Wednesday, March 9, 2011

Wednesday Scramble (with No Whining!)!

Tomorrow's Guest

I'm looking forward to presenting Charlotte Hinger, whose latest mystery, Lethal Lineage, was just released. I hope you'll join us.


What I'm Reading

Worth Dying For by Lee Child. Honestly, there's nothing I like better than a good Jack Reacher novel. I hope Mr. Child keeps on writing about Reacher for a long time.


Katrina Katie Kitten Update

Thanks to the Colorado State University Veterinary Teaching Hospital in Fort Collins, we now know that Katie has something called mega-esophagus and a probably hiatal hernia. The poor kitty was very sick because food was slow moving into her stomach and sometimes rolled right back into her esophagus. She's being treated now with medications to help heal the esophagus and lessen acid reflux, and in a few weeks she'll undergo more tests to make sure there really is a hernia or whether some other problem has surfaced. Eventually we may be faced with surgery for the little kitty.

For the moment, we are dealing with a bizarre combination or medicine times and conditions (like the one that must be given one hour after and one hour before any other medicine or food), and the requirement to keep the kitten in a vertical position during and for 30 minutes after feeding. We hold Katie's plate up high enough that she has to stand up to eat, and then one of us walks around holding her for the 30 minutes (or if she's especially cooperative and sleepy, we get to sit and hold her in position). Overall, she's doing better. But needless to say, if Katie recovers, she will be the most spoiled cat in the history of the world.


My Assignments for the Conference

I'll be moderating the agent panel at the Northern Colorado Writers Conference on Friday afternoon. I'll introduce the agents and then help field questions from attendees. I'm betting there will be a lot of questions about the future of the publishing industry and how agents fit into this new and dynamic model.

This year the slush pile torture event has been divided into two separate sessions running during the same hour. I'll be the reader for one of the sessions. Participants will submit the first page of their manuscript (with no name on it) at the time of registration. Submissions are picked at random and the reader begins to read out loud. The agents signal the place at which they would stop reading the submission, then they will explain why. These sessions are always well attended. Everyone wants to hear what agents like or dislike about a submission, even if they were afraid to add their own first page to the "slush pile."

Other than that, I plan on spending a lot of time attending workshops and panels and meeting lots of writers. And drinking coffee. And eating. Can't wait.

13 comments:

Hilary Melton-Butcher said...

Hi Patricia .. sounds like you have your hands full and I do hope 'Kat' holds her own and improves .. as you say she will be very spoilt.

Enjoy the Conference .. stimulating time - cheers Hilary

Elizabeth Spann Craig said...

Sounds like you've got a great panel to moderate, Patricia! Always good to be at a well-attended one.

Glad Katie is feeling better and they have an idea what's going on with her. :)

RHYTHM AND RHYME said...

Hope Kitty improves and why shouldn't she be the most spoilt cat? I spoilt mine who had diabetes and had to have 2 shots of insulin a day( by me) it was hard at first but we both got used to it.

Take care.
Yvonne.

Alex J. Cavanaugh said...

You'll have a million dollar cat by the timeit's over!

Unknown said...

Wow, the conference sounds really cool. Someday I will like to go to one.

Anonymous said...

Pat - I am so in awe of the way you're looking after Katrina's needs! I admire you. I wish all of you well as she gets better.

Your conference sounds wonderful - I hope you'll enjoy it!

...and yeah, Lee Child has written some terrific Jack Reacher novels.

Patricia Stoltey said...

Hi Hilary, Katie is such a lovely, sweet kitten I won't really mind spoiling her.

Elizabeth, I always enjoy getting to meet the agents this way, and this year I'll be asking them to let me interview them for Chiseled in Rock blog. It's a nice way to get acquainted.

Yvonne, my mom did the same thing for her pug dog many years ago. At the time I was amazed she did that. Now I understand.

Alex, you're so right! She's already a thousand dollar cat (adopted from the Humane Society shelter at half price because we're seniors). :)

Clarissa, I love the conferences. I'll go to two of the Colorado ones no matter what, but can't justify attending any of the mystery fan conventions until I have a new book out.

Karen, I'll definitely have fun (and leave a whole day and a half of kitty medicating to my hubby).

Good morning, Margot. Honestly, when I've seen other folks go crazy over their pets, I never got it. Now I get it, big time.

Elspeth Futcher said...

Glad to hear you've been able to find out the source of the kitty troubles - poor Katie! Your conference sounds great, and that panel will certainly give you food for thought. Have a great time.

Patricia Stoltey said...

Greetings, Elspeth. Apparently the CSU Veterinary Hospital is known all over the world, so occasionally we see that another celebrity has sneaked into town with a very sick pet. It's great to have this wonderful resource so close.

Morgan Mandel said...

Amazing, isn't it, how we'll do almost anything for our pets! They're worth it.

Morgan Mandel
http://morganmandel.blogspot.com

Patricia Stoltey said...

Hi Morgan - I know -- It's crazy. We're like two very overprotective parents.

Mason Canyon said...

Happy you at least know what is making Katie feel bad and have medicine for it. Hopefully the medicine will do the trick and you'll get good news on your next visit to the vet. Sounds like you've got a lot going on, remember to take care of yourself.

Mason
Thoughts in Progress

Patricia Stoltey said...

Mason, We've all three had two good night's sleep in a row, so I think we're on the right path.