The Three Rs and The Cat's Meow

Ruth's part-time cat, Sam.

First off, you are probably asking yourself, "What in the heck is she talking about?" What is the connection between The Three Rs and The Cat's Meow? Well, there is a connection.

Now the Three Rs I am talking about is not what you would think: readin', ritin' and 'rithmetic. Nope, my Three Rs are my three BFFs, three who have been my friends for practically forever. They are <drum rolls please> Rhonda, Regina and Ruth. Now what are the odds of having more than one BFF in a lifetime and all three having an R-name? I assure you, the odds are pretty slim.

Rhonda and I have been friends since we were five years old and in kindergarten together in southern California. Our parents were best friends too. We ate at each other's houses, had weekend sleepovers, swapped clothes and vacationed together. Only in adult years, after Rhonda took up genealogy, we discovered we're actually distant cousins. We both have the same patriot multi-greats-grandfather, Samuel Higgins. Rhonda is already a member of DAR and nudging me in that direction, but that's another post entirely.

Regina and I have been friends since we first worked together back in the 1980s as welfare case-workers for the State of Florida. Actually, I was the one assigned to train Regina and correct her work. Well, she's a stubborn spit-fire from Rio, so you can imagine how that went over. We've been the best of friends ever since, even through all the years that I moved away, moved back, moved away, moved back, you get the picture. Now, as we're both retired (well, she's retired and I'm writing), we get together usually once a week for donuts (Krispie Kreme or Dunkin' Donuts) and trips to the mall and bookstores.

Ruth (Author, Ruth Kerce) has been my BFF since 1994 when we first met at an RWA Desert Rose Chapter Conference in Las Vegas. Now you all have already heard about Ruth when I interviewed her on my blog back in June. Suffice to say that I have Ruth to blame for my being an Indie Author. You see, we were both struggling writers way back then. After several years I gave up writing and went back to my art (painting landscapes and still-lifes in acrylics and oils). Ruth kept on writing and is now a well established author published by Ellora's Cave and Changeling Press. She's also an Indie Author writing sensual HOT short stories. All these years, even after I moved away from Las Vegas and back to Florida, Ruth and I have remained the best of friends. We communicate on pretty much a daily basis and she is solely to blame from me getting back into writing and becoming an epublished Indie Author.

DC, my childhood cat (named after the book/movie).

Now comes The Cat's Meow part of this post. Rhonda, Regina and Ruth are all cat people and I'm a dog person. How in the world did that happen? Let me back-peddle a bit. I had a cat, DC, back when I was growing up. So I do like/love cats, I just don't have any right now. But The Three Rs are definitely cat people, no two ways about it.


When we were kids, Rhonda had a fluffy, regal, orange cat named Lord Buffington. He was an awesome cat who followed us kids everywhere. I remember when holding Buffy, he'd flop over your arm like a Ragdoll cat. To this day, Rhonda has always had one cat or another.

Regina, on the other hand, is the ultimate cat person. When Regina and I first me, she didn't have any cats. In fact, she'd never had a cat in her life. But a co-worker gave her a mama cat with two kittens and that was all it took. Regina became a confirmed cat person. As we speak, Regina is currently the "mama" to six very spoiled, pampered cats. All arrived at her doorstep as strays, were taken in, neutered, given their required shots, doctored (for a torn ear, injured eye, etc.) and fed the best cat food available (I know because I shop for cat food with her).

Now for Ruth. She loves cats, but doesn't have one of her very own. Instead, she shares a cat, Sam, with neighbors. Sam is Ruth's cat during the day and the neighbor's cat at night. For those who follow Ruth on Twitter (@RuthKerce) she tweets Sam's antics and pics (see the pic of Sam at the top of this post).  Sam is a very smart cat with the disposition of a queen.

For those who follow my tweets (@TeriHeyer) and/or my blog, I'm a dog person. I've had dogs ever since I was a toddler (see the pic of Dusty and I at the bottom of my blog). I am currently the proud "mama" to two big dogs, Shani, who weighs 85 pounds, and Dude, who weighs 100 pounds and may still be growing (he's only 18 months old). Pics of Shani and Dude are all over my blog and I tweet their pics too.

Now to be honest, I'd have cats in addition to dogs, but my husband insists that he's allergic to cats. I don't know if that's really true, but he does manage to sneeze and carry on whenever he's around cats. But someday, when we buy that acreage I keep dreaming about, I'll have some barn cats. And eventually those barn cats will become house cats. But don't tell my husband.

So now you know the connection between The Three Rs and The Cat's Meow. That's my story and I'm sticking to it.

Those who follow my blog know that I love to post lists of books, so this time is no exception. Below you'll find a list of cat fiction, most of them mystery series which you may already know. But just in case, check the list to see if there's something you haven't discovered yet.

My three favorite cat fiction books from when I was growing up:

Thomasina by Paul Gallico
It's Like This, Cat by Emily Neville
That Darn Cat by The Gordons

Cat fiction, mostly mystery series, that you might enjoy (in no particular order):

The Cat Who Knew Shakespeare (The Cat Who Knew Series) by Lilian Jackson Braun
The Guardian Cats and the Lost Books of Alexandria by Rahma Krambo
Catnip (A Dunbarton Mystery) by Valerie E. Tate
Curiosity Thrilled the Cat (A Magical Cats Mystery) by Sofie Kelly
The Cat, The Quilt and The Corpse (A Cats in Trouble Mystery) by Leann Sweeney
The Big Kitty (A Sunny & Shadow Mystery) by Claire Donally
Murder Past Due (Cat in the Stacks Mystery) by Miranda James
How to Wash a Cat (Cats & Curios Mystery) by Rebecca M. Hale
Double Booked for Death (A Black Cat Bookshop Mystery) by Ali Brandon
Sneaky Pie for President (Sneaky Pie Brown) by Rita Mae Brown
Three Cat Mysteries by D. J. Crayne
Fruit of the Tomb (Midnight Louie Short Story) by Carol Nelson Douglas
Cat in a White Tie and Tails (Midnight Louie Mystery) by Carol Nelson Douglas
Orange as Marmalade (Biscuit McKee Mystery) by Fran Stewart
Cat Bearing Gifts (Joe Grey Mystery) by Shirley Rousseau Murphy
The Cat Who Wasn't a Dog by Marian Babson

Chester, my mom & brother's Maine Coon.

Please add your favorite cat books in the comments below. "Meow!"

Note: Chester, my mom and brother's Maine Coon cat weighs 25 pounds, has a huge fluffy tail and is a purring machine. He is very regal. I said he should be named Sir Chester.

Happy New Year!

The New Year 2012 snuck up on me. How did it get here so fast? I swear that Thanksgiving was only a couple days ago and Christmas was just yesterday. Did I get lost in time somewhere? Did I spend too much time on the computer?

Well, 2011 was a very good year for me. I fulfilled a lifelong dream of becoming an author by ePubbing four books between August and November: "Outback Love," "Jetting Away," "Moon Over Madness" and "Bayou Blues and Other Sorrows." I guess that is why the year zipped by so fast.

"Jetting Away" went free on Amazon October 27th and from that date on I've been on a roller coaster ride. To date, over 20,000 people have downloaded a copy of "Jetting Away." For weeks it was on the Best Sellers Top 100 Free ebook list on Amazon and then for weeks more on the Best Sellers Contemporary Fiction Top 100 Free ebook list. What an exciting ride for a new indie author. I can't thank you all enough for getting "Jetting Away."

In addition to the excitement on "Jetting Away," "Outback Love," my contemporary romance novel, was on the Best Sellers Contemporary Romance Top 100 Paid ebook list for a number of days. Needless to say, I was on Cloud-9 for all of those days.

In the midst of that roller coaster ride, I ePubbed a collection of eight short stories and eight poems, "Bayou Blues and Other Sorrows." The date, 11/11/11, just seemed like a perfect day to bring out a new book. Unfortunately, "Bayou Blues..." is off to a slow start. However, it's now available as a free ebook to members of Amazon Prime. This is a book I've worked on for a very long time and am so pleased to finally have it out there. Writing poetry and short stories was my first love before writing novels.

November and December have been months of mostly dreaming and some writing. I've been working on several different ideas for some new novels. I managed to write partials on some of them and have hopes of finishing and ePubbing them in 2012. For now, I'll just say that I think you'll enjoy the novels I've been dreaming about and writing. If all goes well, I should have a new contemporary romance novel out before spring.

Many thanks to everyone who bought my books from Amazon, Barnes&Noble, Smashwords, Apple, Sony, Diesel and Kobo. Many thanks too to those on Twitter who re-Tweeted my many Tweets, mentioned me on Twitter, and/or chose to Follow me on Twitter. Thanks too for the very nice reviews I've received on my books on Amazon and Barnes&Noble.

In the meantime, best wishes for a Happy, Healthy, Peaceful and Prosperous New Year for all.

JETTING AWAY is Now on the Amazon Top 100 Free eBooks List

JETTING AWAY went FREE on Amazon sometime last night after I had gone to sleep. So I woke up this morning to a great surprise. By the time I checked on my sales at Amazon/KDP, 328 people had already downloaded my free book. At that point I was really excited.

If you don't already have my ebook, please use the link below to download a FREE copy of JETTING AWAY on Amazon.

http://www.amazon.com/Jetting-Away-ebook/dp/B005JGE9R0/ref=zg_bs_154606011_39

I had always intended for JETTING AWAY to eventually be offered as a free ebook since it's a short story prequel to my contemporary romance novel, OUTBACK LOVE. Of course, both books can be read as stand-alones, but I hoped my readers would decide to read both books.

I lowered the sales price of JETTING AWAY to free on Smashwords first. Barnes and Noble quickly followed suit and so did Sony. Though I contacted Amazon, they decided to keep the book at .99 cents. I tried to explain to them how important it was to make the book available as a freebie, only I kept getting the same answer back. No.

So I was ultra-excited this morning to find that Amazon finally decided to make JETTING AWAY a free ebook. I must say, it has been really fun today watching the free sales increase and the ranking go up, up, up. The last time I checked the stats, 2192 free copies of JETTING AWAY were downloaded. That was in less than 24 hours. In the morning the sales ranking was #574 out of millions of books on Amazon. By afternoon my book was ranked #89 and on the Top 100 Free list. As the afternoon progressed, the ranking went higher to #82, then #39 and the last time I looked #33. My other two books are selling too. So this is very exciting for a new indie author.

I am excited by this day and humbled too. For someone who has been wanting/dreaming of being a writer since I was of grammar school age, today has been the best of the best. I thank all who have downloaded my books. It means a lot to me that you are willing to try a new writer. I strive to be the best that I can possibly be. I'm sure I have much to learn. This will be an evolving, growing, strengthening process. I have so many stories to tell. Yes, I am humbled by you all being willing to take a chance and read my books. Thank you so very much.

For those of you who haven't yet read one of my books. Please download a FREE copy of JETTING AWAY on Amazon, Smashwords, Barnes and Noble, Sony or Apple. Please tell your friends and family members about my books too. It's very difficult for a new indie author to enter the book market, so I need all the support I can get.

A little story about today. I've been sick since last Friday with a sinus infection due to seasonal allergies. I try to avoid doctors and can usually get well on my own. But yesterday I lost my voice. Yep, laryngitis. So when I woke up this morning to all that excitement over my books, I wanted to scream with joy, only I couldn't even squeak, let alone talk or shout. So while all this excitement over sales and rankings were happening this afternoon, I was at the doctor's office to get antibiotics so I can get well. Hopefully in a few days I'll be able to scream and shout with joy. For now, I'd like to get my voice back so I can at least talk. I can't even call my family or friends on the phone today, because no one can hear what I'm saying. I have to admit that it's rather funny than I can't talk about this. Everyone who knows me, know that I love to talk. But for today I have to be quiet and write out my joy and thanks.

I have to say a special thanks to the gang at Twitter who helped make this all possible. In particular, indie authors Ruth D. Kerce, Russell Blake and David Bain helped along the way. They would RT (re-Tweet) all my Tweets and their Followers would RT and so on. I could never has done this all without you.

Also, indie author Russell Blake fought really hard to get his ebook, ZERO SUM, to go FREE on Amazon, which happened a few days before my book. He fought the good fight for all of us indie authors for price matching on Amazon.

I also need to thank Amazon too for finally making the decision to let JETTING AWAY be a free ebook on Amazon.

 I also have to say a special thanks to my friend of many years, author Ruth D. Kerce, for pushing me every step of the way to get my books out there for others to read. Note - Ruth offered lots of advice and moral support too. So thanks to a very special friend.

Special thanks to all my family members, friends and author/friends who forwarded my emails to others who forwarded them to even more. Believe me, it takes a really big village to sell a book. I know I'm forgetting names here, but you all know who you are. As my five year old grandson would say, "We're a team."

I know things will slow down again, but I intend to enjoy every minute of this high. I also intend to get busy writing and finishing my next books. I have two new ebooks that you'll be seeing soon. BAYOU BLUES AND OTHER SORROWS  is a collection of short stories and poems that I've wanted to publish for a long time. MOON OVER MISTLETOE is a paranormal novella that should available by the end of November.

(Please forgive all the extra adverbs, adjectives, etc. in this post. I'm too excited to edit them all out.)