Meet Boushka, proud owner of author Mary Sharatt

Woof! Welcome my special guest, Boushka! This Welsh mare lives with Mary Sharatt, author of the fascinating novel, Daughters of the Witching Hill. If you love witch stories based on real historical stuff, then this is the book for you! Be sure to check out Mary's website, as well as her Facebook page.

So tell us, Boushka, how in the world did you end up with an American author living in Lancashire, England?

I was born in Wales, the greatest place in the world and sacred homeland to all Welsh ponies and cobs, but I changed owners several times, living in Yorkshire and then in Lancashire where I did pony club stuff with teenagers. A girl has to get around, you know?

Then I moved to Pendle Forest in Lancashire where I acquired Mary who was most certainly not a teenager. When I first met her, she was writing her novel, DAUGHTERS OF THE WITCHING HILL, about the Pendle Witches of 1612, so she rode me all around Pendle Forest as part of her research. Mary and I have a lot of fun adventures together. We even did a three day, long distance ride last summer, the Mary Towneley Loop, where I took Mary up and down old packhorse trails, across moors, through fields of cows who were altogether too inquisitive, and into forgotten valleys. Mary knows I’m happiest when we do long hacks and that nothing is more fun than having a good canter across a field or exploring a new trail through the woods. I am naturally curious and must investigate everything. And I’m not afraid of cows. I’m the boss of them and they know it. Don’t mess with Welsh mares!

What's with the name? Sounds Russian spy to me.

My show name is Glynnedd Caramel. One of my teenagers that I owned before Mary named me Boushka, short for Babushka, after the Kate Bush song. I think it’s a little silly since Babushka means grandmother and there’s nothing grandmotherly about me! But they say it’s unlucky to change a horse’s name, so I’m still Boushka, although I’m secretly training Mary to call me Queen Boudicca instead. If the Roman legions invaded the mares’ field, I would totally demolish them, as I am descended from great Celtic warrior queens.

Wow. I'm impressed. I understand you have a bigger wardrobe with more accessories than Mary. How did this happen?

When I first acquired Mary, I came with a whole wardrobe and set of accessories thanks to the teenager I owned before Mary. This included my beloved pink feed bucket and hay net. Of course, Mary has added to the collection so I now have five different field rugs, two stable rugs, a fly rug, a fleece cooler, countless saddle cloths, travel boots, brushing boots, two head collars and lead ropes, not to mention my Santa outfit for Christmas, which features reindeer antlers that flop around my ears and furry boots to wear on my hind legs. For Midsummer, Mary usually braids real roses in my mane, tale, and forelock. I can’t help it I’m so gorgeous!

Are there any drawbacks to owning Mary? Don't hold back now. Time to spill the beans.

Sometimes she gets a little carried away with the whole Pendle Witch theme. For Halloween, she dresses me up in a purple witch hat and hacks me out while carrying a kid’s purple glitter broom. I humour her, because I am awesome. Last year the horse behind us tried to eat the straw on the broom, which was rather amusing.

I think putting costumes on pets is humiliating. I lived the experience one Christmas, when my human tried to make me look like Santa. First and last.

Anyway, I heard Mary’s novel, DAUGHTERS OF THE WITCHING HILL, is now out in paperback. Tell us more about it!

If you’re a Welsh mare who loves reading about strong women, this is the book for you. Daughters of the Witching Hill brings history to life in a vivid and wrenching account of a family caught up in the Pendle Witch trials of 1612.

Bess Southerns, an impoverished widow living in Pendle Forest, is haunted by visions and gains a reputation as a cunning woman. Drawing on the Catholic folk magic of her youth, Bess heals the sick and foretells the future. As she ages, she instructs her granddaughter, Alizon, in her craft, as well as her best friend, who ultimately turns to dark magic. When a peddler suffers a stroke after exchanging harsh words with Alizon, a local magistrate, eager to make his name as a witch finder, plays neighbors and family members against one another until suspicion and paranoia reach frenzied heights.

Mary interweaves well-researched historical details with a beautifully imagined story of strong women, family, and betrayal. Daughters of the Witching Hill is a powerful novel of intrigue and revelation.

The book has received many glowing reviews. I hope lots of people go out and buy it so Mary can get me some more pony treats and accessories! I would like a new fly rug this summer.

You seem to like accessories quite a bit. Tell your human to get you a set of Fancy Nancy books. But before I forget... Is it true you appear in Mary's book?

Yes, I make a special cameo appearance as accused witch Alice Nutter’s horse.

Wow! So, what is Mary working on now?

Her new book, tentatively titled SIBYL OF THE RHINE, is based on the dramatic life of Hildegard von Bingen, the 12th century German visionary abbess, composer, theologian, and polymath. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt will publish the book in Spring 2012. I’m really excited about Mary’s new novel, but I hope she doesn’t get any funny ideas about dressing me up to look like a 12th century Benedictine nun!

You're scaring me! I hope my human won't read this interview. She might get some insane ideas.

Where can we learn more about Mary, her books, and the true history of the Pendle Witches?

Be sure to visit her website (www.marysharratt.com) and watch her six minute docudrama about the Pendle Witches, shot live on location around Pendle Hill. I, of course, appear in all my glory and am the star of the whole video. I can’t tell you how many takes we had to do to get the camera angles just right! ( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KT-In065-gA)

Also, you can follow my adventures with Mary on Facebook where there are many pictures of me in all my Welsh magnificence! http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=695382792

Woof! Woof!

Meet Bella, owner of children's author Deborah Underwood

Say a big MIAU! to Bella, proud owner of children's author Deborah Underwood. Deborah writes fun picture books, easy readers and chapter books, and also nonfiction. Check out what she's up to on her website! Don't be lazy and also check out Facebook fan page, ok? Woof!

What's up, Bella. What kind of cat are you and why are you named like that Twilight girl?

I am a beautiful brown tabby. My name was Sheyenne in the shelter, and Deborah took a few weeks to figure out my real name. She had about eight possibilities, like Shayla, Emily, and Charlotte. At one point she even wrote them all on pieces of paper and spread them all over the floor to see if I'd choose a name by sitting on it. She finally settled on Bella because it means beautiful and I am.

My name has NOTHING to do with Twilight. Twilight Bella is passive, and I am very active. Twilight Bella needs to be rescued. I am the rescuer in my home--every night I save Deborah from the foot-shaped lumps under her covers. (She is so happy when I catch them that she howls with joy.) Also, I do not fall in love with sparkly vampires. If a sparkly vampire came anywhere near me, I would rip him to shreds.

How did you come to live at Deborah's household?

She looked at lots and lots of cats in shelters all over the Bay Area before she decided on me (of course, actually I decided on her). I was living at Pets Unlimited in San Francisco. When Deborah came in the first time, she coaxed me down from my cat tree. I crawled into her lap, started purring, and fell asleep. She seemed pretty nice for a human, so I agreed to live with her.

I was very sneaky in the shelter, though. I know writers like to sleep, and that they like quiet. So I acted like a calm, quiet cat who didn't play at all. But after I got home, I started to tear up and down the hall, do death-defying leaps, and talk a lot. I totally fooled her! I should get an Oscar.

Nice work, Bella. You seem like CIA material...

Anyway, I hear she has a bunch of picture books out. Tell us all about it and how Deborah ignores you and spends her days writing all day long.

I like the picture books because they are big and nice to lie on. One is called A Balloon for Isabel and it's about a porcupine who wants a balloon. It's very colorful, but why would you write about a porcupine when you could write about a cat? Another is Granny Gomez and Jigsaw. It's about an old lady who adopts a pig. A pig?? What's wrong with a cat? And the other one is The Quiet Book. I wouldn't know much about quiet. The Loud Book is coming out on April 4th. That's more my style.

I am a hard cat to ignore. If she ignores me for too long, I sit on her arms so she can't type. Or I meow and look pathetic. I'm missing a canine tooth, and I can leverage this to look extra-pathetic if need be.

Forget about cats. What about DOGS??? Obviously your mom doesn't have any imagination...

So you're not in any of her books?

Not yet, since I just moved in with her last August. But she's planning to put me in a middle-grade novel. My character is so rich and complex that a picture book couldn't do it justice.

Does Deborah let you sit on her lap? I'd love to sit on my mom's lap, but I'd probably suffocate her.

She loves having me sit on her lap. In fact, I'm in her lap right now! And if I'm in her lap, she doesn't like to disturb me, even to go get food. Humans are silly. If she were in my lap and it were dinnertime, I'd push her right out.

Deborah also writes nonfiction, I hear. How does she manage her time and still doesn't forget to feed you? (or does she?!)

Are you kidding? I remind her to feed me regularly. For example, last night I reminded her at 3 a.m., 4:15 a.m., and 5:15 a.m. She looked kind of grumpy this morning. No idea why.

How does she manage her time? Not very well. Sometimes she goes to meetings (which means she's not home playing with me). Sometimes she goes on writers' retreats (which means she's not home playing with me). Sometimes she goes out to buy office supplies (which means she's not home playing with me). I will definitely bring all this up during her next performance review.

Leave us with some feline words of wisdom.

For cats: Choose your humans well.

For humans: Feed your cats well. And here's some advice from a human writer, Aldous Huxley: "If you want to be a psychological novelist and write about human beings, the best thing you can do is keep a pair of cats."

Cats, cats, cats. Bah! That Huxley didn't have any imagination either...