I have a cat. I have a cat that is an owl.

I have a cat.
I have a cat that is an owl.

I have a cat. He is a famous cat. He is extra special. Not least because he can open doors with his shoulders! He has muscles like he-man. I can't even open some of the doors he can manage. And not least because he can go to sleep on top of a flat screen tv, and especially not because he begs like a dog for cat treats and even his plain old cat food, then will cuddle you in after eating.
No he is special because he is one of the stars of my book, in my chidren's series of stories.

With a difference. Sooty (Lord Snoots) is a cat. Sooty (Lord Snoots) in my book is an owl!
We gave him the nikname Lord Snoots due to the way he sits and looks at us waiting to be served very regally.
Did you know there was such a thing as a Sooty Owl?
No I didn't either.
Until I did some research on owls (I thought I knew everything there was to know about owls as I love them so much)
He was going to be Lord Snoots the snowy owl, now it has changed to Lord Snoots the sooty owl!
Quite a transformation from white to black, but very apt for my sooty cat, and I certainly enjoyed creating this character and bringing him to life.
Sooty agree's. I couldn't have done it without him.
Sooty should have been a fluffy soft teddy bear, due to the way he loves cuddling in.
Cats are meant to be strangers in your own home, unlovable, selfish creatures, or so I've heard. Not ask for cuddles like a puppy!
I do have photo evidence of course. I also have another cat called Tipsy. That's another story.




Obviously Sooty has his very own book underway, and he is a cat in that one, but I must get this series of magic owls out first, before starting another project.
The books have been written and edited and are waiting patiently for me to put the final touches to the illustrations and format it all to e-book form. About the illustrations, that was the easy part! The hard part was after. I love art and drawing. I used to make my own cards and scrapbooks, so I thought it would all be so exciting to do.
But I didn't realise how much time and effort goes into it all. Deciding on what pictures to use. How would I colour the backgrounds? would they be left pencil sketches?  Maybe the odd one, but mainly coloured with water paints or pencils, what about brilliant art pens? So a combination then? I couldn't decide at the time, then when I did I would change my mind, then change it back!
 How would I get it onto the computer and adapt it to the size and again colour I was after?
So many decisions and I didn't want to spoil it by rushing. Sometimes I left it for days and with a clean head went back to it, as you do when you write a book or a chapter. When you read it again you see it with new eyes.
I did love the time when the children drew owls in the baltic museum in Newcastle and then pinned then up on the board, that was great fun. So plenty of photo's taken that day.
Then I became aware the place had gone mad with owls. These crazy owls, you will see them everywhere you go now. I got a text to say -'What have you done? the world has gone owl mad!'
'Don't be silly' I said until I came across the newest range in wilkinsons and every other shop I go into!  Not real ones I might add,no,the stuffed variety.Not the real stuffed variety, the plush stuffed! Well you know what I mean.
It is true though, when you are focused on a subject you see it everywhere you go! If it was elephants, then that is what you would find in the isles at asda. If it was pigs, well you get the picture :)

So I am at the stage now where I am being asked when is the book ready to go out?
November I say!
I am still fiddling with my errors.
Today the printer broke, on the same week the boiler died on us, and the stair carpet man didn't come on the day he said he was going to. (The only day I had off work)  instead he came knocking at the door today just as I was in a mad rush out the door going to work.
I need more time! But I have wrote a blog about that, so will just leave time alone. I wish It would do the same for me, from time to time anyway.

Enjoy My cat pictures.