The Gift of Nine Lives

This week I’m announcing the publication of a new gift book for cat lovers—The Gift of Nine Lives.

As you probably know, I’ve done two earlier gift books: A Cat’s Life: Dulcy’s Story (which, for its 25^th anniversary edition has an Introduction about the wondrous way the book came to be) and A Cat’s Legacy: Dulcy’s Companion Book.

The Gift of Nine Lives, which I so enjoyed writing this past year, is the cat bible of purrs, yowls, and miaows that a clowder of feline scribes originally pawed more than two millennia ago. We can be thankful that they took time from their napping to give us this treasure trove of stories that illustrate their delightful sense of superiority and their mystifying tribulations.

Within the pages of The Gift of Nine Lives, cat lovers will discover the time-honored story of Bastet-Net—the Great God of Cats—and her most perfect creation: felines.

According to this ancient tale, Bastet-Net gave her premier creation dominion over all other animals. For eons of time, the descendants of Mosi—first cat—ruled all creatures great and small. Then, forgetting the commands of Bastet-Net, cats became paunchy and indolent: slumbering often; hunting never.

Outraged by feline self-satisfaction, Runihura, an alpha canine, led his blood-thirsty followers in rebellion. Totally bemused by such surprising insubordination, cats beseeched Bastet-Net for relief.

Hearing their mews, the Great God of Cats inspired fearless felines to prophesy a liberator who would change life for cats and canines alike. So it was that Tabia, a feline born in lower Egypt, brought to the valley of the Nile a gift from Bastet-Net that just might change the way readers feel about the cats who trained them in the past, demand their devotion in the present, and will co-opt their lives in the future.

This feline bible, scratched on tightly woven tapestries by and for cats, lay hidden in the sands of Egypt for nearly two thousand years. It came to light only recently when several intrepid cat archaeologists happily unearthed their ancestors’ primeval myths.

A renowned feline scholar—Eliza Calico, head of the feline history department at Mau University in Minneapolis, Minnesota—has translated this edition of The Gift of Nine Lives.

It’s clear, I’m sure, that this gift book delights me. I giggled often while writing it. It is the result of living with cats for forty-five years. We yowl the same language!

As you know, I’m self-publishing, so I would appreciate any help you might be able to give me in bringing this gift book to the attention of others. It would make a lovely Christmas or birthday gift for any cat lover you know.

If you have some interest in The Gift of Nine Lives and/or the two other gift books, please click on the appropriate icon at the top right of this blog page. That will take you to Amazon and to the paperback and e-book formats.

Thank you in advance for your support as I pursue my heartwish to write and publish. Writing is my passion; I feel so blessed to have one. As my body ages, this passion keeps me young at heart.

Peace.