Meet the Cat Tales Characters by Eileen O'Finlan

 

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I recently acquired a new skill - creating images using A.I. I know there's a lot of controversy over A.I., but the images I've created likely don't fall into a controversial realm. They are all images of the characters in my Cat Tales series. These characters are all highly anthropomorphized animals. They hold jobs, drive cars, go shopping - all the stuff humans do while retaining most of the characteristics associated with their species. They also have to learn to live in harmony with one another. That's not easy to do when Smokey is designing a cat park that will abut Rodent Way. Not if Jerome J. Rately has anything to say about it. And, he does have plenty to say.

I learned how to create these images a few weeks ago while I was home recovering from COVID. I had noticed that my friend and fellow author, Jane Willan, had been creating images of her characters and using them in her Facebook posts. They looked terrific so I asked her to teach me to do it. In one Zoom call, she showed me how it's done. Then I got to work making my own. It's actually very easy to do. And it's fun. So, here are a few of the characters from the first book in the Cat Tales series, All the Furs and Feathers:

                                                  This is Smokey, one of the main characters.

                                                  She's employed as an architect at Fluffington

                                                  ArCATechture.

                                              This is Autumn Amelia. She's the other main 

                                              character, Smokey's sister, and a baker who works

                                              from home.

                               

    Here we have Greyson. He's cousin                                 Abigail Fluffington is the owner of

    to Smokey and Autumn Amelia. He's                              Fluffington ArCATechture and Smokey's

    the retired CEO of PAWS UNITED.                               boss. She's a very astute businesscat.

                          
    This sweet kitty is Dusty Fluffington.                                Jasmine is a web designer and Smokey's

    She's an amazing designer and seamstress.                        best friend. They're both Russian Blues

    She's also Abigail's sister. They both live                           and are often confused for twins.

    in Abigail's luxury apartment, but poor

    Dusty is terrified to leave the building.

    Until she meets Autumn Amelia, that is.

Not all the characters in the Cat Tales series are cats. There's a wide variety of animals in the series. Here are just a few of the non-cat characters:

                                     

    This is Rufus Tailwagger. He's a PR                                       Jerome J. Ratley is the head of the         

    professional. Rufus is a great guy. Just                                   Rodent Placement Agency. He's also

    stay out of the way of his maniacally                                      an activist for rodent rights. And he's

    wagging tail.                                                                            not at all happy about the idea of the cat

                                                                                                    park Smokey is designing that will abut

                                                                                                    Rodent Way.

                                                 Sally is a sous chef who works for                                            Here are Simon and Sam Squirrel

    Chef Gustav, a snooty world-famous                                        on their tandem bike. They work for

    chef, at Miguel Gato's private club.                                           Autumn's boss, Tabby Furry who owns

    Sally likes Miguel, but she'd rather not                                     Furry Confections. The Squirrel                have to work for Gustav.                                                           brothers are curriers who deliver the                                                                                                           baked goods Autumn makes to be sold

                                                                                                       at the bakery.

These are only some of the images of the characters from All the Furs and Feathers. There are more on my website. You can check them out here. More will be coming in early 2025 when the second book in the Cat Tales series, All in the Furry Family, is released. Meanwhile, here is a sneak peak of a couple of the new characters from the second book:

  

                                          

    Meet Buster Parker. He's a printer,                                               Give a warm welcome to Professor

    but he also owns a boat. I don't want                                            Chewy. He teaches botany at Verdant

    to give anything away, so I'll just say                                           University. He's also Smokey and

    he'll become important to Autumn Amelia.                                  Autumn Amelia's new neighbor.

  
    

New Year, New Dog...by Sheila Claydon

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There are animal characters in quite a few of my books, some wild, some domesticated. A horse, a dog and a lot of birds feature in Mending Jodie's Heart. It's not surprising really as we are a pet loving family. In the past there have been gerbils, hamsters, guinea pigs, dogs, cats, turtles, and the largest lop-eared rabbit ever. He was so tame that, as well as being house-trained, he used to join our dog on the rug in front of the fire whenever he got the chance. The dog, a sheltie/collie cross, appeared to sigh heavily whenever that happened. He put up with it though. Nowadays we only have a dog but our daughter, who lives nearby, has horses, dogs and a very naughty rag-doll cat as well as a 40 year old Reeves turtle that seems determined to live forever. So incorporating animal characters into my books is an inevitability. And now there is another one!

Somebody please play ball

This is Lilo (pronounced Leelo from the children's program Lilo and Stitch). Adorable and naughty in equal measure, she has a back story that is a book all of its own. The last puppy born in a litter of 8, she is far smaller than her brothers and sisters, definitely the runt of the litter, and to add to her woes one of her front feet is minus all its toes. On top of that she has a cough that ends in a spluttering retching sound that has us all waiting for the next breath.  Despite the missing toes and the cough, however, she is the most appealing little thing.  

When my son-in-law went looking for a replacement dog for a recently deceased and much loved 14 year old King Charles Cavalier spaniel (not that it is possible to actually replace a dog) he found Lilo. The rest of the litter had all been sold but because nobody had wanted a tiny, disabled dog with a cough, the owners were considering keeping her for breeding if she proved strong enough. Whether it was because he rescued her or whether it just her nature we'll never know, but she is the most joyous of dogs and everybody has fallen totally in love with her. The other dogs have accepted her too, and the cat. In fact she has very quickly stolen her way into everybody's heart.

The lack of toes doesn't impede her in any way either. She can already keep up with the older dogs, play ball and throw her toys around with abandon. She has a huge appetite too although I don't think she'll ever be very big. And she is the first in the queue for treats. Most amusing of all, because her back legs are slightly too long, she looks like a tiny and very appealing kangaroo when she sits on her haunches with her front legs in the air. 

The cough is almost better now as well and she has been given a clean bill of health by the vet despite her mild disability. 

Paisley, the older dog in the household, is a trained school dog with a job to do. She spent a year training and follows rules and directions to the nth degree, but despite that she seems to enjoy sharing space with Lilo, a dog who is unlikely to follow any rule any time soon, partly because of her appeal and partly because she so loves to be cuddled that the no furniture and no lap rules seem to have disappeared completely.  So, despite her inauspicious start, Lilo appears to have fallen on her (3) feet and has a very happy life ahead of her. We are looking forward to being part of it.

Waiting for her master

Cuddling up to the next best thing to a human

Sharing a bed, any bed, is just what I do!

• I am trying to stay awake but it's hard