Life With Cats Becomes A Book!

by Leah Alford

Caption for photo: That’s our sweet, late Minx, on the front cover and our late Bud, our bobcat-sized Editing Cat, on the spine.

My husband and I have always lived with cats. On a cold November night in 2004 with our Minx cat beside me, I began handwriting their stories. I wrote while tending The Minx, who was diabetic, making sure she had easy access to water and carefully doled out noms. After many years of writing, perusing old photos, dredging up memories, and the expansion of my original vision of cat memoir to include research of cat facts, history, and lore, I had 850 pages of raw cat book. I had worked slowly, because I have a serious chronic illness. A local publisher advised me to extract two volumes, and Catwoods, Stories and Studies of Our Feline Companions, Volume 1, is now published. The long meow writing fest became a book.

Caption: Franklin, who resides at the Catwoods, has a casual attitude towards the book.

Franklin walked into our lives towards the end of the publishing process. He’s not an editor like Bud but he feels he can co-exist with the book by ignoring it until the second volume, where he comes along, is published.

This book tells of good times and bad times, joy and humor and mystery and adversity and loss; always cat-besotted, this household learns to persevere. Although illness limits my activities, the cats make me feel I am still in the land of the living. Our adventures make for a lively narration. The story is heartfelt remembrance of the remarkable feline beings we’ve shared life and home with, and of the passerby wild creatures along the way. Researched cat facts include cat coloration, and the cat and bird issues. Music history, the natural world, and the sad longings due to changes in the flora and fauna and landscape over the years are also part of this story.

This book is a multifaceted romp in deep wilderness living. It blends observations of the changing southern United States from the sixties to the present, the lyricism of making a home in a forest Paradise, and the celebration of the ways humans and animals are always fine tuning their common chords.

Caption: Handsome Franklin makes himself comfortable.

Some of the best moments of being published are the reactions of friends. Here Primrose, a cat belonging to Jeff White and his family, comes up with her own observation about the book:

WTH, there is no map to the catwoods in this book.

Photo by Louise Patten, Caption by Jeff White. Used with permission.

Catwoods is available on Amazon, where it has 5-star reviews.

https://www.amazon.com/Catwoods-Stories-Studies-Feline-Companions/dp/1733916520/ref=sr_1_1?&qid=1561992285&keywords=9781733916523s=books

There are many glowing comments from friends on my Amazon author page:

https://www.amazon.com/author/leahcatwoods

And on the Ernest and Hadley Booksellers Indie site:

https://ernestandhadleybooks.indielite.org/search/site/catwoods?fbclid=IwAR1-lxoMK79JoJ_vaMRiYSAiq8me35sDExrSTWlTh11Q3ke3Nm01cK4y19I

Amazon can handle international orders. To order from outside the US on The Ernest and Hadley Bookseller indielite site, email easty@ernestandhadleybooks.com or click “contact us” on the Ernest and Hadley Booksellers indielite site.

The Catwoods Porch Party blog is at https://catwoodsporchparty.wordpress.com/

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14 thoughts on “Life With Cats Becomes A Book!

  1. Pingback: Catwoods the Book is on Katzenworld today! | Catwoods Porch Party

  2. catladymac says:

    Amazon says “our of print – limited availability” – does this article mean a new edition is coming 😕

    • Catwoods says:

      Hi catladymac, I”m sorry that happened. I check it every day and in fact checked earlier and this is the first time it has shown up that way. You should be able to get the book at https://www.borgopublishing.com/product-page/catwoods-volume-1, or go to my website and there will also be a link to the Borgo Publishing Catwoods page. If you can’t get it that way please post again. I will be checking into this and will get back and post what I can find. If I have to, I will make another edition.

      • Catwoods says:

        I checked Amazon an hour ago and it did indeed say “out-of-print”, but checked it again just now (9:01 US CST) and it again says “1 new from 23.95” where the out-of-print thing was. That does lead to Borgo Publishing as a third party seller, the publisher to do it that way, have Amazon list it but not have ti sold through Amazon. I have no idea why either change happened and I apologize; I did notify the publisher and that may be why it has changed back (although they didn’t contact me.) Thanks again and let me know whatever happens. Cheers and purrs.

  3. Catwoods says:

    Catladymac, thank you for your interest, I’m sorry that happened. I have been checking Amazon every day and in fact checked earlier today and this out-of-print is new, it is supposed to be print-on-demand. If you go to my Catwoods Porch Party website above you can find the Borgo Publishing Catwoods page link which goes to the publisher and you can buy it directly from them. If you have trouble with that please post again. I will be checking into this and will come back with more information as soon as I possible. If it turns out I have to yes, I will make a a new edition.

  4. Catwoods says:

    Whew, I just heard from the publisher and they said they fixed Amazon and did not know why it said 0. I checked, it is fixed. They assured me that the book is available at all three sites, Amazon, Ernest and Hadley indielite, and Borgo Publishing. It was good of them to fix it so fast! Anyone who has any trouble please post, I will try to address any all problems as soon as I can.

  5. floridaborne says:

    Having a new book published is so exciting!

    When you have cats in your life, you’re blessed. 🙂

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