I have been a huge fan of Layla Morgan Wilde and her gang of colorful cats over at Cat Wisdom 101 since the first time I met them for Odin’s first birthday party several months ago. So, when she offered to review The Chronicles of Zee & Zoey for me, I was both thrilled and honored! Layla has the distinct honor of being my FIRST official reviewer and we decided October 30th was a purr-fect date since the last couple of  days in October are always surrounded by  magic and intrigue – the ideal imagery to convey my concept of  “from ordinary to extraordinary!”

Please click here to read Layla’s intrepretation of the story and for a chance at winning an autographed copy of the book!

October 29, 2011 – Author Deborah Barnes of  The Chronicles of Zee & Zoey – A Journey of the Extraordinarily Ordinary, is proud to announce that the Cat Writers’ Association Committee has approved her application for Professional Membership to the Cat Writers Association, effective immediately.  Established in 1992, The Cat Writers’ Association, Inc. (CWA) is an organization of professionals writing, publishing and broadcasting about cats. Members include writers, editors, publishers, artists, public relations specialists, broadcasters and others.  The 18th Annual Cat Writers Conference will be held this November 17 -19th in White Plains, NY , of which Deborah will be attending.

I feel like the last few years of my life have been consumed with virtually nothing else other than completing my book, The Chronicles of Zee and Zoey. Now that the book has arrived and the actual inventory is in my exercise room, I thought maybe I would venture out of my office/cave where I have been buried and found out I am a stranger in my own home. It seems that life had continued on around me as I was glued to my computer all that time. 

Most things that move on in time are easy enough to ignore – black roots in your hair – that’s why rubber bands are made for pony tails. Cat hair on the furniture – that is easy enough to ignore – serious vacuuming is really only necessary when company comes to visit, which is usually only a few times a year. My muscle tone (or lack thereof) is something I attribute conveniently to my age, and the cats, well, they were more than happy to sleep in the office with me for hours on end, so there lives were not affected negatively at all.

The cats sharing the office with me - you see the full Zee/Zoey family - the others, Harley and Jazz, are also in the office, they are just out of the range of the camera!

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Ugg.... I feel a headache coming on...

Hmmm.... maybe if I apply pressure the headache will go away...

Okay...I think that is helping - now just turn off the lights and I shoud be fine soon!

Poor Zee! Don’t worry – we all have days like this! Just get some rest and before you know it, you’ll be back to watching birds out the window!

Mia, you come home right now young lady...

There’s no denying it, the weather has been quite temperamental lately. Hurricanes, earthquakes, floods, droughts, fires, and tornados have all made an appearance somewhere across the states in the past few months. The other night I was watching TV and the local news station interrupted broadcasting to let me know there was a tornado warning in effect from 9:15 pm until 10:45 pm. They interrupted again to let me know the warning was extended to 6:00 am… talk about going to bed with a strong sense of foreboding and dread.

Luckily I woke up to find the house was safe and secure, but it got me to thinking about preparing for these events. Some of them we are given warning and we can plan, others, like an earthquake, often come out of nowhere… This got me thinking about my cats, and I realized that on the very rare occasion when Dan and I travel for an overnight event together and we require a cat-sitter, we (I) prepare for the occasion as if a natural disaster is about to occur. Read more