We ‘ve been hearing that there’s quite a heat wave going on. Even in our neck of the woods, where summer heat is only terrible a few weeks, we’ve been suffering from the heat too. Lily, Oliver and I are keeping cool thanks to the efforts of The Human.
We don’t want to appear like ingrates for the the effort The Human has put in to keeping us cool but Oliver, Lily and I do have dreams about how we think a hot day should be spent.
For instance, my ideal way to beat the heat is to sit by the lake, in a comfy chair with a catnip martini within reach. We have a huge beautiful lake here and, if we could just get rid of the humans that flock there in the summer, it would be the perfect spot.
Ah, the sun, the lake, not a human in sight and a catnip martini. Meowvelous.
Oliver, on the other hand, purrffers to stay close to home. Being the creative little fellow he is, he has worked out a way to stay safe and cool at home.
Okay Human, I’m ready for you to turn on the sink sprayer.
And as for Lily, well she’s a feline of refined tastes and she said her ideal “beat the heat” scenario would be poolside at a classy hotel with a fancy tuna cocktail.
Oh garcon, another frosted tuna cocktail please.
I’d be interested to know how all our feline furiends are beating the heat. On summer mornings, I like my old tried and true method which is to stick my head under the bathroom faucet.
The Human is spending these summer days working furiously to get her books closer to release (where have we heard that before?) but she did allow me to share the book covers designs she’s decided upon and would love to here your comments. Are the covers inviting? Do they make you want to read the stores? Do they say “cozy mystery”? We would love to hear your feedback.
This is book #1 in the series
This is book #2 in the series.
The Human is setting up an online list for those interested in her books. She’ll be doing drawings, sending emails about news and even gifting her readers with short stories and other goodies. We’ll let you know as soon as everything is set up.
Oliver, Lily and I wish you all a cool and wonderful summer with all the treats your hearts desire.
Hello Humans, I must apologize for the lack of posts here in the last few months. The Human was busy finishing the first two books in her new cozy series “Meowntain Mysteries” and is a quarter of the way through a new book. Needless to say this has severely hindered our posts on this blog as since we felines don’t have opposable thumbs, we are reliant on The Human to do or posting. Sigh.
It is nice to have her here in at the home office. Lily has trained The Human to give us treats on a regular schedule, so there’s that.
The big issue of late is The Human’s attempt to find some help with the housework. Of the three of us, I am the major contributor to the cat hair that floats throughout the house. The Human refers to me as a “super shedder”. You can find a visual of that in the post I did about my visit to the local feline spa. But I digress.
The Human’s solution was to bring a new form of vacuum monster into our home. There are few things I fear more than the vacuum monster she drags out of the closet and chases us through every room in the house. It’s more than a feline should have to bear.
I know she felt bad about this betrayal and she did all she could to make me okay with this machine. She posted a story about the new vacuum monster on her writer’s group blog which you can read below.
Much to the humans surprise, “The Maid” is much more quiet than the vacuum monster and, I find it a fascinating duty to follow “The Maid” around the house to ensure she fulfills all her cleaning duties.
It is exhausting to have to be the Snoopervisor of this activity but I have negotiated with management that extra treats be offered on roomba day.
So for now my dear friends, I must sign off as I can hear the electronic voice of “The Maid” announcing she will begin her thorough cleaning of the floors. The Human has vowed to better about keeping our blog updated.
Happy Wednesday and may all your vacuum monsters by like our quiet roomba!
Simplicity Day – A blog from The Human
While pondering the subject of my (Anita’s) post this month, I found out that July 12 is “Simplicity Day”. I knew immediately that I’d found my July blog topic as I am currently in the throes of a battle of wills with an evil machine all because I wanted to simplify my life.
I’ve waited a long time to simplify my housework routine. Living with three cats, one of which is a super shedder requires constant vigilance and attention to cat hair removal. The rugs, the furniture, even the drapes need to be constantly de-shedded. I keep lint (hair) rollers at strategic points in my house, so visitors don’t have to take furry souvenirs home with them. Finally, after hours of online research and conversations with trusted friends and families who have robot vacuums, I found the perfect one. This little cleaning machine is specifically made for homes with pet hair problems. I watched and waited for this incredible machine to be offered on sale. And then Amazon Days made it possible for me to place my order.
I was giddy with excitement the day it arrived. I knew my life was going to be changed forever. I placed the box on the floor as a peace offering for the cats. Of course, they had no idea that a “vacuum monster” had arrived in said box, but it made me feel less guilty.
After reading the quick start guide and downloading the app for my phone, I was ready to get started. Before I could do any programming, I had to name the machine. I chose the name “The Maid”.
I was now ready to run The Maid through her paces. I let her roam and create a map and as I followed her around through all the rooms, she seemed to be doing well. She stopped at the stairs, found her way around the walls and under tables and beds. I was impressed. The maid took herself back to her charging station to prepare for her inaugural cleaning. I eagerly awaited the day I would be sitting at my desk working while she cleaned, ah such bliss!
The first day I set her on her way to rid my house of cat hair, I used the deep clean program. It wasn’t long before I heard a noise that I hadn’t heard during the mapping out session. I went into the living room to investigate. The maid was attempting to eat the cloth on the side table by the sofa. After consulting the instructions, I managed to remove all the strings from the fringe on bottom of the cloth that she had attempted to devour.
I decided I should follow The Maid through the rest of her journey in order to be available for any future emergencies. In twenty minutes, she managed to get herself stuck under the sofa, completely ignore two area rugs she had mapped previously, refused to go into the bedroom to clean and did a quick circle in my office before she left without cleaning anything.
I sent her back to her charging station and had to take a moment to calm myself after the debacle of her maiden cleaning voyage.
I’ve spent the last couple of days figuring out how to reprogram The Maid and wondering if robots have feelings. Did the robot find my name choice offensive and was this her revenge?. Still, I remain an optimist and as I sit at my laptop typing this post I dream of a day The Maid will provide me with a cat hair free home.
If you would like to follow The Human’s writer’s group blog, you can find it on Facebook here.
Hello Furiends, It’s been a while since our purrsonal assistant updated our blog. She has been overly involved in research for this new book series, Meowntain Mysteries. The good news is that book one is finished and we’re nearing the end of book two. But since Alberto and I are key characters in these books we have a vested interest in them!
We’ve been learning a lot of cool stuff about crime solving animals. Did you know that cat hairs can be extremely useful in crime solving? No matter how fastidious a human perpetrator is about cleaning a crime scene, it’s unlikely that they will get rid of every single cat hair on their clothing. Just ask The Human, she is constantly whipping a roller out of her purse and attempting to banish every cat hair on her clothing, and failing miserably. (Note to The Human, don’t consider a life of crime!)
Now we have pages and pages about animal crime solving which would probably bore you so we thought we’d share an article from A & E True Crime Blog-How Animal DNA Puts Killers Behind Bars by Cara Tabachnick. The article is not that current but it is a good overview of this subject without going deep into forensic science.
There are three animal crime solvers in this article. The first is a cockatoo who gave his life and the clue needed to bring the killers of his owner to justice. The bird put up a fight, pecking one of the perpetrators in the head, causing it to bleed. The perpetrator touched his head and then touched a light switch and DNA evidence was also found on the beak and claws of the bird as well as on bloody knives found at the scene sealed the fate of the killer.
Help with the DNA detection came from The University of California, Davis Veterinary Genetics laboratory which is the foremost animal DNA center in the country. This laboratory is featured in both the Meowntain Mystery books. The laboratory has the capacity to run it’s own tests and analysis in house and as a result, the two men who murdered the man and his cockatoo were convicted and both sent to prison for life. There is a happier ending for a parrot that was a key witness in a murder trial of a woman who shot her husband. That parrot could mimic voices perfectly and he did a verbal “play by play” in the voice of the husband crying, “Don’t shoot!”. Needless to say this helped convict the wife.
And let’s not forget man’s best friend who solved the abduction and murder case of a 7-year old girl. In addition to the other clues and evidence, Police found dog hair similar to that of the Van Dam family’s dog on the perpetrator’s clothing. Prosecutors argued the dog hair became attached to his clothing when the kidnapper took the child from her bedroom. The murderer was convicted and sentenced to death in 2002.
And last but definitely NOT least is the story of the feline crime solver, Snowball.
A Canadian man was convicted of murdering a woman after hairs on a bloodstained jacket were genetically matched to his parents’ cat. The man lived with his parents and Snowball, a white American shorthair. This 1994 case is one of the few times that nonhuman DNA has been used in a murder trial.
The murdered woman’s body was found in a shallow grave a few months after she disappeared and police suspected her former common-law husband. By then, the brown leather jacket had been discovered, stuffed in a plastic bag and left in the woods. The cat hairs were found in the lining. Police sent a blood sample from Snowball and hair from the jacket for testing and it was found that DNA from the two specimens was identical.
So human criminals, if you have a pet or live in close proximity to a pet, beware. DNA experts note that cats have a huge amount of fur transfer. Detectives should pay attention if there is a litter box. Dogs [that] are transported in cars can lick windows or leave nose print or paw prints. If you are a pet loving criminal reading this post, I’d suggest you have a hairless pet but that breed could get you caught as it’s not always fur that is your downfall!
I hope you found these stories interesting and I promise you, we have some amazing animal and crime cases for you to solve with us in our new cozy mystery series. Your Furriend, Detective Oliver
It’s been a busy week in our neck of the woods. Did you know that the 18th was National Princess Day? Lily did.
We have some exciting news. Our two Muse Awards from the Cat Writer’s Association arrived. Here you see Oliver modeling the one we received for his excellent review of The Catnip Getaway and his spa day. This is quite an honor and we thank CWA for this reward for our hard work!
We are still working hard on our two new cozy mysteries. The Human realized that in the second book she referenced characters that she hadn’t mentioned in the first book so she had to go back for some serious rewriting. And this is why she is not releasing the Meowntain Mysteries series until the first and second book are done. In the meantime, I manage her time and make sure she is working on the manuscript.
Don’t stop typing human!
All three of us had our yearly wellness visits at the stabby place. Looks like we are all in good health although The Human received a lecture on weight management for Oliver and I and a calorie count to follow. We’ll see how that goes.
Now that’s enough about us. We thought we’d share some of the gems we found as we were purrusing the internet. We hope you enjoy them!
Tabby Road
And for our fans of feline heavy metal, we present this song from Hiss , “You Were Made to Feed Me”
Well, it took us a little more time than we expected to get The Human up and running after her surgery but things are getting back to normal now, thank goodness!
She hasn’t been a complete slacker because while she was recuperating she worked on her manuscript for the first book in her cozy mystery series called “Meowntain Murders” The name of book #1 is “Owl Be Seeing You” and my brofur Oliver and I are two of the main characters. There are some humans in the book too but let’s face it, it wouldn’t be nearly as good without us.
Well of course Alberto and I would be featured in The Human’s book
As soon as contract negotiations are settled I will be making an appearance in a future book of the series.
And, she’s already started her second book in the series called “Felony at the Furbulous Feline Spa”. There is an interesting connection with the spa that inspired the location of the second book and our own Tribe.
As you may or may not know, the neck of the woods we live in is mountainous and fairly rural. And where you have independent folks you usually have more dog people than cat people but that is (thankfully) changing . It’s changing so much that we actually have a feline only grooming salon and the Human and Oliver made an appointment there to review it. Oliver is a super shedder. His fur even ends up on the dashboard of the car when he hasn’t been in the car for ages. The Human was delighted to find a place that might help her reduce the copious amounts of fur in our house, the car, the clothing and any guests who are brave enough to enter the “fur palace”.
The experience was great for Oliver and The Human and you can read the review here. And to add to good things that came out of this visit, the review received a Certificate of Excellence from the Cat Writer’s Association this year .
And now, the salon is the inspiration for book #2 in our cozy mystery series.
There is a short book trailer in the works for book #1 and I’ll share it as soon as it’s ready. In the meantime, here is one of the cover ideas. Let me know what you think.
If you’re a fan of cozy mysteries and would like to be a part of The Meowntain Mystery Group, send us an email.
It’s good to be back on the web and we’ll be posting more soon.
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