Monday, January 23, 2023

Don't Lick the Soap...



Animals are so intuitive and savvy to a routine that I don’t need to grab a bar of soap for my cat, Hana, to race into the bathroom, anticipating my next move. I lather my hands multiple times a day, but there’s only one time when I let my cat lick the soap—yes, I said lick—and that’s when I wash my face in the morning, around 10 o’clock.

My cat loves the taste of soap.

My cat is weird.

She waits while I brush my teeth, staring googly-eyed, whiskers twitching in anticipation. As soon as my toothbrush rattles in its receptacle, she’s jostling for gourmet soapsuds. I’m not kidding.

Now, if I tried to wash her pink-paddle tongue with soap, I’m sure I’d find her glued to the ceiling until next year.

So, what does this have to do with writing? I love being clean, but sometimes being too clean is a bad thing for blogs and websites. Cleantalk, the spam filter I installed on my new website, is like the prep before a colonoscopy, scouring away beloved blog comments like they are comprised of stinky poo. I'd love to rid myself of Cleantalk, but will I be inundated with dirty spam?

Outcome unknown. I know my cover reveal is upcoming and scarier still; preorders will be available soon! I'm also wrangling my all-important jacket copy blurb into something short and memorable. 

Last month Pat won the Conspiracy Theory contest. She received both the full-sized board game and the travel edition. Thanks, Kate and Neddy Games! Everyone guessed that Dob-Dec’s favorite food was popcorn-like Kapa seeds. My alien protagonist’s favorite food is the roots of Planet Pleione’s exotic green orchid. 😊

Now for this month’s question, pulled randomly from a deck of Conspiracy Theory playing cards:

In 1997, what radio program aired a frantic call from an Area 51 employee detailing the world domination plans of “extra-dimensional” beings?

   The Rush Limbaugh Show

    The Sean Hannity Show

    The Savage Nation

    Coast to Coast AM

You need to subscribe to win. Please help me spread the word about the contest! Look to your inbox for my next newsletter on Monday, February 21. Be sure to mark it as not spam if it falls into your computer’s black hole. 

“When the Day of Judgment dawns and people, great and small, come marching in to receive their heavenly rewards, the Almighty will gaze upon the mere bookworms and say to Peter, “Look, these need no reward. We have nothing to give them. They have loved reading.” Virginia Woolf

Discover more at Sharon Wagner Books

 

 

                                      

 

 

 

 

1 comment:

Pat @ Mille Fiori Favoriti said...

Thanks for the "shout out"! I am very excited to have won both versions of the game and the card questions have been so fascinating--who knew all these internet conspiracies existed?

I had a cat once that loved to nibble antelope and raw potatoes so I guess cats can have unusual culinary tastes!