Sunday, June 2, 2013

A New Addition

My apologies for being MIA lately but it's been a busy spring with traveling, working, commission work for my consulting firm, and general shenanigans. But I did want to drop in and introduce the newest member of the Wilson household.

This is Huck...or rather Huckleberry Finn. As you can guess we have a literary theme going on with our cats. The hubby doesn't quite understand my fascination, but I started the tradition all the way back in 1998 with my cat Darcy (though he eventually abandoned me for my mom when I was off to college). Of course Amelia (Amelia Bedelia) came next and then Zelda (after Zelda Fitzgerald) and finally Watson (of Sherlock Holmes fame). Nine years later, Zelda has gone to live with my folks because she likes to pretend she's a dog (i.e. she prefers the outside to the litter box and they have a big yard...haha), and Watson likes to pretend that he's two and not nine, so he's constantly terrorizing Amelia who's getting positively geriatric.

For our fifth wedding anniversary, the dear hubby suggested that we adopt a new kitty as a playmate for Watson. Honestly it was the best gift he could have possibly given me knowing that he is merely tolerant of my cat lady tendencies. He disagreed slightly with me regarding Huck being the best gift ever though. He said he would have preferred to get me a purple gun. Maybe for six next year?

Anyhoo, last Friday, Huck came home for the first time. Though he remained nameless for about 24 hours while we tried out names (this doesn't bode well for any future children we may have), he has settled in well. It's only taken a week for him to turn into a little rambunctious turd. He has sweet moments when not jumping on Watson and Amelia. Hopefully his natural kitten-ness will begin to tone down soon. I know Watson and Amelia are hoping so!

On the writing front, it's the usual two steps forward, three steps back. I've been working on "A Scandalous Bargain" lately. Interestingly enough I had a sudden spurt of creativity and re-wrote a section and added a scene which brought my page count up to fifty...so a quarter of the way there? Woo!

I'm also continuing to brainstorm on "Gaiety Girl". It will get there eventually, I am sure. I would like to visit London this fall (dreaming big, I know) and get into the mood for both "A Scandalous Bargain" and "Gaiety Girl". We'll see. Maybe I could sell a kidney?

Other than that, I've been preoccupied with reading and writing reviews for the Historical Novel Society. There are some excellent novels coming out this year so keep a look out for my reviews in the July edition of the Society's newsletter and online. I will run another giveaway for some of my ARCs later this week, but folks, you've got to comment, OK? It's not hard, I promise.

Happy reading (and writing)!