Raining Cats & Dogs Blog Tour! #petsontour

http://tweedling.com/raining-cats-and-dogs-blog-tour-14-january-to-14-february/

Hey! Join me and David M Brown on the Raining Cats & Dogs Blog Tour, where cats and dogs run wild on blogs! Be furry entertained... hopefully :) A special thanks for Donna Brown (Mrs B) of
The Indie Exchange (our co-sponsor) for organising the event!
#petsontour

David M. Brown and I are taking our cats and dogs on tour around a variety of blogs. We will be talking about the books we have written starring our furry heroes and heroines; answering interview questions; making up character posts (mine will be Kiwi and Glen, and others), and writing about other book-related subjects. Over the next four weeks one of us will be on someone's blog, so pop along and join in the fun. 

  

Every blogger – or pet! – taking part will be entered into a draw to win a $50 Amazon gift card. And there’s another $50 up for grabs for spreading the word (see the Rafflecopter at the bottom of this post)!

Our books & the characters we'll be talking about

Glen the dog
When nature lover Josie moves into a house share with two pals, dreamer Ben and model man David, she sees it as a short stop and doesn’t bank on an attraction developing with one of them. Meanwhile, Ben’s dog, Glen, has the hots for Miss Posh, the beautiful golden Lab in the park. When dog meets dog it’s puppy love, but a complication leads to Glen taking matters into his own paws. In this comedy of errors, romance and walkies, it’s anyone’s guess who is going to get the girl/dog and live happily ever after.

A quirky bunch of cats

History has known many famous cats – Garfield, Mr Bigglesworth, Simon’s Cat, the Aristocats, the Cheshire cat and the Keyboard Cat on YouTube. In recent years these feline things have replaced man’s best friend as the most popular pet in the U.S. while the Ancient Egyptians once worshipped them as gods. This was a mistake and I’m here to tell you why. Man vs Cat is the story of one man, one woman and the six cats that changed their lives forever. To the woman they brought love and affection, to the man they brought sleepless nights, fear, paranoia and even ruined his jigsaw. Need I say more?

Kiwi the cat and her animal friends

One dark night, Amy cannot sleep and she looks out of the window into the garden to see her cat, Kiwi, transfixed by the moon, which is glowing brightly like a cat’s claw. Waking her brother, James, Amy suggests they follow Kiwi to see where she goes… whether it involves a hunt for mice or something else. Little do they know that, with a flick of her tail, Kiwi is going to magically change them into kittens and lead them on the adventure of their lives to a land they never knew existed in their wildest dreams. In the blue-lit world of Cat City, the budding detectives help Inspector Furrball to solve the mystery of the missing catizens and find out what happened to Madame Purrfect. 

The schedule 
- links will be posted as they go live

VJ – me   DMB – David M Brown

Week 1

14 Jan – Bunny’s Review (Reviews and character guest post – VJ)

http://bunnysreview.com/2013/01/raining-cats-dogs-vickie-johnstone/ 

14 Jan – Indie Exchange (Character guest post – VJ) 

http://theindieexchange.com/raining-cats-and-dogs-vickie-johnstone/

14 Jan – Dag-Lit Central (Author guest post – DMB)

http://daglit.blogspot.co.uk/2013/01/raining-cats-and-dogs-david-m-brown.html

15 Jan – Bunny’s Review (DMB)

http://bunnysreview.com/

15 Jan – Indie Exchange (DMB)http://theindieexchange.com/raining-cats-and-dogs-david-m-brown-petsontour/

15 Jan – Dag-Lit Central (Author guest post – VJ) 

http://daglit.blogspot.co.uk/2013/01/raining-cats-and-dogs-vickie-johnstone.html

16 Jan – Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dave (Review – VJ)

http://tweedling.com/2013/01/book-review-3-heads-a-tail-vickie-johnstone-2/

16 Jan – Alchemy of Scrawl (Review – DMB)

http://alchemyscrawl.com/man-vs-cat-in-the-raining-cats-and-dogs-tour/

17 Jan – Library Girl Reads and Reviews (Character guest post – DMB)

http://librarygirlreads.blogspot.co.uk/2013/01/man-vs-cat-by-david-m-brown-guest-post.html

17 Jan – Karen Pokras Toz (Author guest post and review – VJ)

http://kptoz.blogspot.co.uk/2013/01/author-spotlight-vickie-johnstone.html

17 Jan – Cabin Goddess (Review and character guest post – DMB)

http://cabingoddess.com/2013/01/charlie-the-great-queen-asrielle-take-over-the-cabin-a-cat-reviews-man-vs-cat/

Week 2

21 Jan – Alison DeLuca (Review – DMB)

http://alisondeluca.blogspot.co.uk/
21 Jan – Library Girl Reads and Reviews (Author interview – VJ)

http://librarygirlreads.blogspot.co.uk/2013/01/kiwi-in-cat-city-by-vickie-johnstone.html

22 Jan – My Devotional Thoughts (Review and author guest post – DMB)
http://www.mydevotionalthoughts.com/2013/01/raining-cats-and-dogs-tour-2013-man-vs.html

22 Jan – Izz Bookish Place (Excerpt and author guest post – VJ)

http://izzbookishplace.blogspot.co.uk/2013/01/raining-cats-and-dogs-book-tour-guest.html

23 Jan – My Devotional Thoughts (Reviews and guest post – VJ)

http://www.mydevotionalthoughts.com/2013/01/raining-cats-and-dogs-tour-3-heads-tail.html

Week 3

28 Jan – Andi’s Chapter Books (Author guest post and excerpt – VJ)

http://andischapterbooks.blogspot.co.uk/2013/01/kiwi-in-cat-city-and-writing-for-kids.html

30 Jan – Andi’s Kids Books (Review – VJ)

1 Feb – Karen Pokras Toz (Review – DMB)

1 Feb – Cool Cat Sites (DMB)

2 Feb – Cool Pet Sites (DMB)

2 Feb – Cool Dog Sites (VJ)

2 Feb – Alison DeLuca (Excerpt – DMB)

2 Feb – Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dave (Review – VJ)

3 Feb – Diary of Mr Kain (Character interview – VJ)

3 Feb – Cool Cat Sites (VJ)

3 Feb – Sand in my Shoes Reviews (Review – VJ)

3 Feb – Cool Cat Sites (Interview - VJ)

http://www.coolpetsites.com/2013/interview-with-author-vickie-johnstone

Week 4 

4 Feb – Andi’s Chapter Books (Author guest post and excerpt – DMB)

4 Feb – Sand in My Shoes Reviews (Review – DMB)

4 Feb – Cool Pet Sites (VJ)

4 Feb – Book Goodies Kids (DMB)

5 Feb – It’s Time to Read Mamaw (Interview – VJ)

5 Feb – Paranormal/Young Adult/New Adult (Excerpt – DMB)

5 Feb – Book Goodies (DMB)

6 Feb – Andi’s Chapter Books (Review – DMB)

6 Feb – Book Goodies Kids (VJ)

6 Feb – Paranormal/Young Adult/New Adult (Excerpt – VJ)

7 Feb – The Mess That is Me (Author guest post and excerpt – VJ)

7 Feb – Blessed Domestic Diva (Guest post and review – DMB)

7 Feb – The Mess That is Me (Author guest post and excerpt – DMB)

7 Feb – Blessed Domestic Diva (Guest post and review – VJ)

8 Feb – Cool Pet Sites (VJ)

9 Feb – It’s Time to Read Mamaw (Interview – DMB)

9 Feb – Page Turner Book Tours (Spotlight – VJ)

9 Feb – Book Goodies Kids (VJ)

10 Feb – Book Goodies (VJ)

10 Feb – Page Turner Book Tours (Spotlight – DMB)

10 Feb – Confessions of the Hockmangirl (Character guest post – DMB)

Week 5

11 Feb – GMTA (Excerpt – DMB)

11 Feb – Gathering Leaves (Review and interview – VJ)

11 Feb – Megan Blogs (Guest post – VJ & DMB)

11 Feb – Book Goodies (VJ)

12 Feb – Gathering Leaves (Review and interview – DMB)

12 Feb – GMTA (Excerpt – VJ)

13 Feb – Read to Review (Interview – VJ)

14 Feb – Read to Review (Interview – DMB)

Voofs and purrs!

Vickie

a Rafflecopter giveaway

All Pets Want For Christmas Blog Hop - 8 Dec

 Welcome to the All Pets Want For Christmas Hop!

First of all, I’d like to thank the Indie Exchange, Donna Brown and Coral Russell for making this fun event happen. David M Brown and me are sponsoring the event. We've both written books about our furry friends. Mine are the Kiwi Series and 3 Heads & a Tail. David has just published a funny book called Man vs Cat - look out for it! 

Don’t forget to check out the other participants and enter the prize draw to win a $50 Amazon gift card. Yep, you can buy a lot of cat food with that! You'll find both things at the bottom of my post.

My pet is a cute thirteen-year-old, black and white cat called Moggie. I’ve had her since she was small enough to fit in my hand. I got Moggie and her brother, Kurt, who is no longer with us (sigh), in a charity pet shop. I had recently lost my kitty, called Kiwi, and was looking to take in an adult cat. The woman in the shop showed me a brown, two-year-old boy. I’d never had a tomcat (apart from when I was growing up in my parent’s house, which we will just called The Johnstone Zoo, as it was overrun by fur, fins and feathers!), so I was umm-ing and ahh-ing when I heard a really loud meow.

Turning, I spotted a cage which the lady of the shop hadn’t shown me. Expecting to see something big to match the big voice, I came face to furry face (that one’s not mine) with the tiniest kitten. She was so wee - all ears and meow. Her brother was sitting down quietly, but this little kitty, well, she really wasn't going to let me go without her. That was it. Love at first sight with the both of them. Home they came. I remember letting them out of the carry box, and while Kurt was a bit slow and wary, Moggie charged out like a bullet from a gun. She then did loads of laps of the room, purring her head off. It sounded like a choo-choo train. Now, thirteen years later, when she wants something, that big meow brings back memories.

So what would Moggie like for Christmas? With a meow that big,
it wasn’t going to be one item. She made a list!

Dear Santa Kitty...

1. Please make my owner’s laptop self-destruct. Vickie spends far too much time with it on her lap. I can’t see the fascination. It’s ugly, made of metal and cold, whereas I am fluffy and lovely. Her lap is my seat – I am the cat of the house. Therefore the laptop must die.

2. I want all spiders in the house to be directed towards me. I like swatting and eating them. They are a fine source of protein and Vickie is scared of them anyway, so she won’t mind. She told me off as a kitten for bringing a mouse home, so they are safe, but spiddies are mine.

3. Please can you put more shoes in the hallway. I love sleeping on these and leaving my fur behind so that my owners will think of me every time they slip their feet inside. Three more extra pairs would be good. Please make them soft and bendable, but not so they lose shape. My owner pulls a face when that happens.

4. Please can you build a little bird village in the back garden so that I can watch more of my feathered friends. I don’t want to hunt them, you see, I just want to watch. I like them. I know that’s weird, but I guess I’m different. Just call me Moggie Bird Watcher.

5. Please sort it so that my owners can only watch David Attenborough documentaries on TV, starring lots and lots of animals. More birds please and fish. But no dogs. Ever. I don't know why, but Vickie wrote a book starring a talking dog. It's called 3 Heads & a Tail. Please ban it. No one wants to get inside the mind of a dog. Shiver!

6. Please can you arrange it so that the Whiskas advert they made for cats comes back on TV. I’ve never been so excited in my life – all those jiggly toys, purrs and stuff. Ahhh.

7. I would like my own bed. I’m not talking about a little cat bed with furry pink bits. No, I mean a big, king-size double bed with a fluffy duvet and big, squishy pillows. Water bed? No, that’s plain silly. And can I have a hot blanket too.

8. I would like everyone in the world to read Kiwi in Cat City and the other books in the series. Kiwi is the cat that Vickie used to have before me, and she loved her very, very much, so she wrote a book about her. Also, I’m in the second book in the series. Vickie made me Kiwi’s mum in the books. My nickname in the series is ‘Moody Moggie’, but I’m not. Not at all, honest. And the book is set in a world of cats. Please Kitty Santa, let me visit there! Please!

9. I would like a very big turkey for Christmas. No, I don’t mean some idiot guy who can’t tell jokes, but a really large, cooked, mouth-watering turkey. Not too well done. And rice pudding please.

10. I would like my own personal stroker, who will caress and cuddle me whenever my owners are not around, including when they leave me for a few minutes to go to the toilet. It’s too long!

11. I would like my own personal cat dietician. Iams is getting boring. I understand that it improved my teeth and stopped me dribbling like a loony, settled my stomach so I didn’t do eggy farts, and made my fur shine, but still...

12. Please ban fleas. I don’t care where they are banned to. Just get rid of them. Now! Sorry, I hope that didn’t make me sound moody. I just don’t want any more Frontline. It turns me into Cat Zombie!

13. Please make worming tablets taste nice. I could win cat gurning competitions whenever I eat one. Imagine. I don’t look pleasant.

14. Please can you ban thermometers at the vets? Really, do I need to explain why? Do you know where they stick those ice-cold things?

15. I want more attention. Full stop.

Kitty thanks,

Your favourite cat, Moggie.

Yes, I’m crossing my paws behind my back. The saucers of Iams and water are gifts for you. You can even have a go on my scratching post or sleep on the shoes.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

The Indie Exchange #FlashFiveFriday: Friendship

It's Friday Flash time again...

The prompt is...
Friendship

#FlashFiveFriday is a weekly flash fiction/flash blogging prompt run by The Indie Exchange.

The rules are very simple if you’d like to take part:

1) Write for no longer than five minutes;
2) No upper or lower word limits;
3) You must write something new;
4) You can prepare your post ahead of time but the 5 minute limit still applies; and
5) If you add your blog post to the weekly linky you must visit five other blogs that week too to show your support.

Click the link to read other people's flashies... 
http://theindieexchange.com/flashfivefriday-11-house/     
Why not give it a go?

Here is mine:

Friendship

Gazing up into

The eye of the silver moon

He remembers all

A small boy running

Across a field of white blooms

Chasing a red kite

He raced to catch him

Before he could grab the rope

Of the trailing tail

Summer lasted long

Warm days drifted together -

How he misses them

Life was so simple

Friendship was easy, chasing

A twisting red kite

#BlogFlash1031 for Halloween

Spook! Happy Halloween!

To celebrate pumpkins, ghosties, zombies and things that go bump in the night, I'm happy to be taking part in  #BlogFlash1031 for Halloween, co-hosted by Terri Giuliano Long and The Indie Exchange. Everyone had to write something spooky using up to 500 words. 

Here's mine:

Footsteps in the rain

She walked into the path of oncoming traffic

Lights flashed her blind in the pitch darkness

Heading her way they swerved to the side

Their horns screeched like cats, radios blared

The night ached a thousand lived memories

She walked barefoot, her feet cut but soundless

Like a dreamer who had long ceased to dream

The stars glistened high above like fairy lights

Dazzling in the night sky, so quiet their beauty

Unravished by life, uncorrupted, so pure, fine

Her eyes squinted to improve their clarity

They shone so brilliantly, like ice against black

She had wandered far, not knowing the distance

Far, far, a long way from home and her people

Seated around a wooden table, food cooking

Amid warm smells of crisp, burning wintry heat

She could imagine them laughing and grinning

Their teeth glinting in the lights as they spoke

Blood dripping on their plates, their eyes red

Clawed fingernails gripping the edges so taut

Their wild hair flicked as they wailed and groaned

Enough! This she did not miss, could never miss

So now her escape was final, desolation dismissed

The blood could stay chilled and frozen like ice

Away from her, hidden in those dark, darkest eyes

Closing her eyelids, she flicked away the memory

The road was cold, the rain was starting again

Tap, tap, tap, the lights danced in the water

Her toes flicked little glistening drips into the air

She grinned at such a simple, honest thing

Memories of a life forgotten, once lived before

In the time long ago, in a time she lived once

The horns continued to sound, high-pitched wines

Too high, shattering the quiet of the still night

She turned her head to scowl, unseen in the dark

Determined, she walked on, oblivious to the cold

Heading towards the noisy, bustling flow of cars

She had no fear of them or their terrifying roar

They sounded their horns but they could not see her

Blinded as they were to the dead thing walking.

The Indie Exchange #FlashFiveFriday: House

It's Friday Flash time again...

The prompt is...
House

#FlashFiveFriday is a weekly flash fiction/flash blogging prompt run by The Indie Exchange.

The rules are very simple if you’d like to take part:

1) Write for no longer than five minutes;
2) No upper or lower word limits;
3) You must write something new;
4) You can prepare your post ahead of time but the 5 minute limit still applies; and
5) If you add your blog post to the weekly linky you must visit five other blogs that week too to show your support.

Click the link to read other people's flashies... 
http://theindieexchange.com/flashfivefriday-11-house/     
Why not give it a go?

Here is mine:


The house in the forest

In the summer of my mind I spy a house. Windows darkened and curtains drawn, the sun blazes down on the cracked windowpane. Water trickles from a broken drain. Grey paint flakes from the wooden door that has stood against the elements and braved them for so many dark winters long. The red brick is dashed with a few pebbles, but most have been cast out, long gone. On top, a brown-tiled roof sits perched like a well-worn hat that has seen better days and is hurrying off to a second-hand shop, but charity seems to have departed this home. 

In my mind’s eye I see people busying themselves. A woman hangs blankets on a swinging line, a laughing boy cycles nosily, a girl runs rings round a barking, leaping dog, and a stern man huffs and puffs his way through the daily newspaper. 

In my dream I walk for miles in never-ending circles of wandering beneath the dipping branches and the falling yellowing leaves of autumnal mists. I wither in the turning. The rivers run fast towards the end of times, the skies open their arms in mourning. In my dream I turn towards the eyes of glass staring back at me, knowing that the house is me.

The Indie Exchange #FlashFiveFriday: Backbone

It's Friday Flash time again...

The prompt is...
Backbone

#FlashFiveFriday is a weekly flash fiction/flash blogging prompt run by The Indie Exchange.

The rules are very simple if you’d like to take part:

1) Write for no longer than five minutes;
2) No upper or lower word limits;
3) You must write something new;
4) You can prepare your post ahead of time but the 5 minute limit still applies; and
5) If you add your blog post to the weekly linky you must visit five other blogs that week too to show your support.

http://theindieexchange.com/flashfivefriday/

Why not give it a go?

Here is mine - 

Wishing

through wintry vistas

she stops and takes the view

socks waving in the breeze

that shakes the cherry blossom

heavy boughs hanging low

it drags towards the ground

along the jagged fence he strides

head bobbing, feathers blowing,

balancing like a man on a wire

his little black eyes stare her way

orbs twinkling in the cold sun

hoping for a peck or two

she smiles, leaves her tea,

collects some bread from the box

tears it into pieces small enough

to fill the robin's wee soul

tossing it outside, she runs back

to watch him, quietly from afar

hopping and pecking in delight

too short the time he spends

then off he flies into the blue

she sighs and stares into nothing

dreaming of far-off places

where her friend may have flown

she fears the solitude that lies

ahead in the hours neverending

all the same, copied over

she wishes to fly, so far away

to distant climes and waking suns

where she could find herself anew

endless roads, mountains high

fleeting glances from passers by

softly she traces her memories

hugging her mug against her

wishing she could fly just once

wishing she had the backbone

Some of the comments below (3) are for last week's poems, but I screwed up and overwrote them! Sorry! Sigh!




Celebrating womanhood

Happy Celebrating Womanhood day!

Hosted by Living, Learning, and Loving Life, Cabin Goddess, Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dave, Tea With Dee, and alchemyofscrawl

Thinking what to write on the theme of ‘womanhood’, my mind flickered to strong or inspirational women through the ages, and the first names that came to mind were these: Joan of Arc, Cleopatra, Boudica, Queen Elizabeth I, Jane Austen, Marie Curie, Emmeline Pankhurst and the Suffragettes, Mother Teresa, Florence Nightingale, Aung San Suu Kyi, Tawakel Karman, Maya Angelou, Harper Lee, Virginia Woolf and Margaret Atwood.

There are so many amazing women who could join this list. In particular, I admire the Suffragettes for their painful fight to bring us equality (British women over 30 could vote in 1918 and gained equal standing in 1928/American women won the vote in 1920), Aung San Suu Kyi for her endless fight for justice and freedom, Marie Curie for her discoveries and for being the first woman to win the Nobel Prize (twice), and Margaret Atwood for her powerful books about the female condition, particularly The Handmaiden’s Tale.

Women played a huge role in both World Wars, entering the military forces and engineering, performing unpaid work at home, and taking up roles that had traditionally been reserved for men. However, today we still do not have equality around the world and some women do not have the human rights that should be everyone’s birthright.

Looking at The Women’s Economic Opportunity Index (2010), we still have a way to go. Women, on average, earn 75% of their male co-workers’ wages. In some developing countries, women cannot vote, own property or walk outside the home without a male family member. An estimated 16% of the world’s adult population lack basic literacy skills and about two-thirds of these are women. In adulthood, women more often than men face the triple burden of work, household chores and child/family care responsibilities. In many societies mothers face a stigma if they leave their children to go to work. In eight countries, women do not have property ownership rights ­- Cameroon, Chad, Chile, Indonesia, the Philippines, Sri Lanka, Togo and Zambia. A few governments even have laws that stop women leaving their homes or country without the permission of a male relative or guardian (this restricts a woman’s ability to get a passport). These countries include Oman, Saudi Arabia, Syria and Yemen.

So, although not every woman has equality yet, I’d like to think that one day we will get there. We have many positive and powerful role models that the younger generation can look up to. Yay to women! :)

Below are a handful of poems that I wrote in the past with a woman at the centre.



Some day

Some distant day she’ll

Return when she sees beauty

In a rainbow sing

Hey little girl

Hey little girl

Where are you going?

Before you fade

Into the dark

Wander into the yellow light

Flick your hair

Jump into the sea

Running leap of sheer faith

Cut the surf at a run

Feel its cascade

Into the depths of the sea

Keep the spark

Stay shining

In the heat of the sun

Summer daze

Trivial gaze

Lazy haze

Stay awhile and turn your head

Keep smiling

Before it fades

With the waves

Trickling into the shapes

Of feet in the sand

Rain

She sits and dreams of making rain

In the dark, shadows dancing mimic

Colours of the aghast

Sights and sounds and murmurs

Still breathing

Watching over the edge

Of everything

The glass splinters into a million shapes

Cast in a myriad of lights

Bright and sparkling, dancing

In the spring sun

And she dreams of making rain

That tears and crashes

Washing away the shards of glass

Splattering the colours rent

With droplets of ice-cold nothing

Cuts and caresses

Shards of grass peeking through

Clouds gathering

Dust

Shine

She makes music

In the silence

Feels it shine

In the still

Wakes the muse

In the night

Wanders free

The pseudonym

Dreamers

She lives among the dragons, stars and unicorns

The fairytale world born in her wildest dreams

Of childhood wandering on the darkest nights

Beneath the chill of the star speckled moon

In the dark the dragons shine their fiery red

In the light the unicorn bows it silvery head

She dreams the dreams she yearns to live

Ascending the high, jagged mountain reaches

Descending the bleakest, deepest chasms

She rides the unicorn, outpacing green forests

Dead set distancing the thickset woods, screams

The day, the light, the shake of morning dew

Lifted on breezes the silent wails of the dreamer

Spinning on tiptoes across the surface of a lake

Never crack the mirrors in this lingering escape

Take the dreamer in one hand, bend to fate

Where she dances in a stream of starlit skies

Never wandering from the bending, stony path

In the dark the dragons shine their fiery red

In the light the unicorn bows it silvery head

Darkest eyes penetrate the watching innocence

Of the dreamer floating through the skies

Never falling, always flying, asleep, suspended

Travelling in this mystic world so shimmering