{"id":3779,"date":"2019-10-28T03:52:02","date_gmt":"2019-10-28T11:52:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.matilijapress.com\/catscapades\/?p=3779"},"modified":"2019-10-28T03:52:02","modified_gmt":"2019-10-28T11:52:02","slug":"mindful-monday-i-dont-write-for-children","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.matilijapress.com\/catscapades\/?p=3779","title":{"rendered":"Mindful Monday \u2013 I Don\u2019t Write for Children"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-196\" src=\"https:\/\/www.matilijapress.com\/catscapades\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/04\/belle-book-300x225.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"225\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.matilijapress.com\/catscapades\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/04\/belle-book-300x225.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.matilijapress.com\/catscapades\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/04\/belle-book-500x375.jpg 500w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>Truly, this is something I\u2019m often accused of. \u201cOh, you write those cute little books for children.\u201d \u201cYou\u2019re a children\u2019s book author.\u201d No I\u2019m not. And those of you who read the Klepto Cat Mysteries know that I don\u2019t write for children. What is it that gives people the idea that my books are designed for children? The whimsical covers? The cutesy titles? The fact that the stories are obviously frivolous and fun?<\/p>\n<p>I often explain to people that my Klepto Cat<img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"alignright size-medium wp-image-275\" src=\"https:\/\/www.matilijapress.com\/catscapades\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/06\/lilycatnapped2-004-225x300.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"225\" height=\"300\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.matilijapress.com\/catscapades\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/06\/lilycatnapped2-004-225x300.jpg 225w, https:\/\/www.matilijapress.com\/catscapades\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/06\/lilycatnapped2-004-375x500.jpg 375w, https:\/\/www.matilijapress.com\/catscapades\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/06\/lilycatnapped2-004.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 225px) 100vw, 225px\" \/> Mystery stories are written for adults who enjoy light reading with cats and an interesting mystery plot. Rags\u2019s fans like that the cats in my books do not talk, except for an occasional cranky or friendly <em>Meow. <\/em>And fans appreciate that they have the opportunity to learn through this series and have their thought processes stimulated.<\/p>\n<p>Some readers say they feel as though they know some of my characters and would love to have some of them as real-life friends. They appreciate that the main characters are so nice to each other\u2014kind\u2026and that they display decent and honorable values.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"alignleft size-medium wp-image-1129\" src=\"https:\/\/www.matilijapress.com\/catscapades\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/alyzaybookreport-225x300.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"225\" height=\"300\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.matilijapress.com\/catscapades\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/alyzaybookreport-225x300.jpg 225w, https:\/\/www.matilijapress.com\/catscapades\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/alyzaybookreport-375x500.jpg 375w, https:\/\/www.matilijapress.com\/catscapades\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/alyzaybookreport.jpg 480w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 225px) 100vw, 225px\" \/>Still often people will buy a book from me to give to a child. I always suggest that the parent, teacher, relative always read the book first and decide if it\u2019s appropriate for that child. Why? Because I do not write these books for children. I write them with adults in mind. Sure there are beautiful examples of messages in the books reminding us to hold true to our values. There are humorous and sometimes silly incidents and lots of kitty-cat (and sometimes horse) action. And some kids might adore reading some of these books or certain passages from them, but still, I write for adults.<\/p>\n<p>Have any of you read a Klepto Cat Mystery to a child or<img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"alignright size-medium wp-image-1222\" src=\"https:\/\/www.matilijapress.com\/catscapades\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/05\/lilybooks-300x300.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"300\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.matilijapress.com\/catscapades\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/05\/lilybooks-300x300.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.matilijapress.com\/catscapades\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/05\/lilybooks-150x150.jpg 150w, https:\/\/www.matilijapress.com\/catscapades\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/05\/lilybooks-500x500.jpg 500w, https:\/\/www.matilijapress.com\/catscapades\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/05\/lilybooks.jpg 640w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/> know a child who has read one? What age? How was the story received? Would you feel comfortable giving one of these books to a child you know?<\/p>\n<p>One little girl I know created a book report from Book One: <em>Catnapped<\/em>. I believe she was ten years old at the time and she did a good job, too. Actually, I\u2019ve toned down my books some since the first few. When a reviewer said my books were cozy mysteries on steroids, I thought maybe I was being a little too graphic and making my villains a bit too crass. Have you noticed the difference over the years?<\/p>\n<p>By the way, the print version of Book 39 will be available for purchase this week. Watch for the announcement here and at my Klepto Cat Mystery facebook page.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Truly, this is something I\u2019m often accused of. \u201cOh, you write those cute little books for children.\u201d \u201cYou\u2019re a children\u2019s book author.\u201d No I\u2019m not. And those of you who read the Klepto Cat Mysteries know that I don\u2019t write &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.matilijapress.com\/catscapades\/?p=3779\">Continue reading <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[10,3,9],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.matilijapress.com\/catscapades\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3779"}],"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=3779"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.matilijapress.com\/catscapades\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3779\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3780,"href":"https:\/\/www.matilijapress.com\/catscapades\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3779\/revisions\/3780"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.matilijapress.com\/catscapades\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3779"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.matilijapress.com\/catscapades\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3779"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.matilijapress.com\/catscapades\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3779"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}