If You've Ever Wondered About the Way My Brain Works When I'm Writing, Wonder No More

I'm on tour! Doesn't that sound exciting? It is, but I'm touring from the comfort of my office chair. You see, my talented author-friend, Kristy Abbott invited me to join The Writing Process Blog Tour.

What in the world is The Writing Process Blog Tour?

Don't get sassy -- I'm about to explain it to you. It's a way for bloggers to share their own writing process and current projects with readers, as well as introduce them to a couple of fabulous authors they might not be reading ... which they should.

The idea also intrigued me because on this blog I mostly write about my cats, cat products and and other feline-related topics. I rarely write about myself, and haven't for a few years. When I began Catladyland (then Eclectic Catladyland) in 2009, I wrote about neurotic self, my cats and lots of musing on silly things that pop into my mind. Shortly after that, I switched exclusively to writing about cats. Why? I enjoyed it and felt like I'd found a solid audience -- it was that simple.

This post offers a little insight into me, myself and I, although I promise to bring up cats now and again because how can I describe anything I do without their inclusion? Impossible, I tell you!

On to the Writing Process Blog Tour, which includes four questions:


What am I working on?

I work on a variety of projects every day. I'm a regular columnist for Catster.com, so most every day I'm working on something for that site. I also pick up freelance opportunities for other sites pretty regularly -- they're usually cat-related. Surprise. My first book, whiskerslist: the kitty classifieds came out last year, and I'm gearing up for some fall promotion in conjunction with the companion calendar that will be released very soon. I'm also working on a secret project! That's right, it's secret and it's incredibly cool. Wait and see. Oh, and I've started some writing that has nothing to do with cats. WHAT? It's true. I will share some of it soon.

I also write this blog, and the sites for Texts from Mittens and whiskerslist: the kitty classifieds, as well as maintain the daily social media for all three. I stay busy.

I work. Cosmo cleans his butt.

How does my work differ from others in my genre?

I've always loved writing parodies and designing worlds where cats do people things. When I can combine both of those -- like in whiskerslist -- I'm a happy girl. The same goes for Mittens. It amuses me to no end to concoct that perfect mixture of human and cat characteristics for Mittens. It really has to be just the right combination for it to be funny and outlandish, yet still be sort-of in the realm of what a cat really might think or do. So I think that's maybe what's different: I like to create worlds where cats are still cats, but possess human characteristics as well.


Why do you write what you do?

Because I feel happy when I do it.

Need inspiration? Take a shower. Then feed me.

How does your writing process work?

Haha, that's funny. It really differs all the time and is based on the type of project on which I'm working. I do have a crap-load of notebooks, though. I always have an empty regular-size (college-ruled, of course) one and a small one (in case I want to carry it in my purse) handy. For everything: freelance pieces as well as books, I usually brainstorm in the notebook first, and come up with some main points of a loose plan. I love my notebooks -- they are my brain splattered all over paper. Ew. That sounds kind of gross.

I'm also a professional daydreamer. This used to be an issue when I was in school, but now serves me in magnificent ways. My daydreams often lead to my best ideas. My favorite times to daydream are while showering, driving and vacuuming -- that's the truth. I'm not even trying to be funny with the vacuuming part. That vacuum cleaner has helped me develop the best ideas -- and bonus: my carpets are clean!

When I feel stuck, I stare at my cats and rub their ears. They're my fuzzy little muses, and constantly inspire me. Plus I think that rubbing their ears kind of works like rubbing a magic lamp. Sometimes good ideas just appear!

My portion of the tour has now come to an end. Get your T-Shirt here.



Now meet my talented friends!

Amy Shojai has been reinventing herself for years. She's a certified animal behavior consultant, and the award-winning author of 27 best-selling pet books that cover furry babies to old fogies, first aid to natural healing, and behavior/training to Chicken Soup-icity. She created the Puppies.about.com site as the Puppies Expert, and was the Cat Behavior Expert at Cats. And you'll find her half-hour Pet Peeves radio show here. Amy has been featured as an expert in hundreds of print venues, including the New York Times, Reader's Digest and Family Circle, as well as well as national radio and TV networks such as CNN, Animal Planet's Dogs 101 and Cats 101. She's been a consultant to the pet products industry and a host/program consultant for select "furry" TV projects.

Amy is also a musician, actor and playwright, and brings her unique pet-centric viewpoint to public appearances and performances, audio books (hers and others), writer of webinars, conference keynote/seminars and THRILLERS WITH BITE!

Learn more about Amy when you visit her site.

Deborah Barnes currently resides in the tropical paradise of South Florida and was inspired to write The Chronicles of Zee and Zoey -- a Journey of the Extraordinarily Ordinary as a result of the lessons learned from her family of seven cats after her life took a downward turn in 2009 when she was unexpectedly laid off at 48 years of age.

She is also the creator of the award-winning blog Zee and Zoey's Chronicle Connection, that not only continues to follow the everyday journey she shares with her cats (including her newest additions, a rescue kitten named Kizmet that she adopted from Pet Supermarket, and a feral Maine Coon kitten named Jazmine that was rescued from an abandoned farmhouse), but covers topics from the humorous behavior of cats to the very serious subjects on pet responsibility. Her current circle of works has brought her where she is today -- a serious cat advocate and Secretary of Pawsitively Humane Nonprofit organization in Miami, Florida, whose mission is to create public awareness and reduce the number of animals on the street and in shelters through an extensive educational campaign.

Learn more about Deborah when you visit her site.

An Open Lap is Open Game

Resposted from June 6, 2011


How could I possibly write anything without "help?"  Look familiar?

Cosmo, my furry wrist rest

Still working on the same blog post: enter Phoebe

Two cats waiting for the magic lap to return

I don't think I'd know how to type without a cat on my lap!

I'm Serious This Time

Among 8q23492837 things (yes, there's a "q" in that number -- that's just how crazy-big it is), I am also working on focusing my thoughts these days. My mind tends to wander easily. Who am I kidding? It tends to sprint in a thousand different directions. You can imagine that this makes it difficult for me to accomplish something...anything, really. I'm extremely skilled in the area of distraction. Not to toot my own horn, but I'm pretty flawless. I'll start meandering down the road of Project 1 and soon my mind jumps to Project 2 and I'm off on a distraction detour with a stop at the Diversion Diner for some preoccu-pie.

This is all changing today. I'm going to work on writing projects all morning. I'm serious. I have a list, a timeline, and a sleeping cat in my lap -- I'm not going anywhere. Just to prove my determination, here's a haiku (because everyone knows haiku poetry is as solid as a pinky promise).

Assiduous aim
Never veering from the goal
I mean it this time.

For real...

Muddy Puddles

Now that my schedule has slowed a bit, I've been thinking about what I want to do with my time. Of course, that kind of thought process calls for a list. Do you really think I make any sort of decisions without listing and overly processing every piece of the process? Have you only just met me? If so...Hi, I'm Angie and I'm an obsessive list-maker and manic thought-dissector. Nice to meet you.

Anyway, I feel inspired lately to focus on creative projects, but as soon as I start to think about what I'd like to create, I become overwhelmed. Here's why...I find I have a difficult time with hooking on to one thing at a time. I want to do everything at once and then I get frazzled and then it's rare that a single project is seen though to completion (please see my previous post where I babble about dabbling).

So I have to break it down (said like the rapper that I am) into manageable portions, parcels, and pieces so I don't combust into a creative conflagration. I have to work at the slow-burn, minding the kindling of creativity. To some, this may sound like a simple process, but every day I work at keeping myself from drowning in my own ocean of overwhelming thoughts. Lists help.

I'd like to focus on writing -- maybe some fiction. It's been a while since I've written a short story or any serious poetry and that might be fun. I'd also like to sew some summery whatnots, design some new necklaces, and maybe make a fun mini-movie. See...I want to do all of this today and just thinking about it makes my breathing quicken and my chest tighten. So I think I'll just focus on writing for now. This week I will write a short story and call it good. I won't even think about the summery whatnots until next week.

I'm not even sure about the purpose behind this post, except to process what is going on in my brain and maybe share my inner struggles and how I wade through my often-muddy puddles of thought. I've found that when I add enough clear water to the mud, the puddles aren't so thick and mucky anymore...soon they are pretty transparent and I can see everything underneath them. Clarity.