{"id":3066,"date":"2018-11-09T05:39:42","date_gmt":"2018-11-09T13:39:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.matilijapress.com\/catscapades\/?p=3066"},"modified":"2018-11-09T05:39:42","modified_gmt":"2018-11-09T13:39:42","slug":"frivolous-friday-the-debate-talking-cats-versus-non-talking-cats","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.matilijapress.com\/catscapades\/?p=3066","title":{"rendered":"Frivolous Friday \u2013 The Debate: Talking Cats Versus Non-Talking Cats"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"By the title of today\u2019s post, you might think I\u2019m referring to vocal cats\u2014those who are constantly \u201cspeaking\u201d to you. Experts say that cats don\u2019t \u201ctalk\u201d to one another. They picked up that trait from humans. Some breeds seem to have more to say than others\u2014Siamese cats, for example, are notorious for expressing themselves through meows and mews and yowls. Those others noted for their talkativeness are breeds probably linked to the Siamese\u2014Burmese, Tonkinese, Birman\u2026<\/p>\n

I\u2019d say that it\u2019s the more intelligent cats who vocalize. They\u2019re probably mimicking their \"\"human and they\u2019ve learned that it rewards them with attention, food, or something else they want.<\/p>\n

But today my intent is to discuss talking versus non-talking cats in fiction. There are a LOT of cozy mysteries with cats series. My Klepto Cat Mysteries, of course, Sofie Kelly\u2019s Magical Cat Series, Mollie Hunt\u2019s Crazy Cat Lady series, Paige Sleuth\u2019s Cozy Cat Caper Mysteries, Shirley Rousseau Murphy\u2019s Joe Grey Mysteries, Rita Mae Brown\u2019s Mrs. Murphy series, Carole Nelson Douglas\u2019s Midnight Louie series and so many others. Let\u2019s not forget the possible originator of cozy mysteries with cats, Lilian Jackson Braun and her Cat Who series.<\/p>\n

\"\"A few years ago I was asked to chime in for an article in the Wall Street Journal<\/em> on talking versus silent cats in novels. We\u2019ve all known talking cats in cartoons and children\u2019s books, but there are also some authors of cozy mysteries and other novels for adults who put words in their cat characters\u2019 mouth. How do you feel about that?<\/p>\n

Those of you who know my books, know that my cats do not talk except for a cat-like yowl or meow once in a while. As with the majority of authors of cozy mysteries with cats, the cats have other ways of communicating, being noticed, sharing a secret, uncovering a clue, and so forth. What is your preference\u2014a cat with a voice and a point of view in the fiction you read or an ordinary cat who acts more like a cat\u2014albeit an exceptionally clever, smart, savvy, inquisitive, cunning cat?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By the title of today\u2019s post, you might think I\u2019m referring to vocal cats\u2014those who are constantly \u201cspeaking\u201d to you. Experts say that cats don\u2019t \u201ctalk\u201d to one another. They picked up that trait from humans. Some breeds seem to … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[15,10],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.matilijapress.com\/catscapades\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3066"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.matilijapress.com\/catscapades\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.matilijapress.com\/catscapades\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.matilijapress.com\/catscapades\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.matilijapress.com\/catscapades\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3066"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.matilijapress.com\/catscapades\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3066\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3067,"href":"https:\/\/www.matilijapress.com\/catscapades\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3066\/revisions\/3067"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.matilijapress.com\/catscapades\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3066"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.matilijapress.com\/catscapades\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3066"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.matilijapress.com\/catscapades\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3066"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}