The Bet: We Still Crazy

California ChromeNo, that was not a typo in the title of this post. I'm practicing my trash-talk voice.

For those of you unfamiliar with the concept of The Bet, it goes a little something like this. Well, actually, it goes a lot like this. Author Brian Farrey read an article somewhere about Steven King making a bet that involved, rather than money, the writing of a short story. The "winner" got to dictate the title to the "loser." (Now I ask you, how can you be a winner if you don't get to write a story and a loser if you do?) He proposed the idea on Twitter to see if any authors were crazy enough to take him up on it. Fortunately for Brian, authors are nothing if not a crazy bunch.

The call was answered by authors Andrew Smith, Kimberly Pauley, and yours truly. But I'm pleased to say that this year, year four(!), we are being joined by the wonderful author David Lubar.

Here's how it works: We each pick a horse in the Kentucky Derby. For the purposes of The Bet, they are--or might as well be--the only horses running. In other words, they don't need to win. They just need to beat each other. The person whose horse comes in first dictates a title to the author whose horse comes in second, and so on. The "winner" doesn't get to write a story, and the last place "loser" doesn't get to dictate a title.

My horse this year is the very winning California Chrome. I'd tell you their horses, but two have already been scratched and the bettors will have to choose again.

Stay tuned on derby day. And if you want something to read in the meantime, here are some links to my stories from previous years: The Art of Being Stuck Here, Uncle Mo Hold a Grudge, and Even Pidgeons Can Sing. Wish me luck. I haven't won yet. Then again, I like to write stories. So I'm not complaining. 

Update on Wednesday, April 23, 2014 at 1:06PM by Catherine

Here's a little update to The Bet 2014. As mentioned, I have California Chrome. Kimberley has We Miss Artie. Andrew Smith, whose new book The Grasshopper Jungle is eating up the world, takes Hoppertunity. That fits. Brian has Dance with Fate and David has Wicked Strong. And so it begins. 

Update on Saturday, May 3, 2014 at 4:38PM by Catherine

And here are the results. I WON! Not only did my horse win the inner "The Bet" race, he won... well, the race. First time in four years. I give a title to The Bet newcomer David Lubar. David gives a title to Brian Farrey who gives one to Kimberly Pauly who gives one to Andrew Smith.

The title I'm giving David, in honor of California Chrome's intrepid owners, is "The Dumbass Partners." Go David. 

The Bet 2013: Even Pigeons Can Sing

Itsmyluckyday, the bum.For those of you who follow this blog, you probably know all about The Bet. Three crazy authors, Brian Farrey, Kimberly Pauley and Andrew Smith have a yearly bet with equally crazy me. We each choose a horse in the Kentucky Derby. The person whose horse comes in first (only compared to the other three--it makes no difference who actually wins the race) assigns a story title to the second-place finisher, who has to write a short story to go with that title. And who also assigns a title to the third place finisher, etc. The person who comes in dead last doesn't get to stick anybody with a title.

Lucky me. I was dead last.

Brian came in first, so will not be writing a story. He will, however, be acting kingly and sitting in judgment, along with a fair amount of trash talking. His story title for Andrew, who came in second, is "Journey, Crimson, Nightmare, Name." Andrew gave third-place finisher Kimberly the title "The Druggist and the Apostrophe." Kimberly gave me the title "Even Pigeons Can Sing." She was rather specific about the fact that the Uncle Mo meme could finally end this year.

I set out to write a story with all new characters. But the title and theme led me right back to Tim and Brian. And as soon as I got there, I realized that, after last year's story, we just had to know what was hiding up in Uncle Mo's closet.

In case you want to read these interconnected stories in order, here is the full set of links:

2011: The Art of Being Stuck Here

2012: Uncle Mo Holds a Grudge

2013: Even Pigeons Can Sing

As soon as Kimberly and Andrew have posted their stories, I'll add links to them in a follow-up.

Happy reading!

Update on Monday, June 3, 2013 at 7:55AM by Catherine

Andrew Smith's "Journey, Crimson, Nightmare, Name" is HERE.

Kimberly Pauley's "The Druggist and the Apostrophe" is HERE.

Fun Games for Book Birthdays

Today is a double book birthday for me. Other than the day we brought out my four backlist titles as ebooks, I've never had more than one book released on a single day. Today my newest novel Walk Me Home goes on sale from Amazon Publishing, and When I Found You re-releases in an Amazon Encore edition.

And I'm trying to think of a way to celebrate that's new and different. So here goes. 

Did you know that authors just love hearing your favorite lines and quotes from the books? Well, I can't speak for all authors, but this author does. A lot of you haven't read Walk Me Home yet. Then again, I've been giving away lots of copies, so some of you have. Or will. Very soon. And I know a huge number of you have read When I Found You.

So if you'll take a minute to tell me your favorite line or lines in the comments below, I'll choose the ones that match with my own favorites, and give some more books away. If I choose you, just name a book of mine that you haven't read, but would like to. And that's what you'll win.

Don't forget to enter your email address in the comment form, so I can contact you if you win. I will not contact you for any other reason. And remember the "author" field in the form is for the author of the comment (you) not the author of the books (me).

Easy, right? I try to make it easy. I still have tons of books in my garage from the days when I traveled and spoke. Books don't belong in my garage. They belong in your hands.

Have at it!

Update on Saturday, May 11, 2013 at 7:30AM by Catherine

I've chosen four winners for this giveaway: Mary, Belinda McMahon, Amy Mills and Laura Ruthemeyer.

More Kitty: Jordan

Remember the More Kitty and More Puppy memes, in which I spotlighted my own pets (one current, some former) and those of my readers? I guess I'm briefly bringing that back.

If you follow me on social networks, you undoubtedly know there's someone new in the house. His name is Jordan, and much to the chagrin of my dog Ella, he is a cat.

I'm not going to go into great detail about their introduction, because I'm guessing most of you follow me on Facebook, or could easily enough (if I'm wrong about this, let me know in the comment section below). And I have gone into quite a bit of detail each day. I've left reports almost every day to chronicle the process of the cat and dog getting to know each other with no bloodshed, and with a minimum of chasing, clawing, hiding and hurt feelings. My Twitter friends also probably noticed shorter updates. (Hey, it's Twitter. Short is built in.)

I'd have thought people would quickly grow sick to death of hearing about the minor ups and downs of a dog and a cat learning to get along. I would have been wrong. If anybody is not enjoying it, they've kept it to themselves. And I can't tell you how many people have told me they enjoy "watching" the progress. I guess it's more encouraging than watching the process of peace in the Middle East, the gun debate, or Congress. 

As you can see, it's going well. (Jordan and Ella, not peace in the Middle East, the gun debate, or Congress.) 

 

So far as I know, I haven't said much, if anything, on social media regarding why I adopted a cat. So I'll do that here. I'll start with why I didn't get a cat a long time ago:

1) I love cats. I grew up with a beautiful Siamese named Ming. I had other cats in (young) adulthood. Then I adopted a parrot named Ziggy. I got help finger-training him from a young man who clipped his wing feathers for the purpose of training. They never grew back in properly. So he never flew dependably well. So I didn't get a cat while he was alive. He lived to be 27.

2) My goal just before I adopted Ella was to adopt a dog and a cat more or less together. That way, I figured, they'd be more likely to accept each other. But on the same week I got Ella from the Humane Society, I began seeing someone who was allergic to cats. So I just adopted the dog. A couple of years later, Ella seemed quite jumpy and chase-y (sure, that's a word) when we saw a cat on the street. So I figured it was too late, I had missed my moment.

Why I changed my mind now:

Ella's friend Tony1) Ella has a new doggy friend. His name is Tony. He comes over sometimes when his people go away for a long day. And Ella is welcome over there any time. But they have a cat, Edward. And I wasn't sure how that would work out. But Ella met Edward, and she was FINE.

2) Most of you know my mom passed away in March of 2012. It's been a little too quiet around here. For both Ella and me. Part of me worried Ella would be sorry I adopted the cat, jealous, or maybe constantly on guard. Another part of me felt it's almost always better to step outside one's comfort zone. I'd rather have a life that's richer and broader than one that's comfortably unchallenged. And I decided I wanted the same for my dog. Our "pack" had shrunk from three to two, and that felt too small. Less like a family and more like a person and a dog. 

3) I kept seeing these Facebook ads during the holidays asking if my home and my heart weren't big enough to take in one more homeless pet. (Hint: turns out they were.)

So I'm formally introducing my blog readers to Jordan, who is from H.A.R.T. (Homeless Animal Rescue Team) in Cambria.

I'm still open to feature other people's pets, if you want to send photos and stories. And if you want to go back and see the ones I've featured in the past, you can click on the blog index category Pets, Mine & My Readers.

I have a new blog meme coming up this year to help newer authors by spotlighting their newly-released books with in-depth discussions. And I have no fewer than four new book releases of my own for 2013, possibly more. So, as always, please do stay tuned.

Holiday Gifts for Readers

Updated on Friday, November 30, 2012 at 8:22AM by Catherine

I don't know if you've noticed this, but I tend to give a lot of stuff away for free. I think it's because I have so many lovely, faithful readers who I feel deserve the gifts.

This hit me rather suddenly this morning:

If you've followed my blog for a long time, you'll know that a little over two years ago, I closed out a storage space and brought the many, many cartons of books home to my garage. At first, they barely fit. So I started giving some away. I wrote a blog post asking readers to send me a self-addressed, stamped mail bag. And I sent them books. 

Now it's about to be the holidays. The books fit in my garage (barely). But there are still plenty. Stacks upon stacks of boxes. I don't travel and speak the way I used to, and I don't intend to die of old age with books in my garage. So...

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Don't Let Me Go Times Two

If you're a regular follower of my blog, you'll know there are two books for sale right now with the title Don't Let Me Go. One is my newest US release, published last year in the UK. The other is an amazing debut novel by J.H. Trumble. Sound like a confusion, or a conflict? Only if you see it that way. Janet and I have bonded over it, become friends, and decided one reflects well on the other.

So we came up with the idea to do a blog feature on the two DLMGs. Below are a handful of questions about our books that we both answered. Another set of questions, such as major themes, favorite character, and a little about reader comments and fan letters are posted right now on Janet's blog. I'll include a link again at the end so you can just keep reading.

Here goes:

The story behind the title

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