1. I have a Masters in Dog Grooming. My teacher told me they'd never had a student who specifically wanted to learn to groom cats. Word soon got out and before I graduated I had a couple dozen clients, mostly Persian and other smushy-face-type breeds. I’d planned to open my own cat-grooming business, but then I got busy writing novels. Fortunately, I've put my experience to good use on the strays I 've rescued.
2. In my twenties, my husband and I opened three separate restaurants in Jacksonville, Florida. The first was an ice cream and sandwich shop. The second was a dessert cafe opened in the first two-story mall in Florida. And the third was an English tea room called Nanny's of Windsor. I stayed in the kitchen, doing all the cooking. My husband said I didn’t have the right attitude to serve tables. He was right. I channeled Gordon Ramsay before he became famous for attitude.
3. I ran a cake decorating business in my spare time while running those restaurants, and I still make creative cupcakes for parties.
4. I'm known for saving the world, one kitty at a time, having rescued 100+ cats, spaying, neutering; finding them a forever homes. Friends live in fear of me showing up on their doorstep with a cute but semi-feral rescue needing a home. However, I also rescued an abused chow-mix who puppied all over my garage. I had no idea she was pregnant. Hey--I'm a cat person! When Ray tried to see her puppies, she nearly made him pee his pants when she smiled into his groin. But she loved me. A lot! When a ditzy neighbor approached to see the puppies on my driveway, Teddie pulled her leash out of where I'd screwed her into the ground to attack. To stop the dog from causing me huge legal bills, I threw my weight on top of her to pin her to the ground while screaming at the oblivious woman to RUN! It took the stranger a minute to unfocus on the pups and see Momma foaming at the mouth with rage. After I found homes for the pups, I also found Teddie her Forever Home.
5. My favorite state is Michigan, and my favorite place in Michigan is Mackinac Island where Somewhere in Time was filmed. I'm also in love with Saugatuck where I saw beautiful sunsets that rivaled Hawaii.
6. At one time I was owned by six polydactyl tabby cats, all related through the same feral momma named Angel who was anything but an angel. The daddy of the brood, Dudley, and his eldest son, Moose, had paws like baseball mitts.
7. For my 30th birthday, David Copperfield brought me up on stage to perform an illusion. He gave me a rose and the key to his hotel room. Unfortunately, my husband made me give the key back. My only regret is that I didn't pay more attention to what I was doing. My thoughts were on how much I hated my shoes, and that everyone in the huge auditorium could see them... at least from the front row.
My website is a bit scanty because I fling the majority of my creativity toward my cat's social media accounts. Please check out It's a Wonderpurr Life and Diary of an AssRabbit to see why.
