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.
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
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.
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!
Mrs H and I have been dealing with the fallout of an internet supplier change this week, which has left certain of our tech confused.
Who knew that tech could be flummoxed! It has got to the point that I have had to instruct Mrs H to call in the advisers from our energy company who supplied the tech and see if they can fix it.
That was done this morning, after which I sent Mrs H out for a four mile cycle ride around the local reservoir to get her fit. That was on top of a two mile hike to the shops and back yesterday. The Dr said we both had to get fit, so I am determined that we do so. Now, if you think that the activities solely include Mrs H, then fear not, I get my steps in, too, as she insists on recounting every step and wheel turn of her adventures. Being chased by geese, and one overly friendly dog, seem to have been the highlights. The latter did have a plus as she was forced into a military quickstep to shake off the dog!
So on that note, and as I can see Mrs H struggling to get out of the tight lycra outfit and needs some advice, here's a selfie of me, doing my impression of running. Which is about as energetic as I intend too get on a Sunday before my breakfast, MOL.
This week we have mainly been sorting out household things. No painting involved which also means no mess to clear up. That's a win for me as the paint is super smelly, and a win for Mrs H who is usually forced into multiple baths to remove stray emulsion droplets from her face and hair.
We certainly don't want a repeat of the last time when the vicar spread the rumour that we both had all come down with measles when it was in fact merely splashes from Mrs H's new spray gun which had exploded in a shower of metallic red paint when the hose got crimped!
Least said the better about who caused the crimp, save to say that in my defence I thought the red curly vibrating thing was a vicious and rare red cobra sneaking up on Mrs H in her motorcycle workshop!
Anyways, enough about paint, here is a selfie of yours truly without measly spots of any colour, taking a well earned Sunday rest.
Hello, and welcome to my weekend Book Review featuring this week an Adventure in Adult Fiction from CWA member and prolific writer of cosy and less cosy mysteries and adventures, Mollie Hunt.
No rambling intro this week, so let's dive straight in to a chilly adventure where things very soon HOT up. . . .
AUTHOR: MOLLIE HUNT
Cover art by: Roslyn McFarland
Published by: Independently published
Publication date Paperback: 19/12/2020
Paperback ISBN: 198 406 2247
Cover price for Paperback: ÂŁ11.95 / $15
Kindle price: ÂŁ4.73 / $5.99
Pages: 365
Age range: Adult
Any dogs or cats? As this is Mollie, there are lots and lots of cats, with some human companions/cohabiters
SPOILER ALERT
Some as to plot direction and characters.
Thank you to...
I treated Mrs H to this as I was keen to see what happened next. So, unusually, it is Mrs H thanking me!
As ever, our views are our own, and we only share reviews of books we have bought, received as gifts, or received in exchange for an impartial review.
First and foremost, the books we review are those we select to read, like, and feel our global readers deserve to know about and that we hope they, their family, friends and students will enjoy.
The plot
Our main protagonist is Slayter, an elegant and lithe black cat, who lives with another feline, Emma, in the home of their cohabiter human, Claire.
We also have Zaadkiel, an entity that had recently attained consciousness in the cosmic soup from which all life and planets began. In the beginning, we see how this entity changes over millennia, finally through curiosity reaching out across all of time and space to become informed.
It is the eve of a new season, Spring, and snow is in the air and on the ground. But it is also a moment in time called the Winter Verus, a time when winter stops still, literally suspended, and things can no longer be measured in time as we recognise it. Snowflakes are frozen mid-air, and a deafening silence swallows all who tread this space. During this period, nine feline emissaries of the council can slip between the seconds to execute the Rectification of the Variants and put to right the human wrongs, at least those they can impact. In doing so, they reset existence for Earth and every creature hereon.
The two cats head off on a mission; two of the nine cats chosen by a feline council to correct the wrongs that have happened. It is a given the wrongs or incidents that need correcting all involve humans. Incidents that, though seemingly trivial, if not corrected and the humans sent the right way, will lead to tragedy and travesty on a scale dangerous to all species and the planet. Simple choices that, when corrected, would stop an individual man from committing a second murder, which would have led to starting a dangerous cult, causing widespread death and fear.
Each of the nine cats chosen for this year's Verus has a connection to the events and humans that cause the variants. Each cat has come from afar and wouldn't, under normal circumstances, have worked in a group. They meet up, and after introduction, the adventure begins, but not without tensions evolving into blows. It is more than a quest and potentially far more perilous.
When Slayter's task differs from the others, things take a turn for the worse. He arrives in a place and amongst people, scientists and cosmologists, he does not know. It seems that all he had to do was awaken one of the astronomers from his sleep. In doing so, the man sees something in the night sky far away that otherwise he would have missed. But Slayter senses something terrible, a shadowy malevolence lurking beyond sight and mind. It is the same evil that Zaadkiel, the star-chameleon entity deep within its black hole, could feel, too. It was a poison in the new world he had so very recently discovered. The entity knew this disease must be cut out.
Lost in a daydream about his strange task, Slayter catches up with the others to discover one of the cats has arrived at their scene to find the human they needed to help was dead. A husk that, on touching, disintegrated with a curdling scream into dust and a small ashen pellet.
It is thought to be a freak coincidence, yet, in this suspended between-seconds world, there is only one true answer – a murderer is running amok.
Fearful of what may have happened or will happen to Claire, Slayter and Emma rush home. It is from here on that Claire becomes involved. Slayter's fears over what is happening, the scientist, and the malevolence he feels cause him to reveal the cats' ability to speak, the task and the dangers. If anyone can help the cats, Slayter feels it is Claire, which, indeed, she can. Having contacted the scientist, the three head off to meet him.
Now, from here on in, things ramp up. The malevolence gets a name, in fact, two, the first being 'the Other'. It is intent on consuming all things on a galactic and dimensional scale. But he has found adoration among the tiny worthless inhabitants of one of the many planets he seeks to destroy. He will spare them as he is vain and loves the adoration. He loves to watch how, when he turns one of their number to dust, they praise him more. Yet, on the same planet, there is an irritation, a force that can harm him. The Other is aware of Zaadkiel, too, and seeks to destroy it, to suck out its energy.
Zaadkiel needs help to remove the evil, which they realise they can't do themselves. Reaching out across time and space faster than light, it finds, or rather senses, an ally on Earth in the form of a small sentient being known as Slayter.
And so Earth becomes the battleground for two mighty opposing forces. Primordial good and evil incarnate. It becomes a place where the fight to save everything from the moment of creation forward will transcend time, space, and even life itself. All actions have consequences, and Slayter and his newfound friends have only one chance to put right the biggest variant of all. They also have a whole new earth-bound enemy, too!
So, what did we think?
I was half expecting this to be an extension of the first-in-series and wasn't entirely sure what 'new' could be brought to a previous all-encompassing and seemingly complete story. And for a moment, in the opening chapters, it seemed I was right. I really needn't have worried, as soon enough, with obligatory character introductions and scene setting complete, we ventured where no reader has boldly gone before. The cast of felines, naturally enough, have more than an inkling as to what must be done. Thankfully, they, too, were unprepared.
Like the best, and I do mean the best, sci-fi movies, we were enthralled by diving ever deeper and ultimately into an almost maelstrom of physical and astral planes through which our protagonists must travel. The text is rich, evocative, and full of terms that had Mrs H reaching for her science dictionary and brought added credence (though not needed for us) to the plot.
We both, after trying to draw comparisons to works we already know, especially movies/TV, which many more will be familiar with than sci-fi fantasy books. We came up with four: Inception, Contact (by the late great Carl Sagan), Interstellar, and Quantum Leap.
It is highly appealing that this book inhabits time and space, has earthy, earthly and unearthly characters, good and heinous, and has a spiritual flavour, something for everyone. And it does all that with so much aplomb. It became a seat-of-the-pants tale that was wholly satisfying.
Fear not; this story isn't spaceships and warp-speed antics. Though those have their place, elsewhere, for those who need them. This tale found its feet for us when we ventured to an earlier and brutal human civilisation.
I always hope to do a book justice without giving too much away. I can give away the fact that I just didn't see the end coming and that the build-up was intense, a volcano erupting tense. As I said, this is real seat-of-the-pants stuff.
So . . . .
Crunch time.
Molly has taken cat adventures to a whole new level, and our reading has never been more exciting or rewarding. It's an all-around delight and deliciously satisfyingly different. Onwards to book 3!
Want to buy a copy?
You don't have to transform into a feline to get a copy. Lovely though that would be, there is nowhere to carry change or credit cards. Just get yourself down to your local independent bookshop. Or order online. However or from wherever you buy, you support an independent author, fellow cat carer and member of the Cat Writers Association.
Mollie Hunt's web page can be found HERE or type this: https://molliehuntcatwriter.com/