Whose Muse?

My Muse! I am pleased as punch to announce that I won the 2009 Cat Writers Association Muse Medallion for short story for my animal psychic mini-mystery, "Dumb Beasts," from Dead Fall: Crime Stories by New England Writers. Whoopee! And now... to bed.

Cat Writers, here I come!

Heading down to White Plains, NY, this weekend for the annual Cat Writers' Association annual conference. I'll be giving a "Mystery 101" talk to aspiring whodunit authors and listening eagerly to reports on everything from the feline genome project to new media marketing. But basically I'm going to chill with my peers – and to attend the Westchester Cat Show.

Conference registration is now closed, but if you're in the area on Saturday, please come by the cat show. The CWA will have 29 of its authors signing books at our booth, 3-5 p.m. Some of us (okay, me) will be there as early as 1 p.m. Come say hi and see the cats!

Celebrating our NEW LIBRARY!!

The Cambridge Public Library's main branch - right by me - has been closed for several years while the original, wonderful Gothic-style 1889 main building was renovated and a beautiful high-tech green wing was built. Jon and I have watched the building, etc., come together, oh so slowly, and on Sunday we joined the THRONGS (yes! throngs! This is Cambridge, after all) who came to the grand opening. SO PSYCHED!!

From the Boston Globe:
"The Cambridge library is one of the best recent pieces of architecture in the Boston area. And it’s one of the best pieces of old architecture, too..."

photo courtesy of Bob Coe. Click through to the library's site for the full slide show.

Thanksgiving comes early!

Well, in this house! Just heard from my publisher that Shades of Grey has sold out its first printing and is going into a second run. Yay! (This is one of the best things about a small press - they may do small press runs, but they can go back QUICKLY. That, and you get personal emails from the production folks.)

Cats can get swine flu?

Great, another thing to worry about: a cat catches swine flu from his people. (Though this cat is "85 percent recovered.") Anyone sneezing on Musetta has to answer to me about it, got it?

I seem to be writing

The new project is coming along - I'm now at the stage where I believe this can become a book. It's funny, this being November - the month of NaNoWriMo - but I'm writing this book more slowly than any of its predecessors. Doing some every day, taking time to think about it, to plot (and then to ignore said plot). Maybe this is just going to be a contrary book. We shall see...

Anyway, excuse me if I keep my head down and write for a while. I'll be at the Cat Writers' Association annual conference in a few weeks (and that means I'll also be selling books at the Westchester Cat Show on Saturday afternoon), and I'll blog about that. In the meantime, just writing.