Tuesday, May 13, 2025

 Reflections - George and His Hairy Snake

Chicken Soup Book Cover

George, our beloved, long-haired, black and white cat died December 20, 2018. Babs resurrected him—sort of.

Babs welcomed me to Meadville Vicinity Pennwriters (MVP) in 2013. We bonded over writing and our love of cats. At the December 2022 ZOOM meeting, she gazed into my square. “Chicken Soup is looking for cat stories. That's perfect for you,” her resonant voice purred. “You ought to submit. I will.”


Bubbles of excitement circulated through my veins. Appear in a book with Babs? Barbara Mountjoy, writing under the pen name Alana Lorens, authored romance suspense novels and the Pittsburgh Lady Lawyers.  


Chicken Soup for the Soul: Lessons Learned from My Dog included “Crossing the Bridge,” my story about a neighbor’s dog Spot. But Chicken Soup receives four to five thousand stories for each title. I might as well buy a Pennsylvania lottery ticket and expect a Mega Millions win, especially with Babs entering her story. 


Doubt pricked away those bubbles of hope. Well, not all. I trusted Babs enough to look at the guidelines. Chicken Soup called for stories celebrating cats. One subtopic erased my skepticism. “Did your cat have a favorite toy?” 


Did George ever have a favorite toy!


Decades ago, with eyes twinkling, Spence dangled a thin, stuffed strip—brown fur on the front, green flannel on the back—in front of our long-haired feline. “It’s a hair snake, George.”


In cat fashion, the feline sniffed the drab object and walked away. Over the next few days, the toy magically appeared in different locations around the house. At night, shaman wails split the air. The cloth strip developed a pinched, Barbie doll waistline. We never saw George with the toy the first few years, but, for the rest of his life, he and his hairy snake couldn’t, shouldn’t, wouldn’t be separated.

 

Hairy Snake by Amaryllis

I needed to write George’s story whether or not Chicken Soup accepted the submission.


Drafted, shared with beta readers, reviewed by MVP, and polished, “George and His Hairy Snake” was ready. On April 17, 2023 I entered the story into Chicken Soup’s online form. The automatic reply read Thank you for your submission.


A year later I heard, Chicken Soup’s cherishing cat stories were published. Babs’s story and mine must have landed in a slush pile. But I didn’t regret the time I spent reliving the memories of George. 


February 2, 2025, nearly two years after submitting the hairy snake tale, D’ette Corona, associate publisher of Chicken Soup, emailed with shocking news. She asked for permission to publish “George and His Hairy Snake” in Chicken Soup from the Soul: What I Learned from My Cat. 


As if a kaleidoscope of newly hatched monarchs crawled over me, my skin quivered and my spirits soared. They’d kept George’s story?


In her March/April Inner Circle Newsletter, Amy Newmark, publisher and editor-in-chief, wrote, “. . . we occasionally will save a submission for consideration for a future book.”


And she explained the process of selecting stories. Freelance editors read all submissions. D’ette and two other staffers limit the recommendations to several hundred. Amy chooses the final 101 stories and arranges them forming an arc for the book and an arc for each chapter. George made it into the “Quirky Cat” chapter. Though his story revels in cherishing George, he also taught lessons—devotion and determination against all odds. His humorous story may require tissues. 


Chicken Soup for the Soup: What I Learned from My Cat will be released May 20, 2025.

George and the Gloriosa Daisies

 

Sunday, May 4, 2025

 Reflections - An Upcoming Announcement

George on the Spiral Stairs

On May 13, my niece’s birthday—Happy Birthday, Sarah—this blog will post an announcement. In the meantime, enjoy these photos of George. This beloved cat cast his magic on Spence and me. We miss our late long-haired friend.
 
George as a Kitten    

George and June Flowers    

George on the Gate

George Knightly Wells