Erin the Literary Cat : Chumley and Hudson Investigate the King Herod's Affair

Sunday, 15 December 2024

Selfish and Shameless Generosity and Selfie

Hello, and welcome to another weekend selfie.

This week Mrs H and I have been preparing for . . . . doing nothing!

That's right, here at the Manor House, we do not do Christmas or Easter and the like but prefer to try and help others as a day-to-day matter-of-fact kind of activity. So all the rush this week has been getting copies of our book out to the local rescue centre for animals in need, so they can sell it and raise funds.

What was hugely satisfying was being able to give them 30 copies to sell and get the full cover value. Hopefully, they all get sold and our donation helps many more cats and dogs in need. Truly this is the best sort of what one would describe as selfish generosity: a warm cosy feeling and good karma in the next life, and the knowledge others benefit in this.

We know many folks do something similar, and not just around Christmas though it is a time when so many sentient beings are left on their own, or out in the cold and hungry.

Also this week we have been liaising with our blogging pals, Kerry & David Barbero and Angel Valentine, to ensure our co-authored book is out there in the world to raise funds for both Kerry & David's rescue charity and our own.

Ann Adamus was so very kind and prepared a wonderful graphic to share and put in our sidebar. Many of you who follow the Cat Blogosphere will have seen this come out a few days ago, and maybe received an email from Ann, too.

Here is the AMAZON LINK to the book

This wonderful pirate feline adventure can now be found, thanks to Terry Frum, on the Shop With Friends section of the Blogosphere website.

Here's a link to that. https://blog.catblogosphere.com/shop-with-friends/

There are a few folks listed, so well worth a look, and if something catches your eye, a purchase to support fellow felines and bloggers.

And heres a link to our own book: Chumley and Hudson Investigate. The king Herod's Affair. AMAZON LINK

Kerry, David, Angel Valentine, Mrs Hudson and I thank everyone who has already bought copies of either of these books. The funds raised are much appreciated.

And if you like the books, please, please do leave a review on Amazon, who are the publishers as well as the sellers. Good reviews will help increase sales and our money for charity.

And now, after that Selfish publicity for great causes, here is a Shameless sleepy Sunday selfie of me.

I was afloat on a grey sea of velour, with the incoming ripples of tufts of white fleecy spume soon to lap at my paws....

Mrs H always says I have far too vivid an imagination and should lay off the late night catnip, MOL

We are joining the Sunday Selfies, hosted by the wonderful Kitties Blue and their mum, Janet Blue, from the Cat on My Head blog in America. Click this sentence to visit Janet Blue's site.

Small image. The Cat on My Head Sunday Selfies Blog Hop badge. Features a yellow-haired lady with a tuxedo cat on her head.

Till Laters!

ERin

1. Animal Shelter Volunteer Life

2. Astrids Two-Fur

3. Mudpie

4. Meet Maeve

5. MeezersMews&TerrieristicalWoofs(Blogger)

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7. Loulou hello

8. Blogger: Erins Selfie

9. Sunday Selfies Hop

10. 15andmeowing

11. The J-Cats

12. Two Crazy Cockers

13. Seal

14. Sunday Selfies

15. The Island Cats

16. Athena Sunday Selfie

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19. Its Noodle!

20. Sognafaret

21. messymimis meanderings

22. Chias Nails & Dance Hopes

23. Kinley Westie

24. Lone Star Cats

25. Happy Tuesday

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Sunday, 6 October 2024

The ULTIMATE Book Review & GIVEAWAY

Hello, Everyone!

Today, we have a special announcement. This week, after a small series of technical hitches, Mrs H and I jointly pressed the key that sent our new and first book into publication, with the aid of a lodger who recently took our attic room at a most reasonable rent and ad-lib unspecified services rendered in the house, garden and around the grounds.

Yup, it has been a long, long journey, starting way back in 2018. It has been tinged with sadness, and also delight.

But let’s not dig into who got flour and butter on my new notepad. Or how old Ned, the gardener, not only got grass seed in the Manor's PC but managed to spill tea on it and got said seed to sprout. Then later, after trying to mow it, destroyed the keyboard.

Fear not, all things are possible when writing adventures, and all solutions available to the detective with a nose and whiskers for finding solutions to the most unusual of incidents that befall us in Upper Much-Mousing.

Here is a picture of the cover, so ably created by an outstanding artist in South Africa called Craig D Howarth. Craig spent many long hours, days and weeks toiling away, risking life and limb and several literature-starved lions, to create all the art, inside and out. Not once, but twice, as the book changed in editing.

The title is set in an art deco upright rectangle with three short fins on each side that taper downwards. The colours used are three shades of green with black writing. Erin the tuxedo cat sits in a bicycle's front basket while Mrs Hudson, Erin's housekeeper and governess, cycles from left to right, pursued by a happy golden coated retriever type dog. There is a two tone blue sky, and green foliage around the bottom half of the cover, dotted with pink rose blooms. The author is named in white.

Mrs H and I are thrilled with how the artwork turned out. With the help of an independent publisher, Jane’s Studio Press, based in Scotland, to help set out the edited work, we have achieved an awesome result.

Here is the lowdown on the adventure, as taken from our book:-

“Welcome to 1920s Britain, where cats and dogs have a voice and are treated as equals to humans. In the quaint village of Upper Much-Mousing, one lucky young cat named Erin Chumley inherits an old manor house and Estate. But with it comes responsibility and bills, and Erin must navigate her new life with the help of her housekeeper and tutor, Mrs. Hudson, a retired Army veteran with a mysterious past.

Together, Erin and Mrs. Hudson start a detective agency to earn funds and teach Erin about the world. But their first case takes them to the bustling city of London, to the famous King Herod’s Department store. Three kittens have gone missing, and it’s up to our dynamic duo to solve the case. But what starts as a simple investigation quickly turns into a dangerous race against time, as they must save the kittens from the clutches of the evil and lazy Anders, the store’s nighttime security guard. As they dig deeper, they uncover a sinister black-market gang stealing from the store, and must also help their feline seamstress friend, Jenifer Darcy, get the recognition she deserves for her work.

Join Erin and Mrs. Hudson on their witty and whimsical adventure, filled with action, fun, and heartwarming moments. Perfect for young middle-grade readers looking for a fun and exciting read.”

*****GIVEAWAY*****

As a special launch time (not lunchtime) gift, we are making a copy of the paperback available to two lucky Sunday Selfie bloggers who comment on this post between now and midnight next Saturday, 12th October BST. The winners must be willing and able to supply a postal address to allow an Amazon delivery. Mrs H or I will contact the winners by leaving a comment on the winners’ blogs.

OK, so enough of the surprise news, here' is a special, book launch selfie of me spreading the news!

We are joining the Sunday Selfies, hosted by the wonderful Kitties Blue and their mum, Janet Blue, from the Cat on My Head blog in America. Click this sentence to visit Janet Blue's site.