The Listing Hop & Cardinal Sin Excerpt

I haven't joined a one-time blog hop in ages but when I saw this one on Bish Denham's site it was so simple I had to sign up.

Bish is hosting the hop to celebrate eight years of blogging (Congratulations, Bish!) and all we have to do is write a list. Seriously, that's it!

I decided to list my favorite animal rescue organizations, most of which I've encountered since I started this blogging and writing journey. Click on each rescue if you'd like more info on them.

1. Circle Tail, Pleasant Plain, Ohio
2. Best Friends Animal Society, Kanab, Utah
3. Tabby's Place Cat Sanctuary, Ringoes, New Jersey
4. Sunrise Farm Animal Sanctuary, Marysville, Ohio
5. Triple R Equine Ranch, Greensburg, Indiana
6. EARPS Exotic Animal Rescue & Pet Sanctuary, Brownsburg, Indiana
7. Hope for Paws, Los Angeles, California
8. Red Wolf Wildlife Sanctuary & Rehabilitation Center, Rising Sun, Indiana

So that's my list! One of the things I've loved most about learning more about animal rescues since I started blogging is that I've discovered so many different types of organizations. I had always thought of rescue in terms of dogs and cats but this list includes rescues that work with farm animals, "pocket pets" like hamsters, and even wildlife. There are so many amazing organizations out there doing great work that the list easily could have gone into the hundreds.

Thanks to Bish for coming up with such a fun and easy hop. For a list of all the participants, visit Bish's site here.

This week is the official release of the Untethered Realms anthology Mayhem In The Air, which includes my story Cardinal Sin. I thought I would share a brief excerpt from the story to kick off release week.

I screamed when they threw me into the mass grave with the dead patients. 

I was sure they’d hear me. But they carried on just the same. Before I knew it, they started throwing shovels of dirt on top of me. On top of all of us. 

“I’m alive!” I yelled. Or at least I thought I was yelling. How was it possible they couldn’t hear me? It wasn’t bad enough the idiot doctors had decided I was dead. Now these lumbering fools couldn’t even hear me?  

Just as I was about to give up, the shovels stopped and I heard a worker ask another “Did you hear something?” 

My still-beating heart filled with hope. 

“Hear what?” was the response. 

“Don’t know. Almost sounded like some poor sod crying.” 

Could it be? Did he hear me?

I yelled out again. “Yes! Help me!” 

“I don’t hear nothing.”  

“I guess I don’t either. Must have been a dog barking.”

“No!” I cried. 

The shoveling began again. 

If you want to read more of my story and the nine other stories in the anthology pick up Mayhem In The Air at:

Amazon ~ Google Play ~ Smashwords

Favorite Cat Rescues, the Realms Faire, and Friday Celebrations

Since National Cat Day was this week I thought I would share some of my favorite cat rescues for this week's Friday Faves. These organizations all do amazing work!

Best Friends Animal Society

As I've mentioned before, writing for Best Friends changed my life and signing up to volunteer for them was one of the best decisions I've ever made. Someday I hope to visit Best Friends in Kanab, Utah and take a trip to Cat World which is, in their words, "a place where cats rule."




Tabby's Place 

Thanks to Best Friends I got to know the amazing people and cats of Tabby's Place in Ringoes, New Jersey. Tabby's Place is a cat sanctuary dedicated to bringing hope to cats in hopeless situations. They care for numerous special needs cats and are known for finding forever homes for cats thought to be "unadoptable." I wrote a story for Cat Fancy about three kittens who were rescued by a US marine in Japan and came clear across the world to Tabby's Place, where they ultimately found a home with a woman in Pennsylvania. Tabby's Place is an extraordinary and one-of-a-kind place.

Juanita: One of the darling cats available for adoption at Tabby's Place

Ohio Alleycat Resource

Located here in Cincinnati, OAR is a low-cost spay/neuter clinic for cats that also runs a cat rescue. The clinic has performed more than 6900 spay/neuter surgeries so far this year, cutting down exponentially on the number of unwanted cats and kittens in our area. The rescue, which houses as many as 90-100 cats at any given time, has taken in more than 200 cats and adopted out nearly as many so far in 2013.

Ashley, a long-haired beauty currently waiting for her home at OAR

Purrfect Friends Cat Rescue

Another Cincinnati rescue, Purrfect Friends is an all-volunteer organization which relies on foster families to care for their rescued cats. The Purrfect Friends won this Game of Thrones fanatic's heart when they named a group of adorable kittens after GoT characters. Little mother of dragons Daenerys is still waiting for her forever home.

Daenerys

Paws & Claws Animal Rescue

Paws & Claws is based across the river from Cincinnati in Northern Kentucky and is another rescue that relies entirely on foster families to house its animals. The tireless volunteers of Paws & Claws operate under the motto "one by one until there are none." While they are not limited to cats, they always have numerous cats and kittens available for adoption.

Simba, one of the Paws & Claws kitties waiting for a new home

Moving on from the kitties, I want to thank everyone who participated in my October giveaway. Jossie at Dreaming of Publication won the Polar Night ebook and $10 Amazon gift card. Enjoy, Jossie!

Instead of a monthly giveaway in November I am participating in a mega-giveaway with my Untethered Realms buddies as part of this year's Realms Faire. The faire will be held from November 11-15 and there will be lots of fun, lots of prizes, and lots of chances to win. Visit host M. Pax here for more details and stay tuned for info on our big prize!

For this week's Celebrate the Small Things hop I was hoping to be able to celebrate the Bengals beating the Dolphins last night and going to 7-2. Unfortunately that didn't work out, to the surprise of none of us who follow the Bengals. If there's one thing the Bengals excel at it's taking the wind out of fans' sails.

But they're still in first place and my Buckeyes are rolling at 8-0 so I'm celebrating a fun football season so far and keeping my fingers crossed that the rest of the season will bring more to celebrate.

Also, it's been a long and tiring week here so I'm mostly celebrating the fact that the weekend is here. I hope everyone has a great one. :)

Cat Fancy Article

I got such a thrill this weekend, as for the first time (and hopefully not the last!), I was able to go to a bookstore and buy something that contains a piece of my writing!

Back in June, I learned that a query I sent to Cat Fancy magazine had been accepted, and just signing a writing contract was a dream come true for me. I knew my article was scheduled to be published in the November issue, so for months now I have been dying for that issue to hit the stands. Sure enough, now it has!

The articles are not online, but I could not resist taking a screenshot of the table of contents on the magazine's website. If you look closely, you'll see my name under Rescue of the Month on page 10!

This article means a lot to me, not only because it is my first paid print publishing credit, but also because it is about Tabby's Place, a cat sanctuary I learned about through Best Friends. I totally fell in love with the sanctuary when I wrote about it for the Best Friends site, and I'm thrilled to have the chance to give Tabby's more publicity through this article, as I think they do amazing work.

I have to admit I've been on a high all weekend since I saw this magazine on the stands, and I hope I don't come down any time soon. :D

I'm so grateful to have the chance to share this publishing milestone with so many wonderful blogger buddies. It's a great thing to be able to travel on this writing journey with all of you, and I hope we all have many successes to share in the months and years ahead! :)

And speaking of successes, my friend M. Pax is throwing a party today to celebrate the publication of her novelette, Semper Audacia!!  I'm sending huge congratulations and giving her a standing ovation, and I can't wait to party with her later today. Woo-hoo Mary!