Editing and Non-Editing Cats, Explained

Studious Minou

Editing Cat. The first feline editor of the book I’ve just published, Catwoods, Stories and Studies of Our Feline Companions, was our late Minou, tuxie extraordinaire and a real scholar. When I started writing the books in 2004 both volumes were woven together. So he had a complex task early on. Here Minou studies abstract expressionism to better comprehend painting, which informs so much of the prose. This wasn’t my favorite of my paintings ever – abstract expressionism just wasn’t my thing – but it’s durable, the only one of my large paintings to survive storage problems. Displayed in my late Mom’s house in the rooms wrecked by the tornado, it survived that too. Art from a later phase after I hit my stride:

https://catwoodsporchparty.wordpress.com/2013/09/23/cat-inspected-art/

Minx the Muse

Our late Minx, who graces the cover, was a Non-Editing Cat, but she was the Muse for all ages and every cat knew it. She and Minou would be so thrilled that their stories are now published! But catlike, they’d never let it show! (There are many other cats in the book, the fifteen that lived in our house over the decades, my Mom’s cats, cats of friends, cats we found homes for.)

Here’s Budster!

Editing Cat. Bud the Editing Cat, a brown and white tuxie of mind-boggling size, took charge of editing when he came along! Here he puts himself in place for a take-over! While Minou instilled the editing process with scholarship, Bud brought vigor, delivered with a RAWR.

Our beautiful Little Ultraviolet Girl

Editing Cat. After Bud left us for the Rainbow Bridge, Ultraviolet, AKA Little Girl, stepped up. She positioned herself perfectly for editing by snuggling upon me in front of the computer. She brought a sweetness to the process during the most crucial and complex editing time. She too departed for the Rainbow Bridge at the end of last summer. As that anniversary approaches, I’m really sad.

Franklin Alert

Non-Editing Cat. Has his own agenda. Our Franklin came to us last fall, after we lost UV. There was still editing to be done but he was having none of it! Standing tall to scratch the back of the computer chair was the extent of his participation. He indicates he might help with Volume 2, where he shows up. We’ll see!

Cats, both Editing and Non-Editing, are a gift. We adore Franklin! And, since cats are highly opinionated, it was a bit of a breather to have some editing time without constant, sometimes fussy, feline input. Don’t tell Franklin I said that!

Lagniappe:

Franklin chillin’

Franklin slacks off and looks adorable doing nothing!

Stay tuned! We have a lot in the works although we don’t work fast. One thing we have done, we’ve had all those ads removed from our site. Yay!