Meet Peppermint

A lot of authors have writing partners. Mine is a vocal tuxedo cat named Peppermint. She was about one year old when we saw her in a small rural shelter. The shelter reminded me a little of the seven dwarves cottage nestled in the forest with animals everywhere. The sounds of barking animals and whinnying from the horses permeated the air. (Yes. There were horses. I was surprised too.)  We heard the large turtle that was being cared for in the pond in front of the shelter had just been adopted. What a magical sort of place this is  I thought.

When we asked to see the cats, a compassionate young woman led us to a separate building behind the dog kennels. We fell in love with Peppermint as soon as we saw her and brought her home. After a day or so, she got used to her new surroundings. I knew she would make a great writing partner because of her love of sitting on top of my books on the bookshelf.  

That was two years ago. Now my writing partner helps monitor my typing by jumping onto my desk in the early mornings while I tap away at my laptop. She checks the lamp on my desk by nudging the lampshade with her nose. She edits my writing by walking across my keyboard repeatedly leaving me little notes such as ////////??? or ghstfjgkjghkjhlkjm;lkk. She makes scratching noises on the sofa behind my desk letting me know it is time for breakfast.

 Having a feline writing partner is a wonderful thing. I’m so glad we adopted her that day from the shelter in the woods.