A Horrible Thing

Last night, my daughter-in-law had invited me to a home party for spices. I should actually say we as she invited my dear husband too because she thought he would enjoy it more. She had asked me weeks ago and even though youngest had a series of basketball games, my DH and I decided I would be the one to go since I am usually pickier about those type of things. Basically, I decide a budget then stick to it and I don’t care who the party is for either. I go there with a number in mind for spending and that’s it.

My youngest son’s first game was at 5:10, so they left at about 4:00 as it takes nearly an hour to get into Vegas and the courts where they are held. I worked a little more then took my shower at 5 to leave at about 5:30. My oldest called and asked me if I was coming. I told him yes and I would even get there early. I hopped into the shower and mentally went through the order of how I would need to do things.

Promptly at 5:30 pm, I started gathering my things to leave when all hell broke out as the dog chased the cats. It was obvious they needed separate areas, so I went about the task of catching cats and closing them in various rooms around the house. It took me an extra ten or fifteen minutes to get out the door. Once I was in the car, I realized how hot it was today and zipped along my merry way sweaty and hot.

Along this route, I have to go through a place called Railroad Pass, affectionately known as the Pass to all us locals. The traffic was really bad and I got stuck behind a car pulling a trailer. It was very slow going and I was about to pull around him as the traffic had cleared when one of the most horrific things I have ever seen in my life happened.

The trailer door opened, and believe me it was finally going a speed of about 60 mph, and something was tossed out. It took me a few seconds to realize what had been tossed out was what looked to be a chocolate seal-point Siamese baby. I tried to stop and knew I had gone too far so I had to go to the first exit and back around. I was so stunned by this action I did not even get the license plate on the trailer...after all...who could do something this horrible?

At this point, my oldest calls me and wants to know where I am. I tell him I’ve forgotten something and have to go back to get it. I didn’t want to tell him about the kitten because there was always a chance that I wouldn’t get back to it in time. The whole way back around, I’m praying that the little guy has gone toward the desert and not the road. As I drive past on the other side of the road, I don’t see him and my heart sinks as I dread I’m too late.

At the Pass, I do an illegal u-turn and start driving really slow to get the kitten. Low and behold, I see him staggering toward the desert. I pull off the road quickly, put on my blinkers and try to pick him up. When I got near him, he ran for the desert and got stuck in a small bush. He appeared to be only four to six weeks old but he moved fast when he got scared. It took me a few minutes to part the piece of brush he was in and finally I have him in my hands.

I look at him and see he is definitely a male plus he’s banged up pretty good. It looks as if his eye is swollen and leaking a little with a few more bumps or scrapes on his body but otherwise he was just scared. I get into my car and know I can’t hook up the seatbelt with him still in my hand. I set him down in the seat next to me and in an instant know I’ve made a mistake as he finds a way into a space under my dash. At this point I am a little panicked because I’m not sure exactly where he went so I call my oldest and asked if there were anything which would hurt a kitten under my dash.

He’s confused so I have to explain the whole thing to him. He doesn’t think there is anything there that might hurt him but every car is different. Not knowing what to do, I decide to go on to his house where we’ll pull the dash and retrieve the kitten. I was afraid the poor little thing had crawled away to die as cats often do. So I take it nice and slow to his house where after removing screws and getting in a position I haven’t been in in years, I manage to grab the kitten and pull him out.

We immediately see his injuries but better this time and decide to take him to my son’s vet about five to ten minutes away. Again, we were lucky, or rather this kitten, that someone was there as they had closed at five. As the vet opened the door, I tell her the tale of the kitten and that neither my son nor I can keep it. She states she is actually there for an emergency case but to bring the kitten up anyway. My lumberjack of a son, who has held this little guy and calmed his fears, brings him up. He explains that all his animals come here and it was the closest place. We talk for a while with the vet who states the kitten looks good for all the trauma and they will look after the minor wounds as well as give him a dose of antibiotics.

After that, she then states they will put him up for adoption as long as my son signs him over. We all agree this is the best course of action since he has two cats and I have three already. The last words we heard her say was actually to the kitten as she pulls him up to eye level. “Well, little guy, you only have eight left.” That touch of humor did a lot to calm my soul, which was hurting with the trauma of the whole thing.

When I finally talked to the DH, I admitted it was probably more traumatic to see the even than it was to the kitten who didn’t know what was going on. It was horrible in every way and I wonder about people any more. You don’t do those things to animals. You don’t do that to anything except maybe a bug or spider.

Then I also realize what a miraculous set of events happened, so I could be at the right place at the right time. If I hadn’t let the dog know I was leaving, he wouldn’t have gone on a rampage to harass the cats because he wanted me to stay. If I hadn’t of been in such a hurry, I wouldn’t have picked the wrong lane to get in going out of the Pass. If I hadn’t been paying attention to the road in front of me, I would never have seen the kitten bounce on the pavement. In addition, if I hadn’t been willing to turn around, taking my time to go back, this little kitten would have surely been coyote food.

As it is, he will go home with some lucky family who knows the value of having a pet. Nevertheless, the best moment came when my oldest turned to me and said, ‘Mom, you did the right thing. You can always come to one of these parties but you can’t always rescue a kitten.’ That made my day!

What thing have you seen that you couldn’t understand? Did it traumatize you or make you wonder about humanity? Let me know and I’ll give you an extra entry into the monthly contest.

See you all tomorrow!

Lynn

The World’s Cutest Kitty

We had the world’s cutest kitty for twenty-one glorious years. Like in Garfield, his name was Nermal and from the moment, we saw him at the vet, he and his brother, whom we named Doom, had our hearts.

That cat had gone through thick and thin with us and when he passed, I was lost. My DH didn’t want to get just any other cat, he wanted another Nermal.

It was a sad thing but we had gotten all our animals about the same time and when Tippy the dog died, we knew it was a matter of time. Our other dog, Bomber, was nearly inconsolable when the old gal died and if it hadn’t been for Patches the cat, who loved him, it would have been nights full of howling.

The youngest cat, Sam, was my youngest son’s and adopted when my DH was overseas as the cat bonded to him immediately. She loved him and would sleep with under the covers in the kid’s bed. She was a joy as well but played with the eighty-pound dog daily and we had a bad feeling about the whole thing. Sure enough, not long after Tippy died, Sam was pounced on and we had another inconsolable dog next door as she couldn’t understand why her friend wouldn’t get back up and play. We got a new cat the same day, black as midnight, once again Sam and loving the kid just as much.

Next went Nermal. He talked to me that morning as if saying his goodbyes and followed me around. I knew he was going to go but had to go to work. My youngest found him and we all gathered to say goodbye. He and Tippy are buried together in a place where the sun always shines. This cat wouldn’t be easily replaced and I knew that.

Just three weeks later, Patches died in my DH’s arms and I thought he was going to go with her. He insisted we go and look for another cat right away. Lo and behold, we went to the same place we got Sam 2 and found another delicate calico who looked almost the same. My DH fell in love immediately and we took her home. She fell for Bomber right away and he always tolerated her cleaning and trying to take care of him.

A month went by, then another and another with no orange tabby in sight. When we weren’t looking, we found tons of little orange kitties but not this time. It took us almost three months of constantly looking then one day during a Petco event, there he was except he wasn’t a tabby with the tiger stripes. He was what they called a mackerel and looked like he had a cinnamon bun stuck on his side.

I called my husband and told him we’d found the one. We told the rescue people we would be back for him the next day and even went as far as getting the paperwork done. We just had to exchange the fee the next day. I was that sure.

We showed up at the time they told us to come back and went to the cage. No kitten. I asked what had happened to our cat. They told us someone had come in after us, paid the fee and took him. They would have more orange kittens later in the month. I could come back then. I let them know they had done me and my family a disservice as that cat was meant to be with us. They just shook their heads and apologized.

I went home with my family in tow very disheartened and angry at how callously these people acted. It took me a couple of weeks before I could go to another Petco event because during this whole time there were no orange kittens to be had anywhere. My son convinced me to go and I slowly walked into the store. The same group was there with their cages of cats and kittens.

Moreover, right in the center of all this was our cat. Our orange mackerel sitting as pretty as can be meowing. He was timid whenever someone came to the cage. When we approached, he just sat there and looked at us. I was right...this cat was meant to be ours...and nothing was going to keep me from taking him home this time.

I went to the people there and they remembered me. I asked why he was back and was told he wasn’t good with people or other animals. Frankly, they weren’t sure what they were going to do with him as he had been returned twice already. This last set of people had to be very sure they wanted him. I was sure. I whipped out my cash and laid it on the table. They already had my paperwork and pulled it out. Realizing I had been the one they treated badly before, they tried to give me the run around.

I just smiled at them and told them the cat was meant to be ours. Otherwise, he wouldn’t be here. The owner of the non-profit facility told me she would need to call me every week to make sure he was a good fit. She didn’t want this cat euthanized any more than I did. I told it was fine to call me but assured her I would have no such problems. To me, animals are like children, you are in it for the long haul, and I expressed this sentiment to her.

We put him in his box and took him home. He was frightened and immediately hid from everything when we let him go. The others were curious but wouldn’t go near him. For almost ten days, I didn’t see this guy except at feedings and my DH wondered if I was right. I told him to leave the cat alone and he’d see. Within a month, he was talking to us and wrapping himself around our legs to ask to be feed much to the surprise of the rescue group we got him from.

He wasn’t a social cat except with us. We had always wondered if he would grow into his paws and he has. He is huge and maybe we should have named him Garfield as he weighs in at a hefty twenty pounds. And he’s one big kitty that puts Jasper the dog on notice. He completes our family in a way that no other cat has. We named him Cinnamon because of the huge bun swirled on his side.

In my eyes, he is the world’s cutest kitty. I hope you can see why I say this. Here’s a picture of him inside an empty drinking water case. We had taken all the bottles, leaving the plastic shell with the cardboard bottom. We notice he was trying to get in it and stood in the kitchen to see what this big guy had to do to fit inside this small place. You wouldn’t believe me if I told you.

What’s your favorite cat story? Let me know...I’ll look forward to hearing from you!

See you tomorrow.

Lynn

The Cat Herders

Okay, I’ve heard many times dealing with writers is like herding cats. Over the years, I’ve realized this is so, so true. Writers are truly the creative ilk of the universe. They live in their own little worlds then they do what they feel is pertinent for their life and their career regardless of the real impact. We all know cats are truly only out for themselves.

As I turn 52 on the 21st, yes I really am that old, I can see the big picture and can’t say that this is true of every writer. There are those out there with hearts of gold and a true desire to help their fellow writers. I should know as I’ve been helped by a few in my lifetime. For this I am forever grateful. But to get those fellow writers to agree on a subject, that’s a special art unto itself.

Writers can’t agree most of the time because they have been alone on this journey for so long, they don’t know how to be part of a group at the moment they are finished with a project or even in the middle of it. But by the same token, once said project is done and to the editor, they can’t wait to flock together to share their experience.

Every writer has more than one thing in common with another. Some more than others and those will be able to form close bonds which tie them to the other author for whatever reason. Those who are able to put all things aside will form critique groups and writer groups because of their need to learn more and if nothing else, to share the experience.

Here are two videos which I think you’ll see shows this subject quite well:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pk7yqlTMvp8

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gppbrYIcR80

I hope those picked up your spirits...they did mine.

Now, the quote of the day is:

Fill your paper with the breathings of your heart. ~William Wordsworth

Isn’t this the truth? As romance writers, we definitely need to fill our pages with our heart. Our heart is where it’s at and we can come up with those HEAs.

Happy writing and reading!

See you all tomorrow!

Lynn

An Interview with Astrid Cooper

Hello Readers and Writers!


Our second interview of the day is with the very lovely and talented, Astrid Cooper. Please join me as I welcome her to XtraOrdinary Romance today!

At what age did you realize you wanted to be a writer?

I was writing my own stories by the age of five – and I have been writing them ever since. It was not a conscious decision to become a writer. I was born a writer.

What has been your biggest influence on becoming a writer?

Writing and publishing fan-fiction from the late 1970s and organizing numerous Star Trek and science fiction conventions. Through these I was introduced to the works of Marion Zimmer Bradley, Anne McCaffrey and Tanith Lee (to name a few). Interestingly, it was the women speculative writers whom I read voraciously. I loved the romantic elements they included in their books. Spaceships, ray guns and galactic battles, or chivalric knights on horseback are only exciting for me if there is a deep human interest/characterization in the story. I grew up reading stories about King Arthur, so I suspect that my notions of loyalty, honour and courage were ingrained at an early age – these elements always form a layer in a story I write, no matter the genre, or setting.

How did you feel when you got your first publishing contract?

Shocked—this can’t be happening to me. Pinch me, I must be dreaming! It wasn’t until I went to the printer and saw my first book’s print run in progress that I believed it WAS happening. I have the first copy of my first book – it fell into my hands literally hot off the presses (in the days before Print on Demand).

How many novellas/novels have you published to date? When did you have your first sale?

My first sale was in 1998 and since then I have had 2 novels (plus re-prints of old titles), collections of short stories, work in anthologies and numerous novellas (I have lost count). My website has a full list of my publishing credits. www.astridcoper.com

Tell me about your latest release. Please include if it is part of a series or a standalone book.

My latest release is Starlight. This is sexy space opera (think Casanova meets Star Trek with a touch of the paranormal). Starlight is a print book published by extasybooks, and it’s a biggun (approx. 125,000 words). It was originally e-published as a series of novellas over a period of 12 months. It was a challenge to write, and the characters and the plot just diverged from the original premise. It’s about cat shifters and other shapechangers in our galaxy, 200 years in the future. The story begins with the meeting of he hero and heroine at the Saturn Hilton, then journeying outwards to other worlds and concluding at Broome, Western Australia. Consequently, there are some things that are familiar, but most often with a twist – such as ‘galaxy e-bay’. I had fun making the contemporary, futuristic. I believe that if I’m having fun writing, then I think my readers will be entertained and surprised by the twists of plot. My latest book IS sexy, but writing all those “docking maneuver” scenes, one after another can become boring (to write and to read!), so I added something new: the schahor (the starlight levels) which are stages of communication and love between the hero and heroine – a sharing of mind, body and spirit.

What was your inspiration for this book?

My cats and my publisher! One of my cats always sleeps beside me when I am writing (as well as the dog who insists on being part of the editorial team). My publisher needed a short story to fill a sudden gap in the publishing schedule and she knew I had some old material in my desk, and asked if I had anything suitable. I dug out a story and re-worked it, but as I was writing the new scenes, the character (John) said “My father is felinus and I sing opera.” Whoa now … I came out of the typing trance and l read what I had typed. What’s a felinus? I asked myself. By the end of the book I knew. My writing process and my personal beliefs about friendship, love and sentience (discussed in this article) are also expressed throughout Starlight. It was, as one of my readers told me, “A book you have needed to write for a long time!”

How do you categorize yourself: pantser or plotter?

I am both – I like to write fast and get the basics down and then go back and layer plot and character. I often find that when I am in the creative trance, I type stuff that I am not sure “fits” into the story, but my subconscious knows what it’s doing (I have learned to trust it and not to delete it from the text) and so by the end of the book the “unknown” scenes and characters that appear have fitted seamlessly into the narrative.

If readers are interested in how Starlight came about and some interesting stuff that happened, plus a discussion on the creative process and the philosophy behind the book, please go to an article I wrote at The Specusphere (a webzine):

http://www.specusphere.com/joomla/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=836&Itemid=31

How do you handle the editing/revision process?

I’m an editor and reviser, constantly tweaking, constantly wanting to improve the narrative; but every book is different. Some stories come fully realized and require little tweaking, others grow with the telling and I have to re-work from the beginning of the story to make it consistent – this happened with Starlight. Inevitably when you write a novella a month, the plot and the characters change. It’s not like writing a book at one hit, where it’s sequential. Starlight grew with the telling, so when I came to be offered a print contract, I had to start from page one and re-work Starlight for consistency. It was a challenge, but also a fascinating process to see how the story and characters had grown (and still are continuing to grow).

You’re received some fantastic reviews...how do you feel about them and why?

I’m always shocked to get good reviews. I’m always thrilled to read that reviewers have enjoyed my book and have fallen in love with the characters and/or the premise. I’ve also had a couple of negative reader responses due to the sexual content of Starlight. These readers disliked the book for the very reasons that other readers LOVED it. Just goes to show the infinite diversity of readers out there and the fact that readers will find the writers they love and vice versa. I always listen to reader and reviewer comments – good or bad – because a French philosopher (Barthes) said: the birth of the reader is the death of the author. Basically, this means that once an author releases a book, it is no longer “owned” by the author – it is now interpreted by the reader who sees the work using a different “eye”. A “bad” reaction to a work doesn’t mean that the author got it wrong (unless the comments relate to technical stuff such as grammar or spelling, etc.) there is no right or wrong way to write and create characters and a story – it is interpreted by a reader who judges it from his/her own perspective.

Did anything odd happen while you were researching this story?

Oh yes! As always: SYNCHRONICITY. I believe that some creators (whether it’s music, words or images) tap into the universal collective (call it channeling, or accessing the Akashic Records, etc.) but information and experiences appear in my narrative and I have no conscious idea of how such become incorporated into my work. I read it when I come out of my typing trance and wonder what it means, but I discover by the end of the book that this information or scene is integral to the book. (See later in this article about my introduction to opera, the relevance of the name of Kuno for my hero and its link with pearls). Synchronicity has always been part of my life, especially when I am “creating”.

The only research I did was cyber-visiting Broome. Again, this is another example of synchronicity and its importance to the book as a whole and the characters in particular. Broome is in Western Australia and the final instalment of Starlight is located in Broome with dolphins and whales – an integral part of the plot as far as my characters are concerned. And I discovered some things about myself that I didn’t know while writing the book and even when answering the questions for this blog. A writer writes both consciously and from the subconscious—all our life experiences come out in the words and images we create. That’s inescapable. Interestingly, when I had a bad reaction to Starlight from one reader, I was contacted out of the blue by another author who introduced me to Barthes and the idea of the birth of the reader is the death of the author – which helped me to put the “bad” comments into perspective. Once again, if you want to pursue this discussion, please read the article at The Specusphere.

Did you learn anything about yourself that you didn’t know while writing this book?

As related above. Also -- I was introduced to opera by John, my felinus hero. I have never listened to opera before, but I have discovered its beauty and inspiration – in particular Puccini. Every creature has its own “song” and by song I mean his/her or its own life experiences and message – how one expresses the song is as individual as its creator. For me, my song is expressed in my garden, and my books. In a fascinating example of synchronicity, John (whose felinus name is Kuno) told the heroine that he sings opera. Kuno is the name from a Steinbeck novel called ‘The Pearl”. Somehow pearls were going to be involved in the story. I also had heard a piece of music that haunted me, which I later discovered was called ‘The Temple Duet from The Pearl Fishers… and it wad this piece of opera that Kuno and his brother sing to Samantha (the heroine of Starlight). So, definitely my life has been changed by writing Starlight – I love opera and when I listen to it, I “see” new scenes and characters for future works. I discovered that other readers and writers love opera and I was asked to include a list of music that inspired me while writing Starlight – this is contained in the print edition of Starlight.

Is there a message you want the readers to take from this book?

That love is the most powerful force in the universe; that friends and family are all important. I have always been interested in the idea of different life forms, etc. – thanks to my early exposure to Star Trek. The aspect of Trek which most inspires me is the concept of IDIC (Infinite Diversity in Infinite Combinations), which means, basically, that all life is diverse, and one cannot measure a life form according to human “standards”. What exactly IS humanity, anyway, and what is “sentience”? “It’s life Jim, but not as we know it…” to quote an oft-used line from the Original Star Trek series. Starlight has this in undercurrent through the existence of humans and shapeshifters within a galaxy of the near future, but of course there is prejudice (on both sides) against the different life forms and the expressions of sexuality. In Starlight, all my creatures have sentience: for example, the whales and dolphins which appear in the final chapters of Starlight. One of my readers wrote and told me how much she enjoyed the scene with the signing whale. It is a pivotal moment, and I cannot say much more than that or give the plot thread away for Harimal’s story (Starlight Book Two – to be out later next year). I also enjoyed creating my “artificial intelligence” creatures – Jin-Jo and his pet kitten Ginga. My aim is to entertain – as a writer/creator I want to entertain myself, but I also want to entertain readers who trust me enough to pay to read my books.

What’s your favorite scene? Most difficult? Why?

Readers asked me to give them a glossary of the felinus and other alien words and phrases I created for Starlight. Collating all the words and giving them explanations (while trying not to be boring in the process) was a real challenge! The REALLY difficult scene was the “Starlight Madness” chapter – it had dream-time and real time sequences for the characters, as well as the starlord (the villain) who manipulates the dream-scape for its own perversion. It was difficult to ensure that readers would know dream from reality. I have too many favourite scenes, but one which readers have told me they enjoyed was the first visit to the Rendezvous Bar (the raunchy hangout of the shifters). It changes decor at the whim of the sexy owners of the Bar. When the hero and heroine visit it in Starlight, it is outfitted like something from 1,001 Arabian Nights. That was a sensual delight to write – to activate the five senses of readers so that they felt they were experiencing the Bar, through the heroine’s perspective.

Why are your stories unique?

Isn’t every story unique to its creator? I like to think that I bring deeper layers to my work than the obvious. My sensual romances might appear, on first glance, to be a series of highly sexy scenes, but I believe that within the obvious, is the UNobvious – the layers and depth that are there if the reader chooses to look. One of my loyal readers is 86 years old and she has read every one of my print books. She wrote to tell me that she loved Starlight for its layers and depth. She said how much she enjoyed the loyalty, courage and sacrifice the characters in Starlight make for each other. This loyalty-at-all-costs was one of the compelling reasons I had behind writing the story (so I later discovered!) And this is a theme I explore in most of my works – whether it’s futuristic romance, or historical fantasy romance. A book can always be read on many levels – a reader interprets the work based on their own world view. As a writer, I am constantly challenged by my creations. The writing process, for me, is characterized by surprises and by synchronicity. I will always have varying degrees of sexuality in my books, since I write about relationships. I believe that fully developed relationships will always have some sort of consummation – whether the traditional human “docking maneuver” or other ways appropriate for that species. The characters in Starlight (as in other books I have written) have mind, body and spirit connections. I think many readers (and writers) explore these dimensions. Hence the popularity of ‘paranormal’ romance. Sex is fine, but there needs to be “something more”. I explore that ‘something more’ in all its infinite diversity in my books, regardless of setting or genre. And I explore new age consciousness in my works – my worldview has changed due, in part, to the many encounters I have had with life and death and spirituality in my personal and writing life. This new world view has entered the mainstream – why else are books about vampires, ghosts, etc., so popular?

What is the biggest piece of your advice you can give a beginning writer?

NEVER listen to anyone who tells you their way is the only way to write. If you encounter such an expert, please RUN don’t walk to the nearest exit. Writing to the dictates of another is the quickest way to stifle your creativity. It happened to me, I would hate for it to happen to others. NEVER be afraid to experiment with your writing and the way you construct sentences – it’s by doing this that you will find your unique style and voice.—your “song”

I am always reminded of this with one of my favourite quotes:

HONORING WHO YOU REALLY ARE. By Marianne Williamson:

Our Worst Fear

“Our worst fear is not that we are inadequate.
Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure.
It is our light, not our darkness, that most frightens us.
“We ask ourselves, who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, brilliant and fabulous.
Actually, who are you not to be?
“You are a child of God ... you are ... and your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won’t feel insecure around you.
“We were born to make manifest the glory of God within us.
It is not just in some of us, it is in every one of us. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same.
As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.”

What’s the first thing that comes to you: the story, the setting or the characters.

Characters. Always the characters. I write about characters and relationships and love conquering all, so it always starts with a character and most often they appear to me in dreams, or when I am sitting outside on the terrace overlooking my garden. I daydream a lot in the garden (or while doing the boring housework) and I “see” flashes of characters and/or scenes. In Crystal Dreams (a futuristic romance), I woke from a vivid dream, having seen a man dressed in a kilt striding through a mist. Clichéd, perhaps, but I had the idea and the character and filled in the missing pieces over the next two months.

Astrid’s BIO:

Astrid Cooper is an award-winning, best-selling Australian author of romantic/sensual speculative fiction, whose fantasy romance novel hit the best-seller list twice. But forget Mr Darcy as her ‘ideal’, Astrid’s heroes are more likely to be someone who is ‘mad, bad and dangerous to know!’ Dare to be different! Astrid's motto has taken her life and career in many exciting directions: she has met Hollywood stars, a movie producer, and an Apollo astronaut. Astrid is a freelance editor, as well as a writing teacher and mentor. She currently works on the speculative fiction webzine, The Specusphere, as promotions editor for authors and publishers.

Starlight BOOK BLURB:

Two hundred years in the future, humans have spread out across the galaxy, playing and loving among the stars, their sexual appetites and willingness to experiment have become a sought-after species, taking their place among the elite of the sensualators—men and women who devote their lives and bodies to gifting pleasure and among the most coveted and the most enigmatic are the felinus—the cat shifters…

Samantha Sinclair will never trust another man, but her friends decide to lure her out of her celibacy with a special Christmas gift—a night with a sensualator. John-Kuno is no ordinary man. He takes Sam away from her fears, her homogenized, synthesized existence and introduces her to the enigmatic, sensual world of the shifters. With their starlight passion burning brighter than a supernova, John and Sam do not know that in the cold reaches of space a monster is biding his time. He demands nothing less than the universe as his due, starting with Sam, but first he must destroy John and the whole race of humans and their shifter allies.

Where can readers find out more about you and your work?

My website: http://www.astridcooper.com/

Amazon author page
http://www.amazon.com/Astrid-Cooper/e/B002DP8QUG/ref=sr_tc_2_0

extasy books (current sensual romance titles): http://www.extasybooks.com/

devine destinies (to be released titles later this year and 2010): http://www.devinedestinies.com/

Realms Beyond newsletter (my infrequent author e-newsletter) – email Astrid:) kopperkat@gmail.com if you want to be on her newsletter mailout.

Astrid prefers individual contact with readers, through email or snail mail letters, so isn’t on facebook or twitter or youtube, but is working out how to create her own blog.

Thanks for taking part in my 2 for Thursday promotion. I had a great time and learned a lot of great information about Astrid...I hope you all did too!

Lynn