Concerning a Cat
I don't remember when I finally bought The Secret History of the Pink Carnation. I had seen it on the front table of Borders for so long that I eventually was worn down by sheer exposure. I might not remember when I bought it, but when I first read it is forever ingrained on my memory. Think how often a book becomes entwined with the memory of first reading that book. The two become inseparable and that is where my cat comes in. Spot has been gone quite a few years now, he lived to the grand old age of twenty-two and I think in human terms that made him a crotchety dowager duchess whose will was law. If he had only know that certain dowager duchesses had palanquins to carry them about I think he would have put in an order for one. But as you can see from the picture above, at least he was an Anglophile through and through. If there was a chaise and four in a miniseries he would get worked up planing how to kill and eat the four horses. Yes, there were chittering sounds and many incidents of him actually attacking the TV. To get back to the time of this particular story...
At this time Spot was a spry nineteen year old going on twenty, and yes, when he was younger I did sing songs to him from The Sound of Music around his birthday. He had a bad tooth removed and there were complications which resulted in him having some surgery. For a few months he required round the clock supervision. In pure cat logic, instead of wanting to sleep in his comfy bed which was next to the couch, or on my lap, he decided that the faux British manhole cover doormat in the pantry was to be his new home. Therefore the uncomfortable floor next to said manhole cover became my new reading spot. But it was a magical reading spot. Because sitting there, protecting my cat, I fell into the world Lauren created with the Pink Carnation. I quickly devoured the first book and ran out to get The Masque of the Black Tulip. Followed very quickly by The Deception of the Emerald Ring. Quite shortly after that I started hitting up my publishing connections for an ARC of The Seduction of the Crimson Rose. No matter how many times I have read these initial volumes I always think of that first time. Uncomfortable on a cold vinyl floor, but surrounded by the love of my cat and a great story. If it wasn't for Lauren's books I wouldn't have this precious memory of time spent with my best friend who left me too soon. I will always be grateful to Lauren for this.
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