There are a couple of announcements before we get May Day underway.
First, there’s a brand-new, never-before-published Guest Story at Splinter Universe: “Leaving Via Callia” by Alma Alexander. Here’s your link to the story. Please note: The donation button at the bottom of the story goes directly to the author’s PayPal account. If you want to show your appreciation for her work by donating, make sure you use that button.
Second Announcement: Baen Books is proud to announce the inaugural Baen Fantasy Adventure Award, to be given at this year’s Gen Con to the best piece of original short fiction that captures the spirit and tradition of such great storytellers as Larry Correia, Robert E. Howard, Mercedes Lackey, Elizabeth Moon, Andre Norton, J.R.R. Tolkien, David Weber and Marion Zimmer Bradley.
You can get more information, including deadline for submissions, by clicking this link. The award will be given at GenCon
In Cat Farm and Confusion Factory news:
Steve has an appointment with the vampires today; I have an appointment with the Road Boss on Surebleak.
Sprite has decided to become Vastly Silly, and be Afraid of her string. This is at once amusing and frustrating, since, before yesterday, her string was her Treasure, her Precious, the Best. Toy. Ever. I don’t know what it did to her when I wasn’t looking, but when I pick up the string to play with it, she runs and “hides” on the top cellar stair. I do realize that she’s only 21 months old, and the Silly Goo hasn’t completely left her system, but I hope this phase passes quickly.
Also, she now occasionally answers to “Boopsie.” Guess I better cut back. . . OTOH, we do like them to answer to something.
And that’s all the news that’s fit to print from Central Maine, where it’s raining very gently.
All you folks who got Weather yesterday (including my friends in Maryland, who lost part of 26th Street in Charles Village to a massive sinkhole/landslide. The pictures I saw showed a street-full of cars down on the railroad tracks. I hope CSX has another way outta town, ’cause it didn’t look like that was going to get cleared out soon.) — how’re you doing? Safe and dry?
* * *
Progress on One of Five
58,701/100,000
OR
59% completed
He shook his head. “Who names a planet Surebleak?”
She laughed.
“It was descriptive, surely?”
“Oh, surely; and still is. Until Mr. Brunner gets those weather satellites up and tuned, and even then, I fear we’ll only have graduated to Halfbleak.”
Oh snippet! Yum, yum, nom, nom.
(Yes I know I sound like the Cookie Monster – I’m a Snippet Monster)
Maryland woke up to no rain, receding waters and the Sun come out on my way into work. (Sun? Do I remember the Sun?) It’s nice not to have to dodge closed roads…
Sprite sounds like she’s been listening to “Hernando’s Hideaway” – Boopsie, oh boopsie! Hey, bud, I’M NOT YOUR BOOPSIE.
I should never have started, but she looks so much like Boopsie from Doonesbury. . .
If Trooper responds enthusiastically to the string, especially if he gets possessive about it, I imagine she’ll come around. If not maybe try to add something different to it, such as braid a bit of feather or a jingle bell into the end so it’s not the scary thing but something different. Mmm, top of the stairs? Are you sure she’s freaked and not just setting up an ambush?
No, she’s freaked; her body language is really explicit. If she was setting up an ambush, she’d bounce over to the steps, with her tail in the air, and a little oh-wait-I-know! swagger. This is a tail-down slink, looking over her shoulder like she’s afraid it’s following her.
That’s a good idea about adding something to it, so it’s different…
If she is like my cats, it might have gotten stuck to her somehow. Maybe draped over her back or around her tail.
My cats hate for toys to chase them. That is not the natural order of things! Toys should be chased! Not chase back! Or so they seem to think.
So, if The String seemed to be chasing her that might have freaked her out.
Unfortunately I don’t have any good ideas about unfreaking her. I think I agree that if the other cats play with it she will see them having fun and that The String is not attacking them and will come back to play.