Chaos Critters Writing and Black Cat Publishing
Our eleventh sale is the first story we wrote together. Find out what inspired it. Find out how to back the Kickstarter for publishing it. Find out travel tips from us and the question of the week!
Quick! Duck!
Before we get started on the inspiration, we have a quick critter update. We had two dog classes today! First was a recall class for Crokell. He and Anna had a lot of fun. The instructor let Crokell do a “go out” - which is a joy for a water dog! In a go out, Crokell runs out to another person, goes around them, and runs back to Anna. It is one of his favorite exercises, although he did check the instructor to treats before returning.
Dante had a focus class. The silly, currently brainless menace did wonderfully. Mini American Shepherds, after all, are bred to watch their handlers for commands. So watching Anna comes naturally for Dante. So naturally, the instructor brought her dog out as a distraction. (Her dog was also a natural at being a distraction.) And Dante had to work for a while at ignoring the other pup. Dante LOVES other dogs, people, anything that moves really. So, it was a wonderful distraction to have an off leash dog doing heeling and tricks including spin and twirl and jump just a few feet away.
While Dante was in class, Crokell and I took a walk. I got a duck picture and we watched the turtles swim around. It was very nice. Although Crokell did want to head back to class. He can be a greed-gut and likes getting treats, especially for tricks he already knows.
The First Story We Wrote
We are please to announce that the first story we wrote together is our eleventh sale. The story is likely to be our tenth published short and is one thousand words long, which makes it a little long for flash fiction and a little short for a short story, but it was fun to write.
The story was inspired by one of Anna’s friends. This friend trained their cat to use the hexagonal “talking buttons”. An animal trained to use the buttons can, for example, hit the button that means it wants to go outside, and the button says “outside”. Or it can hit the buttons that says “hungry” for food. Or it can hit one that says “cuddle” or a button for different toys that it might want.
We thought, what if there was a sapient species that could not talk in a way humans could understand?
What if this species needed to use the buttons to communicate?
What would they say?
Black Cat Publishing
Black Cat Publishing (https://black-cat-publishing.com/), a mostly comic book publisher, bought the story for Black Cat Tales: An Anthology of Black Cats. The call required the presence of a black cat in the story. The black cat in our story is central to the plot. The black dog in our story is less central but still necessary to the story.
I read all four of their Black Cat Chronicles graphic novels. Each book covers one or more stories of the unusual, the unknown, or the supernatural in a particular region. I had to get it when I saw one was set in Alaska! The books are worth reading - fun stories you probably haven’t heard and nice art.
Black Cat Publishing is running a Kickstarter to fund publishing the book - a Kickstarter which already met its goal! The Kickstarter link is https://kck.st/4f1zikw. You can get several different digital books from Black Cat Publishing. And even more physical copies. (For some reason, the Black Cat Chronicles graphic novel PDFs are only available from the publisher’s website.)
The book includes 26 short stories and 13 poems. (We appreciate the factor of 13 there!) Authors are from all over the world and you can see our author picture in the lower left corner of the mosaic of authors - we’re the couple with a Mini American Shepherd you might recognize.
Oh! And every story and poem features a black cat!
We appreciated and enjoyed the editorial process with Francesca and Team Black Cat. The process was a pleasure and they were fun to work with. Five Stars. Would happily sell them another story - or a dozen!
Tip of the Week
Always travel with a cat; their mysterious ways can help you navigate the complexities of interstellar diplomacy.
Question of the Week
What's the strangest place your pet has hidden during an adventure?
~Tod and Anna