A Brief Encounter

I have never had a pet rabbit. But in the past few months, my neighbor’s rabbit, Fluffy spent many hours in my yard. He was a beautiful white rabbit with dark brown and black patches. Actually, the first time I discovered the tame rabbit on my patio, I suspected the rabbit had gotten out of its cage and was lost. I frantically went to several neighbors inquiring if they were missing a rabbit. I discovered that Fluffy belonged to the family directly behind my house and was escaping from his hutch.

In the mornings when he heard me in the kitchen removing the tea canister lid, he hopped from the fence across the patio. Lexie Lee followed him intently from the inside of the dining room window sill. Sometimes, he hopped around on the patio and then he disappeared under a cool areca palm tree. He was not frightened of me and would come right up to me.

Fluffy had lots to be enamored with in my background. The yard is fenced and lush tropical vegetation adorns the fence lines. He had a myriad of choices of floral to nibble on and lots of secret hiding places. A forty-year fichus tree provided a massive shade canopy.

On Tuesday morning this week, a work crew arrived at my house. Later in the morning, they told me a dead rabbit was in a bush in the front yard. They had seen the rabbit convulsing right before it passed away. I was shocked and ran outside and found Fluffy. I went to get my neighbor, but she was not home.So I placed Fluffy in a white plastic bag and laid him in an oversized shoe box. I crumbled a piece of purple tissue and placed it over him. When I later returned from work, I went to my neighbors and conveyed the sad news and gave them Fluffy. I cried on the way home.

The following morning when I opened the tea canister and looked out the window, I poignantly realized how much a part of my heart Fluffy had captured in a short time and what a big hole he left. I was reminded once again of Thomas Wolfe’s thought: “I am a part of all that I have touched and that has touched me.” May God bless Fluffy.

Bountiful Blessings!

KMEM Radio Interview

I took a big step forward this past week in marketing Tatianna. I was on live radio on KMEM FM in Memphis, MO on February 13. This was my first radio show promoting Tatianna, and I had a ball being interviewed by phone for fifteen minutes. Later the producer called back, and we did a short taped commercial that will be aired several times prior to my hometown book tour in March.  Many thanks to producer and director, Rick Fischer for having me on the Coffee Break show. Many thanks to my mother as well for calling family and friends in advance of the show! I hope to do more radio shows around the country in the months to come.

In the Tatianna book, I wrote a chapter about my father and his passion in life—baseball. When my father passed away in 1992, Rick Fischer sent our family a sympathy note expressing what an impact Leonard had made on him as a young person as he was growing up on the baseball and softball fields in northeast Missouri. My father’s love of sports, kids, and life clearly left an impression on Rick.

Years later after my father’s passing, I put together a collage of pictures of my father in assorted baseball moments including my mother and me standing next to him in his baseball uniform. (It is one of my favorite pictures of the three of us—taken when I was three or four years old). I included the poignant note from Rick with the pictures. This tribute to my father hangs in the baseball sports room of my home.  I found it fascinating that decades later Rick was interviewing the daughter of one of his boyhood’s heroes about her life’s passion—the love of animals

Yes, indeed, we are all somehow connected!

Bountiful Blessings!

Tatianna Review Hits National Publications

As I mentioned several weeks ago, my 2008 desire is for readers to discover my writing and to connect with me. One way for this to happen is through reviews. Well, I am pleased to announce that some progress has been made. Recently Richard Blake from Reader Views posted a 5 star review on Amazon.com and and Readerviews.com

The review was picked up a couple days later by usatoday.com and reuters.com

You can check out the review by visiting:

http://asp.usatoday.com/community/othervoices/default.aspx?bbPostId=CzAIQvvUp5TemBAbNOHE7N2nRCz2TSFoglgSQVB2ct1btV3Iaf&req=blogburst&tag=news

http://www.reuters.com/article/blogBurst/entertainment?bbPostId=CzAIQvvUp5TemBAbNOHE7N2nRCz2TSFoglgSQVB2ct1btV3Iaf

If you see Tatianna appear in any publications (major or minor!) or on any Web sites, I would appreciate you letting me know. And thank you Richard Blake!!

Bountiful Blessings!

 

Lexie Lee–A Library Cat

This past week I was introduced to an intriguing Web site and blog. Marisa D’Vari is collecting stories about cats who live in libraries or stories about what your cat would read in the library. The short stories of less than 500 words will be released during National Library Week in April 2008 as a free downloadable ebook.

Since I spend a lot of time in the Village of North Palm Beach Public Library with my super genius cat who also reads (when she is not napping!), I created a story about Lexie Lee. She is on a mission to find some books to read while at the same time telling everyone in the library about Tatianna—Tales and Teachings of My Feline Friend and why they simply have to read the book. I, on the other hand, am busy checking out the Friends of the Library annual book sale and packing stacks of books to my car. Writers love to read as much as they love to write, and I am no different! More on that topic another day!!

Please visit http://www.alibrarycat.com and look for my February 2 Lexie Lee story that Marisa kindly posted. You will also find all the details about the story request and how and where to submit.

What book are you currently reading?  I would love to know.

Do you plan to submit a story to A Library Cat? Please let me know so I will be sure to watch for your story.

Bountiful Blessings!