What a subject. A regular day in my writing life contains
many things, but little time I can actually say is spent in writing. The interruptions are irregular and
many. Ninety-five percent of the breaks
in my writing process are caused by cats.
It is like living in a zoo where all the animals run free and it is up
to the keeper to ‘keep’ out of their way.
I share the computer table with a couple of large gold cats,
a brown and white cat, and a long hair for starters. Each one feels privileged to sit or lie
between me and the monitor no matter where I put it. There is then no room for the mouse or
keyboard. I try many things to dissuade
this behavior, but in the end I came to believe it is their “affection” for me
or more likely, their way of keeping track of what I’m doing and being sure I’m
available if they should want anything.
Also, in line with that complaint, the days are too short
and my ambition suffers as there are so many other fun things to do that don’t
require much self discipline. Writing is the strongest disciplinarian I have
ever encountered. It requires being alone, sans cats, silence which is
something a cat really knows little about as they yowl when the mood hits them,
race back and forth in a game of tag, jump on my lap when they want a scratch,
start fights with one another if only to make me jump up to put an end to it. A
cat upsets anything sitting on the floor, tears papers left about, sleeps on
the keyboard or mouse, often adding strings of letters or blanks to what has
been written or deleting what was written.
Outside of this, my day is spent trying to reread what I
write with little success since sitting means there is a lap available and a
cat just waiting to use it. I mean, a
human can’t sit on their own lap and a cat can always put one to good use. A
good nap is more important than their human trying to write by hand or type.
One good thing that comes from such a day is that a writer
learns to type fast in the few minutes that a cat doesn’t find out about. It’s the only way to get anything down on
paper or a computer screen. Don’t forget
to save each page at least twice or the cat may decide you don’t really want it
and use the delete key for you. They are cognizant of being helpful that way.
This reads more like A Day With Cats and to be honest, that
is exactly what it is. Every day is like
that. The best time to write is after
all the cats fall asleep after a big meal.
It isn’t a long period, but it is the only one I have. ` `
So, except for a few household chores, that is a day in the
writing life of Anne K. Edwards.
Two real-life characters and a startling incident in their lives are the basis for Changing Places. Imagine that you are sitting on your front porch on a warm summer day with your black cat that loves to groom his fur on the rough texture of the cement. This means a lot of rolling about without looking how close to the edge of the porch he’s getting. On this particular warm day, our black cat went through his routine of enjoying the cool feel of the cement. The cat rolled and rolled right off the edge of the porch to land on a seven-foot black snake sunning itself coiled in the flower bed below. Both were so startled by this unexpected event, they fled immediately in opposite directions. It was nearly a full day before the cat could be persuaded to return to the house and nearly a month before he’d go out onto the front porch again. The cat that inspired this story did not appreciate the sound of laughter the incident provoked, nor, I’m sure, did the black snake as it a was a while before we saw him again. However, their collision did give me the germ of an idea for a short tale about what the result might have been if the cat and snake had been able to talk things over instead of running away. I enjoyed writing their story that shows the reader even if things don’t work out after talking something over, different people from different backgrounds can be friends.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Anne K. Edwards resides on a farm with her husband and a bunch of cats who rule the roost. When she’s not arguing with them about using the computer, she is dancing attendance on their demands. Anne enjoys reading, meeting new people,
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