Feedback on new cover please

[Cinisajoy]

Originally Posted by BookCat

On the issue of FLV, most domestic cats are vaccinated against it, though the virus isn't infectious in the way that 'flu is. It requires the exchange of bodily fluid, as in mating or fighting. Neutered/spayed cats are less likely to become involved in fights or naughties (although I have a neutered male and spayed female who occasionally 'mate' - strangely he never tries the same thing with his mother.)

As to UK laws, most apply to the whole of the UK, although Scotland has autonomy in certain areas. We're just too small to have separate laws for each county.

I had lots of help with the rescues: Cats Protection gave me neuter/spay vouchers which covered the entire cost. This was because they were feral cats and they encouraged the neutering of them. They were a great help. The cats were always neutered/spayed before going to their forever homes. Oh, the scratches I got trying to get the little 'darlings' into carrying cages!

The vet I used didn't agree with ear-tipping for some odd reason; as I wasn't intending to release the cats this wasn't too much of a problem. The group in the video seemed easier to socialise (though I did have one stupid man who came, with his wife, to see them, who ignored my "do not touch them!" and got scratched for his pains. He walked out complaining about me keeping wild animals; I had warned him, and the details on CatChat stated explicitly that they were feral!)

Lucy's group were very wild. She's happy to live with me, but still runs and hides if I try to touch her. Cydric likes being fussed but won't let me cuddle him. Victoria has her affectionate moments, but she came from the group in the video.

Hitch, so sorry to hear about your horse. I did all the cross-questioning of potential owners that you speak of, and visited their homes. Many people wanted to adopt the ginger twins, but only one couple seemed worthy of them, and they took one of the adults also. I would ask for a donation, rather than 'sell' the cats. I hate the idea of trading in animals.

One of the kittens went to a friend - I still see the now-adult cat sometimes - she had him checked for FIV before taking him, he was negative, as were any of the others who were checked.

I've never had a dog. I'm a bit frightened of them; even though I've dealt with ferocious feral cats (she says, looking at the soppy balls of fur sleeping next to her!)

Cool. On your cats.

Oh and I did a little research, it completely varies by counties what is done with feral cats.
Here the county will set traps for feral cats if you call. They do not spay or neuter them. They also do not set them free elsewhere.

[Hitch]

Originally Posted by BookCat

(snippage)

The vet I used didn't agree with ear-tipping for some odd reason; as I wasn't intending to release the cats this wasn't too much of a problem. The group in the video seemed easier to socialise (though I did have one stupid man who came, with his wife, to see them, who ignored my "do not touch them!" and got scratched for his pains. He walked out complaining about me keeping wild animals; I had warned him, and the details on CatChat stated explicitly that they were feral!)

If my experience in my business is anything to go by, people neither read instructions nor pay attention to anything anyone else says, ever. It's absurd. I don't know how the race continues, I really don't.

Hitch, so sorry to hear about your horse. I did all the cross-questioning of potential owners that you speak of, and visited their homes. Many people wanted to adopt the ginger twins, but only one couple seemed worthy of them, and they took one of the adults also. I would ask for a donation, rather than 'sell' the cats. I hate the idea of trading in animals.

Well, exactly. I'd be obsessive. I rescued a ginger kitten that had been lost or abandoned, out here in the desert--found him shrieking and carrying on one night, and a friend of my next-door neighbor, an apparently lovely woman, took him. All good, right? I made her SWEAR she'd neuter him and not allow him outdoors, as she was in Wickenburg, which is also desert, with the same animals, etc., that make it a no-fly zone here. She did neither, and somehow, after a year or so, the cat took a fall from a height, and had to be put to sleep. I wanted to SCREAM. It simply reinforced my feeling that I just don't have the ability to deal with the people.

The thing with my showjumper just...did me in. No more. No more horses, fersure. With horses, you can spend a decade, just getting to the point that you know you have a champion. You can spend a lifetime, and never get one. Getting one... and then losing her, well. That's not great. I mean, and this is in addition to all the usual grief with a beloved animal.

I've never had a dog. I'm a bit frightened of them; even though I've dealt with ferocious feral cats (she says, looking at the soppy balls of fur sleeping next to her!)

Well, you probably can't mix them now, but perhaps you could start with a small, CALM dog, as in, not a Jack Russell or Yorkie. Like...a Scotty, maybe. BUT, on the other hand, cats, IME, need more rescuing and adopting than dogs. I'm not implying that either doesn't NEED rescuing, at all; it's just that people seem to feel cavalier about throwing away cats, thinking that they'll "survive" by catching their own food, etc. It's revolting.


Hitch

[Gregg Bell]

Originally Posted by Catlady

It might make a bit more sense if the villain is stealing dogs from their owners and the women's group is trying to get them back and return them to their homes.

That's exactly what's happening.

[Gregg Bell]

Originally Posted by Hitch

Do you remember that huge scandal, a few years back? All the Haute houses had found this "amazing" source, in China, for faux-fur? They used it in all their (Fall) shows that year...and it all turned out to be DOG. Man...that was bad on all fronts.

Perhaps Donovan is shipping the dogs to some secret location that's making faux-not-fur coats? Granted, it's absurdly expensive, and nobody would do it, but, this IS an over-the-top-black-comedy novel, right?

Hitch

You're close, Hitch. The dogs are being stolen to sell to China to be used as lunchmeat. But of course Lainey stops Donovan before he can succeed. (No actual dogs are being harmed in this book.)

[Gregg Bell]

Originally Posted by BookCat

Yes, I remember this. It also crossed my mind that they might be on the menu in certain countries. But I hope Gregg isn't thinking of going down that plot road.

Your hope is quashed, Book Cat. Donovan's dastardly plan is to sell the dogs to China to be used as lunchmeat. (But don't worry--Lainey stops him before he can pull it off.)

[Hitch]

Originally Posted by Gregg Bell

You're close, Hitch. The dogs are being stolen to sell to China to be used as lunchmeat. But of course Lainey stops Donovan before he can succeed. (No actual dogs are being harmed in this book.)

Well, presumably, he's already done it, so...otherwise, how would she catch him and stop him? She's not a mindreader, so..he must already be guilty, non?

I gotta say, Gregg: that's kinda thin. I mean, that would be AWFULLY expensive dogmeat, and China seems to be awash with dogs. ???

Actually, having now typed that, you know what? I don't want to know. Let's all agree not to discuss it.

H

[Catlady]

Originally Posted by Hitch

Well, presumably, he's already done it, so...otherwise, how would she catch him and stop him? She's not a mindreader, so..he must already be guilty, non?

I gotta say, Gregg: that's kinda thin. I mean, that would be AWFULLY expensive dogmeat, and China seems to be awash with dogs. ???

Actually, having now typed that, you know what? I don't want to know. Let's all agree not to discuss it.

H

I agree 100 percent. It's disgusting, and it makes no sense.

[Hitch]

Originally Posted by Catlady

I agree 100 percent. It's disgusting, and it makes no sense.

Good.

Hitch

[GrannyGrump]

No worse than Jonathon Swift's "A Modest Proposal" ...

[Hitch]

Originally Posted by GrannyGrump

No worse than Jonathon Swift's "A Modest Proposal" ...

Granted.

Hitch

[Catlady]

Originally Posted by GrannyGrump

No worse than Jonathon Swift's "A Modest Proposal" ...

I must have missed any indication that the current book is satire.

[gmw]

Originally Posted by Catlady

I must have missed any indication that the current book is satire.

It is not given away by the fact that killing people (albeit merely men) - without due process - is considered entertainment while we are assured that no pets were harmed in the writing of this tale?

Perhaps that particular satire was not intended, but it surely exists.

[Catlady]

Originally Posted by gmw

It is not given away by the fact that killing people (albeit merely men) - without due process - is considered entertainment while we are assured that no pets were harmed in the writing of this tale?

No, it isn't.

[Gregg Bell]

You guys, I appreciate your sensitivity and love of animals. I really do. But I'm writing an over-the-top comic thriller. I have changed the first scene (and the rest of the book in fact) to indicate unequivocally that the book is a comedy, but it is also a thriller. A humorous thriller.

Here's the new blub:


Some say she’s a sociopath. Some say she hates men. Some say she just loves animals.

Lainey Tripper is a whiskey-drinking hard-living animal rescue feminist. But she has just this one little problem: she can’t seem to stop killing men. Not all men are so bad, and not a few of them are attracted to her, but when Lainey leaves a rescue, dead men are invariably left in her wake.

Lainey heads FART (Feminist Animal Rescue Team), a group of women dedicated to stopping the villainous Donovan from oppressing women and animals. But now Donovan, intent on world domination, has taken his evil to a new level. He’s systematically stealing Chicago’s dogs to sell them to a foreign power.

In Lainey’s enthusiasm to stop Donovan, she again kills a lot of men. Her fellow FARTers plead with her to moderate her man-killing tendencies, but Lainey’s pretty sure any guy she kills deserves it, and besides, she must do whatever it takes to save Chicago’s dogs.

Will Lainey stop Donovan in time? And when she’s done, will any men be left alive?




I don't think anybody reading that can mistake the book for anything but the silly romp that it is. And, as I said, I've changed the book itself to indicate that.

Here's the new first paragraph:

“Give up, scumbag?” Lainey Tripper had the thug in a headlock. She hadn’t been in a fight like this in ages and was having fun. The guy’s warm saliva ran down her forearm. He was drooling, choking. “Well, do you!”


So I don't think anybody is going to mistake this for a serious book or mistake the violence (or potential violence) towards human beings or animals as being real.

That said, the book, while comic, is also a thriller. And for a thriller to work, the higher the stakes, the better. I could have the antagonist (Donovan) stealing all the puppy treats from all the pet stores in Chicago. And the poor dogs in Chicago would have to go without their treats! Gasp!

You get the idea.

Anybody with a super sensitivity to animals (I've had people tell me this already) is not going to read the book. And that's as it should be.

I love animals. I've had three dogs and one of them I still have dreams about (and I've had like 50 dreams about this dog)!

[doubleshuffle]

FART. Srsly. I'm out.