Books + Cats

Two of my favourite things 🎶

Friends and readers,

I'm using subheadings for this email to try and break it up a bit for you, and make it an easier read.

Books (selling in person)

I have been sick. I know I don't need to explain my absence to you. I want share this fact, because sometimes it's nice to get a reminder that we are all real people in the world, including me.

Pretending I've not been struggling recently isn't something I want to do. In the second week of December, I got sick with a bad flu. I've not had flu since being in my first year of university in the late 1990s. It was absolutely dreadful and brought back memories of suffering in Halls.

I got well enough for Christmas, and then picked something else up in the second week of January. Bouncing back to a “normal” schedule is something I've taken for granted in the past. This time I haven't been able to. The fatigue has been relentless, the gunk that's swimming around my head is only just beginning to clear but not before giving me a nausea inducing few days of labyrinthitis.

Sadly, I've not been able to do all the days I'd planned at Macclesfield Book Festival, but I will be there this Sunday (23rd February 2025) if you're local and want to say hi. It'd be much appreciated. I always love to meet readers, especially local ones!

There are teas, coffees and cakes available and loads of secondhand books if that's more your jam. It's also Treacle Market this Sunday which is a huge artisan market that runs once a month.

Macclesfield Book Festival

11am-4pm 22nd-23rd February, Christ Church, Bridge St, Macclesfield SK11 6EG

Cats

We've also been struggling with our new cat, Nutmeg. We've been unsure if she's happy here, as she's been showing signs of stress. This has mostly taken the form of peeing in places she shouldn't, refusing treats, and being not food motivated at all. I hadn't realised that the treats/food thing was a sign of stress, but apparently so.

Anyway, I've implementing a few changes (always difficult when you've a cat that can get worse with any change) please keep your fingers crossed 🤞🏻for us.

Huge thanks to my friends that have listened to me go on and on about Nutmeg and the situation. Especially Sarah, who's suggestions come from years of experience. Here's me plugging her cat sitting services, which I have used for our previous cat Billy. 👇🏻

SK8 Cat Sitting

Books (future)

You may have missed it, and perhaps I should have placed this at the top of this newsletter like all the good business gurus suggest, but I'm running a Kickstarter for The Dark Beneath Us.

The page is here. It's helpful if you join the waitlist, it means Kickstarter might push it out to their wider audience which would be great for me. Crucially, joining the wait list doesn't mean you must buy the book. It's just a notification for when the campaign goes live.

I'm aware that some folk have no clue about Kickstarter and I'm going to address this in a future post. We are often scared of things we don't understand. I definitely don't want anyone to be confused or worried about what they are getting into if they back a Kickstarter, so look out for that.

Please “Like” the page or tap “Notify me on launch”

Here's the page - Susan Earlam’s Kickstarter