Not All Dogs

“Pete, on the other paw, drew a shockingly good caricature of his mother behind bars, reaching towards a cartoon version of himself.” (Art by Elaine Lowd)

by Mary E. Lowd

Originally published in Dissident Signals, July 2018


Lucky was a good dog.  He’d been a good dog all his life.

So why was he standing in an office supply store, watching his three adopted kittens run wild, while trying to figure out how to make protest signs for a rally to free his tabby cat wife from prison? Continue reading “Not All Dogs”

Fred Patten

Fred Patten, a pioneering member of the furry writing community and prolific editor, died today at the age of 77.

Words are failing me, but here’s a picture of all of the anthologies Fred edited with stories of mine. That’s enough encouragement to change the course of a writing career, and also my life.

Rest in peace, Fred.

One Green Balloon

That feeling when you’re trying to write, and the five-year-old is repeatedly bouncing a balloon off of your head… and you’re encouraging this behavior, because it’s less disruptive than so many other options. #NaNoWriMo


The balloon is green, in case anyone was curious.


Things you don’t expect to ever say: “You need to try to hit my head and not my computer.”

Tidbits from Floundering at NaNo

Apparently the part of my brain that thought it was a good idea to put off writing my story for the Halloween reading until 4am the night before also decided I had too much of a lead on #NaNoWriMo… as such, I’ve failed to write anything today.


In other news, I seem to have found an off-brand Farscape to watch — Gene Roddenberry’s Andromeda. I’m on episode two, and it is… not good. Continue reading “Tidbits from Floundering at NaNo”