Two exciting events for me in the last month:
EXCITING EVENT No. 1
I joined the ranks of the Harlequin Romance authors,
with my first book to be published by Harlequin Mills & Boon, UK, early next
year. I am, needless to say, thrilled and looking forward to sharing the
details of my new story over the next months.
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| Meet Alfie and Ivy, the cause of great excitement in our household! |
EXCITING EVENT No. 2
The excitement of adopting two little rescue kitties
took some of the pain of losing my beloved Ancient Albert, who died last month just short
of his 22nd birthday.
A few weeks after Albert died—and I was feeling
utterly miserable—our vet called. “We’ve just found a litter of kittens living
rough in a McDonald’s car-park—and they look very like Albert.”
 |
| It was love at first sight for my daughter and Alfie |
We rushed
across to the vet almost straight away. Some part of me was hesitant, thinking
we should choose a new cat completely different to Albert and his beautiful
sister, Kira, who we lost age 18.
 |
| Alfie is such a handsome little boy! |
But when we saw the kitties, and their poor little
mother who was just skin and bones from looking after her babies under such
adverse conditions, we knew it was the right thing. We decided to take two,
brother and sister, so they had company in the scary new world (of being utterly
spoiled!) we were taking them to.
 |
| Ivy, age 11 weeks, keeps me company as I write |
Meet Alfie and Ivy (the very apt names chosen by my
daughter) who came home with us a week after we saw them, age eight weeks. They
were terrified of us, and spent most of the first week under the bed, treating
us to ferocious kitty hissings that made us smile.
 |
| They soon took over the bed! |
Three weeks on, they are getting friendlier and
happier with us every day. Is there anything more amusing than kitten antics? I
spend half the day laughing—and being distracted from writing. I particularly
love it when they leap up in to the air from all four paws, as if they had
springs in them, turn around in mid-air, and pounce.
Animals who have had a bad start to life, and
who have perhaps had cruel treatment from humans, are a little more difficult to settle
in than those born into loving environments. But when they trust us enough to
snuggle and purr with us, we feel honored...
 |
| In case you don't like cats but do like chocolate, I thought I'd share this! |
What about you? Have you adopted a rescue animal—cat,
dog or other? Was it a rewarding experience? Please leave a comment, I’d love
to hear from you!
Kandy Shepherd
writes fun, feel-good fiction.
Her new
contemporary womens fiction e-book, Reinventing Rose, is available now at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Apple, Kobo, Smashwords, and other e-book retailers. (And, yes, there’s a cat or two in
it!)
Kandy’s romances
include the Amazon bestseller The Castaway Bride, Something About Joe, and the award-winners Love is a Four-Legged Word and Home Is Where the Bark Is.
Watch out for her first release from Harlequin Romance
in 2014.
Visit Kandy at her
website
11 comments:
They are beautiful kittens. So, what happened to momma and the other kittens (if there were any others)? I have two rescue kitties. One was thrown out of a car that was driving down the street by where my husband was working at the time and the other I got last year from a cat rescue in my town.
Janine, there were two other adorable boys who went individually to other homes. The exquisite little mother was rather feral and my lovely vet and her team are giving her lots of love and good care to socialize her so they can find her a good home. She was desexed last week so no more kittens. I shudder to think of someone throwing a cat out of the window of a moving car... Thank heaven your husband was there and that kitty and your other rescue have a loving home with you!
I am so glad to hear the other babies got homes and momma will not be having any more babies. I have a huge soft spot for cats and kittens.
My husband and I adopted two kitties from rescue shelters this year and they have become the total loves of our lives. We are now wrapped tightly around their little paws. Sophie is a tortoiseshell and a real sweetheart. Baron is a Maine Coon and the most gorgeous baby ever. Sophie is the “Mom” and takes care of grooming Baron and it’s her job to tap me on the nose at 4AM (yes, she can tell time!) for me to get up and feed them. The Maine Coon breed is known as the gentle giant. He loves to plop down next to Sophie to be cuddled even though he’s twice her size.
I love my babies and I am telling you that I could quickly become a crazy cat lady! :-) Bless all of you wonderful people who adopt these precious babies. You will never regret it.
Kandy, what a beautiful post. Firstly, huge congratulations on your Harlequin deal! They're tremendously lucky to have you. You're a fabulous writer! And aren't those kitties gorgeous? I hate it when people are cruel to animals. I have a lot of friends with rescue animals and I always feel it's such a privilege if they'll trust me after all they've been through. Our best cat on the farm was a rescue. Her name was Rover and she was more a dog than a cat. She also wasn't anything remotely like an oil painting. She looked like she'd been sewn together from ten completely disparate cats. And she never lost that feral skinniness. She wasn't much of a lap cat either but she had personality to burn. Good luck with your new books and with your new kitties. I think everything is auguring well! x
I've never participated in a rescue, but DDE1
and family are quite active. They currently
have two Great Dane youngsters they fostered
but have now adopted. Buddy and Gracie have
joined their big sister Snickers (a Lab mix)
as our current canine granddogs!
Pat C.
Connie, Sophie and Baron sound gorgeous! A friend of mine had Maine Coons and I used to "kittysat" them. I still remember the size of their paws--enormous--and how sweet they were.
I have four cats now, all of them rescues. Tabitha is a tortoiseshell--they're such special cats. (Not very happy with the babies, though, who want to play with her all the time!)
Hi Anna, so glad you enjoyed the post. Thank you for your congratulations on my sale to Harlequin.
Rover sounds like quite a character, I love the way you describe her. Our farm cat, Cindy, is loving but still a bit standoffish, even after nine years with us. She wants to be with us, but it is always on her terms.
I think Alfie and Ivy will turn out fine, though they're still very wary. When Alfie wakes up in the morning he walks up to my face, nudging and purring. I'm taking it as a kiss!
Hi Pat, how nice to hear your family have adopted rescue dogs. Two Great Danes--how wonderful. Sounds like they fostered them, but couldn't resist keeping them! I think I would be like that with fostering--I'd end up wanting to keep them all.
Congratulations on joining the wonderful Harlequin Romance authors, Kandy! And I love your kitties. We don't have any pets but both my children have rescue animals. The first born and his wife have 2 rescue dogs (plus the other 2!), rescue chickens, rescue rabbits and now a litter of four rescue kittens. :)
Few months ago, our dog died and my Mom was devastated. Imagine our surprise when this cute little furry dog came crying (or barking) non-stop showed on our doorstep. When my Mom saw her, it was love at first sight. We fed her and waited for days if someone will come to our house to get the dog. But it has been 5 months and no one showed. So, we are officially adopting her. :)
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