Scrap: Salvaging a Family garnered a couple of beautiful new reviews over the past few days. I am so grateful for the readers for their reviews.
The book’s reviews have been excellent, but they are coming in very slowly. I don’t think readers realize that even a one sentence review on Amazon helps the algorithms immensely.
It’s tough going to sell a book, even one with good reviews. And then the path to the reviews is kind of tortuous (medical term hah). I like how Ellen Morris Prewitt describes it in her blog post The Kindness of Strangers. She says:
This authoring business is a Blanche DuBois undertaking. Like the heroine in A Streetcar Named Desire, authors must depend on the kindness of strangers. First, an author asks people to come to their event. Then, when the guests arrive, you want them to buy a book. After that, you’re hoping they crack open the book and read it. Once they’ve read it, here comes another ask: will you tell people you like the book? That’s four things you’re asking of a person. Four. That seems like a lot to me.
You can translate that first one, the event, in my case as to read my social media, blog posts, substack notes, etc. So I am humbly asking for those other three things if you’re reading this post: a) buy the book, b) read the book, c) review the book with even one sentence. Actually I am pleased if you do a, and thrilled if you do b. I am downright relieved if you do c.
Anyway, here’s a little pic of the darker side of Scrap as a reward for reading through the above words (mine, not Ellen’s). Then I want to update you about Lily.
Hah, isn’t that cool? Playing around with Book Brush, as you can see.
So Lily. She had stopped eating and I had to bring her to the vet last week. She then had a dental procedure because she had a big resorbing tooth that had to be removed. After the surgery on Thursday, she ate and then Friday she seemed as if she was recovering well. She ate and took her meds.
But then yesterday, Saturday, she did not eat all day. She didn’t act like herself.
Today she still wasn’t eating, and I had to take her to the vet. This new vet is open Sundays, but not Saturdays. Her meds got changed around and she got fluids because she was dehydrated again. Tomorrow I have to take her in for fluids again. I won’t do them myself as I did that with Felix years ago for some time, and it drove a wedge between us as he hated it.
I hate making this about myself (instead of Lily) but actually I’m getting PTSD over my cats.
I don’t want Lily to be part of the prevailing pattern.
For instance, from July 2021 to June 2022, I lost four cats. Three of them were from July to September!
Then in 2024 I lost Kana. Not part of a pattern.
However, in February of this year I lost Meesker and then on June 28 the King of All Cats, Perry.
I wonder if Lily is doing what Pear Blossom did when Mac died in 2015. She stopped eating completely. I tried desperately to get her to eat, but she would not. Our vet thought she was going to die. Then one day she just started eating again.
However, I do think I must have gotten a bit of nourishment down her somehow. Lily is refusing ANYTHING.
What if Lily just doesn’t start eating in time? Cats can only go for a short time without food or they get a life-threatening condition called hepatic lipidosis (fatty liver disease).