+Blog Book Tour+ City of Promises by D. Grant Fitter

Posted Friday, 9 May, 2014 by jorielov , , 0 Comments

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City of Promises by D. Grant Fitter

City of Promises Virtual Tour by Historical Fiction Virtual Tours

Published By: Self-Published, 22 January, 2013
Official Author Websites: Site | Twitter | Facebook
Available Formats: Paperback & E-Book
Page Count: 370

Converse on Twitter: #CityOfPromisesTour

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Acquired Book By:

I was selected to be a tour stop on the “City of Promises” virtual book tour through Historical Fiction Virtual Book Tours. I received a complimentary copy of the book direct from the author D. Grant Fitter, in exchange for an honest review. I did not receive compensation for my opinions or thoughts shared herein.

Inspired to Read:

When City of Promises came available to tour with Historical Fiction Virtual Book Tours, I must confess, I was teetering on the edge of saying ‘yes’ to accept this book for review. My only hesitation was due to the fact that I have been to Mexico City and therefore, was uncertain if I could return to a fictional account of the city and maintain my memories of her in the ensuing decades since this particular sliver of the city’s history takes place. In the end, I decided that if I can handle reading about the Jazz Age in America as much as Prohibition and the upturnt tides of Chicago & New York City’s histories, can I can surely handle reading what happened in Mexico City! After all, when I was there the city was undergoing a bit of a Renaissance, in an attempt to re-strengthen the city’s identity as much as to re-define the city itself. It was the heart of the story given inside the premise that pulled at me, and for which I am most anxious to see where the corridors of this particular historical fiction will take me! I am always eager to traverse into the passageways of history that might not always lend a happy ending but will lend itself a portal glimpse into a part of history that needs to be told.

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City of Promises by D. Grant Fitter}: Book Synopsis :{

Is there an economic value of one’s soul? “By divine good fortune I live in the most glamorous era of a famously enticing city. By obscene misfortune I’m shut out by its ruling elite.” Daring ways to make it big are on offer in Mexico City in the 1940s, but best watch your back! If Arturo Fuentes barters virtue to maneuver in on the action, will the consequence of his choices be too much to bear?

The rebirth of one of the world’s most colorful cities forms the rich backdrop for this historically discerning tale of treachery, intrigue and political corruption.

“My entire family was stuck for generations in that isolated village south of Veracruz where I was born. When you’re fourteen, know you are a dreamer and learn to be a schemer, you can’t stay and so you start planning for the day.”

In 1941, 21-year-old Arturo Fuentes followed the beat to Mexico City.

Bottles of rum in smoke filled bars, sultry women and impassioned conversation, music and bright show lights calling. Murder and corruption.

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D. Grant FitterAuthor Biography:

D. Grant Fitter is a citizen of North America. Born in Ontario, Canada and educated in Colorado, USA, he is convinced he was Mexican in his previous life. How else to explain such a strong attraction to Mexico and all things Mexican, including his wife.

His business career includes long stints of work in Mexico before yielding to a pesky urge to pursue freelance journalism for seventeen years. Meanwhile, Fitter’s Mexican roots continued to call. City of Promises is the product of his curiosity to understand why the culture of our close neighbors is so distant from our own.

He lives in Toronto and whenever possible, in a sunny hillside casita in the colonial town of Taxco, Guerrero.

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Mexico & Mexico City in the 1940s:

By all accounts of how Fitter paints the view of Mexico City in the 1940s, there is not much of a difference between life south of the border than it was being lived north of it. A lot of similarities run deep between both countries need for fast living and alcoholic numbing of entertainment exploits. There is a sinister undertone due to how the city is run and how the pulse of who is keeping track of what everyone is up too arcs into a deeper cognition that freedom can become a price too high to pay if your not willing to play by the game already set in motion.

My Review of City of Promises:

I believe what surprised me the most (outside of the style of how the story is told) is how explosive the action occurs with nearly only a faint whisper of acknowledgement. Normally when I am reading a crime centered novel, the action of the crime takes precedence over the character’s journey. In this novel, what I found interesting is that it is the journey of Arturo’s character which is weighted to have more girth to draw a light around than the actual loss of his girlfriend in such a manner as to be repulsive and malicious yet delicate and withdrawn of emotion.

Arturo is a man who wants to become self-made and influential on his own terms, but he is caught inside how territorial his objectives interfere with others who plan to work against his best intentions. We are jettisoned out of the immediate action in the first Chapters and alighted in step with his motivations to offset the instability of his glass company which took a setback when murder arrived at his company’s door. Each step he takes forward, he is inadvertently withdrawing backwards as his actions are thwarted and abated by forces yet known.

The insertion of travel by rails excited me, as I was always attracted to the old fashioned ways of transportation, including having ridden on railways myself as time allowed. The pace of life for Arturo shifts between relaxed enjoyment and bustling vigor when he moves between the world of business and personal comfort. I appreciated the well of history interwoven into the story as much as the necessary ordinary details of placing my mind’s eye in the setting of where City of Promises is set. Fitter gives you enough of a pause to question the motives of most of the characters you are being introduced too, as how to know which character possesses an honest heart and which one has desires that could be less than sincere? Arturo is a man who follows his instincts and does not all0w himself to dawdle in worry or vexation on any blight of woe that crosses his path. He’s forthright and determined to create his own future and his own way of commerce sustainability.

The nightlife in Mexico during the 1940s had as much flair and passion as they had whilst I was visiting in the 1990s, although I took in a tamer version of the dancing offerings as I enjoyed the Flamingo dancers whose eloquence transfixed my eyes and heart. City of Promises illuminates the Rumba and the sensuality of its dancers in comparison to its observers who are caught in the bewitching allure of its dance. Life was lived large in the 1940s where carefree attitude was equally matched with entertainment to cure desire.

In conflict with sorting out his business affairs and following his pursuit of indulgence by way of sultry company, Arturo always came across to me as a man in a proper conflict between the life he dreamt of as a boy and the life he was living as a man. Part of him wanted to live the life of comfort, where desire superseded necessity of work, and the other half of his soul lended itself to being focused on acquisition of prosperity. His classic misstep was not in realising what his own heart desired most for himself. In realising what could provide him with true happiness outside of the scheme of acquiring more wealth and more status. How he could spend his days and hours, fully content and achieve a measure of joy which did not have to be bought, bartered, or exchanged. This is a story of one man’s quest to understand how life is meant to be lived.

Fly in the Ointment:

At first my footing in the novel was a bit off-center, as the flashback is the story itself and the present is taking place in a sort of interrogation between the main protagonist and an investigator. What throw me for a bit of a loop is the insertion of the dialogue exchange between the two gentlemen and the narration of the story being overlayed and cross-sected into each other without a definitive breaking to denote one setting from the other outside of the text being in italics. Once you get a bit further along, you start to see the reasoning for the interruptions as the story is unfolding out of Arturo’s memory and encompassing how he wants to relay what knowledge he has to the police. It’s a unique perspective and one that started to take on its own rhythm. I am unsure if a prompt of a paragraph ahead of Chapter 1 would have eased this for a reader who unsuspecting of the slippings of present time and remembered action would have felt less unsettling. Such as you might find in a Prologue ahead of delving into the heart of the story itself.

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Blog Book Tour Stop, courtesy of Historical Fiction Virtual Book Tours

City of Promises Virtual Tour via Historical Fiction Virtual Book Tours

Previously I showcased an Author’s Guest Post by Mr. Fitter

on his inspiration behind the story!

Check out my upcoming bookish events to see what I will be hosting next for

Historical Fiction Virtual Book Tours - HFVBTand mark your calendars!

{SOURCES: “City of Promises” Book Cover, synopsis, tour badge, author photograph and HFVBT badge were provided by Historical Fiction Virtual Book Tours and were used by permission. Blog Tour badge provided by Parajunkee to give book bloggers definition on their blogs. Post dividers by Fun Stuff for Your Blog via Pure Imagination.}

Copyright © Jorie Loves A Story, 2014.

Reading this book contributed to these challenges:

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Posted Friday, 9 May, 2014 by jorielov in 20th Century, Blog Tour Host, Crime Fiction, Debut Author, Debut Novel, Equality In Literature, Fly in the Ointment, Geographically Specific, Historical Fiction, Historical Fiction Virtual Book Tours, Mexico City, Suspense, the Forties

+Author Guest Post+ The author of “City of Promises” examines what implored him to write about Mexico City in the 1940s!

Posted Wednesday, 7 May, 2014 by jorielov , , 0 Comments

Guest Post by Parajunkee

D. Grant Fitter

Proposed Topic: I am most curious how the Mexico City of the 1940s captured your imagination to bring it bustling to life in “City of Promises” as much as the undercurrent of the story led you to create Arturo? Were you inspired to resurrect this particular age of Mexico City’s history from your research pursuits or was it due to spending time in the city itself? How did “City of Promises” alight in your mind’s eye and how did it change you after you wrote its story? 

I elected to enquire about City of Promises originally as I have fond memories of my week in Mexico, where I not only discovered the delights of the Federal District of Mexico City, but I found a lifeblood and infusion of culture, food, and a diverse collection of Mayan artifacts and architectural history etched into the legacy of their ruins. I fell in love with the ambiance of how relaxed the Mexicans approach life and how enthused they are to live each day not only to the fullest, but enriched by community, family, and food. They remind me a bit of Tuscany and Sicily, where families center their lives around the dinner table and/or thereto otherwise where food plays a center role in the gathering. There are others of course who believe in this as most of Europe approaches life in a similar vein, but I wanted to highlight Italy as like Mexico, there is such a passionate vibe towards earthen foods rooted in their local environment and in the stitchings of passed down recipes from one generation to another. The fusion of herbs in mixtures different than their European counterparts was nothing short of divine consumption on my part! I loved seeing how they would gather together their flavours and how elements like pink onions add dimension to open-faced grilled chicken fajitas and a root vegetable which tastes like a sweet potato can be transformed into a delish offering for breakfast!

I might not have been a cook when I was in Mexico, but I exited the country with a heart full of Mexican cuisine and a distinct taste for true Mexicali cooking!! I have not once since my travels there found a chef or restaurant who understands the local produce and infusions of Mexican cookery to whet my palette like the places I ate whilst I was there. Aside from the ready allure of food, what struck me was the remnants of living history in each street and historical site you visited, because modern Mexicans live amongst the ruins and the historical artifacts which have withstood time and weather. When I write my post about this novel for review on Friday, I shall include a bit of an antidote about being in the Yucatán and my first impression of Uxmal!

For you could say, part of me has remained curious about Mexico and about the legacies of the Mayans since my wanderings in the mid-1990s. My attachment to the 1940s in America and France grew out of my love of the Jazz Age and Flappers in pre & post war eras where life was set to a different beat and mindset. I was then further curious about how Mr. Fitter was inspired to enchant us with this tale!

City of Promises by D. Grant Fitter}: Book Synopsis :{

Is there an economic value of one’s soul? “By divine good fortune I live in the most glamorous era of a famously enticing city. By obscene misfortune I’m shut out by its ruling elite.” Daring ways to make it big are on offer in Mexico City in the 1940s, but best watch your back! If Arturo Fuentes barters virtue to maneuver in on the action, will the consequence of his choices be too much to bear?

The rebirth of one of the world’s most colorful cities forms the rich backdrop for this historically discerning tale of treachery, intrigue and political corruption.

“My entire family was stuck for generations in that isolated village south of Veracruz where I was born. When you’re fourteen, know you are a dreamer and learn to be a schemer, you can’t stay and so you start planning for the day.”

In 1941, 21-year-old Arturo Fuentes followed the beat to Mexico City.

Bottles of rum in smoke-filled bars, sultry women and impassioned conversation, music and bright show lights calling. Murder and corruption.

 

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How Mexico & the 1940s inspired this story from the author 

Fun Stuff for Your Blog via pureimaginationblog.comI am so glad to be invited to post on Jorie’s blog as part of my Historical Fiction Virtual Book Tour. So far, there has been great reviews from bloggers who have read City of Promises on this tour and today I welcome the opportunity to talk briefly about the background behind what reviewers have been calling unique, dazzling, vivid and captivating.

As blogger/reviewer Ashley LaMar of Close the Cover said earlier this week, “The 1940’s Mexico City setting is fantastic! It’s unique, mesmerizing and vibrant allowing readers to easily fall in love with the locale and understand the excitement of young Arturo who left the country behind in order to seek his fortune under the lights of the big city”, as quoted from her book review of “City of Promises”.

So how is it that such an unusual place as 1940s Mexico City captured my imagination in such a way that I could bring it bustling to life in my novel?

Mexico City is so many things, but most of all it is an intriguing city of contradictions moved along by the amazing personalities that the Mexican people truly are. Just like their city, they can revel in a festival or stare down the barrel of despair with a smile, and it was my good fortune to work in Mexico City for years enough to find the people and the place irresistible. It is a huge, modern, iconic city of some twenty-two million with a contagious pulse and eclecticism that begs description.

I have strolled the finest of her streets, walked some of the worst and battled choking traffic. I have taken in the architectural delights of 900 years of history, enjoyed the artistic and cultural achievements on view even where one least expects, and the constant of music everywhere. Daily meals at sidewalk cafes, the art of conversation, business meetings surrounded by the influential at a chic restaurant or tradition steeped hacienda, or the magic of a street vendor taco have all contributed to and influenced my perception.

So, of course I had to at least try to understand it and with some good fortune, describe it. Get to know Mexico well and it becomes obvious the current incarnation of this place is connected through an almost suspended animation of the 1940s. That decade was in so many ways Mexico’s “Golden Years’ and the cultural, artistic, and sentimental attachment that lingers is much more, much different than a nostalgic one. The 1940s through its dance, its music, its film, its promise, is very much alive today.

It is the decade that defined a nation.

That is the feeling and the perception I knew I wanted to get across and it wasn’t very difficult to dive into the research of actual events leading to a storyline that would accomplish my goal. True to the ever-present contradictions of life here, the tale absolutely had to involve the darkly sinister undercurrent tugging and gnawing away at a peaceful existence. The overwhelming majority of locals and characters introduced in my story are true and the few that aren’t are an amalgamation of actual identities living in the novel under assumed names. My protagonist Arturo and his two girlfriends, Mercedes and Ana are the main ones and yes they are modeled after actual personalities, but they developed their persona as they dealt with situations history presented and they grew on me as the story progressed. I think their lives were mostly admirable and I became attached to them as they sorted out their future.

But I am probably rambling on here in a non-conformist style for the rapid-fire statement of an electronic blog post. Guess it happens when one loves the subject matter.

There, I said it. That is the essence of a living novel right there. I was inspired to resurrect this particular age of Mexico City’s history because of a love affair with the topic.

And that is why I enjoyed writing City of Promises so much.

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Author Connections: Site | Twitter | Facebook
Converse on Twitter: #CityOfPromisesTour

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As Mr. Fitter was describing his memories of being in Mexico City, so too, did my own flit to life in front of my eyes of memory! The congested city streets where pedestrians never had the right away, and where there were more 1960s Beetles on the streets than I dare thought possible to have room to breathe! The pulse the author is speaking about was everywhere you walked and explored: as even though I was a teenager participating in an educational tour of Mexico, soaking up as much history as I attempted to soak up the everyday culture, being in Mexico is a life-changing experience. You see things through a different pair of eyes whilst your down there, as the dichotomy of those with and without is living out in stark contrast inasmuch as the raw beauty of their culture befit for admiration. You can walk a lifetime simply by moving from street to street, and stumbling across one neighbourhood after another or rather even, an excavation of the streets can reveal hidden mysteries of the past which had not yet been told. I loved the Square as well, a bit smaller than Red Square in Moscow, but with the presence that leaves you breathless. For all the splendors and beauty, even I could feel a sense of history yet told whilst I allowed my eyes to observe what was not yet readily known to mind. The street vendors were my best allies as well as little shoppes on corners as that is how I staid hydrated in the sweltering heat which was a switch of severity from my home state on the opposite side of the Gulf of Mexico! I always felt I *knew!* heat, but Mexico proved that I only had a hinting of what true heat can be! Oh, how I could have read more on behalf of Mr. Fitter’s reasons for digging into the past and finding himself engaged in the history of a country I shall always fondly remember as I had my own adventure there which shall never be anything but a joyous expedition of youth! Like Mr. Fitter, as he will soon realise if he visits my blog both after this goes live and on Friday when I post my book review, I am not the modern-age book blogger who writes with an absence of length, but rather a book blogger who harnesses the true joy of her designation as a blogger by allowing the breadth of a topic or subject a fitting well of unfiltered and unmonitored freedom of words! I never limit a Guest Post by an author anymore than I limit myself. There are times when words can falter to express how we feel, but in most cases, I find that I am a bubbly book blogger eagerly awaiting conversations to alight in her comment threads! May this keep you dear hearts until Friday, as I start my journey soon into “City of Promises”!

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Blog Book Tour Stop, courtesy of Historical Fiction Virtual Book Tours

City of Promises Virtual Tour via Historical Fiction Virtual Book Tours

Return on Friday when I review “City of Promises”!

Check out my upcoming bookish events to see what I will be hosting next for

Historical Fiction Virtual Book Tours - HFVBTand mark your calendars!

Similar to blog tours, when I feature a showcase for an author via a Guest Post, Q&A, Interview, etc., I do not receive compensation for featuring supplemental content on my blog.

{SOURCES: City of Promises Book Cover, synopsis, tour badge, author photograph and HFVBT badge were provided by Historical Fiction Virtual Book Tours and were used by permission. Blog Tour badge provided by Parajunkee to give book bloggers definition on their blogs. Post dividers by Fun Stuff for Your Blog via Pure Imagination.}

Copyright © Jorie Loves A Story, 2014.

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Posted Wednesday, 7 May, 2014 by jorielov in 20th Century, Blog Tour Host, Debut Author, Debut Novel, Equality In Literature, Geographically Specific, Historical Fiction, Historical Fiction Virtual Book Tours, Mexico City, Reader Submitted Guest Post (Topic) for Author, Self-Published Author, the Forties

+Blog Book Tour+ Cats Are Part of His Kingdom, Too: 33 Daily Devotions to Show God’s Love by Cindy Vincent

Posted Sunday, 4 May, 2014 by jorielov , , 2 Comments

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Cats Are Part of HIs Kingdom Too by Cindy Vincent

Published By: WhoDunit Press, 21 June, 2013
Official Author WebsitesSite | Pin(terest) Boards
Available Formats: Softcover
Page Count: 78

Converse on Twitter: #CatsArePartOfHisKingdomToo

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Acquired Book By: I was selected to be a tour stop on the “Cats Are Part of His Kingdom Too” virtual book tour through Editing Through the Seasons. I received a complimentary copy of the book direct from the author Cindy Vincent, in exchange for an honest review. I did not receive compensation for my opinions or thoughts shared herein.

Inspired To Read: I have always had a soft spot in my heart for cats since I was quite a young girl as I simply fell in love with little people with fur since as long as I can remember having animals in the home! I grew up happily in a family who believed strongly in adopting animals in need at rescue shelters and in full support of non-kill shelters as each animal deserves a loving forever home. When I was growing up in the city, the shelter actually included a bit more than your regular fare of cats and dogs; equine and exotic animals as well as birds could be adopted time after time, including a few rabbits and small farm animals! I always found that to be quite special! We adopted our beloved family dog from them as his previous owners moved cross country to California and could not take him with them. He was a year old to my young two years, and you could say we ‘grew up’ together! 

Our beloved cat came to us via a cat rescue shelter where she was found with kittens under the age of one year! Each of her babies were adopted quite readily, but she was left behind as apparently no one wanted an ‘older’ cat at that point as she turned one whilst awaiting adoption. She came into our house quite a feisty character and our lovely dog subdued her a bit but only by a hair! She was a spitfire calico til the day she passed a full 15 years after we brought her home! She had a few quirks as well behaviorly but she was loving in her own unique way and despite the issues which occasionally arises from a special needs cat (although at the time we were not told she had ‘special needs’) I could not imagine my childhood and adulthood without her!

I have had a full menagerie of adopted animals in my life including but not limited to: hamsters, cats, dogs, small birds, a multitude of fish, a small herd of cattle, a few pigs, peafowl, and a special iguana at my local science center as a child where you could provide the necessary cost for a special needs animal who could only live in captivity. She was not able to conceive children and therefore was at risk. She had a special aquarium and of course, being I was her guardian I could visit her whenever I pleased, as well as hold her too! I practically lived at my science center so to say we saw each other rather often in the Summers (especially!) would be putting it mildly!

This does not even include all the lovely animals out in nature of whom I have felt a close connection too over the years as I have grown accustomed to seeing them as I walk. I find I am most in harmony if I keep close to the natural world whilst observing the seasons and the animals who inhabit the environment just past our civilised world. The natural world can speak to you if you tune your heart into their frequency as much as your soul is uplifted by the companions of those animals domestic, feral, or farm-related which enter your life during the times their friendship and companionship has the greatest impact on your heart. For these reasons and more, I was simply over the moon in joy to see a devotional of uplifting passages devoted to the heart of a cat lover’s soul!

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Book Synopsis:

As Christians, sometimes it’s hard for us to comprehend the love our Heavenly Father has for us, His Earthly children. Author Cindy Vincent began to realize the depth of His love after caring for several rescued cats and then bringing them into her home. That’s when she began to notice the parallels between her relationship with these precious felines and God’s relationship with us. After all, as a pet Mom, she works in so many behind-the-scenes ways to make life wonderful for her little feline family, much like God works behind the scenes to make life wonderful for us. Yet much like her cats have no comprehension of all that she does for them, we have no comprehension of all that God does for us.

Before long, she began to see lots of parallels, and decided to put these down in the form of Daily Devotions, to demonstrate just how very much God loves us.

Author Biography:

Cindy Vincent was born in Calgary, Alberta, Canada, and has lived all around the US and Canada. She is the creator of the Mysteries by Vincent murder mystery party games and the Daisy Diamond Detective Series games for girls. She is also the award-winning author of the Buckley and Bogey Cat Detective Caper books, and the Daisy Diamond Detective book series. She lives with her husband and an assortment of fantastic felines. You can learn more about the Buckley and Bogey books at buckleyandbogey.com.

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Princess | Cindy Vincent Cat

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As Ms. Vincent started out her devotional, she bespoke of the cardinal truths all animal lovers and owners know instantly once the love of their companion enters their life, world, and heart: the lessons we learn arrive in the hours where we least expect them to come from the whisperments of our furry friends! I oft wondered of the blessings I had walking through my ordinary days after school with my dog and cat; as each of them gave so much back to me as I gave to them! I always felt it was remarkable that they could only purr, bark, or meow as it felt as though they always had so much to impart but were a bit hindered by vocalising their thoughts in ways that would be a bit easier to understand. I grew to listen to them with my heart and as our conversations progressed, I knew they understood me as well as I understood them! And, how very, very wise they were at that!

It is a pure joy to get caught up in the words Ms. Vincent imparts to the reader as she describes cats in such a unique level of keen insight as to impart their characteristics upon our eyes! She gives you a window view of the cats who have nestled into her heart, mind, and spirit as she relates through the stories of her cats how everyday wisdom and life-affirming faith moments can become interwoven into your everyday life through our relationship with our beloved cats. As each cat arrives into your life at different stages of living as much as a different hour of arrival which in of itself is as effective as to why the cat is there in the first place!

As I have been participating as I can in Equality in Literature rights in fiction via Twitter this past week, I was cheering inside watching how she took describing the differences of her cats to the beautiful kaleidoscope of our own differences as a human race. To draw a connecting line between the acceptance of multiple breeds of cats is the same as accepting that despite any outward differences we are each meant to be kind-hearted and full of grace towards another. For nothing else quite makes sense in a world that is bent-on forgetting its humanity and the ability to choose kindness over hate, ignorance, and indifference.

I could even relate to the passages as there are no true perfect cats, as each cat even if behaving normal by all counts known is still going to have a unique personality and approach to living whilst interacting with their human guardians! I never knew until the last few years when a light bulb sort of went off in my head that we always seemed to shower love on special need cats ever so often! The cat of my childhood (whom I mentioned earlier) had a personality flaw from being on the streets as a young mother with possible left-over former abuse memories lingering in her sub-science when cross-checked with her behaviour issues. Then, there is of course the reality of being at the top of your Vets adoptable house list to take-on cats who have personality quirks who are at that time unadoptable. (I speak more on this in my Interview with Ms. Vincent on Tuesday!) The two hybrid tabbys in my life today were adopted with a sea of medical issues surrounding their young fur tails as they simply could not adapt to life in a foster home after having spent their first nine months with a quiet old lady who doted on them! Kennel cough or its equivalent was one malady, which equated out to Vets, medicine, and more little instruments for giving medicine than you dare think two cats could need!

Yet, despite their early medical issues, they grew into 10 year old twins (the fact they act ‘twinny’ by doing everything in sync is one way of knowing!) whose zest for life belies their age! Not one ounce of their character denotes a ‘senior’ cat except to say they tucker out far faster now than they previously did unless they ‘save’ extra play hours by snoozing quite a heap the day before! Laughs. They make us giggle in joy by sheer will of curiosity etched into their fur and bones as surely as their love and mirth of being near us. In their adversity they always showed true patience but it was our beloved cat who passed last May (in which I wrote about on this blog post) who showed true grace. His spirits were never down despite his calamities nor did he ever falter in his care on our behalf. A true champion of spirit, he gave back so much to us that we could never possibly fill a note of gratitude for having known him except to allow his spirit to remain evermore at the forefront of our memories. He was more companion than cat, a cherished presence where once lost reminds you of your best friend’s absence, and a spirit of goodwill and generosity which lives on a bit in the cats left behind who have outlived him. The tuxedo has taken his death the hardest, waking in the middle of the night in fits of anxiety and sorrow. Her bouts subdue for months at a time and then resume. We can only hope with our extra attention in those hours of need she will slowly lesson her hold on his absence and realise she is alright in our loving hold.

And, that in of itself is a parable of faith of having to be strong in the face of loss and in a sense of unease out of adversity. To walk into the light of each new day filling your spirit with hope despite your wavering spirit wondering if you have the strength to find the joy you once knew so well before death took someone you cherished. Not only through death but perhaps through circumstances, we each have to bend as willows and go through life in the full face of what alights on our paths knowing that we’re never alone and that we have someone to lean on at times of most peril. Trusting without sight of how everything will unravell and pan out is the hardest bit to undertake, but like the trust of a cat who enters your home without knowledge of how you will accept them, faith too is unconditional and a beacon of hope.

My cats have gotten themselves into a few true pickles as much as Ms. Vincent’s, let me tell you! Whether they have ducked behind boxes they cannot jump out of to save their fur or whether they end up in some fix where a human is needed to assist them, one thing was always resoundingly sure! They do not like to admit their faults nor do they like to admit they need assistance! And, that too is a lesson in humility and of accepting our weaknesses as much as our strengths! Although to a cat, to admit a weakness goes against every direct instinct they have inside them, save our cat who passed last May! To him asking for help was something he did not mind doing if it meant a loving hand and a kind heart was going to take away his difficulties and help him through what he considered most adverse! Being a boy, he surely did not realise his counterpart of males in human form tend to be the hardest to ‘ask for help’ out of our species!

Reading about Bogey & Buckley warmed my heart, as it was nearly an identical story of how I matched our little tuxedo (she’s now on the fringe of turning nine years, but at her adoption she weighed just enough to fit into my palms at two months old!) to our non-twin tabby! He needed a mate of sorts as the twins are inseparable despite their angst of each other being siblings! He needed someone he could pal around with as much as love on if the mood struck him, and being fickle in the love department that was not nearly as oft as the tux would have preferred but she accepted him on his terms! Even to the brink of rubbing into his neck and having him walk straight off without a by your leave if you please! Laughs. For me, I knew I needed a high octane and a bit hyper kitten to match wits with a shy yet loving tabby! Finding a little bundle of black fur dangling upside down in a wire cage besmirked with a wink and a nod of “Who? Me?” writ into her whiskers I knew I had found ‘the cat’ and ‘the mate in the stars’ for my tabby cat! Isn’t it amazing how when you take a leap of faith how the results of your trust grow even deeper than you felt they had rooted?

Buckley reminded me so much of our tabby because I did not realise the full extent of his separation anxiety until I read Buckley’s story on page 36! You could consider the same affliction my own cat’s nightmare and they sort of have a similar background with a few slight differences: mine was rescued off the streets with his sister held tight by the nape of the neck as dusk fell down around him. His rescuer knew he could save both cats but getting my cat to trust him to that degree took a full afternoon and nearly the evening! He was putting his sister’s life ahead of his own but somehow in face of uncertainty he saw someone he could trust in the last golden hour he could be pulled from the streets. Amazing how Ms. Vincent’s observations and experiences of having cats mirrors my own families!

A forever home to an animal in need is a long lesson in stability because they do not always trust they are safe or have access to food and water. I remember those days when they (the tabby & tux) would scratch around both the food bowl and the water bowl as if to ‘cover and hide’ it from outside predators. It took ‘years!’ for them to realise the only ones who would go near those bowls were the twins and/or us (the humans!) to clean and re-fill them! I always fully supported adopting animals and children in need of loving homes as they have one major thing in common: they both need a family willing to accept them as they are and see them for who they will be once their fear and anxiety melts away and reveals their authentic self. Love can heal through time, but its the ability to see past where a cat or a child is at point of adoption is the true measure of faith and love combined. To give someone a second chance at a forever home and family is the ultimate gift we can share and freely give with all our hearts, minds, and souls.

This is one devotional I will continue to re-read throughout the rest of my days as its a gentle reminder of how blessed and enriched our lives are when we welcome in a cat who does not have a home! In my forthcoming Interview with Ms. Vincent I will be sharing about how my family undertook the care of a homeless cat who is still within the stages of not realising that the food we put out is not a one, two, or ten time arrangement but will always be there when she comes round for a visit and can be relied on to be there when she needs it most. Trust and faith walk hand in hand, and I love the way in which the lessons of life are matched directly with passages out of scripture which take the devotions of observational life into a new level of understanding.

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This book review is courtesy of:

Cats Are Part of His Kingdom, Too Virtual Blog Tour hosted by Editing Through the Seasons

hosted by:

Editing Through the Seasons - Freelance Editing & Publicity Services

{Amber took a job at a publisher & closed her publicity service Summer 2014}

Be sure to scope out my Bookish Upcoming Events

to mark your calendars!!

I purposely approached the writing of this review differently as it is set around a series of devotions which speak directly to the human heart and spirit. Therefore, I did not want to break it down like a regular novel showcase review as I generally do for all other blog tour book reviews, but rather write free-form as I spent time inside the devotional. I wanted my thoughts and impressions to arrive and alight in my spirit as I read the uplifting words and the reflections of faith from the author’s experiences. In this way, I hope my own walk inside the devotion will inspire you to pick up a copy and find seeds of wisdom which can apply to your own life and your own experiences as I have done myself.

Thank you for this interlude! As a bit of a nodding towards my love of inspirational fiction is in my sidebar and as my project to read 70 Inspirational Authors has grown to en-company a few more years to allow a proper time to soak into their narratives. I simply wanted to state on this blog stop that I welcome the hours I can lay heart and mind on inspiring stories which are interwoven with beliefs similar though not always identical to my own. As a walk of faith is as individual as we are from each other in every other way. I hope you will enjoy seeing my inspirational observations as much as you have enjoyed my observations in mainstream markets. As disclosed, I wander through all walks of literature and do not put special empathsis on either designation. I seek out stories, tride and true!

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Timeless Wisdom on Cats – Video 1 via WOW Content

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{SOURCES: Book cover for “Cats Are Part of His Kingdom Too”, cat photograph of Princess (black & white cat), author biography, book synopsis, and blog tour badges were provided by Editing Through the Seasons and used with permission. WOW Content had either URL share links or coding which made it possible to embed this media portal to this post, and I thank them for the opportunity to share a video about the wisdom of cats. Blog Tour badge provided by Parajunkee to give book bloggers definition on their blogs. Post dividers & My Thoughts badge by Fun Stuff for Your Blog via Pure Imagination.}

Copyright © Jorie Loves A Story, 2014.

Reading this book contributed to these challenges:

  • Go Indie
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Posted Sunday, 4 May, 2014 by jorielov in 70 Authors Challenge 2013-19, Adoption, Animals in Fiction & Non-Fiction, Anthology Collection of Stories, Balance of Faith whilst Living, Blog Tour Host, Bookish Films, Cats and Kittens, Daily Devotions of Inspiration from Life, Editing Through The Seasons, Equality In Literature, Indie Author, Inspirational Fiction & Non-Fiction, Inspiring Video Related to Content, Lessons from Scripture, Memoir, Rescue & Adoption of Animals, Vignettes of Real Life, Wisdom of Life Threaded in Devotions