly meme that celebrates the wonders and sometime hilarity of cats! Join us by posting a favorite LOL cat pic you may have come across, famous cat art or even share with us pics of your own beloved cat(s). It's all for the love of cats! (share your post in the Mr. Linky below)







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Thursday, March 22, 2018

#CatThursday - #Cats in #Art (27) Theophile Steinlen


Welcome to the weekly meme that celebrates the wonders and sometime hilarity of cats! Join us by posting a favorite LOL cat pic you may have come across, famous cat art or even share with us pics of your own beloved cat(s). It's all for the love of cats! (share your post in the Mr. Linky below)

I believe we're all familiar with this particular piece (below) by Theophile Steinlen (1859 - 1923), but I had no idea he was a prolific cat painter. Such gorgeous paintings! 

La tournée du Chat Noir de Rodolphe Salis (1896)


Black and Calico Cats



Cat on a Sofa



Summer Cat On A Balustrade



Deux chats

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Monday, March 19, 2018

Spring 2018 #Bloggiesta - Plans and #ccspin announcement


Another Bloggiesta - I'll do my best!
  1. First on the list...finally announcing my Classics Club spin. They picked #3 and on my list of 20 books, #3 was Rabbit, Run by John Updike. This works out good because I can make this my March selection for my Read Your (Book) Shelf reading challenge. THIS TASK IS DONE!
  2. My main focus for this Bloggiesta is going to be to update my reading challenge tabs in my blog menu. --I need to add a tab for one of the main perpetual challenges (#13WLRP) I host so I can keep track of my progress. --I need to update my Perpetual challenges tab with the rest of my perpetual challenge participation. --I need to add my yearly challenges (the ones I host) to my 2018 reading challenges tab, and update my progress with all 2018 reading challenges.
  3. If I have time, I will update my Books Read tab.
  4. Bonus tasks, if there is time.

Wish me luck!

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Thursday, March 15, 2018

#CatThursday - Attention Seeking #Cats


Welcome to the weekly meme that celebrates the wonders and sometime hilarity of cats! Join us by posting a favorite LOL cat pic you may have come across, famous cat art or even share with us pics of your own beloved cat(s). It's all for the love of cats! (share your post in the Mr. Linky below)






The cat in this cartoon is totally Arya!



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Thursday, March 8, 2018

#CatThursday - #Authors and #Cats (70) Vanessa Morgan


Welcome to the weekly meme that celebrates the wonders and sometime hilarity of cats! Join us by posting a favorite lolcat pic you may have come across, famous cat art or even share with us pics of your own beloved cat(s). It's all for the love of cats! (share your post in the Mr. Linky below)

The second Cat Thursday of each month is Authors and Cats Thursday. Each time I will feature an author with their cat(s), pictured with a cat(s), or guest posts by cat loving authors who also (sometimes) write about cats.

This week I have a special treat for you. My guest today is Vanessa Morgan, author of Avalon (a memoir about her beloved cat of the same name) and the new release, Clowders.

WHY I WRITE HORROR

Most people ask me why I write horror. Surely, something must be wrong with me if I can come up with such twisted stories.

I don't know the psychology behind this – maybe it is to counterbalance my often too kind and vulnerable personality in real life. But I believe it is more than that. Horror is not just a genre that I like; it is deeply ingrained in who I am.

Even as a toddler, I used my Barbie dolls to play out self-invented horror scenes. And from an early age on, I have been passionate about horror movies. I have seen the most obscure fright flicks out there, even those that have never seen a release on DVD or Blu-ray, and my favorite pastime is going to horror film festivals around the world. Therefore, I think I will always be watching and writing horror.

My most recent project is a horror novel called Clowders. It has just become available for purchase and is about a secluded town in Europe where each time a cat dies, nine human lives are taken as a punishment. I am currently also turning my short story The Strangers Outside into a novel as I have always thought there was the potential to make it longer and better. I already finished the first draft, so it will be released soon. After that, I will be creating another horror movie reference guide in the same vein as When Animals Attack.

But first, I hope you will all check out Clowders because it is super creepy and mysterious, but most of all because my cat Avalon (whom you may know from his own book) has a significant part in the story.


Clervaux, Luxembourg. This secluded, picturesque town in the middle of Europe is home to more cats than people. For years, tourists have flocked to this place – also known as “cat haven” - to meet the cats and buy cat-related souvenirs.

When Aidan, Jess and their five-year-old daughter, Eleonore, move from America to Clervaux, it seems as if they've arrived in paradise. It soon becomes clear, though, that the inhabitants' adoration of their cats is unhealthy. According to a local legend, each time a cat dies, nine human lives are taken as a punishment. To tourists, these tales are supernatural folklore, created to frighten children on cold winter nights. But for the inhabitants of Clervaux, the danger is darkly, horrifyingly real.

Initially, Aidan and Jess regard this as local superstition, but when Jess runs over a cat after a night on the town, people start dying, one by one, and each time it happens, a clowder of cats can be seen roaming the premises.

Are they falling victim to the collective paranoia infecting the entire town? Or is something unspeakably evil waiting for them?

Aidan and Jess' move to Europe may just have been the worst decision they ever made.

For purchase

About the author
Vanessa Morgan is known as the “female version of Stephen King.” Three of her works (The Strangers Outside, Next to Her, A Good Man) have become movies. When she's not working on her latest book, you can find her watching horror movies, digging through flea markets, or photographing felines for her blog Traveling Cats (http://travelling-cats.blogspot.com).


Some cats need nine lives to make a difference. Avalon only needed one.

From Amazon bestselling author Vanessa Morgan, Avalon is the heartwarming and once-in-a-lifetime love story of a girl and her neurotic Turkish Van cat.

With humor, the author details how Avalon made other creatures cringe in distress whenever he was around, how he threw her dates out by means of special techniques, and how he rendered it almost impossible for her to leave the house. Avalon was so incorrigible that even her landlord ordered her to get rid of him. But beneath Avalon's demonic boisterousness, Vanessa recognized her own flaws and insecurities, and she understood that abandoning Avalon would be the worst she could do to him. Thanks to her unswerving loyalty, Avalon transformed into a tender feline, and even landed a major role in a horror movie. In turn, Avalon made it his mission to be there for his human companion.

Avalon is a memoir for anyone who has ever been obsessively in love with a pet.

For purchase 
Amazon.com: http://amzn.to/1FTC8Ep
Amazon.co.uk: http://amzn.to/1ImdPRo 
Amazon.fr: http://amzn.to/1JTGIF2

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Tuesday, March 6, 2018

Top Ten Tuesday - Favorite Book Quotes

Top Ten Tuesday is hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl.

Well, what do you know? I'm back again this week!

These were SO hard to narrow down! (In no particular order)
  1. “Sometimes being a bitch is all a woman's got to hold on to.” ― Stephen King, Dolores Claiborne
  2. “Memories, even your most precious ones, fade surprisingly quickly. But I don’t go along with that. The memories I value most, I don’t ever see them fading.” ― Kazuo Ishiguro, Never Let Me Go
  3. “I saw a new world coming rapidly. More scientific, efficient, yes. More cures for the old sicknesses. Very good. But a harsh, cruel, world. And I saw a little girl, her eyes tightly closed, holding to her breast the old kind world, one that she knew in her heart could not remain, and she was holding it and pleading, never to let her go.” ― Kazuo Ishiguro, Never Let Me Go
  4. “I’m not like the rest of you; I never made any plans about what I’d do when I grew up; I never thought of being married, as you did. I couldn’t seem to imagine myself anything but stupid little Beth, trotting about at home, of no use anywhere but there. I never wanted to go away, and the hard part now is leaving you all. I’m not afraid, but it seems as if I should be homesick for you even in heaven.” ― Louisa May Alcott, Little Women
  5. “There are many Beths in the world, shy and quiet, sitting in corners till needed, and living for others so cheerfully that no one sees the sacrifices till the little cricket on the hearth stops chirping, and the sweet, sunshiny presence vanishes, leaving silence and shadow behind.”
    ― Louisa May Alcott, Little Women
  6. “May she wake in torment!" he cried, with frightful vehemence, stamping his foot, and groaning in a sudden paroxysm of ungovernable passion. "Why, she's a liar to the end! Where is she? Not there—not in heaven—not perished—where? Oh! you said you cared nothing for my sufferings! And I pray one prayer—I repeat it till my tongue stiffens—May she wake in torment!" he cried, with frightful vehemence, stamping his foot, and groaning in a sudden paroxysm of ungovernable passion. "Why, she's a liar to the end! Where is she? Not there—not in heaven—not perished—where? Oh! you said you cared nothing for my sufferings! And I pray one prayer—I repeat it till my tongue stiffens—Catherine Earnshaw, may you not rest as long as I am living; you said I killed you—haunt me, then! The murdered do haunt their murderers, I believe. I know that ghosts have wandered on earth. Be with me always—take any form—drive me mad! only do not leave me in this abyss, where I cannot find you! Oh, God! it is unutterable! I cannot live without my life! I cannot live without my soul!”
    ― Emily BrontĂ«, Wuthering Heights
  7. “... a mind needs books as a sword needs a whetstone, if it is to keep its edge.”
    ― George R.R. Martin, A Game of Thrones
  8. “Never forget what you are, for surely the world will not. Make it your strength. Then it can never be your weakness. Armour yourself in it, and it will never be used to hurt you.”
    ― George R.R. Martin, A Game of Thrones
  9. “Give me a man or woman who has read a thousand books and you give me an interesting companion. Give me a man or woman who has read perhaps three and you give me a very dangerous enemy indeed.” ― Anne Rice, The Witching Hour
  10. “None of us really changes over time. We only become more fully what we are.”
    ― Anne Rice, The Vampire Lestat

    ...and a bonus quote because it's from my favorite book.
  11. “It's an awful truth that suffering can deepen us, give a greater lustre to our colours, a richer resonance to our words. That is, if it doesn't destroy us, if it doesn't burn away the optimism and the spirit, the capacity for visions, and the respect for simple yet indispensable things.”
    ― Anne Rice, The Queen of the Damned


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Sunday, March 4, 2018

The Classics Spin #17 #ccspin


The Classics Spin, an occasional challenge run by The Classics Club where the reward is great reading. What could be better?

I usually fail miserably at this, but here I am, trying again. Go me!

We are supposed to kind of challenge ourselves with this list, but my list is constrained by 1) books I'm able to find at the moment (yes, it's that kind of situation with my massive home library) and 2) I'm trying to choose short books. Otherwise, I know I'll fail.

To see my entire Classics Club list, visit the tab in the menu at the top. Okay, here goes...
  1. Brideshead Revisited, Evelyn Waugh
  2. Orlando, Virginia Woolf
  3. Rabbit, Run, John Updike
  4. The Bell Jar, Sylvia Plath
  5. The Collector, John Fowles
  6. Frankenstein, Mary Shelley
  7. Mrs. Dalloway, Virginia Woolf
  8. In Cold Blood, Truman Capote
  9. Northanger Abbey, Jane Austen
  10. Something Wicked This Way Comes, Ray Bradbury
  11. Of Mice and Men, John Steinbeck
  12. Breakfast at Tiffany's, Truman Capote
  13. Murder in the Cathedral, T.S. Eliot
  14. The Picture of Dorian Gray, Oscar Wilde
  15. The Princess of Cleves, Madame de Lafayette
  16. Roxana, Daniel Defoe
  17. Roderick Hudson, Henry James
  18. Cheri (with The Last of Cheri), Colette
  19. The Painted Veil, W. Somerset Maugham
  20. A Woman of No Importance, Oscar Wilde

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Thursday, March 1, 2018

#CatThursday - #Cats and Food


Welcome to the weekly meme that celebrates the wonders and sometime hilarity of cats! Join us by posting a favorite LOL cat pic you may have come across, famous cat art or even share with us pics of your own beloved cat(s). It's all for the love of cats! (share your post in the Mr. Linky below)

This is Alice's idea of a full bowl of food. 





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- See more at: http://www.techtrickhome.com/2013/02/show-comment-box-above-comments-on.html#sthash.TjHz2Px9.dpuf