Cat Names
Here is our brand new kitten:
I spent a lot of time considering possible names. I needed something that could be short or long (I tend to shorten names and then lengthen them, eg Annaleise–> Anna–>Anna-bananaramagram), that the kids didn’t hate, that I didn’t mind shouting into the night (not, for example, “Fire” or “Figaro” or “Buttface”), and that wouldn’t be excessively embarrassing to the kids when they’re teenagers.
Here are some that made the shortlist:
Agatha Heterodyne (steampunk mad scientists from Girl Genius graphic novels)
Ada Lovelace (a real-life Victorian countess, inventor, and computer programmer)
Misty (for a white cat)
Leia (except I’m still broken up over Carrie Fisher’s death so I’d feel sad whenever I used it)
Isaiah
Loki (an excellent cat name, thanks to him being the God of Mischief… and Tom Hiddleston. Also it’s wise to use a character who’s dead* since they can’t then go and commit incest or something)
Ariel
For a black cat:
Raven
Shadow
Midnight
T’Challa (aka the Black Panther)
Chadwick (the actor who plays King T’Challa so very well)
Shuri (who is sometimes the Black Panther in the comics)
Letitia.
Or literally any other cast member of Black Panther.
Sherlock
Mimi (apparently that’s the “Rover” of cat names in China)
Mao (Mandarin for ‘cat’ and Louisette really wanted to call it ‘Meow’ for a while… but that’d definitely cause an increase in vocalisation)
TomTom (fun to say)
Mystique (for the X-Men character, plus it abbreviates to Missy)
Nox and/or Mademoiselle Brunet (one of my characters – good for a female cat that’s black, white, or brown)
Emmeline (ditto)
Matilda (ditto)
Patrick (ditto)
Amelia (after Ms Earhart; Louisette vetoed it on the basis that if the cat walked in while she was having one of our Amelia Earhart books read, the cat could be confused)
Gandalf
Merlin
Frodo
Samwise
Aragorn (shortens to Arrow, which is cool)
Qwerty/Qwertyuiop (I really liked this; the kids were deeply unimpressed)
Blaze/Diamond (based on markings)
Boudica
Scuttlebutt (fun to say, and piratical too)
Ping Pong (fun to say; good description of cat movement)
Snugglepot & Cuddlepie (yes, I suggested to Chris more than once that we get siblings, partly for their benefit and partly for the kids’ benefit… but he was right to say no. Two is too much for me.)
Bubble (again, fun to say)
Hiccup (fun to say, plus the hero from “How to Train Your Dragon” which is a cool movie/s/show/s/book/s)
But the name we finally settled on is….
Zipper.
I like to say it, the kids see the logic in “she zips around” and it shortens to “Zip” or “Zip-Zip” and lengthens to “Zip-e-dee-do-ya”.
So that’s her name.
She’s another tortoiseshell/white cat. Apparently I have a type (also, the ultimate decision was between two cats, and neither was plain black which is what I was hoping for… but she’s soooo beautiful, isn’t she?)
*probably for reals this time.
Insert Toilet Joke Here
August is an exciting month.
GammaCon (where that pic was taken) is over for another year (it RULED by the way) but the Canberra Writers’ Festival is approaching (23-26 August) and I’ll be launching TWO books that weekend.
Murder in the Mail: A Bloody Birthday will be launched with a week-long art exhibition at The Front cafe and gallery in Lyneham.
The official launch is 3:30-5:00pm on Saturday 25th, and at least two of the visual artists plan to be there.
——–
And the final book in my steampunk fantasy trilogy, Antipodean Queen 3: Iron Lights will be launched as an official part of the Canberra Writers Festival at Old Parliament House (aka The Museum of Australian Democracy) in Kings’ Hall 2:45-3:15pm Sunday August 26.
I’ll be selling all my stuff at both launches.
They’re also in stock (including Murder in the Mail: A Bloody Birthday and Magic in the Mail: Emmeline’s Empire, which are in the games section) at Dymocks Belconnen, which means all my books/games are super easy to order into any Dymocks store (but especially Tuggeranong, which is linked to Belco).
But that’s not why I’m blogging today.
I’m blogging because of an event far rarer and more impressive than a book launch. I usually release a book a year… but this is something that hasn’t happened since TJ was born.
I did a proper clean of the toilet.
I cleaned the whole room, including the floor and walls (there was quite a bit of blood on the wall*). Just look at how clean it is!
Chris and I are talking fairly seriously about dividing up our house so we can take a tenant (tenant rather than room-mate because they’d have a separate entrance and loo). So that’s why I was suddenly enthusiastic about cleaning… because it’s likely this will be my toilet soon.
Sidebar: I suspect any artworks that are unsold at the end of the exhibition will be in with a chance of making an impromptu gallery in this one tiny clean part of my house. A rather dubious honour, I think. But the above cleanliness is somewhat bland, don’t you agree?
Regular readers will know that we recently said goodbye to Princess Ana after ten fluffy years, and that a house without a cat is unthinkable. (As I write this, the wind is banging the cat flap, and I keep expecting Ana to walk in and glare at me in that adorable cat manner.)
That’s one of the VERY early pic of TJ and Ana. There are many more.
it is to TJ’s credit that he prefers an older cat. I am not a good enough person to adopt an older cat. I enjoy the short, playfully unco months of kittenhood, and I also like a cat that I’ve trained myself.
So at some stage soon we’ll get a kitten. Squeee!
But we’ll most likely get a tenant and kitten at around the same time, because kittens are fun and tenants are not. So dangling a future kitten in my mind keeps me motivated to continue figuring out how to fit all our stuff into smaller and smaller spaces.
I’ve donated three large garbage bags of clothes to charity/friends in the last few weeks—mostly my own. A lot of my outfits dated back to pre-Chris romances, which was quite a trip down memory lane. My general body shape has been extremely haywire for the last 8 years due to two enormous babies, various medical conditions, and an operation. Now that I’ve had the stomach op, though, I have a better idea of my proportions relative to one another. That’s helpful.
I kept some of my ‘optimistic’ clothes (including some gorgeous dresses) but put them in a box until next year.
Not for the first time, I noticed that I talk to myself a lot (and also talk to inanimate objects). Yet another reason to get a cat, amirite? That way at least I’m talking to an animal. Ana was always very helpful when a plot wasn’t working right and needed workshopping.
So that’s where life is at the moment. How about you?
*Louisette has really dramatic blood noses. I couldn’t tell you how long ago that particular stain happened; I rarely use that toilet so if you’ve visited us in the last three months… sorry ’bout that. You’ll also be pleased to hear that we changed the toilet seat to an adult sized version instead of the miniature one that we’ve been making people-who-are-not-us use for the last five years.
Author Photo
Every so often I get asked for an author photo. Here are some that I use pretty often:
Nice and steampunky, but WILDLY out of date.
Amusing – captured just as the whistle blew, scaring the crap out of me. I’m actually (just barely) pregnant with Louisette in this photo.
Generally author pics want to see one’s face in perilous close-up, however.
A fairly nice pic… but of course having a kid in an author pic is a no-no for anyone who’s not writing picture books. So this is what I use:
These two were taken by Cat Sparks at Conflux 2017. I had makeup on and everythink. Cat Sparks must be acknowledged by anyone who uses these (which is sometimes awkward).
Selfie taken on a miniature train.
Selfie taken in the mirror, in costume, after my operation.
What would you use if these were your choices, and you were an author trying to look super interesting and absolutely worth reading?
I think my favourite is the miniature train selfie. I look happy, and pretty nice despite the lack of makeup. Good hair and background, and looking away implies imagination.
I always take pics of myself at appearances (when I’m Properly Dressed) but so far they’ve never turned out well. Usually the lighting is bad, and I’ve begged a random passer-by to take the picture. Plus they’re generally full length, so even if my face is looking good it’s not high enough quality for an author photo.
UPDATE: The brilliant Cat Sparks (yes, her again!) took a billion photos of me at my latest book launch. These are the best, and I think the one that I accidentally posted twice is the absolute winner.
Cover Reveal: Iron Lights
Here she is, in all her end-of-trilogy glory:
And with her sisters:
Wow. I can’t wait to have all three on a table.
Speaking of tables, this weekend is GammaCon Canberra, for all your nerdy needs!
You can find out more here, or just show up at Exhibition Park between 9am and 5pm this weekend (or 6-11pm Saturday, for Gamma @ night—yes I’ll still be there, drunk on tiredness).
“Murder in the Mail: A Bloody Birthday” Contributors
Full alphabetical list of contributors (many of these people are both writers and artists, but I’ve only listed them as artists if that’s their role in “A Bloody Birthday”):
Barr, Julian: Writer
https://jbarrauthor.wordpress.com/
Banks, Felicity: Writer & Curator
Bendon, Carmel: Writer
Denman, Carolyn: Writer
Goodin, Laura E: Writer
Hore, Phil: Writer
http://philhore.blogspot.com.au/
[Book cover TBA; later in 2018.]
Lee, Adam: Artist
http://www.adamleephotography.com.au/
Lee, Annabelle: Artist
O’Meara, Shauna: Artist
https://theshaunacorner.wordpress.com/
Turgoose, Tash: Writer & Artist
Van Order, Keely: Artist
Virgo, Jane: Artist
https://csfg.wordpress.com/our-members-v2/jane-virgo/
Fan Art
Choices That Matter is a serial story hub app by Tin Man Games. KG Tan is the project head and editor. The stories are:
And The Sun Went Out written by KG Tan, Alyce Potter, and myself.
And Their Souls Were Eaten written by yours truly (edited by KG Tan and Phill Berrie).
And Their Heroes Were Lost written by Phill Berrie (edited by KG Tan and yours truly), which is still getting periodically updated at the moment (the ‘serial’ part of the app).
All of which is to say that there is a bunch of awesome fan art out there, and it’s high time I collected some here!
This is Etienne Sole, one of the love interests in And The Sun Went Out. The artist is Frey. His website is here and his twitter is here.
There’s more gorgeous And The Sun Went Out art here (but I can’t figure out how to contact the artist).
And here (same artist as the above link).
If you know of more fan art out there please let me know. I’ll share anything G-rated (and I love knowing about it all, OF COURSE).
The beginning of the end
Well, it’s still not 100% certain, but things aren’t looking good for Princess Ana. There are probably some hard decisions ahead.
So here she is, looking perfect as usual:
Update: The decision to put her to sleep has been made. We’ll tell the kids in the morning.
Update: Ana died peacefully at the vet last Saturday.
The Banana Bread of Destiny
The only good thing about banana bread is that is uses up bananas.*
Ingredients
1 and a half c buckwheat flour
1 c coconut sugar
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
2 tsp cinnamon
1 c mashed banana
1 egg
1/2 c yogurt
1/4 c grapeseed oil
1/3 c maple syrup
2 tsp vanilla bean paste
Method
1. Mix flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and cinnamon.
2. Add banana, egg, yogurt, oil, maple syrup, and vanilla. Mix.
3. Pour into a lightly greased 21cm x 10cm loaf tin lined with baking paper.
4. Bake for 1 hour at 160 degrees or until cooked when tested with a skewer.
Obviously, the kids loved this. Even Louisette.
Yum Factor: 0
Health: 2
Easy: 4
Will make again? Nope. Bananas are evil.
*Apologies to the 6 year-old child who lovingly contributed this recipe to her Year 1 class.
Aaaand we’re done!
While in the waiting room today I looked over my last three months of blood sugar readings. It turns out I spoke too soon when I blamed that delicious baklava for my record-breaking blood sugar reading the following morning.
As is utterly obvious to anyone who glances at me in passing, I eat a lot of chocolate. Like, every day. (I’m gonna go analyse that habit sometime soon.)
Despite this, my blood sugar has been remarkably good ever since my stomach operation last year. (Pause for cheering!)
Except these school holidays.
Was it all these not-usually-healthy recipes?
Actually, nope.
I looked back over the past three months of daily blood sugar readings, and guess what?
There were a total of 10 high blood sugar readings.
1 was due to getting up at stupid o’clock to drive to Sydney.
1 was just random.
2 were due to medical appointments. (Often deeply stressful.)
The other 6—that is, 60%—were ALL on the one day a week that I look after the kids for the full day (that is, from 8am until 6pm, while Chris is at work and there’s no day care or grandparents).
So that’s informative. Unfortunately for everyone, I associate the kids with an increase in physical pain and panic, which of course is a self-fulfilling thing.
So school’s about to start again, which is going to help with my sanity a bunch, but I clearly need to think about this some more. For one thing, I’ll make sure Chris takes more time off work next holidays.
Sushi Bowl Recipe
Okay, this one made me nervous. It was invented by one of the kids “inspired by the giant packet of seaweed paper he asked his mum to buy at Costco”.
What could possibly go wrong?
Ingredients
Rice
Smoked salmon
Avocado
Seaweed paper
Soy sauce
Method
1. Cook rice.
2. Put rice in a bowl.
3. Scrunch up the seaweed.
4. Put salmon, avocado, and seaweed in the bowl.
5. Drizzle on soy sauce.
6. Soy sauce.
Obviously, after taking the picture, I shovelled on a whole lot more salmon and avocado and tucked in. It was delicious.
I let the children choose their own toppings, encouraging them to make beautiful designs. Louisette’s is on the left, and TJ’s is on the right.
*long sigh*
Great job kids.
Yum Factor: 4
Health: 4
Easy: 4
Will make again? Maybe. It was pretty great—except for the seaweed 😛
I had my diabetes checkup today. It’s over now, which is good. There was a lot of crying (just from me, but with several different medical professionals because why stop at just one?), and then I went and bought a fast food lunch and $20 worth of lollies.
So, today went pretty much as expected.
Now there’s just one more job to do: wait for the vet to call and tell me my cat has cancer.
What a fabulous day.
It is pretty nice, actually. I’m watching “Crazy Ex-Girlfriend” (terrible title, brilliant show) and stuffing my face. My major decision of the day is whether to lie down while watching TV, stay sitting while watching TV, lie down and read a book, or take a nap.
Who am I kidding? The only decision is which order to do all of the above.
Felicity Banks 