Bestselling Author Delilah Devlin
HomeMeet Delilah
BookshelfBlogExtrasEditorial ServicesContactDelilah's Collections

Blog



Sukie Chapin: Bones, Blood, and Making a Statement
Wednesday, October 12th, 2016

sc1

So, this post was originally going to be about the inspiration behind my story Sanctuary which appears in the Crazy Cat Ladies anthology, but I have to veer a tiny bit first, of course.

Have you ever had one of those moments where life truly imitates art? I don’t have them often, but every once in a while…

Well, Friday was one of those rare days.

I woke up a bit later than I wanted and was rushing to get my six-year-old and myself ready for her dentist appointment. Let me back up a moment and give you a teensy piece of back story…my cat. She’s big and fluffy and basically thinks she’s starving all the time. (Don’t they all?) She also suffers from the “my food is gone from the center of my bowl and piled around the edges; therefore, I’m going to starve to death” disorder. As I left my room and headed to my daughter’s, my sweet fluffball made a mad dash, and by that I mean a bat-sh!&-crazy, mow-you-down, NFL worthy rush, for the kitchen. Somehow, she ended up under my feet, and in an effort to not squish her, I guess I threw myself off balance.

I heard not one, but four distinct crunching pops.

Oh yes. Yay, me.

I fell, of course, cause graceful. And I knew something was very wrong with my ankle, but I’ve twisted it before (remember that whole graceful thing?), and it’s made noises when sprained, so I hobbled around and went ahead with the dentist appointment.

As one does.

Cue all the people at the dentist office gathered around me, peering at my ankle in abject horror. “Why aren’t you in the ER?” “You need to have that looked at immediately!” “Prop your foot on this chair, now!”

So, I listened. Which I totally always do. Sure. Yeah. Definitely. *wink, wink* And I took myself, my six year old, and my gigantic, somewhat mangled looking ankle to get an X-Ray.

Lo and behold, it’s broken.

So, the week before my story releases in the Crazy Cat Ladies anthology, I literally break my ankle saving my cat…or because of my cat…or something having to do with my cat. If only my doctor had been a crazy hot guy, I’d have my next story. Hm, maybe I already do. 🙂

Now, about my story. Sanctuary is set on an exotic cat refuge where Indy, my heroine, works to provide a good life for lions and tigers and leopards that were once kept as pets.

Jake, my hero, has struggled with a slightly different cause; canned lion hunts. He’s seen first hand what that industry does: the hand-raising of lion cubs, the tiny cages, the constant breeding, and eventually the death at the hands of a hunter at close range.

Now, I’m not typically one to “get political.” I’m empathetic to a fault and can usually find some way to see the other side of the coin, to walk in someone else’s shoes, to bring sexy back (wait, no, that doesn’t fit there). But the inspiration for Sanctuary came from a film called Blood Lions. If you haven’t seen it, I highly encourage you to check it out (Amazon). It details the canned lion hunt industry and what’s happening to these animals. And it’s heartbreaking.

There are currently more lions living in captivity at these canned hunting establishments than there are in the wild. But that’s not the worst part. Nope, not by a long shot. The worst part is that each and every one of them is essentially on death row, just waiting for a person to pick their picture out of an email and pay some serious money to shoot them, stuff them, and bring them home as a trophy. And these lions have been raised by humans, in most cases literally bottle fed, so they have no natural fear of them anymore. They walk right up to the man with the gun.

As I said, I’m not one to cast judgment, but this issue has truly broken my heart. I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to share a little bit about what’s going on with this industry and how alarming it is.

That said, Sanctuary isn’t all sadness and drama! Jake and Indy are pretty hilarious together, if I do say so myself. Their banter and ability to laugh at themselves is my favorite part of their love affair. Well, that and they’re pretty hot together, too. 🙂

I really hope you’ll check out Sanctuary and the rest of the awesome stories in the Crazy Cat Ladies anthology. The stories are incredibly diverse and there’s something for everyone!

The Crazy Cat Ladies boxed set lets 9 new purr-fectly wild romance stories out of the bag. We hope you enjoy these paw-some tails from New York Times, USA Today, & other authors.

sc2crazy-cat-ladies-9-boxset-3d-cover-v500x336

Amazon US – http://bit.ly/CCLAmzUS
Amazon AU – http://bit.ly/CCLAmzAU
Amazon CA – http://bit.ly/CCLAmzCA
Amazon UK – http://bit.ly/CCLAmzUK
iBooks – http://bit.ly/CCLiBooks
Nook – http://bit.ly/CCLNook

Kobo – http://bit.ly/CCLKobo
Goodreads – http://bit.ly/CCLGoodreads
Crazy Cat Lady website! http://www.crazycatladyseries.com

FREEBIE!! Wooing the Cat Lady in your Life: https://www.instafreebie.com/free/5I7pI

Connect with me:
Newsletter: http://bit.ly/SukiesNewsletter
Facebook: @SukieChapinAuthor
Twitter: @SukieChapin
www.sukiechapin.com
Email me!! sukie@sukiechapin.com

Okay, so time to please, please, please make me feel better. Has your fur-baby ever caused you to have a major boo-boo?

8 comments to “Sukie Chapin: Bones, Blood, and Making a Statement”

  1. Charlotte
    Comment
    1
    · October 12th, 2016 at 7:40 am · Link

    Yep. Cocker that looks like a black bear. Will only run to scavenge.
    Look what happened to you bc you ‘saved the cat. ‘



  2. Debbie
    Comment
    2
    · October 12th, 2016 at 1:39 pm · Link

    My cat started out as a feral abandoned by his feral mom. He is now loving, but he never learned how to play nice.



  3. ButtonsMom2003
    Comment
    3
    · October 12th, 2016 at 3:05 pm · Link

    So sorry about your ankle. I bought the anthology so I hope that helps to feel a bit better. 🙂

    I’ve tripped over my dog many times but fortunately no major damage.

    Hope you feel better soon!



  4. Gayle Lazur
    Comment
    4
    · October 12th, 2016 at 11:03 pm · Link

    Sorry about your ankle but fully understand the action that led to it. I will do everything to not step on or injure one of my mini dachshunds. While the dogs and cats I have owned have not been the cause of any injuries (close calls but no injuries) I did break my left wrist stepping backwards off a bench while taking care of my horse – long story for another time. Glad that your injury wasn’t any worse and hoping you recover soon.



  5. Sukie
    Comment
    5
    · October 13th, 2016 at 12:55 pm · Link

    Charlotte,
    I know, right!? But I just couldn’t stand the thought of squishing her little furry hiney. 🙁
    Thank you for stopping by!



  6. Sukie
    Comment
    6
    · October 13th, 2016 at 12:57 pm · Link

    Hi Debbie,
    That’s so funny that you mentioned your kitty being abandoned and then never learning to play nice. Our vet told us that many aggressive or “rough” playing cats were taken away from mama too soon. She’s the one that teaches them to play gently. So interesting! I’m so glad you rescued that sweet fur-baby!
    Thanks for the comment!
    Sukie



  7. Sukie
    Comment
    7
    · October 13th, 2016 at 12:59 pm · Link

    Awww! ButtonsMom, thank you so much! I remember you mentioning your little guy last week! I hope he continued to do well!
    Thanks for saying hi!
    Sukie



  8. Sukie
    Comment
    8
    · October 13th, 2016 at 1:02 pm · Link

    Oh my goodness, Gayle! I think a broken wrist sounds so incredibly painful! I hope it healed well!

    And you sound like one of my closest friends growing up. She had horses and Dachshunds. Her oldest, T-Bone, didn’t like it when I slept over and would hike his leg on the bed. I loved that dog, but he was very territorial of my friend! LOL!

    Thanks for sharing!
    Sukie



Comments are closed.