The World of Writing...with a cat on my knee!

I'm returning to my blog after a couple of days furiously tapping away at my laptop, writing several thousand words to meet a tight deadline. It's been tiring but worth the effort in the end and of course I had my cats to keep me company through it all. Writing is a craft I have always enjoyed, right from a young age. I wrote my first book when I was barely ten years old and presented it proudly to my younger brothers to read. I probably still have it in the house somewhere.
It is a tremendous feeling you get when someone tells you how much they have loved your book and a moment that will stay with me forever is when, earlier this year, I saw my name and the title of my book, The True Story of a Not So Crazy Cat Lady in the list of short-listed entries in the Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award. It was the first time I had entered the competition and having been a bundle of nerves as I checked the second round list first thing that morning, I was overwhelmed with delight.
The stakes raised, I counted down the days until the quarter finalists were announced and I couldn't help but get a little emotional as I again saw The True Story of a Not So Crazy Cat Lady on the list. It felt tremendous. Out of 10,000 submissions worldwide I had made it to the top 100 in my category! The top 95%
It was also a nerve racking time too. Amazon released the first chapter for anyone to download and review and despite my achievements so far, I felt anxious about what lay ahead. In the end I needn't have worried. Before I knew it I began receiving 5 star ratings and praising reviews from readers on the other side of the world. I can't imagine I am the only writer who struggles sometimes with confidence in their work but everything about that competition boosted my optimism and motivation. I watched with a smile as my book climbed ever higher in the charts until it was sitting at the top of the results when you typed ABNA 2014 into Amazon. I may not have won the ultimate prize but what I won was confidence. It proved that people all over the world liked my book and wanted to read more and then of course there was the review from Publisher's Weekly who said, 'The prose is solid...it contains some striking images.'
The Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award was certainly a roller-coaster ride of emotions for me. Will I enter again? You bet!

The True Story of a Not So Crazy Cat Lady is available now in paperback and eBook!

Unusual Cat Beds

I walked outside this morning to find a cat sleeping in the wheelbarrow. She looked very comfortable curled up on top of the grass clippings I'd collected in it yesterday afternoon, the wheelbarrow itself sitting in a warm pool of sunshine beside the vegetable patch. It wasn't until I'd got stuck into some weeding that I realised another cat was curled up under a box plant and, baring all her teeth as she yawned, she stretched her toes and came over to say hello.

Cats really are adaptable creatures, their ability to make a bed from almost anything the source of much fun. Every day I see photos on-line of cats sleeping in unusual places, ranging from the bathroom sink to an open drawer, empty boxes and old buckets. For their owners it certainly provides a great photo opportunity.

I have accumulated a number of cat beds over the years, ranging in shape, size and colour, but it doesn't cease to surprise me when my cats wrinkle up their noses at each of them. They look perfectly warm and cosy to me but the cats have their own ideas. They want to make a nest in the airing cupboard, squeeze into a space on the bookshelf or perhaps the laundry basket. Why sleep in a cat bed when you can have a pile of old newspapers? Or an old shoe box? Or for this little kitty...a bag of compost! 

Where do your cats like to sleep?

I'd love to hear from you!

The True Story of a Not So Crazy Cat Lady is available now in paperback and eBook!

Out Now!

The True Story of a Not So Crazy Cat Lady is out now!

Click here

to get your copy.

Available in paperback or eBook.

'The prose is solid...it contains some striking images'

Publisher's Weekly

Crazy Cat Ladies

Welcome to the official blog for The True Story of a Not So Crazy Cat Lady by Catherine Walker, shortlisted in the 2014 Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award. 


If a dog is a man's best friend, then a woman's best friend is her cat...or cats.

On a cold wet day not long after twenty-eight year old Harriet falls in one fell swoop from happy wife to broken hearted divorcée, she finds a litter of abandoned kittens. Relating to their vulnerability as she peers into the soggy cardboard box, she decides to take them in and soon finds out that the perfect antidote for a broken heart is falling in love all over again.

But not everyone understands the relationship which builds between Harriet and her five cats. It isn't until her birthday that she realises she has earned the official title of Crazy Cat Lady of the family but it is not just their teasing which she finds irksome. It seems life won’t cease to conspire against her; that is until she meets Dan, a talented photographer, whose past is as chequered as her own. Despite the scars they both bear, they dare to fall in love again, blissfully unaware of the loss and regret that lies ahead which will threaten to bring the world they have created, crashing down.

Almost everyone has a pet either at home or locked within the most tender memories of their past and we all know, whether we like to admit it aloud or not, that animals have the capacity to touch our hearts. A fresh angle on an eternally popular subject matter, The True Story of a Not So Crazy Cat Lady brings the cute and cuddly into contemporary women's fiction, and looks at the love triangle between boy, girl and cat. We have all fallen in love and had our hearts broken, never forgetting the four legged friends who stood beside us through it all.

The first chapter of The True Story of a Not So Crazy Cat Lady, is available to download on Amazon.

 

Click here to download it on Amazon for free

If you wish to contact the author please leave a comment or write to;walkercatherine@ymail.com

ABNA 2014

If a dog is a man's best friend, then a woman's best friend is her cat...or cats.

On a cold wet day not long after twenty-eight year old Harriet falls in one fell swoop from happy wife to broken hearted divorcée, she finds a litter of abandoned kittens. Relating to their vulnerability as she peers into the soggy cardboard box, she decides to take them in and soon finds out that the perfect antidote for a broken heart is falling in love all over again.

But not everyone understands the relationship which builds between Harriet and her five cats. It isn't until her birthday that she realises she has earned the official title of Crazy Cat Lady of the family but it is not just their teasing which she finds irksome. It seems life won’t cease to conspire against her; that is until she meets Dan, a talented photographer, whose past is as chequered as her own. Despite the scars they both bear, they dare to fall in love again, blissfully unaware of the loss and regret that lies ahead which will threaten to bring the world they have created, crashing down.

Almost everyone has a pet either at home or locked within the most tender memories of their past and we all know, whether we like to admit it aloud or not, that animals have the capacity to touch our hearts. A fresh angle on an eternally popular subject matter, The True Story of a Not So Crazy Cat Lady brings the cute and cuddly into contemporary women's fiction, and looks at the love triangle between boy, girl and cat. We have all fallen in love and had our hearts broken, never forgetting the four legged friends who stood beside us through it all.

The first chapter of The True Story of a Not So Crazy Cat Lady, is available to download for free on Amazon.

http://www.amazon.com/The-True-Story-Crazy-Lady-ebook/dp/B00JOU33NS/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1401469503&sr=8-1&keywords=the+true+story+of+a+not+so+crazy+cat+lady

If you wish to contact the author please leave a comment or write to; walkercatherine@ymail.com

The True Story of a Not So Crazy Cat Lady by Catherine Walker

Welcome to the official blog for The True Story of a Not So Crazy Cat Lady by Catherine Walker, currently shortlisted in the 2014 Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award.


If a dog is a man's best friend, then a woman's best friend is her cat...or cats.

On a cold wet day not long after twenty-eight year old Harriet falls in one fell swoop from happy wife to broken hearted divorcée, she finds a litter of abandoned kittens. Relating to their vulnerability as she peers into the soggy cardboard box, she decides to take them in and soon finds out that the perfect antidote for a broken heart is falling in love all over again.

But not everyone understands the relationship which builds between Harriet and her five cats. It isn't until her birthday that she realises she has earned the official title of Crazy Cat Lady of the family but it is not just their teasing which she finds irksome. It seems life won’t cease to conspire against her; that is until she meets Dan, a talented photographer, whose past is as chequered as her own. Despite the scars they both bear, they dare to fall in love again, blissfully unaware of the loss and regret that lies ahead which will threaten to bring the world they have created, crashing down.

Almost everyone has a pet either at home or locked within the most tender memories of their past and we all know, whether we like to admit it aloud or not, that animals have the capacity to touch our hearts. A fresh angle on an eternally popular subject matter, The True Story of a Not So Crazy Cat Lady brings the cute and cuddly into contemporary women's fiction, and looks at the love triangle between boy, girl and cat. We have all fallen in love and had our hearts broken, never forgetting the four legged friends who stood beside us through it all.

The first chapter of The True Story of a Not So Crazy Cat Lady, is available to download on Amazon.

 

http://www.amazon.com/The-True-Story-Crazy-Lady-ebook/dp/B00JOU33NS/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1401469503&sr=8-1&keywords=the+true+story+of+a+not+so+crazy+cat+lady

If you wish to contact the author please leave a comment or write to; walkercatherine@ymail.com