Writing Update: Trapped

   I'm a day late again. I've been too busy with schoolwork to take care of my little blog. Or too busy with writing. And editing. And proofreading. (Yes, I'm proofreading a book for a friend. What friend, you ask? Here's a link to his website. Yeah, his website is cooler than mine...)
   What am I writing about today? Well, I thought I'd give a little update about Kitten Mysteries|Book 2: Trapped. Do you know the main plot? No? Well, here's a quick synopsis:

When Seabert runs away from home, he finds himself trapped underground with a crazy skunk, an ugly frog, and a familiar face from his last adventure.

   That's the working 'synopsis' so far. I should probably tweak it to make it sound better.
   Anyway, how is it coming? I'm glad to say Trapped is finished! Well, the third draft anyway. And I've started on the fourth draft, which will be the final draft (I hope). After several plot changes, and another which has yet to be fully fleshed out, I think I'm happy with the way this story is turning out.
   If that's all I have to say, then why am I talking about it? Well, I'm here to release a potential publishing date for you all. My goal is to release Trapped by March 1st, 2014. There, I said it. Now you have the ability to hold me to that goal.
   How can you contact me? You can find me on Twitter (@jesseorice), you can like the Kitten Mysteries page on Facebook (Kitten Mysteries) and post on the wall, or you can find me on Google+ (Jesse Rice). Have a wonderful day and I hope you come back to The Kitten Den again!
   Oh! And if you've read the book, don't hesitate to write a review on Goodreads or Amazon. Thanks!

The Case of the Missing Girl - Part 4

Click for Part 1 and Part 2 and Part 3.

 

The Case of the Missing Girl

By Jesse Rice

 

Chapter Four

Chicken

   I flew toward the rooster and slid in the mud. I jumped over the rooster's claw and grabbed the hair bow in my mouth. Then, without a backward glance, I dashed out of the chicken pen with the rooster on my tail. I turned around and saw the rooster leaping over the fence.

   "Prepare to be pecked!" the rooster screeched.

   I gasped and nearly dropped the hair bow. I hurried to the porch and jumped onto the swing. Panting and hiding, I inspected the bow. Suddenly, a wild tapping came from the window beside the swing. I glanced over, but saw no one. Whoever had tapped had fled. However, hanging in the window, was a large, pink, birthday balloon.

   "Someone had a birthday," I murmured. "Can this be connected to the Case of the Missing Girl?" An idea formed in my brain, and I dashed away from the porch, leaving the bow behind.

   As I crossed the farm, deep in thought, I was oblivious to the fact that an angry Caesar was following.

   "Beware, cat," Caesar growled, and moved in for the kill.

 

Return next Monday for the last part of The Case of the Missing Girl.

Rambo's Rambling - Cat Care

   Class! Today Professor Rambo will be teaching you all on the proper way to feed cats. This information is straight from a cat, so you can know it is right.

   1. Cats need four full meals a day. I prefer round meals over square meals, because my stomach is round. And when I say full meal, I mean a meal that makes my stomach full. So give your cats lots of food.

   2. Must you pet cats so much? I mean, we get bombarded by people as soon as we're spotted! The madness, the germs, the tickling! It's horrible. Basically, all I want is for you guys, and girls especially girls, to leave us alone. Maybe a stroke or two a day, but that's it. Give us food and leave us alone.

   3. The kittens are not superior to us. Perhaps this kind of contradicts the last point, but if you're going to snuggle the kittens, snuggle us too. We adult cats don't want to feel inferior to the little 'uns. So treat us all equal (and hopefully nicely).

   4. Let us sleep! When we are sleeping, don't wake us up. Unless its lunch time. Then please wake me up, but leave everyone else to sleep.

 

There you go. A four point list to taking care of me. I hope you learned a lot, there will be a test. Though, if you give me a free meal, I'll go easy on you. Hehe.

Note: this report was not sanctioned or approved by the CCA (Cat Caretakers of America).

The Case of the Missing Girl - Part 3

   Click for Part 1 and Part 2.

 

The Case of the Missing Girl

By Jesse Rice

 

Chapter Three

Gone!

   I immediately stepped into action as Detective Rambo, Private Eyes. I jumped off the feed bags and glanced around. I stepped up to Jesse, the nearest human.

   "Where is the youngest girl?" I asked.

   Jesse leaned down. "How are you, Rambo? You doing okay?" He picked me up and put me on his shoulder. I could talk to him much easier up here.

   "Where is the girl?" I asked again.

   "Hush," Jesse hissed. "That's loud." He pulled me off his shoulder, much to my dislike, and put me on the ground.

   "Stay out of the way," Jesse ordered. I hissed at him. Jesse bopped me on the nose.

   "Stop hissing." He walked away.

   I was no closer to solving this case than I had been five minutes ago. Time to start sleuthing. I dashed as fast as I could to the house, partly because I wanted to solve this case and partly because Caesar was after me. I crawled into the cement blocks serving as a porch step and waited until Caesar left.

   "Come out, you little nuisance," Caesar roared.

   I wrinkled my nose. "You have bad breath."

   "What are you doing?" Caesar asked. "Spying on the humans?"

   "The littlest girl has disappeared," I replied. "I have decided to find her."

   Caesar barked with laughter and I ran away. I hurried over to the chicken coop and immediately saw a clue. It was the girl's pink hair bow. Detective Rambo turned to Agent 525 Rambo, spy extraordinaire.

   I crawled through the fence and looked at the chicken pecking at the hair bow.

   "Scram, chicken," I growled.

   The chicken looked at me and I knew I was dead meat: the chicken was Fry the Rooster.

 

Come back next time for Part 4: Chicken!

'May the Odds Be Every in Your Favor'

   The Hunger Games. Probably one of the most controversial book series ever (other than Harry Potter). Some people think it's brilliant. Some people think its disgusting. I've decided to throw my pin into the ring of opinions.

   Heart-wrenching, gut-twisting, stomach-churning, disgusting, crazy Hunger Games. I've read the series twice. Both times I was shocked, disturbed, and drawn into this world of tributes, murder, and revolution. Why does it resonate with me? What could I possibly relate to in a world where everyone tries to kill one another?

   For one, there's Peeta. Good old Peeta, the only character that actually tries to think about others (to start). He's the character that wants to do right because it might be the right thing to do, not just because it'll save his own life. Yes, he's flawed (as is everyone), but
that's part of the beauty of it.
   Now, do I enjoy the series? Yes, and I dislike it. It is horrible, it makes me angry: and that's the point! The Hunger Games is much like The Grapes of Wrath or The Jungle. It's a series about social injustice (even if that society doesn't exist). It's a book that present tough questions and gives answer to them, not proclaiming that those answers are right. It's a series that tugs at your heartstrings as you follow after characters who live, die, fight, and bleed for those they love. Is that always right? No. But there definitely are qualities we can take from these characters that are biblically based and should be applied to our own lives.
   One more thing. When Katniss first goes into the games, she takes the place of someone else (no spoilers, don't worry). She puts her life in the place of another's, most likely going to lose it in the process. She's willing to lay down her life for her friend... Sound familiar?

Note: I don't own the rights to the picture.

Why I wrote The Missing Kitten

  Some of you may have wondered 'Why did you write The Missing Kitten?' This is a pretty simple question to answer.

   Writing books about cats all started on my little sister's 8th birthday. Now, my siblings are pretty talented with crafts. For birthdays they generally make crafts as presents. I wanted to do something of the sort, but I'm not patient enough or talented enough to make something worthy of gifting. Instead, I looked to what I was good at: writing.

   That's where I came up with the idea to write a story about my sister's cats. She loves cats and has many of them, so I came up with The Case of the Missing Girl.

   She liked the story. Then, being the crazy 12-year-old I was at the time, I decided I could do this for all my siblings. And not with short stories either, but with full length books! I could write a book for two siblings every Christmas. But, the best part, would be that I would write a series, so each year (if it was her year to get a book) my sister would get the next story in the kitten series.

   The Missing Kitten is the first book in the Kitten Mysteries series. I wrote it for my sister, because she loves cats. And that is why it is dedicated to her.

 

(Note about the schedule: School has started again, so I'm probably going to have to alter it a bit. Check out the new schedule here.)

The Case of the Missing Girl - Part 2

   Here's part two of The Case of the Missing Girl, the story which brought about the Kitten Mysteries series. The first part can be found here.

 

The Case of the Missing Girl

By Jesse Rice

 

Chapter Two

The Calf Monsters

   I crawled down, straight down, from the hay bales surrounding the calf pen. I wriggled under the gate and into the pen. I looked around. All the calves were looking at Butch, high up on the hay bales.

   "Hey, everybody!" Butch shouted. "Come 'n' get me!"

   I walked slowly up behind the biggest calf. Hopping Harry stared up at Butch. I glanced over at Seabert who was ready to pounce on Kratos, another big calf. I smiled smugly and leapt. Harry bawled as loud as he could as I yanked on his tail. He spun around and I flew into the hay bales. I fell into a small cave that the calves had eaten into the hay bales, then jumped out of it and dashed for the gate.

   A calf shoved his head in my way, but I jumped onto his head and leapt over the gate. I landed on the feed bags, and Butch jumped down beside me.

   "Was it totally awesome?" he asked.

   I nodded, breathless. Seabert crawled out of the milk feeder and grinned.

   "I'm wet," he complained, soaked with milk, "but I taste good!" He jumped onto the feed bags and rubbed his head against my side.

   "Thank you very much for your help, Deputy," I said, returning to my western voice.

   "Don't mention it, Partner," Seabert meowed, walking back toward the hay barn where his mother was waiting. I sighed and noticed that all the humans had come out to feed calves. All of them except the little girl. Where was she? I decided it was up to Sheriff Rambo to find out.

 

Come back next Monday for Part Three: Gone!