Wendy's Writing World

“There is no real ending. It’s just the place where you stop the story.” ― Frank Herbert

Dear Reader,

What’s my latest story about Patrick? I had yearned for a new pet for years, but every time I felt tempted to go with my heart I remembered the cost of pet care and especially vet bills. Then my husband surprised me on my return home from England with Patrick.

A few days ago, I wondered (again) about getting pet insurance. But it is the festive season, and Patrick is a doted on (read, spoilt), healthy and still a kitten who lives indoors. Insurance could wait until New Year, I told myself. I am now scolding myself for putting off my decision ‘for later’. I suspect you already guess the direction of this story.

The day after I put off the decision about pet insurance, I noticed something strange going on with Patrick’s mouth. He kept looking at me with his mouth open and sticking his tongue in and out. I googled it and thought he may be teething. He was not too interested in his solid food, but he was drinking well and not in pain. We decided to wait and see. If he was still keeping his mouth open by tomorrow, we would take him to the vet. But when he started drooling pinkish salvia in the late afternoon, I started to really worry – and worried even more when the vet receptionist advised us to take him to a local pet emergency hospital. So, my son and I postponed going to our neighbours that evening for a Christmas celebration, put Pat into a cat carry bag and headed to emergency.

Actually, we weren’t there too long, although, if we had had the advised x-ray for a suspected dislocated jaw we would have been there to midnight and paid out close to $1000 for after-hours vet care plus the $225 for his consult. But Patrick was not in pain and still drinking well. The vet (supported by a check by another vet at the practice) also felt we could wait for the next day to see our own vet about that x-ray. So we took him home to follow up on his problem with our local vet practice. Fast track to the next day. It took less than five minutes for our vet to discover that Patrick had a tiny plastic cap (from something unknown) stuck onto one of his back teeth. She pulled it off and Pat shut his mouth. We spent out just under $400.00 on these two vet visits because of Patrick’s habit of getting into anything. Of course, I am annoyed the first vet missed seeing the white cap stuck onto his teeth and worrying me big time whether I was making the right decision about delaying his x-ray – an expensive x-ray he clearly did not need to have. And, yes, we now have pet insurance. Pat, of course, has not learnt a thing and continues his kitten-naughty ways.

So, one reflection for the end of the year is that I was right about the expense of vet bills. But give me a choice between vet bills and having Pat the Cat - there is no question what my answer would be.

Wishing you all joy as we approach the end of 2024 and may 2025 be magical and everything you hope for.

Wendy

Whether you’re an experienced writer or just starting out, my online workshop for the Love of Writing Festival is designed to deepen your ability to bring history to life through compelling storytelling.

I will share with you what I have learnt about researching and crafting historically accurate and believable narratives over my years of writing historical fiction.

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What is exactly historical fiction?

How do you bring the past alive?

The processes I use to shape a narrative and realistic characters informed by the past.

What publishers are looking for now in works of historical fiction.