Franklin Meows for a Happy New Year!

Posted on January 2, 2020 by Leah

Franklin wishes everyone a Happy New Year!

Happy New Year and many thanks to all who have followed and read and viewed this site, from Franklin and me! Please know I appreciate y’all even though my ongoing health issues mean I cannot express that appreciation as often and as gracefully as I’d like to.

Bud the Editing Cat is still looking out for the book from the Rainbow Bridge

Thanks also, to all those who have purchased my book and read it! This is the first time I’ve posted the cover picture showing the spine, which features my late Editing Cat, Bud. My late Minx is the cover kitty. There has been a change in how to purchase it on Amazon; to get a new copy you have to click on “1 new from 23.95” which leads to Borgo Publishing, the publisher of the book. For international orders, contact easty@ernestandhadley.com on the Borgo site. Please consider purchasing a copy, as we now have even more cats to take care of! As soon as I can I will post about these newest events in our ongoing life with cats. While you’re at Amazon, check out my new author profile site, and check back later too, as it isn’t complete yet!

I know I mention the book a lot but to have my first book-length work out at my age is a big deal to me! It’s been stranger and more fascinating than I could have imagined!

Catlike Image Appears in Landscape, detail

In 2020 I hope to feature more of my past art, so here is a mixed media piece I did in the late 80s or early 90s. I’ve posted it before on this website, but it’s been a long time.

It may be awhile before I can post again but please stay tuned!

About Leah

I'm Leah T. Alford, a writer fascinated by the natural world and animals, especially cats.
This entry was posted in Art, black cats, Book topics, Cats and tagged , , , , . Bookmark the permalink.

70 Responses to Franklin Meows for a Happy New Year!

  1. MNL says:
    February 3, 2020 at 12:07 pm

    I love your collage. I also like the rorschach test — in your collage on the bottom center right, I see Franklin’s head.

    Liked by 1 person

  2. MNL says:
    February 3, 2020 at 11:04 am

    Pinkie and Midnight purr Happy New Year. The cover photo of Minx looks great. Midnight has an new ambition : to become an editing cat like Bud.

    Liked by 1 person

    • Catwoods says:
      February 3, 2020 at 12:48 pm

      Thank you for your greetings and kind words, MNL! The Minx photo was taken by the hubs on a film camera many years ago. I’ve often liked the old photos we used to get on film better than digital, although there is no going back now, lol. I’d encourage Midnight in his ambition, as a good editing cat can really make a difference in a project! Franklin sends purrs back!

      Liked by 1 person

  3. Candace says:
    January 30, 2020 at 7:21 pm

    The book looks great, Leah. Congratulations!

    Liked by 1 person

  4. caren says:
    January 14, 2020 at 1:38 pm

    Happy New Year and hello from a fellow CWA member

    Liked by 1 person

  5. Pazlo says:
    January 8, 2020 at 3:16 pm

    Happy new year to all the porch.
    Your book is an outstanding achievement, Leah.
    You and your editors should be proud.

    Seek peace,

    Paz

    Liked by 1 person

    • Catwoods says:
      January 8, 2020 at 7:18 pm

      Thank you so much Pazlo, we wish you and your family a Happy New Year too! Thanks also for the kind words about the book! I was fortunate to have an editor who was flexible, since LOL I’m really stubborn and I’m a language renegade. I like to break the rules and use variant and regional word-ways, experimental forms, and narration that jumps around in tone and I hope sometimes resembles some of the weird ways humans actually talk. Cheers, Leah

      Liked by 1 person

      • Pazlo says:
        January 9, 2020 at 7:40 am

        “Language Renegade”! I love it.
        In this we are kindred, and I shall adopt your moniker!
        Sometimes I write the way I want it to sound.
        Like the bird who ignores all critics, I sing not of my opinion, but for the joy of singing.

        All my best,

        Paz

        Liked by 1 person

        • Catwoods says:
          January 9, 2020 at 11:05 am

          Thanks Pazlo, good to see a positive response from a kindred spirit, and I love your bird analogy! It’s so much the way I view writing! It’s like music, sometimes it’s about rhythm, and a sentence just needs another beat.

          Liked by 1 person

  6. Pam Lazos says:
    January 7, 2020 at 8:13 am

    Happy New Year, Franklin and Leah!

    Liked by 1 person

  7. Jazz Jaeschke says:
    January 5, 2020 at 9:03 pm

    Beautiful artwork – I can see the “cat”!
    Wishing you and all the cats a sustaining 2020 – blessings for your care for the cats.

    Liked by 1 person

    • Catwoods says:
      January 5, 2020 at 10:29 pm

      Jazz, thank you! LOL there were no plans to draw a cat, something just appeared . . . Thank you so much for all your good wishes for 2020, we wish you all the best for the New Year, and always.

      Liked by 1 person

  8. Indulgedfurries says:
    January 5, 2020 at 2:44 pm

    I love all the vibrant colors in your art.

    Liked by 1 person

  9. luisa zambrotta says:
    January 5, 2020 at 2:09 pm

    Happy New Year to you
    ❤🎉❤🎉❤

    Liked by 1 person

  10. davidstone1313 says:
    January 5, 2020 at 4:45 am

    Happy New Year to Franklin, and best wishes for 2020! Much success with your book!

    Liked by 1 person

    • Catwoods says:
      January 5, 2020 at 2:08 pm

      David, thank you, Franklin and I appreciate it and send best wishes to you and your family and kitties for 2020 also! I’ve been meaning to tell you I have one of your books and look forward to reading it when my time opens up more. Everything’s very hectic and I haven’t found good clear time for reading lately.

      Like

  11. The Oceanside Animals says:
    January 4, 2020 at 2:37 pm

    Charlee: “Happy New Year! We are back!”
    Chaplin: “And we are sending lots of purrs that you have a great year, with lots of book sales!”
    Lulu: “And I’m sending tail wags for that, too!”

    Liked by 1 person

    • Catwoods says:
      January 4, 2020 at 2:54 pm

      Franklin and I are so happy to see you back! We thank you for all the good and kind wishes, Charlee, Chaplin, Lulu, and human family! We are sending Happy New Year wishes, hopes, and purrs to everyone at your house for health and happiness in the coming year!

      Like

  12. Species Ecology says:
    January 4, 2020 at 10:45 am

    Meow back to Franklin : Happy New Year to You, Franklin and your Family! Keep up the good work for this year too! Best! Ashraf

    Liked by 1 person

  13. greg-in-washington says:
    January 3, 2020 at 4:22 pm

    Good to know Franklin is meowing a Happy New Year for us all. We need one! Yes, writing and publishing a book IS a great achievement and something to be proud of!

    Liked by 1 person

  14. FACE Foundation says:
    January 3, 2020 at 11:42 am

    Happy “Mew” Year, Franklin! ❤

    Liked by 1 person

  15. niasunset says:
    January 3, 2020 at 9:49 am

    I loved your artistic work dear Leah, Thank you, Happy New Year for you all and Good Luck for your writing life. Love, and Hugs, nia

    Liked by 1 person

  16. iamthesunking says:
    January 3, 2020 at 7:08 am

    Bonne Année from all of us at Le Château!

    Liked by 1 person

  17. tanjabrittonwriter says:
    January 2, 2020 at 10:19 pm

    Best wishes for a happy and healthy 2020 to you, Franklin, and all your loved ones.
    Tanja

    Liked by 1 person

  18. DS Levy says:
    January 2, 2020 at 8:49 pm

    Happy New Year to you, Leah, and your husband and Franklin (and remembering Bud and all other Rainbow Kitties of the past)! Sorry I’ve been so sporadic here on WP. I never want to miss one of your posts, but I’ve been traveling back and forth between Indiana and Michigan and some days I literarily don’t even know what day it is! I’m ready to stay in one place for a while! [Also, our old IN neighborhood is falling apart — our neighbor’s house caught fire and another neighbor died, and yet another just got rushed to the hospital … what an end to 2019!]

    Your post here is, as usual, so wonderful to read and look it. I just love your photographs, which I tend to think of as “art-o-graphs,” they’re so colorful and draw the eye around the canvas. And this one above — yes! I do see the kitty, saw it immediately!

    And as for your wonderful book, which I am thoroughly enjoying reading!!! — you should definitely be proud of it! Of course you should! It IS a big deal—-a very big deal! You should celebrate its “birth” always and forevermore.

    Well, I’ll sign off for now. My husband and I took a long hike through the state park today and that lovely fresh air has—I hope—made me sleepy!

    Cheers to you, my friend!
    Deb

    Liked by 1 person

    • Catwoods says:
      January 3, 2020 at 6:30 pm

      Hi and Happy New Year Deb, to you and your husband and Charlie and kitties, I’m always glad to see you! Traveling back and forth sounds like fun, as I never get to go anywhere much, but all that stuff happening in your neighborhood does sound discouraging! Sadly, we have lost a lot of friends and one friend and neighbor in the last couple of years, and others are seriously ill, that’s the age group we’re in now, I suppose. I’m glad you enjoy my posts, I enjoy making them but its even more fun when people like them, and the same goes for the book. It really means a lot to me that you like it! I don’t have a whole heck of a lot of self-confidence and I also know that it is easy to become way too attached to one’s own work and be the worst judge of what’s good and what isn’t. You have stellar literary skills, AND you know cats well, so if you like the book I can believe in it! A long hike sounds very worthwhile to me too, there is a satisfying sort of tiredness from healthy exertion. You are a good friend, Deb, and I appreciate you so much, Leah

      Liked by 1 person

      • DS Levy says:
        January 6, 2020 at 8:39 am

        Good morning, Leah – sorry, just seeing this now, have been running, running, running (well, not “really” running LOL, just busy). I had no idea retirement could be so busy! Always glad to hear from you! Yes, I guess it’s the age group we’re in now, and it does make you so appreciate every given day. I think writing is an excellent way to pay tribute to those we love, as your book certainly does, and for that it’s such a gift to the world. I heard a poet friend once say, during a reading, that he was writing poems to honor things, including animals, lost to this world, just to remind people that they’d been here. I thought that was a lovely idea, and I’d like to do more of that in my own writing — and speaking of my writing, thank you so much for your very kind words, but let me tell you I have no confidence in what I’m doing, ever. I’m always in a dark wood trying to navigate myself out. 🙂 Well, isn’t this world something of late? We find ourselves on the brink of (yet another) war, so I guess we all have to write positive vibes into the ethos to try to counter the negative forces that all too often prevail. Ah, it makes me sad/mad! Well, I’ll just close by saying how happy I am we “found” each other here in cyberspace, Leah, for I too consider you a good friend and greatly appreciate your friendship and kindness! Hugs to Franklin! Deb

        Liked by 1 person

        • Catwoods says:
          January 6, 2020 at 2:00 pm

          Deb, thank you, hearing from you always gives me a boost! I stay troubled about all the same things, the possibility of war, the terrible fires in Australia, and so much more. So it helps when friends are creative and kind!

          Like

  19. arlingwoman says:
    January 2, 2020 at 6:32 pm

    Happy new year, Leah. And many happy sales!

    Liked by 1 person

  20. BellaDharma'ss LadyMew says:
    January 2, 2020 at 5:22 pm

    Concatulationss Miss Leah on publishin yore book! Yore an inn-spiration fore sure.
    Franklin yore lookin guud mee frend!. Happy MEW Yeer to both of youss’.
    ***purrsss*** BellaDharma

    Liked by 1 person

  21. Lavinia Ross says:
    January 2, 2020 at 2:42 pm

    Wishing you all the best in 2020, and good book sales, too!

    Liked by 1 person

  22. chattykerry says:
    January 2, 2020 at 2:21 pm

    Wishing you good health in 2020, Leah – I know how important that is to our quality of life. Still missing my Toffee but seeing Franklin puts a smile on my face. HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

    Liked by 1 person

  23. masgautsen says:
    January 2, 2020 at 1:36 pm

    Happy New Year!

    Liked by 1 person

  24. Yeah, Another Blogger says:
    January 2, 2020 at 1:28 pm

    Your creativity is flowing. Congrats, Leah, and Happy New Year.

    Neil Scheinin

    Liked by 1 person

  25. 15andmeowing says:
    January 2, 2020 at 12:02 pm

    I hope to purchase your book soon. Franklin, I wish you and your family a happy and healthy 2020! XO

    Liked by 1 person

    • Catwoods says:
      January 2, 2020 at 3:46 pm

      Ellen, thank you so much for the good wishes and for your interest in my book! I want to start reading your books too, we have to spend some time getting organized for awhile and then maybe I can get some books to read. Happy New Year to you and your family and kitties too! Hugs!

      Like

  26. Lauren says:
    January 2, 2020 at 12:01 pm

    Wonderful post, LeeAnn!

    Liked by 1 person

  27. Dave says:
    January 2, 2020 at 12:00 pm

    Happy New Year! 😀

    Liked by 1 person

  28. Meezer'sMews&TerrieristicalWoofs says:
    January 2, 2020 at 11:28 am

    Happy New Year! We wish you the best and may all your endeavors be to your satisfaction.

    Liked by 2 people

  29. Timothy Price says:
    January 2, 2020 at 11:02 am

    Wonderful cat-like image, Leah. Franklin looks a little bothered by the pesky paparazza. I wish you good health and prosperity in 2020. Franklin, too.

    Liked by 2 people

    • Catwoods says:
      January 2, 2020 at 3:37 pm

      Thanks Tim, I’m glad you like the picture! Franklin does not care to be distracted from whatever he has focused on, for sure. All the best wishes to you and your kitties in 2020 also!

      Liked by 1 person

  30. Yvon says:
    January 2, 2020 at 11:01 am

    Happy New Year to you all 🎆🎉🎊
    Thank you for you creative expressions and the lovely pictures of Franklin and Nature.
    Respect for your (book) work and your (cat) efforts 💚

    Liked by 3 people

    • Catwoods says:
      January 2, 2020 at 3:29 pm

      Yvon, thank you so much, I am happy you like my pictures and kitties and work with kitties! A very Happy New Year to you and your kitties too!

      Like

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