The Cat Ate My Homework

Allow me to introduce you to the newest addition to the family.

This is Merlot. Actually, this is what Merlot looked like when he first came to visit us ... last November. Long story short, The Tall One was engaged - briefly - to a very nice but rather odd young man. During the planning stages, they decided to get a kitten. All went well until the breakup, and then we had a minor custody battle. Merlot stayed with the Ex for a while, but we finally determined that the best place for him would be with us, so he has come to live here until The Tall One is out of school and on her own.

And this is what Merlot looks like now. For the sake of reference from this point out, we are going to call him Demon Child. He's actually quite adorable, when he's sleeping or in lovey-dovey mode. But when he gets frisky, he is one holy terror.

He has this thing about needing to be where I am. If I'm in the kitchen, he's sprawled out comfortably in the middle of the rug (which is, of course, in the middle of the kitchen). If I'm in the bedroom, his post is either by the bedroom door or next to my nightstand, where he has a clear view of both the bedroom and bathroom doors.

His favorite place to be with me is in my study. When I'm working at the day job desk, he likes to lie on my writing desk. When I'm at my writing desk, he'll be on the computer station to the right of my desk. And he's not a fan of stacks. If there's a stack of anything on any flat surface in my study, he's always kind enough to clear it off for me. I think he learned that trick from Sebastian.

He also likes to chew on things. Doesn't matter what it is, if it's anything he can get in his teeth - paper, cardboard box, my hand - he will tear it up.

Now, I told you that story to tell you this one. As you've probably figured out by now (since those of you who actually read my blog know me personally), the cat is out of the bag, so to speak, about my new pen-name. Ta-ta-ta-taaaaaa! Anyway, now that Jennifer Brooks' first manuscript is on submission, she is - er, ahem ... I am hard at work on getting the second one ready. To do this, I'm taking a manuscript I wrote a while back and am revising and updating it, making it better, more suspenseful, etc., etc., blah-blah-blah. Anyway, to do this, I printed it out so that I could make notes and revisions on paper before implementing them into my electronic file. (This is a trick I stole from my fabulous and invaluable Wonder Twin.)

You've been paying attention, and you see where this is going now, right? Yep. Demon Child discovered my printed manuscript on my desk and decided it looked good enough to eat.

Now, don't panic. He didn't actually EAT it. He just chewed on it. A little. And only the first two pages. I showed this to The Tall One, and she laughed. Cackled, actually.

I promise you, this is not staged. Something tells me I'd better get on the stick about editing the rest of this book before DC starts chewing again.

I have a couple of books on the TBR pile that are screaming to be read. And a whole lotta other stuff on the to-do list ...

Enjoy your day. Read a book. And would someone please pass the salt?

=) JB