Friday, March 7, 2025
Meet Louisa and Vivian by Eileen O'Finlan

Thursday, February 6, 2025
Meet Buster Parker by Eileen O'Finlan

Tuesday, January 7, 2025
Meet Smokey and Autumn Amelia by Eileen O'Finlan
Quirks: She gets the zoomies about an hour before a storm and when excited. If it happens at work, she has to go to the basement to keep from zooming around the office.

Saturday, December 7, 2024
Coming in Early 2025: All in the Furry Family by Eileen O'Finlan
I am delighted to announce that the second book in the Cat Tales series, All in the Furry Family, is scheduled for a February 2025 release. If you've read the first book, All the Furs and Feathers, you've met sister cats, Smokey and Autumn Amelia and their friends in Wild Whisker Ridge and Faunaburg. Now, join them for the wedding of the century when Abigail Fluffington marries their cousin, Greyson. That is if Abigail can stop being a bridezilla long enough to finalize the wedding plans.
On top of all the wedding chaos, Smokey is now Abigail's partner at Fluffington ArCATechture and Autumn Amelia is running Mama Cat's Kitchen in Oneness Park. It seems they've both achieved their dreams, but something odd is going on. Smokey is being stalked by two strange cats, and Autumn Amelia is running her paws off trying to juggle managing her own restaurant and bake two days a week for Furry's Confections. When Autumn meets her new neighbor, a handsome cat named Buster, and wants to spend more time with him, she knows something has to give. But what?
Join Smokey, Autumn Amelia, and all their furred and feathered friends as they try to navigate the many changes in their lives. Lots of new characters and loads of surprises await readers in All in the Furry Family Book 2 of the Cat Tales series.

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.

Popular Posts
-
Find my books here Saving Katy Gray is Book 3 of my When Paths Meet trilogy . All three books are about love and the messiness of family...
-
As the school year rolls to a painstakingly slow close, my heart aches for home. My 8th graders are done (and pretty much have been for ab...
-
‘Tis the season for ticks - those tiny ground-dwelling bugs who hang out in the grass so they can attach themselves to a host, hitchhike...
-
To purchase your copy of the award-winning Twisted Climb series, including the audio version, click here: https://www.bookswelove.net/kava...
-
DEADLINES From the Editor's Desk Friends, I know a little about 'time critical'. Sometimes it...
-
https://bwlpublishing.ca/loughead-debra/ My home office is a packrat’s dream. And a neat freak’s nightmare. Not just the physical part of ...
-
AVAILABLE HERE Many years ago, on a bright April day with cotton wool clouds whisked across a clear blue sky by a strong breeze, I first s...
-
I stopped at a bookstore last week and the owners asked an obvious question, "Who is D.L. Dixen and how did she become your "Sk...
-
Find my books here In a poem attributed to him, William Shakespeare said 'Crabbed age and youth can not live to get her .' He ...
-
To find out more about my books click on the image above. It's finally Spring here in Central Alberta. I know that on the west coas...