New Book in the Works: Angry Arnold
I’ve made the difficult decision to table the Christmas story I was working on. With our work and school schedules, there is no way I can get it polished and ready to publish before December. Instead, I am focusing on what I hope will become a social emotional learning series featuring our pets. The first book will be based on our most recent rescue, Arnold, and is titled Angry Arnold.
Book Cover for Angry Arnold
Arnold showed up near my husband’s work last spring looking skinny and disheveled. Originally, the plan was to do TNR (Trap-Neuter-Return) for him, but within a few weeks he started to show signs that he wasn’t truly a feral cat. It first started with meowing when Arnold saw my husband. It was that demanding meow to let the human know he wanted food right that instant.
Then, Arnold started coming out of his hiding place and waiting for my husband and the other feeders outside. A few weeks ago, Arnold started rubbing up against my husband’s legs. This behavior, coupled with the many scars serving as evidence of the battles he has lost, convinced us that Arnold could not stay a “feral” cat. The original plan was to acclimate him to our backyard. Out of an abundance of caution, I had him combo tested for FIV and FeLV. Arnold ‘s test came back FIV positive. He will need to be rehabilitated and possibly adopted out to a home with no other cats since he has so far shown he is not a fan of the other members of his species.
In the meantime, I am documenting his journey from “fearsome feral” to spoiled house cat on my pet Instagram account @the_chronicles_of_nick. While Arnold appears to be angry, he really is just frightened and it will take us time to earn his trust. It took a month to earn the trust of Nick, our cat whom the account is named for, and now Nick is my constant shadow. In fact, Nick is sleeping next to me has I type this post.
Angry Arnold will be a fictional story dealing with an emotion I see more and more students struggling to properly process. As always, I plan to tackle the subject in a light-hearted manner while simultaneously teaching an important lesson. Thanks for stopping by and happy reading!
