Raining Cats And Dogs Tour: "3 Heads & A Tail" and "Kiwi in Cat City" by Vickie Johnstone Guest Post/Promo

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Read my review here .Fur, fun, feathers and rhyme by Vickie Johnstone

Hi, thanks for hosting me! For this stop on the Raining Cats & Dogs Blog Tour that I’m doing with fellow author David M Brown, it’s the turn of kitties and Kiwi in Cat City. Purrs!

Kiwi in Cat City is about two children who follow their pet cat one night into the field behind their house. The cat, Kiwi, shocks them by turning around and asking why they are following. It seems the black cat, who is magical, had always wanted to communicate with them, but always stuck to the ‘rules’ – today she breaks them. Kiwi takes the children on an adventure to her other home, called Cat City. The blue-lit, colourful world is populated by catizens, who rule themselves and live almost harmoniously. To take the children there, Kiwi turns them into kittens. They learn four-paw walking, mews and purrs, and off they go. In Cat City, they meet Inspector Furrball, head of the Cat Squad, and help him to investigate the Case of the Catnapped Catizens.

So far, I have written six books in the Kiwi Series. There are plot threads running though them, except for the sixth book, which was for Christmas, and I wrote it in such a way that a reader could pick it up without having read the others. Although the stories were written for readers aged 9-14, I think they are cool for adults too. The books have amazing illustrations by the talented Nikki McBroom.

Each book takes the children and Kiwi to different words, solving mysteries and meeting new characters. Gradually, the reader learns more about Kiwi and the other catizens. There are some moral lessons to be learnt, and the kids learn about themselves and life in general. Some books take place in the human world, such as book five, where everyone goes back in time to Ancient Egypt.

Kiwi in Cat City started with a poem. My cat that the book is based on, Kiwi, died in 2000. Earlier, I had written a poem about her. In 2002, when I was off work due to redundancy, I was going through some notebooks and came across the poem. Reading it made me think about Kiwi. Over the next few days, I started thinking about a story about a magical cat – Kiwi, of course – but she would live in a world populated by cats who did their own thing.

For this guest post, I thought I’d dig out some poems for you. I love writing poetry and have done so since I was about 14 or 16; not sure which! I have published three books of them: Kaleidoscope (poems written from 1986-2010); Life’s Rhythms (haiku written in 2011-12) and Travelling Light (poems past and present).

To start with, here is the poem that inspired Kiwi in Cat City, which is at the beginning of each book –

She was as black as night that lost its moon

She was a crazy kind of loon.

Eyes as wide as giant saucers

Yellow and rimmed with green;

Whiskers long with almost white tips

She grinned an unmistakable feline grin.

Her walk was kind of majestic

Yet pretty funny at top speed

For hers was not a slimline figure,

Rather a bit on the curvy side,

And when she rolled on her back

Black soft fur fluffed up.

Little paws as soft as velvet

But beware the quick glint of claws

Curved and sharp as a knife.

She would squint at you and purr

The most wondrous hum

And you’d forget all your troubles

Rushed along on the ride of sound.

Her name was Kiwi

But she was no ordinary cat.

When the moon was full

Like a cat’s claw

Her ears would prick up

Her whiskers twitched

Her tail stood up tall and bold

And she’d follow her nose

Out into the cool night air.

Until one eerie cold night

When everything changed…

Here are some more recent poems about furries -

The fox and the mole

Let’s rob a bank

Said the fox to the mole

I’ve got mouths to feed

And I’m feeling the need

Ok, said the mole

But you know I can’t see

I can burrow real deep

But I might fall asleep

Well, said the fox

I can offer my cunning

I will find a way inside

And to you I’ll confide

Wake me up said the mole

When you discover this

As I’ve got a hunch

We’re in a credit crunch

So the fox went off thinking

How to rob the bank

And came up with a plan

While eating a cherry flan

Well then, asked the mole

What do you suggest we do

To steal all the money

But not do anything funny?

Aha, said the fox grinning

I’ll tell you what to do

Just burrow under the bank

While I drive up in a tank

Oh, said the mole frowning

I never thought of that

I didn’t know foxes could drive

Have you told this to your wife?

No, we have to keep this secret

Said the fox to the mole

As she’ll have my guts for garters

And that’s just for starters

So off went the fox and mole

To begin their bank robber life –

They rivalled Bonny and Clyde

Living it up, the law they defied

The captive

Chasing rabbits in the hills

The fox jigs and jags its way

Trying to outwit the bobbing tail

That bounces seconds ahead

He twists and turns breathless

Ever present on the trail

The cold air dipping his ears

The never ending chase of ages

Rabbit bobs and bounds across

Fields of green verdant gold

Not stopping to glance back

Lest fear overcomes him here

The race goes on towards the lake

Sparkling in the summer sun

A waft of butterflies surges up

Disturbed in their colourful mist

On they go around the lake

The rabbit heads towards the trees

Outmatched he finds his energy fade

The fox chases on with speed

Round and round and on and on

Until the deep-set wood draws near

And who should be there waiting

But the hunt with hounds in tow

Dragonfly

Spring light reflected

In pools of iridescence

Petals drowning

Bounce along the surface

Pinks and reds

Tracing small circles

Ever-circling anew

Blue spray rushes in

In the shape of a dragonfly

Flittering

Glistening wings spinning

Spring light reflected

Haiku – fur, feathers and fins!

Brown dog woofs, chasing

Giddy circles without sense,

His tail evades him

The sheltering moon,

Beneath her glimmer they roam ­

Free, the wild wolves howl

Tinkle of a bell –

Leaping, he snatches the bird,

Heart beating softly

Feline eyes blink down,

Cursing my laptop sitting

In what was her seat

Spring light reflected

In tumultuous waters;

The red salmon fly

Eyes turn to the sun,

River of blue-black shimmers

On peacock feathers

Above the ocean

The eagle soars, sweeps and dives,

Fishing for supper

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Kiwi in Cat City

Book blurb:

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.

Buy links:

Ebook price: $99/77p

Paperback price: $7.50/£4.86

Amazon US

Paperback

Amazon UK

Paperback

Smashwords

Diesel

Barnes & Noble

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.

Buy this book here.

Author bio:

Vickie Johnstone lives in London, UK, where she works as a freelance sub-editor on magazines and an editor on indie books. She has a thing about fluffy cats and also loves reading, writing, films, the sea, rock music, art, nature, Milky Bar, Baileys and travelling.

Vickie has self-published the following books:

Kaleidoscope (poetry); Travelling Light (free poetry); Life’s Rhythms (haiku); 3 Heads and a Tail (comedy romance); Kiwi in Cat City (magical cat series for middle grade readers); Kiwi and the Missing Magic; Kiwi and the Living Nightmare; Kiwi and the Serpent of the Isle; Kiwi in the Realm of Ra; Kiwi’s Christmas Tail; Day of the Living Pizza (comedy detective series for middle grade readers), and Day of the Pesky Shadow.

The Kiwi Series has illustrations by Nikki McBroom.

Author links:

Blog: http://vickiejohnstone.blogspot.com
Twitter: @vickiejohnstone
Website: Kiwiincatcity.com
FB author page: http://www.facebook.com/AuthorVickieJohnstone
FB Kiwi Series page: http://www.facebook.com/KiwiinCatCity
FB poetry page: http://www.facebook.com/KaleidoscopePoetry

FB editing service page: http://www.facebook.com/VickieJohnstoneEditing

Follow the entire tour.

Enter the giveaway here.