Interruptions.

I sat down with a mug of hot cocoa yesterday and worked on some of the final edits for Witch Wolf. I was sitting there, typing away, when I heard that horrible noise that felines will give when they're about to upchuck. A second later, something shot across the room and landed with a meaty slap.

The cat jumped down off of the bed as soon as I turned to look. I turned, only to discover what looked like a war zone of kitty vomit.

My girlfriend keeps a travel pillow up on the bed. You know, one of those little pillows people get when taking a long flight. The cat had vomited all over it. I went around the bed to check the floor. Sure enough, she had projectile vomited. I couldn't help it, for a moment I just stood there and thought Dear Gods, that’s a lot of freaking cat puke.

But, oh, how it got worse. I returned to the room armed with paper towels and carpet cleaner. The cat upchucked again, this time, by my bookcase. I had to stop editing as I tried to figure out the best way to clean my girlfriend’s pillow (which was soaked). In the end, I decided the most effective way of cleaning it was by checking the tag and washing it. Yet, once I removed the pillow from the bed, I realized that the cat had not only puked on that, but on the blanket as well. I pulled the blanket back and frowned, hard. I pulled the sheet back and frowned even harder. Kitty puke had soaked through the blanket, to the sheet, and to the fitted sheet below.

I looked at the cat in question, who was huddling in the corner of the room by the bookcase, trying to be unobtrusive. “Seriously?” I asked.

She sank down lower, as if in apology, but her ears flattened warily. I wasn't mad at her. How could I be for something that she couldn't help? One moment she'd been sleeping quietly beside me and the next... well, you know.

I had to strip the bed and remove all of the contaminated material. I threw another blanket down while the others were being washed. A safety blanket, in case one of the cats decided to they had to puke. Of course, once the safety blanket went down - no one had to puke. Go figure.

I still got quite a bit of work done on the edits. I didn't tackle the one big scene I wanted to get my hands on and work with, but still, work was accomplished. The work yesterday wasn't steady. There were too many interruptions for that. Nonetheless, I managed to work around those interruptions and that’s something.

Hopefully, the interruptions today will be at a minimum and I'll be able to tackle that one big scene.

Blessings,

Winter

Bitten.

I meant to update sooner, honest.

I just woke up not too long ago. I’m armed with coffee - so that’s okay. I couldn’t say what woke me, especially this early in the morning. Ever had one of those mornings where no matter how much or how little sleep you’ve gotten you open your eyes and your mind is completely awake?

Ye-eah, that pretty much sums it up. Usually, I try to go back to sleep, but my mind was already too awake compared to the rest of my body.

Thus, I slipped out of bed to make coffee and let my girlfriend get some decent sleep. She hasn’t been feeling well lately. One of the things we discovered when I was working on Witch Wolf was that, when I crawled out of bed to begin working on the book in the bright hours of the morning, she was able to fall into a deeper sleep. Why a deeper sleep? When the sun comes up I have a tendency to get active in my sleep. You know, knees, elbows, and flinging my hand across someone’s face. Once I’m vertical, she doesn’t have to worry about that...or my elbows. If I wake up and there’s a pillow shoved like a barrier between our pillows – I know I’ve been active and that she’s been sleeping with one eye open. Fortunately, we’ve found that the pillow barrier generally works.

Of course, I don’t remember any of the kneeing, elbow jabbing, or hand flinging when I wake up. She has to tell me about these things when we get up in the morning. Though, by far, the strangest thing I’ve done was bite her. Yep, bite. You read that right.

When I woke up the next morning and sat down with my coffee she asked, “Do you remember biting me last night?”

I blinked, trying to comprehend. “I did what last night?”

“You bit me. You don’t remember that?”

“No,” I said, “I don’t.”

At first, I thought she was joking. She explained in detail that I had snuggled into her, growled softly, nuzzled my face into the bend of her neck, and sank my teeth in. At first, she thought I had been awake when I’d done it, but when I fell back as quickly as I had bitten her, she realized that I was very much asleep.

It’s a little creepy, in an amusing sort of way.

So, not only does she have to worry about my knees, elbows, and hands – She has to worry that my subconscious might turn vampiric and go for the carotid.

Hmm, maybe there’s a reason I write preternatural fiction so well.

Witch Wolf is scheduled to be released in June next year in both print and ebook. On that front, here’s a little surprise.

Blessings,
Winter