Very odd indeedby Linda Watson-Brown - 12:43 on 10 February 2010So - something strange is happening. Last year, my lovely new shiny agent said that animal stories were really popular and did I know of any. I split my sides laughing, reminded her - between splitting - that my life tended to be filled with misery, and wondered (privately) if she was as sane as she had always appeared over the years I had known her.
Still, to humour her, and prove my superiority, I sent out an email to people asking if they knew of anyone/anything. Within a couple of hours, my inbox was stuffed. By that evening, I had my next book. Coming through as usual, my friend Yvonne had pointed me in the direction of a lady called Sarah-Jane le Blanc who was an animal psychic. I chortled and left a message fior her. I chortled some more and phoned her again later, speaking to her partner who seemed disconcertingly nice . . . and normal. The next night, Sarah-Jane rang and also seemed to be on this planet. But she did communicate with animals apparently.
That weekend, I went to one of her training events and had my eyes opened to this whole new world. My agent loved it, and we got the proposal out quickly - at which point, I expected nothing. My fantastic business sense was proven wrong as always, and the offers started coming in. Simon and Schuster won, and 'The Pet Whisperer' is out in August 2010.
Well, that was interesting I thought - but a one off.
Until the publishers called a couple of weeks ago to ask if I fancied taking a trip down Doolittle Lane again. There has been an international media phenomenon since last year called Casper the Cat. Casper lived in Plymouth and, every day, queued up to get a bus. He'd travel around the city and became a bit of a celebrity. Sadly, last month, a hit and run driver killed him - his owner, Sue, has been amazed by the global outpouring of grief and the ways in which her cat touched people, so Simon & Schuster have offered her the chance to tell Casper's tale (tail?). I went down to Plymouth at the weekend and am now transcribing all the interviews. The book will be called 'Casper the Commuting Cat' and will also be out in August 2010.
I've set up a Facebook page (Friends of Casper the Commuter Cat) for anyone who wants to tell me any stories about him - but, in the meantime, I'm sitting here wondering just what other non-human creatures I'm going to be ghosting for in the near future and thinking how bizarre it all really is!
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