Hey all!  Just a quick note to let you know that if you haven't been paying attention, there have been three updates to Conversing with Cats in the last week.  Woo hoo!  That would be me trying to live up to my promise to update regularly.  In my defense, I have been really, really busy with work and school and writing at stuff.  Trying to accomplish awesome things to tell you about here, so keep checking back.  In the meantime, go laugh at my talking cats!

Happy reading!

-Di

Yesterday, my box o' goodies finally arrived from the lovely people over at the Best Damn Creative Writing Blog.  If you remember back before the holidays, they were doing a promotion where they interviewed several fantastic writers and then gave away copies of their books along with other goodies.  I was lucky enough to be chosen by Matt Bell for his new book and some other unnamed prizes.  After much anticipation, I was thrilled to find that in addition to Matt Bell's book, I also received two others and a tote bag.  Bags being second only to books in my heart, this was a pretty awesome.  I apologize for the poor quality pic of my goodies, but my phone is, um, old and cheap, to put it nicely.

I received the following books:

How They Were Found by Matt Bell (autographed!)
Sweetie by Kathryn Magendie (also autographed!)
Every Riven Thing by Christian Wiman (This included a copy of a profile done on Wiman in Poets & Writers)

I think it is pretty nice how they included a novel, a poetry collection, and a short story collection, running the gambit to satisfy many literary appetites.

Speaking of appetites, Gus is hungry as always.  He and his brother have been up to more cattery over at Conversing with Cats.  Pop on over if you want a chuckle on this cold Tuesday morning.  Personally, I am planning on staying in bed with a good book this morning.  :)

Happy Reading!

-Di

Hi All!  We had a bit of a rough weekend around here as one of our feline friends inexplicably started vomiting in the wee hours of the morning on Saturday and pretty much kept it up all day despite anti-nausea meds from the vet.  A middle of the night trip to the ER was the climax of this event, but the story has a happy ending.  Argie is doing much better, though still on the mend.  I did not get any new Conversing with Cats posts done as I had originally planned to do, but Gus was kind enough to fill in for me.  Feel free to hop on over and read his letter to his adoring public.

I hope everyone else had a better weekend (or at least one that didn't involve the ER -- human, pet or otherwise).

Happy MLK Day!

-Di

Just a few quick life updates.  First of all, I am getting ready to leave my current job to get back into the world of teaching.  This is very exciting for me, and I can't wait to get back into one of the things I truly love.  Teaching is right up there with writing for me.  That will happen next week and my schedule will probably be a little wacky for awhile until I get a new routine established.

Secondly, I found out a few days ago that I made it through the first round of judging for a flash fiction contest I recently entered, so keep your fingers crossed for me.  It would be nice to at least make honorable mention.  It's been awhile since I tried the whole contest thing, but at the end of 2010, I decided it is time to give it another whirl.  Just making it through the first round of judging goes a long way to boost my confidence in that realm.

Lastly, for those of you who are following the extreme cattery that is going on over at Conversing with Cats there is a new post up today.  This is the final installment of the visit to Dr. Pokey Needle, though I doubt this will be the last time we see her/hear of her.  I hope to get the next post up tomorrow sometime to stay on my thrice weekly schedule.

For those of you in Chicago, isn't this snow positively lovely?

Happy Writing!

-Di

Just wanted to pop in and let everyone know that I posted the Part 2 of the Dr. Pokey Needle saga over at Conversing with Cats a couple days ago.  Part three should be up sometime on Monday, if not sooner.  Have a fabulous weekend!

-Di

One thing I wanted to do when starting this blog was to occasionally write up reviews of books or music or movies that I particularly enjoy (or possibly found disappointing if that disappointment is enough to move me to put words to paper). So without further ado, my first official movie review.

Thursday evening I was in the mood for something a little different movie-wise and finally settled on Ondine. This movie takes some Irish and Scottish mythology and brings it into a modern setting. Starring Colin Farrell and set in a small Irish town, the story is about a fisherman who pulls a young woman from the ocean in his fishing net. The woman doesn't want to be seen by anyone else and claims to not remember who she is. The fisherman's daughter soon begins to speculate that the young woman is actually a selkie, and indeed, magical things begin to happen once the woman enters their lives.

I have a definite soft spot for modern day fairytales and another soft spot for stories set in Ireland, so it was no surprise that I found this film utterly charming. The scenery was breathtaking and I found myself wishing I could live in a remote house in a tiny little Irish town. The story is not without conflict though and Syracuse, the Irish fisherman, definitely has had to face his share of hardships in his life. He is an extremely likable and realistic character though, and while it was heartbreaking to see him fail at times, the story comes to a very satisfying ending. There were times when the story felt a bit forced, but I was was willing to overlook it because I was enchanted by the characters and the setting. For anyone who has Netflix, this movie is currently available to instantly watch, and I recommend checking it out if you like charming love stories with a touch of magic realism.

On a related note, after watching Ondine I was inspired to write up a short bit involving a selkie, which can be found over at Conversing with Cats. Who hasn't wondered what would happen if their pet met a mythical creature? :)

Hope your New Year is off to a great start!

-Di

Wishing everyone a fantastic 2011! 

-Di