November is here, the nights are drawing in, and to coincide with the change of the seasons my kitties have each grown their lovely winter coats. For Archie, there's no better time of the year. He stands out in appearance a great deal from the others, and not just because he is black and white rather than ginger, but also because he has a very thick, long-haired coat.
He was one of those kittens that everyone commented on more than the others. "I love the black and white one," they would say. Four years later he is still a popular fellow and his is the first name anyone will call when they want a cat for company. He's a gentle sort with a petit meow and this afternoon he is lying on the garden wall soaking up the November sunshine. I am very tempted to follow his example!
Showing off his handsome coat, autumn suits Archie well. The only trouble is of course, is that after a wander through the fields and the hedgerows, he comes back home looking like a mobile compost heap. There are leaves, seed pods, grass, all sorts of things tangled up in his fur and I have to dig out the brush. He doesn't mind this; naturally who wouldn't enjoy being brushed and pampered, but he has a limited attention span. Before I can finish tidying him up he's off again, a leaf or two still stuck to his tail.
Those people who know me will say that wherever I am, Archie is never far away. His existence in my life was another stepping stone towards writing the book,
The True Story of a Not So Crazy Cat Lady, and so I had to squeeze in his name somewhere. And so... QUIZ TIME!
QUESTION; Which character in
The True Story of a Not So Crazy Cat Lady had a cat called Archie?
If you don't know then it's not too late to find out!
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.
