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The "Standard of Ur" from ancient Mesopotamia

The "Standard of Ur" from ancient Mesopotamia

15 November 2007

Odds ‘n’ ends


1.
Five reasons to have an office cat

  • Ernest Hemingway had one, and it is a common practice in the arts to improve craft by emulating the masters.
  • You’ll never need to buy a paperweight.
  • A cat always needs to be fed, combed, or petted or to have its mousie retrieved from under the dresser. Cats let you take breaks without guilt.
  • Writing is a solitary profession. But with an office cat, it is not a lonely one.
  • A cat serves as a constant reminder of what your prose needs: grace, elegance, silky smoothness, flexibility, strength, and sharp hooks.
Office cats at work: (left) Hemingway and his cat (Ernest Hemingway Photograph Collection, John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum, Boston); (right) Dulcinea Malueg-Roberts (Copyright 2007 Shauna S. Roberts)


2. Farrah Rochon’s book Deliver Me, which sold out its first print run, went into a second printing. If you missed it the first time around, it is back on store shelves and available at Amazon.com and Barnes & Noble. (An interview with Farrah appeared in this blog on 16 May 2007.)


3. The third book of Charles Gramlich’s Talera series, Witch of Talera, has just been released. It is available at Amazon.com. (An interview with Charles appeared in this blog on 30 May 2007.)


4. Interviews with Louisiana authors C.S. Harris and Christee Gabour Atwood will appear here soon. Both have new books out: Why Mermaids Sing: A Sebastian St. Cyr Mystery (Harris) and Three Feet Under: Journal of a Midlife Crisis (Atwood).

14 comments:

Carleen Brice said...

I've got 2 office cats, but I have to say that when I'm working in the morning I happily let them both outside so nobody is home to bug me.

Shauna Roberts said...

CARLEEN, luckily, Dulci is a paws-off helper. She'll squeeze onto the chair seat between me and the chair back sometimes, but unlike her late brother, she doesn't drink from my water glass or stand on the keyboard or lie on my editing. She sleeps quietly nearby and lets me know when it's time for her to eat.

virtual nexus said...

http://jessicasb.blogspot.com/

Shauna, love this post. See the opening video cartoon on the above blog.

Totally different theme, but if you are passing through, have a look at Dark Gold in the Journey blog - depending on your sense of humour it may amuse you; it happened almost exactly as written.

virtual nexus said...

- answered on mine, but basically quantity rather than quality...!

Charles Gramlich said...

Thanks, Shauna, for mentioning my book. I'll look forward to seeing the interview with "C.S."

I've got to get Farrah's book as well. It's probably time for me to put in another Amazon order.

Lisa said...

First, congratulations to Farrah and Charles and I'm looking forward to all of the interviews.

Second, I do have an office cat. Elsa is like the cat you once had. She will sometimes just hang out quietly on my desk, but more often than not, when she decides to jump up there, she likes to walk on my keyboard, recline on any papers I'm trying to read and just generally insert herself right into the mix. Since she's a "rescue cat", I don't have the heart to just throw her off the desk, so I try to work around her when she's "helping".

Shauna Roberts said...

CHARLES, you're welcome.

LISA, let me guess--as Elsa does all this "helping," she's purring as loud as possible.

My old cat had the knack of knowing exactly what I was going to do next (even if I was looking in a completely different direction) and then placing himself on the necessary papers just beforehand.

Lisa said...

You guessed right. And she does exactly the same thing. The minute I need to focus on something, she plants herself right on top of it. But sssshhhh, she's off sleeping in her "cat house" now so I can access my keyboard and mouse freely.

Carleen Brice said...

Yes, Congrats to Farrah and Charles!!

Steve Malley said...

Hmm,

Office Cats rock...

Charles Gramlich rocks...

Interview with CS Harris rocked...

(scratches head)

Guess I have to check out Farrah Rochon...

PS. Copyeditors rock as well. *Especially* if, as I am, you're prone to changing characters' names halfway through the book!

Shauna Roberts said...

STEVE, I make mistakes like that too! Writers are bad at copyediting themselves.

Glad you enjoyed the columns.

Farrah Rochon said...

Thanks for helping me bask in the glow of DELIVER ME's second printing, Shauna!

I'm looking forward to Christee Gabour Atwood's interview. She's such a neat, fun person.

Shauna Roberts said...

FARRAH, I think you'll enjoy Christee's interview. I agreed to post it on the 29th as part of her "book tour by blog."

Sidney said...

I have four cats who alternate sitting on my lap while I'm at the computer. Mostly it's my half-blind cat Ash but now that cooler temperatures have arrived all of them want that duty.