Catscapades

Have you ordered your copy of Catnapped, a Klepto Cat Mystery yet for your Kindle? Sales are climbing. But I’m still short on reviews. Please, if you’ve read it, post a review at the book page. http://amzn.to/14OCk0W

It’s hot, hot, hot here in Ojai and our cats are not happy. Well, Max and Sophie don’t seem to be affected by the heat, but Lily becomes a sleepy ragdoll when the heat hits. And, while usually, she stays away from anything that makes strange noises, in hot weather, fans and the swamp cooler become her friends.

We don’t have to encourage her to drink more water during these heat spells. She is practically addicted to water and has been since she was a wee kitten. We keep four bowls of fresh water for the cats at all times and we’ve just introduced a kitty drinking fountain.

As you can see from the photo, Lily taught us to turn on the water in the bathtub so she could lap at fresh, running water from the tap. Several times each day, she would herd one of us (or a guest) into the bathroom for her fresh-water drink. Because we had a soft-water conditioner installed and we didn’t feel this water was good for her, we shut off that avenue of pleasure for her and brought in the fountain. It wasn’t easy for her to make the transition—I suppose that’s because it wasn’t her idea. But now, when she wants running water, she herds us toward the fountain instead of the tub. Success!

If you love cats, you appreciate great photographs of them. I have a cat-a-day calendar near my desk in my office and I delight in turning the page each day to reveal a new kitty photo. I also hang a monthly calendar with cats and look forward to each first of the month when I can turn to a new picture. My Christmas cards often feature cats. But most of all, I enjoy trying to snap great photos of my own cats (all inside kitties) and those that wander into my yard.

What makes for a good kitty photo? How do you get good photos of your cats? Well, I’m not a photographer, but I know some good ones. I remember one telling me that it is in the eyes—you must capture the subject’s eyes. And a cat’s eyes certainly reveal a lot of personality and attitude. But so does their body language. It is possible to get a creative and charming shot of a cat without seeing her eyes. In fact, some of my favorite pictures of our youngest kitty, Lily were taken when she was sleeping.

Here is my best tip for taking good pictures of your cats: Keep your camera (or phone camera) ready at all times. Because as soon as you put it away, they are going to strike an incredibly charming, award-winning pose.

I also recommend coming in close. Sometimes the scenery is important to a shot, but most often it is the cat you want to focus on and the closer, the better.

Be patient. But then if you have cats in your life and in your heart, you understand that they are rarely on your schedule. They seem to know what you want them to do and when, and no way are they going to accommodate you. Marvella Kitty may have been sniffing nose to nose with Simon, the parrot for ten minutes. But when the camera comes out, she walks off into the other room. Buster Cat may play crazily with a wad of paper in a box for an hour, but let him see that you have a camera and he will immediately fall asleep.

My most amazing cat photo won the People’s Choice Award at our county fair a few years ago and I can’t even take credit for it. My mother’s cat, Smokey, orchestrated this shot all the way. I was poised to get a sweet shot of him peering out through some bushes. As I snapped the picture, I heard a crash and saw him leap out toward me. I ended up capturing him in mid air intent on catching a bee between his paws. Scroll down and see the shot posted August 13, 2011.

Yes, I love kitties and I enjoy trying to photograph them. But I decided not to use one of my photos on the cover of my first novel—Catnapped, a Klepto Cat Mystery. Bernadette Kazmarski is the artist. See her artwork and purchase this cozy mystery here: http://amzn.to/14OCk0W

When I started this blog, I thought I would post here often. However, while my kitties, Max, Sophie and sweet Lily, take priority over practically everything else, my primary work is related to publishing and book promotion. Thus, my publishing blog gets more of my attention than this one and my publishing books get priority over Catscapades, True Cat Tales.

The kitties are doing great. Max turned thirteen this spring. Lily is two. And Sophie will be seven in August. They are healthy (at the moment) and happy. Lily is busy learning new tricks, such as finally finding her way onto the kitchen counter. I’ve laid a piece of foil in her path in an attempt to deter her. Not sure this is foiling her, though. Someone is messing with the little blue bottles I have lined up on the window sill above the sink from time to time. I haven’t caught anyone doing this, but I often find some of the bottles slightly askew.

I’ve been doing some knitting and Lily has enjoyed helping with that. We bought the 4-year-old granddaughter a doll house and Lily loves moving around the perfectly placed furniture inside it when Alyzay isn’t looking.

The orioles are visiting the feeders now and the cats spend part of their day watching them through the window. We can tell when it is a hummingbird at the feeder and when it is an oriole by the demeanor of Sophie and Lily. The girls express much more interest in the colorful orioles.

This year, a pair of tohees are tending babies in a nest in a bush close to the house and they spent several weeks entertaining the cats from the porch as a way of deterring them from knowing where the nest is. While one bird would dance up close to the cats as they watched through the screen door, chirping and distracting them, we assume the other one would be feeding baby birds just around the corner.

To learn more about Sophie, Lily and Max (all with unusual and interesting backstories), read Catscapades, True Cat Tales. http://www.matilijapress.com/catscapades.html