Katz And Other Tales

Katz Tales by Ellen Whyte Book front cover image

Logomania by Ellen Whyte Book front cover image

I have two new books out! Click on the images above for free sneak peeks.

Monday, March 08, 2010

Monday Writers Craft Online: The Editor: For or Friend?

When you write a piece, do you ask someone to edit it for you or not? For me it depends on what I'm doing. These blog posts are written in a few minutes and posted as-is. It's a blog, so I'm not very particular about grammar, style, etc. (Yes, feel free to make rude comments!)

However, when I write for a publication, my work is always subbed/edited. Some writers really object to having their work edited; I think it's an excellent thing.

OK, if you're unlucky enough to get a bozo going over your work, then they can ruin you.

I remember years ago someone at the NST "improving" my work by adding in split infinitives, subject-verb errors, and other grammar horrors. When the piece was published it sounded like something you'd hear at the wet market. I suggested to the editor back then that she take a look at the "improvements" before letting them through. As it turned out, she'd already seen the piece, checked whose errors they were, and removed that sub.

For the most, however, I find that editors improve my work. When I write something, I tend to become blind to errors and glitches. Editors can cast a fresh eye on work and then pick up errors or smooth out style problems.

Eric Forbes of MPH picked out over a dozen grammar errors in the Logomania manuscript; Howe Leng of Marshall Cavendish did the same with Katz Tales.

Magazine eds like Margaret Sebastian and Tara Barker can swap around a few paras, add in some sub headings and turn an OK article into a winning feature.

If you ask me, I'd say editors are a writer's second-best friend. Cats are of course the writer's best friend - but you knew that, right?

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Labels: Monday writers craft online

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Saturday, March 06, 2010

Neutering older tom cats

Boris is out in the print version of Weekender, the Star's Saturday supplement today. For those of you who are interested in reading up more on neutering tomcats, check out these resources.

For a quick Q&A about what happens during neutering, and how if affects your kitty, check out Pawprints.

For cheap neutering clinics, ask Klinik Kembiri in Selangor, or call your local SPCA for a list of place near you. I don't have all the numbers but you can try calling this list to ask for info.

Now, when researching the sidebar for this week, I asked The Clinical Animal Behavior Service - UC Davis School of Veterinary Medicine, what they thought about neutering older tomcats. They said to read,

Effects of castration on fighting, roaming, and urine spraying in adult male cats.
Hart BL, Barrett RE
J Am Vet Med Assoc. 1973 Aug 1;163(3):290-2

This study demonstrates that cats that are castrated as an adult decrease their urine marking behavior just as significantly as those that are castrated to prevent problem behaviors. The problematic behavior can decrease quickly or slowly, and there is no way to tell if your cat will be in the 'quick' category.

I can't find the original paper online anywhere, but there is this followup that is excellent!

Determining the optimal age for gonadectomy of dogs and cats
Margaret V. Root Kustritz, DVM, PhD, DACT
Department of Veterinary Clinical Sciences, College of Veterinary Medicine, University of Minnesota, Saint Paul, MN 55108. (Kustritz)

There Are Too Many Unwanted Kittens. Don't Litter, Neuter!

posted by katztales @ 7:15 AM (5) comments links to this post | 5 comments

Friday, March 05, 2010

Repost Friday: Cat Poo Coffee

Katz Tales is out in The Star, Weekender, print version only tomorrow. Get your copy while it's hot!

This Friday Repost is from 19th May 2007

I thought this was a spoof but it isn't:

The world's most expensive, and rarest, coffee is Kopi Luwak. It is made in neighboring

Indonesia from coffee beans found in jungles.

And guess what, the only beans used are those that have been passed through native civet cats.

The price is a cool $1,000 (RM4000) a kilo.

As Wikipedia reports, "Civets are omnivorous, supplementing a meat diet (both hunted and scavenged) with fruit, eggs, and possibly roots. One of the Common Palm Civet's favorite fruits is the coffee "berry." The coffee bean within often survives, and it is sometimes gathered and sold as caphe cut chon (fox-dung coffee) in Vietnam or Kopi Luwak (civet coffee) in Indonesia."

Anyone for a cuppa? I thought Yuk but apparently the coffee connoisseurs in Oz are digging in happily. See here and here for news articles.

I wonder if Scoop and Au would like to eat a few beans? It might be a whole new cottage industry.

PS This image of the civet cat was originally called "Malaiischer Palmenroller, Paradoxurus hermaphroditus Schreb. 1/5 natürlicher Größe." It was created by Gustav Mützel and comes from Brehms Tierleben, Small Edition 1927. It's copyright is now expired so the image may be used by anyone.

If you want to keep in touch with updates, here are some simple ways:
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Tuesday, March 02, 2010

COT Cat Wrestling!

It's boiling hot in Malaysia - some 38C and sticky to boot. Nasty. The cats spend most of their time floating upside down underneath the fans, but at night they're wrestling.

Pity we missed the cat-o-lympics!

For more cats, check out Gattina's Cats on Tuesday.

If you want to keep in touch with updates, here are some simple ways:
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Labels: Au, Cats On Tuesday, target

posted by katztales @ 7:55 AM (20) comments links to this post | 20 comments

Saturday, February 27, 2010

Monday Writers Craft Online: When Someone Nicks Your Stuff

You write something good, and sell it to a newspaper. Next thing you know, someone has ripped off your work and posted it on their web site. What can you do?

I have blogged about this before but I'd like to revisit this as a friend is having similar problems. She asked me what advice I would give, so here it is...

1. Some people just don't understand it's rude to nick stuff. Plus, there are companies that have aggregated feeds, like Google News, that scour places of interest automatically. The best provide links to your page; nasty ones nick the article.

Either way, the first option is to write to them and tell them to remove your stuff. Look for the email address of the web master, CEO etc and send it off.

If that doesn't work...

2. Look up a contact number and call them. If there is no Contact Page, use MYNIC to look up who owns a .com.my or Malaysian domain or WhoIs for .coms or top level domain names.

A polite email or phone call usually works wonders. If it does not, try...

3. Make up a web page telling your story, and send that link to the web master etc. Bad publicity frightens most companies into doing the right thing.

4. Add a script that stops bots, spiders and other programmes from crawling your stuff automatically. Instructions are here. Note, however, that this usually means your pages won't show up in Google and other places automatically either.

4. Make a police report and call your lawyer.

As it costs a bomb to take a case to court, assuming you can afford a lawyer and find a court that understands this sort of problem, following through is not an option for mere mortals who aren't millionaires. Especially if the thief lives in a different country from you, and/or hosts their web site abroad.

However, this strategy can add spice to a followup email/call where you tell the thief to let your stuff alone and send them a copy of the report. Send it by fax if you can as faxes are read by lots of office staff who will all gossip - and maybe force the boss into behaving honourably.

Note. About fighting fire with fire... When the vets in Perak nicked my work the second time, I got really mad. For a few moments I really thought about finding a hacker and asking them to destroy that web site. I got over it a few moments later. Two wrongs may make you feel better but they don't make a right. Far be it from me to preach ethics, but when it's considered OK to destroy sites for one reason, it will lead to a situation where everyone considers themselves Almighty Online Arbitrators. And there's enough of that sort of thing going on already.

Hope this helps, and good luck!

Labels: Monday writers craft online

posted by katztales @ 6:54 PM (5) comments links to this post | 5 comments

Friday, February 26, 2010

Repost Friday: Kinky Tails

Want to know why cats have kinky tails? Check out this repost from February 2007...

Friends from overseas (read: non-Malaysians) are always horrified when they see Scoop's tail looks like a corkscrew, and that Au's short little stubby tail waves at a permanent 45 degree angle.

Local friends don't make it any better because they delight in telling the urban legends that say these cats are victims of animal cruelty.

Depending on who's telling the story, innocent tourists are told a local ethnic group believes cats are so beautiful that they disturb the spirits of the dead if they walk over their graves. To prevent spiritual unrest, the story goes, this group go along breaking cat’s tails at birth.

I’ve heard this superstition being attributed to various Chinese groups, Malaysian Indians, and even Sarawak tribes such as the Iban, so it’s hard to know where exactly this story started. One thing's for sure, the teller always blames someone else!

In case you’re worried: local kitties may look like victims of unusual torture but they are born this way. In fact, it’s a local neighbourhood characteristic.

Malaysian, Singaporean and Thai cats have an odd gene that creates a kinky tail. Some kitties have long tails with a knob or kink at the top; others have a variety of shorter tails sticking out at odd angles.

Scoop’s corkscrew tail is unusually complex, and knowing this our old fuzzy is very proud of it. He curls his tail up when he’s interested in something and down when he’s relaxed. It’s a wonderful barometer indicating his mood.

If you see a cat with a kinky tail in the US or UK, chances are you are looking at a cousin of Scoop or Au’s. Please say apa kabar from us!

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Labels: repost Friday

posted by katztales @ 8:44 AM (8) comments links to this post | 8 comments

Tuesday, February 23, 2010

COT: Naughty Cat Club Kitties

Au and Target have been wild all day. They're jumping up and down on the table, the sofa and the bed. They're squealing their way up and down the stairs. They are wrestling on their rug, and on the sofa. They are WILD!

The laundry that was on the bed is now scattered on the floor. The papers that were on my desk are also on the floor. Oh, and the rug that was in the hall is now in my office.

Au and Target are living up to their reputation as members of the Naughty Kitty Club!

For more cats, naughty and nice!, check out Gattina who hosts Cats on Tuesday.

If you want to keep in touch with updates, here are some simple ways:
Subscribe to Katz Tales in a reader
Follow Au on Twitter
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Labels: Au, Cats On Tuesday, target

posted by katztales @ 8:36 AM (29) comments links to this post | 29 comments