A blogger interviewed me not long ago with this question: Has a dog ever ate your manuscript?
The answer? A big, whopping “No!” But let’s get technical here. A dog has never chowed down on my book, but my cat has. Kinda.
“Whaaaat?”
Is that your reaction? It’s cool. I get it. Most cats are crazy, but my boy takes the cake.
Darby, my nine-year-old tabby, likes to lick ink from paper, so much so that I can’t see what I just wrote after he’s done with it. (Don’t get me started on the wrinkles and claw marks. It’s good thing I have a huge selection of tape on hand for all those eBay purchases I send out. LOL.)
Black ink is his favorite, blue is second, and he’s not crazy about red. Go figure! Luckily, I write my books on my computer, but I plot freestyle with pen and paper. It never fails that as soon as I grab my notebook, Darby appears with his big yellow eyes like he’s fooling me with his innocent act. He jumps on my lap–whether or not I want him to–lays right on the paper, and pushes his front paws down, so I can’t try to slide my notes out from underneath him. It’s both adorable and frustrating at the same time.
I’ve looked online and spoke with a vet about this, and it’s apparently a completely normal but kooky thing for a cat to do. (And cats are all about being kooky!) It’s a learned behavior that stemmed from some kind of trauma he experienced as a kitten. I’m not sure what that was. I’ve had him since he was about 6 weeks old.
Anyway, Darby is my baby. He loves his mommy so dang much that I can’t stay mad at him. Because, really, could you say no to this face?
— I would love to hear about your pets! Please feel free to comment below about the crazy things they do.
And while you’re here, please check out Arresting Jeremiah, my sexy romantic suspense novel that features Niko, a spunky orange tabby cat who’s based off of my other kitty Nikolai, one of Darby’s older brothers.
Arresting Jeremiah
When threats escalate, will Jim and Calista succumb, or fight for a love they can’t deny?
My cat Scully loves gravity experiments. She targets anything on our desks that can roll and bats at them until they fall off.
Aww. Yes! Cats love knocking things over. My babies are the same. Did you name yours Scully from the X-Files? Love that show!