Wednesday, August 7, 2024
Meet the Cat Tales Characters by Eileen O'Finlan
Tuesday, May 7, 2024
Break Out The Bubbly! by Eileen O'Finlan
Time to celebrate! All the Furs and Feathers, the first book in the Cat Tales series just won First Place Best in Category for Humor & Satire. It was awarded by Chanticleer International Book Awards under their Mark Twain Award category.
To say I'm delighted is an understatement. As the book made it through each stage in the process, my excitement grew. First it had to clear the slush pile and make it to the Long List. Next came the Short List. After that was semi-finals. I had my fingers crossed each time an email arrived announcing the books that advanced to the next round. When All the Furs and Feathers finally made it to Finalist, I knew it had a good chance at winning one of the prizes.
The awards banquet was held on April 20th in Washington State. That's on the other side of the country from me, and I was unable to attend. None the less, I knew all the CIBA winners would be announced shortly afterwards.
Day after day, emails trickled into my inbox announcing winners, usually two at a time. Every day I'd open an email only to find announcements of winners in categories other than Mark Twain.
Finally, on May 1st the email announcing the winners in the Mark Twain Humor & Satire category landed in my inbox. I clicked on the icon holding my breath. It was a short but torturous scroll down the page to find the list.
And there it was. Right after the grand prize winner's name (Congratulations Mike Murphey!) I saw it: Eileen O'Finlan - All The Furs And Feathers
Okay, it was hardly the Nobel Prize for Literature, but it definitely made my day and then some!
The first thing I did was text or email my family, writing group, friends, and coworkers. Then I posted it on my Facebook page. Most importantly, I gave my cat, Autumn Amelia, a huge hug and thank you. After all, she's one of the main characters in the book. Without her and her sister, Smokey, (who is at the Rainbow Bridge), the book would never have been written. They inspired it.
As I write this post, I am more than halfway through the first draft of the next book in the Cat Tales series, All in the Furry Family. With an expected publication date of February 2025, readers won't have to wait too long for the further adventures of Smokey and Autumn Amelia. Expect a lot of surprises, silly antics, new characters, and even a wedding in Book 2.
Tuesday, November 7, 2023
It's NaNoWriMo Time Again! by Eileen O'Finlan
Wednesday, June 7, 2023
Writing with Pets by Eileen O'Finlan
As people who share their homes and lives with pets can attest, their furry companions are often involved in everything that goes on at home. For me, that includes writing. My two cats, Smokey (now a Rainbow Bridge Angel Kitty) and Autumn Amelia even inspired my latest book, All the Furs and Feathers. In some ways, they helped me write it since I often took my cues from their personalities.
It's one thing to pay attention to the pets, think about how they might respond given various fictional situations, and put it in a story. It's quite another to have them physically involved while trying to write that (or any other) story.
About a year ago, I became a Rover.com sitter and began boarding small dogs in my home for weekends while their pet parents were away. Two of them, Chewy and Bruce Lee have become regular clients. They are getting used to me spending time on my laptop while they are staying with me, though if a writing session runs too long in their estimation, they make their feelings known and cut it short. However, the last time they were at my house, Bruce Lee decided that rather than trying to drag me away from my writing, he'd help out. Here's how that went:
Friday, April 7, 2023
Like Catching Up With Old Friends by Eileen O'Finlan
Shelf Life by Eileen O'Finlan
Tuesday, March 7, 2023
Writing in Multiple Genres by Eileen O'Finlan
I've heard it said that writers should only write in one genre. Why? I read and enjoy more than one genre. Why shouldn't I write in more than one? For me (and, I dare say, for most writers) characters and story ideas pop up in my head unexpectedly. I can't help what genre they fall into.
Though I began my writing career with historical fiction and that will probably constitute the bulk of my writing when all's said and done, sometimes the characters who visit my head are not historical. Sometimes they're not even human. Take for example, my newest release, All the Furs and Feathers, the first book in the Cat Tales series. Though the animals in this book are highly anthropomorphized, not a single human is in the story. Nor are any mentioned. For the animals of All the Furs and Feathers, humans don't even exist. Obviously, this is not historical fiction. It's fantasy. Not the epic sort of Lord of the Rings, but the cozy sort. I couldn't anymore banish the characters in it from my head than I could banish those in my historical novels.
So what's yet to come? Definitely more historical fiction. There's one in the works right now and another taking shape in my mind. As for fantasy, there will be more of the Cat Tales series to come, but there may be others as well. A few months ago I awoke from a dream that featured characters I haven't been able to get out of my thoughts ever since. I picture them in period clothing, but they live in a world that does not and never has existed. Fantasy!
The parade of characters that march through my mind on a regular basis range from historical to fantastical to contemporary. So for the moment, historical fiction and cozy fantasy are my focus. What else may come depends upon my cerebral visitors and how insistant they are about their stories being told.
Tuesday, February 7, 2023
All the Furs and Feathers by Eileen O'Finlan
I am super excited to annouce the release of my new novel, All the Furs and Feathers Book 1 in the Cat Tales series!
All the Furs and Feathers is the story of two cat sisters, Smokey and Autumn Amelia. Smokey is an architect working for Fluffington ArCATechture. Autumn Amelia is a chef savant. When Smokey get the assignment of her dreams to design Faunaburg's first ever cat park, she quickly realizes it could turn into her worst nightmare. The land parcel for the park is adjacent to Rodent Way. Given the long-standing animosity between felines and rodents this can only spell trouble. She'll need the help of her adorably quirky sister to convince the rodents that the cats' good intentions are for real.
I'm often asked what age group best suits All the Furs and Feathers. Middle graders and up would certainly understand and enjoy it. However, I actually wrote it with adults in mind. Several years ago I was a member of an online community where all participants were cats. Each member's cat had its own page with pictures and a link to that cat's diary if they chose to keep one. The cats could all friend each other, send each other virtual gifts, and message each other. Very popular were the threads in which cats got together for virtual parties, trips, games, and weddings. Most of the humans behind the cats were adults. And we had a blast! Some folks who were good at photoshop would put the cats in clothes and include pictures of them in the threads. My Smokey even got married on the site. It was these people I had in mind as I wrote the story. So, while I will be thrilled to hear that kids are enjoying the book, I am also very gratified by the many adults I've heard from who are delighting in it as well.
If you're wondering what a cat wedding is like, here's a picture of Smokey's:
Wednesday, December 7, 2022
The Beauty of Book Covers by Eileen O'Finlan
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