Meankitty Wants To Know: Carolan Ivey

Today we're interviewing author Carolan Ivey, who is, as you will see, a human who has managed to balance her respect and reverence for cats with her unfortunate habit of housing dogs. She blogs with Typing Slave at Beyond the Veil and is published at Samhain.

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1) Why did you decide to be a writer instead of a cat sanctuary owner?

It was a tough decision, but it became clear to me that I could draw more attention to the plight of the cat species by using my writing skills. Given my ADD and tendency to wander off at random, it was probably safer for the cats, as well. Seek, a dog will follow you wherever (as long as you have their favorite treat hanging around your neck), but cats are far too dignified and independent to do that…

2) Why do you think cats are better than dogs? (Since you call yourself a writer, I trust your answer will be eloquent.)

Better? That’s such a subjective question! Let me say that I think cats are closer to their wild ancestors than many dogs. I’d hazard a guess that the vast majority of cats (the ones that haven’t been declawed) could survive quite nicely in the wild if they had to. Many dogs—especially mine, bless their hearts—wouldn’t last a day. Some enterprising cat would have them for a snack.

3) Tell me about the felines in your fiction. How often do they appear and how big a part do they play in your narratives?

So far there is only one story in which cats appear: “Touch Not The Cat”, a cat shifter story that’s in the Beyond the Veil blog’s FREE Dunvegas anthology. I expect there will be more cat shifters in my writing future. For what it’s worth, my very favorite author of the books I read growing up, Marguerite Henry, populated almost all her books with a cat or two!

4) What are your favorite works of fiction involving cats or favorite fictional cats?

See above about Marguerite Henry. Her horse stories always included a cat that was often a loyal companion to her horse characters.

5) Do you have any amazing, or at least humorous, real life cat stories you'd like to share?

It was an enormous barn cat that taught my first pair of dachshunds to fear and respect cats! Anyone who knows anything about dachshunds are aware that if it’s small, furry, and moving, they’ll chase it. They only did that with a cat ONCE. This cat turned on them and taught them a lesson in respect their small canine brains never forgot! The cat was a diabolical creature who would catch a mouse and walk around with it in his mouth—still alive—and occasionally drop it in order to bat it around with his paws. The mouse, terrorized, would just lie paralyzed with fear. I imagine the cat eventually dispatched the hapless creature…

6) Multiple choice 1. What is your preference and why?

A) Long hair
B) Short hair
C) No hair
-- Note: I am not, of course, referring to the hirsute qualities of your most recent hero or heroine.

Short hair. I like a cat that’s WYSIWYG. But no hair is TMI.

7) Multiple choice 2. You have a writing deadline but the cat who rules you wants some attention. Desperately. Do you:

A) Lock the cat in another room and keep working?
B) Pet the cat for a couple minutes and then toss her cruelly aside?
C) Pet the cat as long as she wants because you know it will inspire and refresh you?
-- Note: If you answered anything besides C, we suggest you consider the fact you could have written a much better book if you had been inspired and refreshed instead of mean to the cat.

Well then, C, of course!

User submitted:

How goes the discussion about discipline in your house?

**insert hysterical laughter here**

What one thing would you change about your pet? [Note: human is answering this question in reference to a DAWG because obviously there is nothing to change about the cat.]

Oh, the licking. The incessant licking. Fidget was a normal dog—well, as normal as a dachshund gets—until she had puppies. Something must have snapped in her brain while she was licking her pups, because now if you go near her, she MUST lick you. And not just a few polite licks—OCD licking that’ll wear the skin off your hand, foot, or face. Plus, this dog is amazingly slobbery. I swear she has bloodhound genes in her somewhere. When she’s done (if ever), you need a towel.

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Sincerely,
Meankitty
http://www.meankitty.com/ * http://www.jodywallace.com/