Writer Days and Almost Summer Cleaning

Hey there. Anna here. Hopefully this bunch of blabber counts as proof of life. I had meant to write a blog post this morning (same day though, so surely, I get partial credit for this) but I leaned into the whole monthly reset thing for planning and writing both. Jashii Corrin on You Tube has some excellent ideas on this kind of thing. The first part of that is a physical reset, aka “y’know, this mess is going down.” Some stuff is staying, some stuff is going. All the stuff gets a thorough assessment and finding neat stuff that might or might not have been appropriated as cat toys is a bonus.

Photo by Mike on Pexels.com

This is a good time for rolling up real and metaphorical sleeves and diving into The Work. Melva and I have heard from The Wild Rose Press, and the news wasn’t what we had hoped. That’s a little disappointing, but we will have Drama King back out on submission soon and are considering whether indie publishing might be right for the rest of the Love by the Book series. We are also in the discovery draft stage of a new contemporary romance series starter, which allows me to research ice cream and honestly say I am working.

Her Last First Kiss is primed to resume. I have 45k words left to complete the revised draft, estimated at 100k words. I am using the last bit of this month to break the outline into work sessions, aka how many it will take to get to The End. I have never been that much of a word count person, but Camp NaNo is coming, so why the heck not? Besides, that means I get to make a progress tracker, which is always good.

It’s also time for A Heart Most Errant to get back out there on submission, and, again, I am considering indie publishing, but we will see. Not going to worry about following books at this point, I have a couple of places to consider submitting, so this should be an interesting journey. Let’s see what happens with this story first.

After that, there is the pirate trilogy. This story is one I have wanted to tell for a very long time, though I didn’t know exactly how I wanted to do that. It still needs some time to crawl organically out of the primordial ooze. Broadly, it’s the story of three generations of pirates, starting in the aftermath of the English Civil War, then touching on an island-sinking earthquake and coming to a close at the end of the golden age of piracy. It’s three books but feels like one story in three parts.

After that, it will be interesting to see. I do have bits and pieces of things that have been floating around my brain long enough to be able to drink, own property, and marry without parental consent. That sounds about par for the course. One of the journals I have going at the moment is a media tracking joufrnal, covering not only the books I am reading, but other media I am consuming; television and movies watched, games played, podcasts, music, etc. All in all, a big ol’ pot of idea soup. This includes TV shows (I am still going to call it television even though we do not have a TV at present and watch everything on streaming.) that I follow only by recaps, as I don’t subscribe to the channels where they currently are streaming.

A few of these include:

• Yellowjackets
• The Last of Us
• Silo
• From (seasson two)
• Fear the Walking Dead

There are definitely more, and then there are shows and movies I have seen and want to re-explore. This very much does also include books, and i will probably blabber about them here at some point. Nothing particularly earth shattering here, but that was never my goal when writing this.

What are you up to this week?

As always, Anna

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Typing With Wet Paws: Mama Anna’s Day Recap Edition

Tails up, Storm Troopers! I’m Storm, you’re awesome and this is Typing With Wet Paws. Last Sunday was a holiday that is not always easy for Mama Anna. It is easier now because, well, me, but she still prefers to spend the day at home. Cuddling me, of course.

We thought some about my first humom, Mama D, and hope she is doing well. She did a great job with me when I was a baby, and I hope she can be a cat mom again. She is a great one. We thought about my cat mom, too. I don’t remember her as much, but she made me. She had to be awesome.

Mama Anna is definitely awesome, because she takes great care of me, as do Papa and Aunt Linda. I take care of Mama Anna, too, especially when I have to tell her when to go to bed. She has a hard time remembering when that is. Maybe noticing is a better way to put it. Anyway, it generally ends with me herding her to bed and then sitting on her. She knows well enough to not disturb a resting cat.

The day before Mama’s Day, Mama Anna went to the park with Aunt Nicole. Mama Anna hoped to see baby ducks, but they didn’t see any while they were there. Maybe next time. Mama Anna did get to take some park pictures while they were there. This one above is her favorite. There was a festival, but Mama Anna and Aunt Nicole didn’t really see a lot of it. They listened to a band play, and they talked some, then went out to a diner with Aunt Linda, for belated Aunt Linda’s birthday and kind of non-traditional Mama’s Day stuff.

Mama Anna got the mystery notebook she ordered from Archer and Olive, and she is very happy with what she got. She got this one. They call it “Latte Love”, but Mama Anna says the cup on the front of hers is actually a teacup because she likes tea better and it is her notebook, so she has the final say.

All of the colored pencils she got in the same package are pink, which is one hundred percent okay with her. She has some ideas about how she wants to use that book, but there is no telling until she actually gets to it. I will let her do that, because it will give her a topic for her blog. This is supposed to be hers, after all. She’ll get to that. It’s been a while. She is planning on moving the day for her blog from Thursday, which is obviouslynot working, to Tuesday, which is a much better day for that sort of thing.

With all of that out of the way, let’s go bac to Aunt Liinda for a minute. Many people may not know this, but Aunt Linda is very brave. This week, she saved me from bees. Or she saved bees from me. I’m not sure. Anyway, some of those stinkers got in through the very top of the window, between the screen and the room. Specifically, the windowsill, which is the best sunbathing spot in the entire apartment. I won’t go into details, but she saw what was very likely to happen and she sprang into action by closing the window and kept it that way until, well, corpses everywhere.

(Mama Anna here. A moment of clarification. Storm’s Aunt Linda uses the word, “bee,” to describe any flying insect that stings, but I checked the windowsill, which is still closed, and the uh, remains, do appear to be black and yellow striped. Also, there are only two of them,)

Eh, whatever, I said what I said. Mama Anna is perfectly free to express her own thoughts on her own blog, if, you know, she makes any entries, Mama Anna.

Back to me. I joined Mama Anna in watching a British show, Utopia, which we both liked. Mama Anna liked it a lot, mostly because of things like the plot and the characters and the acting and writing, but for me, it was all about the colors. In this show, the whole thing is shot in CYM, which means Cyan, Yellow, Magenta, instead of RGB, which means Red, Green, Blue. Mama Anna picked up on that kind of stuff early on, like right away, because her papa was a professional art person, both the fun kind and the commercial kind, so she knew that kind of stuff form when she was a people kitten. We are both looking for something else to watch now. It’s a team sport, the team being her and me. I told her she can use this time to read, and she reminded me who does and does not have thumbs in this family. Yeah, kind of touchy there.

Anyway, what’s up with you this week?

Typing With Wet Paws: New Journals Edition

Tails up, Storm Troopers! I’m Storm, you’re awesome, and this is Typing With Wet Paws. It has been a big week around here, and most of it involved me, so it was mostly a good one.

photos by Mama Anna

First of all, this week marks Aunt Linda’s birthday. She does not like to have her photograph taken I have no idea why, because think she is beautiful. Here is a picture of the Sim version of her, instead. She loves to knit. I love to make biscuits on the things she knits. She gives me belly rubs every night, and breakfast every morning. My cat tree and crunchies barrel are in her room. So is the best sunbathing window. Probably some of my toys as well. Try looking under her bed. Her earbuds are probably there, too. She still loves me even though I steal them a lot. She is obviously a very important part of our family, so the anniversary of her getting born is a special holiday.

Sim made by Mama Anna

Second, this is an important week for Mama Anna because journals. Not only did she finish a whole 240 page journal, she started another one immediately and is already over ten pages into it. Here, you can see the okd journal (red) and the new one (green.)

Exceed A5 journal, lined.
(it comes in lots of colors)

Here is the front of them.

The pen is from Staples and has plain black ink. Mama Anna still needs stickers for the front of the green journal. I think she should get calico cat stickers.

As if that were not enough, she also got a surprise journal from Archer and Olive, which she will talk about later. This one has white pages. She is still getting to know it, and hoping it plays nicely with the other Archer and Olive book she has, which has black pages. I think she should get one of their books with black, white and orange (kraft) pages. Then that could be her calico journal, because it would be colored like me. The journal Mama Anna got came in a box. Aunt Linda told me not to sit in it. Hmph. Who does she think is in charge here? Mama Anna was cool about it. She understands the appeal of a good box. Also, the box came in a padded envelope, and that sucker is mine. Crinkly and soft, 10/10 would sit on again.

This blog does not have enough pictures of me. I don’t even mean only the blogs I write. I mean all of them.

There is also the planner I am looking at today, which is actually not a planner. It is set up like one, but it is for Mama Anna to record the media she consumes. This includes books she reads but is also for TV shows and movies she sees on streaming services, and You Tube and that kind of stuff. She says that will be useful in seeing what kinds of things go into her whatever it is where those things go. It probably has something to do with writing. I will be interested when it has something to do with belly rubs.

extra picture of me, because I am awesome

Did you get any boxes this week?

Self-Discovery Draft

Right now, I am sitting at my desk, in front of an open window. The temperatures are going to hit the high eighties today. Seems a little soon for summer temperatures to me, but what do I know? I am drinking peach iced tea. The nook is progressing quite well, so expect pictures of that soon. For now, the above is my everyday carry traveler’s notebook. Skull book is lined ivory paper, and pouch with the kitty on it holds small ephemera and a Pink Pearl eraser. Pen next to the book is a brush tip Mildliner in Vermillion. Still working out what pen I want for an everyday carry, so will keep you updated on that front. Dark flowery dashboard wraps around a lined insert I am using for a random collections journal. I can move those into a proper bound book later.

Melva and I have sent Queen of Hearts to our editor at The Wild Rose Press, so now we wait. We are putting a sticky note on Drama King, so stay tuned. Since I did indeed write my back forty outline for Her Last First Kiss, I get to watch The Lords of Flatbush, which I may turn into a Saturday matinee. In the meantime, I devoured FROM and Daisy Jones and the Six on streaming. I absolutely love both of them and am excited to see FROM return for a second season on the 23rd, so that’s only ten days away. You bet your sweet bippy I am planning on reading the book version of Daisy, and very likely gobbling the rest of Taylor Jenkins Reid’s work.

On the research front, I will be dipping my toes into Imperial Rusia, which is a new area for me, but it’s part of Ruby’s background in Her Last First Kiss, as she is herself half-Russian, so there will be interesting tidbits I can share along the way. My father was once engaged to a delightful Russian cosmetologist. Alas, they did not suit and went their separate ways in the end. Had they wed, we would have traveled to Russia to meet her side of the family, She told me that I would love Russia, and Russia would love me. A once upon a time writing group member returned from a trip to Russia with some amazing photos and the insistence that I had to write something set in Imperial Russia. This might be close. 1784 England, but half-Russian heroine, so yes? Maybe I better rewatch Dr. Zhivago just to be sure. Yes, I know, different period, but the ice palace.

Reading hit another snag. Eh. It happens. I have been doing a lot of journaling lately. I like the direction that’s been taking lately. I took a bunch of detailed notes while watching the last two episodes of Daisy, which resulted in a bunch of sticky notes of topics to expand upon later. The whole interviewing present day (of the story) characters about what happened years or decades ago is catnip for me. Add protagonists in the arts and I think you can hear my “yesssssssssssss” from wherever you are. Plus the music does not suck. Yet another reason I want to have one of my journals be a place to stuff idea soup ingredients. This thing goes with that thing, which fits with that thing, but with this change, so it’s best to have one place where they all live and some sort of index that allows me to access it all when I need it, rather than shuffling through bits and pieces scattered everywhere. I call it my organized magpie stage.

If I didn’t mention, I did not end up registering for Camp NaNo, and I am okay with that. I am actually getting stuff done, which is the whole point, so still calling that a win. I will put a sticky note on the July version of Camp, especially if I am ready to tiptoe into a new discovery draft by that time.

What are you discovering this week?

As always, Anna

Pre-Spring Stationery Rambles

Another Thursday, another blog. We are now past the midpoint of February, and I am not at all sure we are going to get smacked by winter this year. I am not sure how I feel about that. To be determined, I suppose. One way this reflects is in the way I handle my stationery, because stationery is life. Though I didn’t manage to get the pastel Christmas theme this year (but I did get a start on it for next year) I figured that pastel winter would do as well, but then it wasn’t clicking, so I am now in a themeless wilderness. I will probably keep the Bloody Valentine theme for the rest of the month and then we will see. March, for me, suggests RWA conferences, though we haven’t been for the last few years for various reasons. I’m sure that will pick up again in the very near future. In any case, full speed ahead.

In full stationery nerd mode, I am currently fiddling around with my everyday carry (EDC) aka what’s in my bag. With spring in the offing, I want to stretch myself into going out more. Ever since we got this apartment, after our year of vagabondage, I have bene more of a homebody than I would like to admit. Not that it’s a bad thing, but I am an extrovert, I work at home, and I live in a city. There are people out there. :gestures to window: Part of this means doing some of my journaling and possibly discovery drafting outside of the house.

Not going to lie, nifty stationery goes a long way toward that end. Right now, I am sorting things out when it comes to my EDC. Pictured above is a leather traveler’s notebook from Chic Sparrow, in the size A6. This size is new to me, so I didn’t have any inserts that size, wasn’t sure where to find them, but I found a bound sketchbook that looked like it might fit. I popped it in, and oh my mercy, it’s great. The shiny things in the first picture are plastic dashboards, also from Chic Sparrow, which I can fill with whatever strikes my fancy. I moved the pocket sized inserts I had been using into a pocket-sized cover from another maker. Do I want to carry A6 with me, or pocket, and what about my B6? The good news is that as a writer, I absolutely am going to write in all of these books, so I’m not worried.

Here you see my very first Archer and Olive journal. That’s a silver spiderweb on the front cover, black linen with dark blue sparkles, and black dot gridded pages. I am challenging myself to make one spread per day. No theme, no plan, but throwing stuff on the page as I will, which I will probably show later. Right now, we are getting to know each other, and I am definitely planning on getting more, but definitely will wait until they go on sale. Go figure I finally discover this brand when they phase out the lined books. Eh, it’s fine. What I do know is that I am all about the GSM these days. I always suspected, but now I know.

For the rest of today, I get to transcribe that scene, send it off to Melva, and then tidy my desk area. I am excited to get back to historicals and seeing what I can do with that genre now, both with stories that have been on pause for far too long and new stories yet to come. I am eyeing Camp NaNo in April, which will no doubt get a notebook of its own.

That’s about it for that for the time being, so I will move on along to the transcription and then it’s desk tidying time. When we renew our lease in May, I want to get my secretary desk out of storage, because I want all the nooks and crannies. what notebooks are you using this season?

Anna

Planning Planning Planny Plans (reading and writing related)

Well hello there, 2023. The planner and pens pictured above are from 2020, the Year That Shall Not Be Named (but I’ve named it, haven’t I?) My first experiences with Paper Mate Ink Joy gel pens, and disc bound planning. I still have the pens (many times over) and have filled several disc bound planners and notebooks since then. As for the page finder, if anybody sees this particular page finder in the wild (woman image. leaning against the margin) please tell her Mummy misses her very much, and she can come home any time, no questions asked.

In reality, she is probably in storage. When I say that planning and journaling have been a godsend, I am not exaggerating. Blogging is, for me, the digital version of that. I’d like to be doing more of it in the coming year, as well as that whole making up stories thing. Right now, I am dealing with the Martian Death Cold that smacked us over the holiday season. Combined with the fact that my contemporary co-author, Melva, and I have finished first edits on our second and third novels together. Next, we submit and then we get to turn our main focus for the first quarter of the year to our individual efforts.

For me, that is historical romance. While writing contemporary with Melva is super fun, I have missed the historical realm, and so that’s where I’m headed back now. Plan A is to redo the second half of Her Last First Kiss, because it is big enough to ride the bus by itself now. Then I need to make some decisions about A Heart Most Errant. As for Plan B? That’s more in the realm of “what do I want to try next?”

I have no dearth of projects that have been on hold. My brazen widow who finds the love of her life with the nameless pawn of wretched nobleman. The blacksmith’s daughter who becomes a duchess by way of the London stage. Three generations of pirates, my first planned historical series. The once and future lovers who each thought the other was dead (whoops) and a family member that loves one of them too much and not in the right way, but I tried to shoehorn into the wrong time period. (It happens.)

Then there’s new stuff, because that’s what we writer types do. Since a dear friend’s birthday overlaps nicely with my beloved tucked away week between Christmas and New Year, that meant a visit to a sprawling used bookstore. That, of course, led to me coming home with a bunch of both beloved and new to me classic historical romances and historical fiction. There are vague ideas spinning around in that place where infant ideas go. I would love to write a family saga within historical romance. Would the type of historical romance I love the best fit better in today’s market if there were a paranormal/fantasy aspect? Whata are some fantasy books that read like classic historical romance that I might like to try?

No secret that the year just past was horrible for reading. Still figuring out what all contributed to that, but I do want to read more this year, and figure out what needs to happen for that to happen. Is vision part of it? Undoubtedly. Magnifying glasses, pages, bookmarks, etc, can help with that. I definitely need a place in our apartment that is for reading and is not our bed or my desk or the kitchen table. We are working on that one.

Right now, I am finishing this post and ticking it off my to do list, so I can take some cold meds and head back under my weighted blanket. I have vague plans to turn that into Netflix, fever and chills but there’s also falling asleep to Reddit threads on You Tube. Either way, I get time wtih my purr-sonal assistant, and that can’t be anything but good.

How’s your new year looking?

What a Yellow Light Means

For reference, the yellow light mentioned above refers to this clip from the classic sitcom, Taxi.

Jim, the seated man in the blue jacket, needs to get a valid driver’s license for his job as a (you guessed it) taxi driver. This, along with other things, is hard for him as he’s had a rough life. The people standing nearby at the table are his friends, ready to help him if he needs it. (He will.)

This scene is genius, not only because it has Christopher Lloyd and Jeff Conaway 9but that is a recipe for entertainment all on its own) but because it’s a gorgeous example of friendship in action. Bobby (Conaway’s character) might be irritated that he’s not making himself understood, but he’s going to help Jim even so. Jim in turn, shows patience and consideration in giving Bobby what he (Jim) thinks he (Bobby) actually needs. In short, genius.

Small personal detour for a minute. My dad would have been one hundred years old this year. We had our ups and downs, but this clip brings up one of the top tier memories. Even when my dad’s Alzheimer’s was advanced, he could remember this bit word for word. He still found it hilarious. I’m not sure why I’m thinking about it today, apart from that being one potent piece of art.

Originally, I had meant to write about stationery today (well, Thursday actually but I have come to the conclusion that Thursdays do not work as well as I had expected they would.) and I will (thanks me, for remembering that bright sunlight like right now is perfect for photographing the planner and/or journal spreads; we’ll do that next.) How is the blogging going to sort out going forward? Your guess is as good as mine, but I do no I want to keep doing it. Maybe a monthly newsletter? Twice monthly? I’d love to keep it to a weekly basis. Storm’s blogging schedule remains unchanged. You know cats and routines.

Today was a family day, and my part of it was largely adulting, juggling schedules and moving plans around, etc. This included a pharmacy run, which included checking on a couple of things and updating our address in their records. Normally, this is anxiety-making. This time, though, I got aa pharmacist who was fun. There was banter. We commiserated over the inability to remember a number if not looking at it, and that yes there is such a thing as Seasonal Affective Disorder put in backwards (meh on spring, hate summer, fall and winter equal whee, superpowers, awesomeness.) I rewarded myself with Zero Sugar Twizzlers, and then came straight home so I could knock “blog for crying out loud” off my to do list. (I didn’t put the for crying out loud part on the actual list, but I was thinking it. Not in those exact words.)

Right now, I am sitting at my desk, by an open window. A cool breeze blows on my skin. I am wearing a thin tank top and floaty trousers that I think are verging on the too big to wear when in responsible human mode (on purpose, yay me) but have a sweatshirt at the ready, because I will need it before too long. Probably when running trash after dinner. This will probably be a fend for yourself night, dinner wise, because what I want to do most is…write. Also read, but this feeling of wanting to put writing first, and having the ability to do so…I am holding onto that.

Anna

Camp NaNo, One Book July, and Other Stories

Still room for one more sticker in that lower corner

:clears throat:

:blinks:

Wow.

July.

:fidgets:

Well.

Let’s jump into a Q and A, shall we?

Q: Hey, Anna. Where’ve you been?

A: Uh, yeah, about that. Home, mostly. I did go to CT for a weekend, for a family celebration and a papercraft expo. That was cool. A bunch of craft stores. The garbage/recycling area about a billion times. Anxiety, depression, insomnia. For the last two weeks, shingles (not fun, but better now.) Before that, Real Life Romance Hero was in the hospital for a couple of days. He’s home now, doing fine.

Q: I meant writing. Which includes blogging.

A: That wasn’t a question.

Q: Still answer it, please.

A: Well, you did say please. Writing. I am doing that. Melva and I are clipping right along with Queen of Hearts. Over 40k right now, probably more. We are laying groundwork for what comes next, and we will be off and running when she gets back from her family vacation next week. Blog hiatus was not intentional. It just kind of happened and it’s just kind of over. Probably.

Q: Mmhmm.

A: Still not a question.

Q: Historical?

A: That’s a word. Okay, though. Guilt. So, so much guilt. I love writing historical romance oh so very much. This month, I’m going to try something new; instead of whipping myself for being a slacker, I am going to try…wait for it…actually writing historical romance. I will be drafting friends for accountability partners/readers/permission to kick me in the bumbum if I sleep on it any more than I already have. (Volunteers can drop me contact info in the comments.) My awesome friend, Mary, from CT, sent me home with two huge bags of historical romance classics, which is turning out to be highly motivational, especially when we can gab about them.

Q: Are you doing Camp NaNo this year? Camp NaNo is great for that kind of thing.

A: Ehhhh, no. Yes? Kind of? I didn’t sign up for the official thingamaboo, but I am writing in July. I’m counting that. Also every day journaling is a huge, huge help.

Q: How about One Book July, then, for the planner/journal side of things?

A: Ahahahaha, no. I thought about it, and was even looking forward to it, but then, boom, when I got sick, I watched a ton of stationery videos on You Tube, and now I want to Use All The Things, even things I thought I wouldn’t be interested in before. I’ve been browsing Archer and Olive a lot. I don’t normally go for white paper or dot grid, but 160 gsm and those covers…That’s probably a whole post in itself, so I’ll put it on the list and work on that.

Q: Sounds like you’re right on track for All The Books August.

A: In oh so many ways.

Q: Anything else you’d like to add?

A: I finished a journaling insert in my traveler’s notebook in one month. Turns out I really like watercolors. I thikn they like me, too.

Anna

Typing With Wet Paws: Boxing Weekend Edition

Tails up, Storm Troppers! I’m Storm, you’re awesome, and this is Typing With Wet Paws. While it is true that December 26th is called Boxing Day in some countries, this is Boxing Weekend, because we got new boxes here. Aunt Linda ordered a new mattress that comes rolled in a box, and new stuff to go with it. That means boxes for me! My big box “house” is still holding up, so I probably can’t keep the biggest box for more than until trash day, but that’s okay. Did I mention that Mama Anna put a paper bag inside my house box? Well, she did. It’s amazing. Very crinkly.

Oh right. I’m supposed to talk about Mama Anna here. That’s part of the deal. Okay. I can do that. She’s doing pretty well, actually. Not that she has figured out how to get the pictures from the tablet with the good camera into her feed but she’s working on that. Also, Papa is studying how to take better pictures, and I am a very willing model. He brings out my best side, which is all of them. I’m gorgeous.

don’t worry, I have photoshoots scheduled soon

But anyway, back to the writing. Mama Anna has gotten bolder in her journal stuff, and she thinks she’s found a super fun way to prep her journal pages to make her want to spend more time with them. Personally, I like lying on them. Or on her pen case if she leaves it open. That’s fun, too. She should be looking at me, anyway.

As long as we are on the topic of stationery, she has new sticky notes. Some of them are bright, and those are for the contemporary books she writes with Aunt Melva. They are having a lot of fun with Queen of Hearts, and are even planning a wedding that will go in that book. It also gives Mama Anna a chance to create her very own historic site, that may or may not have some similarities to a place she has been in real life. Also, she will get to add to it, and cannot promise that it won’t show up in a historical some day when it would just be a house because the history would be happening right then. Also, it would have cats. Lots of cats. She’d need them because of all the mice. Mmmmm, mice.

obviously not mine: I am a cat

The other sticky notes re shades of dusty pink and purple and that kind of thing. Those are for the historicals, and they fit in the pink sticky note holder Mama Anna got on clearance. She is super into her desk aethetics. This may include rescuing her secretary desk from stuff jail when Aunt Linda is on vacation at the end of the month, and this may also include her rocking chair. That chair has a history, as it is older than Mama Anna, and I am told that Grandma Erma (I have to wait for Rainbow Bridge to meet her) rocked Mama Anna in that chair, so if Mama Anna rocks me in that chair (I love being in her lap) then the tradition continues to the next generation. Mama Anna is very much set on getting that chair or the likes of it into the apartment, because he needs a dedicated reading (and cat lap giving) place that is not her office chair or her bed (it is also Papa’s bed, and he doesn’t care for a big reading light in his face when he is trying to sleep. He already has a cat climbing all over him, so I don’t blame him on cutting down on distractions. Yes, I am that cat.) I have already put in a request for a cushion on the seat, because I want to sleep in it when she is not using it.

The one thing the humans are concerned about is that the rocking chair appears in Big Sister Skye’s notes to me as ‘the green chair of evil.” Which means that was where she made her um, litterbox. Because she had special paws and could not climb into a litterbox. Aunt Linda says that is why there is Febreze. I’m not worried. I am 100% on my litterboxes (I have two of them; it’s awesome.) NO need to deviate now, amirite? Of course I am.

Okay, that’s about it for this week, especially as Mama Anna has to pick up groceries and library books and let’s be real, probably more stationery. I wonder if any of it will come in a box.

Headbonks!

Typing With Wet Paws: Confused Cell Phone Edition

Tails up, Storm Troopers! I’m Storm, you’re awesome, and this is Typing With Wet Paws. This week, hold onto your seats, because I am going to go right into talking about Mama Anna. Shocking, I know, but this is a good one.

If you have been following us for any length of time, you will be familiar with Mama Anna’s weekly chats with Aunt Mary, over the glowy box. Most of this time, Papa is getting ready for work when these calls begin. If Papa is going to be home that day, then Mama Anna takes the call in Aunt Linda’s room, because they talk. A lot. Papa says they have one setting: loud. That is what happens when two extroverted humans get together. They get very excited about some of the things they talk about, which can vary widely. This one time, though, Papa was getting ready for work, and his cell phone got very confused.

Thing is, when Mama Anna and Aunt Mary talk, their topics move around from history to historical romance to baking to fashion and makeup and organization and upcoming family events and other things. Well. Papa’s phone has a voice thingy on it, because he likes to talk to his phone and tell it to do things instead of pushing buttons. This normally works very well, but when Mama Anna and Aunt Mary are throwing around a lot of different names and dates and questions and stuff, the phone doesn’t know what to do and tries to look up a bunch of stuff at once. Papa had to go to work, so he did take the phone out of the room so it could get some peace, but he didn’t get a chance to tell her until later. She and Aunt Mary thought it was pretty funny.

Papa’s phone did not have the same kind of problem when Mama Anna talked to Aunt Melva, because A) they usually keep their talk to the books they are currently writing together, but B) Mama Anna wears headphones, so Papa’s phone doesn’t hear Aunt Melva. Also C) Aunt Melva is not loud. I am sure Papa’s phone was thankful for the rest.

Oh. I also had a fun moment during this week’s chat with Aunt Mary, that I got to meet (virtually) my fur cousin, Aiden. He is a Golden Retriever, and Aunt Mary put him on the video call, and we looked at each other. I don’t know his side of the story, but I was all set to play. maybe one day we will. He looks like a fun guy. I bet he likes toys.

Anyway, that was the highlight of our week. Mama Anna is doing okay on the writing thing, which is pretty nice. She could be reading more, because that is prime belly rub time for me, an essential component, but we are working on that. Maybe you can recommend a good book she might like to read while rubbing my belly. Drop recommendations in the comments.

Headbonks!

Storm