Real cats are OK ... I used to be a dog person, but cats are a lot easier to handle, and they get a bum rap from people who don't know them. I currently have no pets ... my African Gray Parrot flew away when I walked into the back yard with him on my shoulder.

...my husband just came in and asked what I was typing. His response: "No harm ever came to a cat on 'The Wire.'" Then he followed it up with something I don't think Ning will let me publish about Derek Jeter. He's a native New Englander and Red Sox fan.

As those of you who know me already know, I feel rather defiant about my tastes -- I refuse to accept that cozies can't be well written, that "real" writers can't use animals (CS Lewis anyone?), that any one genre is better than any other, simply because it may be tougher or bloodier, or more male oriented.

Feminist? Yup.

Yup, and I adore Denise Mina and Robert Wilson's very dark humored West Africa series, too. Wanna make something of it? (In all fairness, I adore cats, but my fictional cats act like real cats - they don't talk and they don't solve crimes. Plus, I use my mysteries to showcase some real animal issues,such as hoarding.)

You write about Cats and you're a *Wire Fan*?

I adore Denise Mina, but maybe we just have different tastes in the harder edged stuff? De gustibus and all that!

By the way - and I'll cross post on Mary's board - "Topsy Turvy" is a fabulous Mike Leigh movie about the making of "The Mikado." Basically, Gilbert and Sullivan are at a creative dead end. Both have personal issues weighing on their work and while they're still wildly popular, they're sort of repeating themselves... until inspiration strikes! It's got a great cast (I adore Jim Broadbent), and it is definitely worth checking out, if only for the slow change on Gilbert's (Broadbent) face as inspiration strikes.

Speaking of movies AND harder edged -- any fans of "Sexy Beast" out there? Great heist movie/romance (for us slightly older married types).

Does that make me a splasher too? I love Elizabeth Peters but just could not get past the first part of Denise Mina. Yet the Scandanavian authors so far are great (even if I can't spell the names)

Hey, Clea! It's fun here, isn't it? Today I'm teaching my cats (two) to use a kitty door. My husband put one in the door to the basement. They'll go through if I hold the flap open. They're still contemplating and studying it, though, to make sure it's safe to do themselves. :)

I think we have the same writing genes. We're both SPLASHERS. I forget exactly what those stand for, something like Sometimes Prefer Light And Sometimes Harder Edged Reading.

'Topsy-Turvy' - what is it about?

I used to do that! I remember running around the yard with my friend Jeannie, who would also be a horse. I believe I wanted to be an Appaloosa (the freckles maybe?).

That is so cute! None of mine thought they were cats but my middle one, a girl, spent years trying to be a horse. We had horse jumps in the front yard half the summer. She did not play riding the horse, she was the horse. Until she tried to carry a kid too heavy for her she would do the jumps with a smaller kid on her shoulders.

Do any of your kids think they're cats? My buddy Anne's son likes to lick his "paws" and run them over his head.

Makeup is a wonderful thing!

Yup - five cats. Five kids too so it is a cat per kid. Some of the cats think they are dogs (well one does and follows my oldest around the house) and others think that the younger kids are their very own babies.

Just one! (I'm serial monogamous, I want all my cat's attention). You have five? And, yes, a patient husband, advice from a professional photog, a borrowed digital, tons of makeup and... here I am!

A good photographer (and digital cameras that take LOTS of pictures) always helps.

So - how many cats do you have?

Besides, you look pretty great yourself!

Well, I hit 46 last month and there's a lot of gray in the red (see that "highlight" over my right eye?). But maybe the extra pounds I've carried around for years are finally paying off...

Me too. Makes life more entertaining that way. Still, if you are my age you look darn young for you advanced years!
Lynne

Nope, just juvenile!

Hi Clea! For some reason, on 4MA, I thought you were much older. Nice to put faces to names.
LC