Good evening, Felinity Assembled, Nikita here. I have a fascinating and very cool, follow-up to yesterday's post called A Bit of Synchroncatity.
I had some questions for the author of the book Daddy Kiril bought.
Not believing the Old Human's Tale about curiosity and Cats, I decided to write the man an e-mail. :-D
Dear Mr. Schiffhorst:
Hello, my name is Mr. Nikita, I'm a 14 yr. old Cat who blogs (Been writing/blogging for a decade, now).
My young protege is Elvira Mistress of Felinity, age 2.
We write the blog Meowsings of an Opinionated Pussycat.
The Most Opinionated Pussycats in America, with Talent on Loan from The Ceiling Cat!
Our Human discovered your book, Writing With Cats, on Amazon the other day, and latched onto it like a Cat to a 'Nip toy! :-D
Once the book arrived in our home he opened it for a look see and was quite surprised at what he found inside.
Elvira and I took a look and decided it was something worth sharing with our readers...
At some point in the past decade you had written a message to a fan and signed their copy of the book. It is that book our Daddy Kiril now owns! :-D
To Summer:
With best wishes for more great poetry -- Jerry Schiffhorst
You can see our photos for yourself, as we pose with the book and the open pages. If you remember the who, when, where and why, we'd love to know more, if you care to share, that is. If not, that is fine, too. We would understand.
We were pleased to see that you still write about Cats on your blog, though we were disappointed to see the fate of the old writingcats.com site.
We are very glad that you believe that Cats are to be taken seriously, though we DO take issue with your belief that Cats have no need to write.
You can't be any more wrong! Why do you hold such a belief, anyway? :-D
There is a worldwide Community of Cat Bloggers, some of who have written books. The Critter Blogging Community even has an annual convention for networking and learning to be better writers and bloggers, and give awards to the best in our Niche of the Blogosphere.
Our world is not as wordless as you may think, either. Daddy Kiril and others are quite fluent in Felinese. :-D
Elvira and I are poets, storytellers, journalists, commentators, humorists, snoozers and nap takers. We are very proud of the unique nature of our blog and what it is attempting to share with the world and hope to see our own work in book form some day.
We loved the use of Lizzie, your Cat, for the photos in your book, and wonder if she is still alive, or gone on to Rainbow Bridge? How old was she at the time of the book being published, and how old was she when she went to the Bridge, if that is what happened?
All three of us look forward to reading and learning from your book.
Sincerely yours,
Mr. Nikita
This morning a reply came back!! :-D
It read as follows:
Dear Mr.Nikita:
Thank you for writing. At first, I was surprised that you write so well, thinking perhaps you were from Russia, given your name, but I see from the website that your family is in the U.S.
Usually, it is the role of the cat as muse that has interested me; I don't expect cats to write or paint, just to be the source of inspiration to reluctant humans. And this is certainly true of contemplation and the silent life.
I'm glad you found my book and my blog (thank you for the links). You will be glad to know that Lizzie, who inspired the book, is still very lively and inspirational at age 15. We now have an outdoor cat who has adopted us, named Andy; I doubt if he will ever write since he appears hyperactive. Maybe when he is older and has more experiences to share.
My recollection of the person to whom I signed the book is very dim--a Florida poet, as I recall. The book is a thing of the past, as in the website; it was great fun and I continue to follow felines on the internet and my wife, Lynn Schiffhorst, has writtten a series of stories (still unpublished), called "Cats of Manhattan," featuring a feline detective agency.
Some of her stories have appeared in the Mewsletter, published by our friend in England, Pauline Dewberry ( The Daily Mews ). Check this out if you don't already subscribe.
I hope you and Elvira and the human family enjoy this 4th of July week. Keep up the creative work you do: a real source of inspiration to other Cats.
Jerry Schiffhorst
Meow wow, wow! How do you like that? He checked out our blog and thinks our writing is creative and inspirational!
A very nice response to my letter and questions, one which Elvira and I are very honored by. It will inspire us to learn and do, more, as we develope as writers and develope the future of this blog.
****UPDATE - 7/26/12****
Over on Daddy Kiril's Blog: Synchroncatity 3: Of Empty Parking Lots, Catty Book Bags and Refunds From Glenn Beck
****END UPDATE****
Cool... I am so happy for you all.
Posted by: Jo Ann J. A. Jordan | July 02, 2012 at 11:07 PM
That is so awesome that Mr. Schiffhorst replied to your email! Clearly he understands that kitty correspondence is meant to be taken seriously!
Posted by: Sparkle | July 03, 2012 at 01:32 AM
Mr. Nikita and Elvira:
The title of this blog post, and the first one, combining synchronicity with Cats to produce synchroncatity, which, by the way, I had to read several times to understand, was brilliant.
Every time I read more explanations of the unusual writing style you have, I get that much closer to the truth. A fantastic letter writen to the book author and an equally fantastic reply received.
Keep up the intrigue!
Posted by: Amanda Socci | July 03, 2012 at 06:28 AM
That is so cool that Mr. Schiffhorst replied to your letter!
Posted by: meowmeowmans | July 04, 2012 at 06:31 PM
That is really cool. Mr Schiffhorst sounds like a wonderful human.
Herman
Posted by: Karen Jo | July 05, 2012 at 02:40 AM
Wow! A response from a writer, complimentary too, good job. Yes, I too noticed synchroncatity and found it quite clever.
Posted by: Mog | July 07, 2012 at 01:17 AM