Author Vickie Taylor, here….

I was out looking at used trucks recently. I don’t need anything fancy, just something sturdy and reliable to haul hay and such around my farm. I finally found a nice Ford. It had some dings and scrapes, but the engine purred like a big cat.

That experience got me thinking about my cat, B.J. I adopted B.J. from the Humane Society of North Texas a year or two ago. At the time, I was volunteering with the shelter, and B.J. had been there too long. She was actually causing turmoil among the staff as they couldn’t decide what to do with her. She didn’t seem adoptable—she was old, had a mangled ear, a crooked leg, and her whole back end seemed somewhat out of kilter. But she was friendly and loving and so they kept trying to find her a family. I already had two cats. I wasn’t looking for another, but I took B.J. home (more to keep my friends from having to make a difficult decision than anything else).

Much to my surprise, B.J. has turned out to be the most amazing cat I’ve ever owned. Unlike most cats, who expect their owners to come to them, B.J. comes running when called. She sleeps next to me on the couch all day while I write, but is careful to keep her head and paws off the keyboard so she doesn’t interfere with my typing. She perches on my bureau and watches over me at night.

Much like my truck, she’s not showroom perfect, but she’s sturdy and dependable. My scratched and dented pet is the best pet ever.

Coming to Amazon a few days from now (mid-January, 2012) from bestselling author Vickie Taylor, a fantasy romance novella: Mother Nature & Father Time, A love (and hate) story.