This is Maddy, Maddy Prior. She is our newest (and only) foster in the bookstore. Jack and I like rescuing kitties, but over the past summer we looked up one day and found ourselves knee-deep in the little rascals. And their by-products.

Our customers are loyal, kind-hearted people, but we do kinda have to run a business, y’know? So we agreed, once the book touring started, that we would not foster again until we finished. And that we would not get overwhelmed by the need and go nuts.

Then, with one gig to go (tonight at 7 in St. Louis at Left Bank Books, and btw they have an adorable staff cat named Spike) my friend Stacy–curse her except she has the flu so she’s already cursed–started posting Facebook pix of kitties in our overcrowded local shelter.

Jack looked at them, looked at me, and said a really bad word.

So this is Maddy; I pulled her from the shelter Tuesday, and we left for St. Louis Thursday. She’ll be staying with us until someone wants her for life. Once she got a clean bill of health from the lovely Dr. Beth up the road, we let her socialize with our cats, but she really prefers lounging in her own little bed, occasionally rising with a yawn to walk over and down a mouthful of Cat Crunchies before returning to repose.

It’s good that she gets exercise.

I want to get Maddy a good home right away because there are three more kitties (probably about 12 weeks old) in the shelter, a yellow fluffball of incredible intelligence, and twin tortoise shells. All are in danger, as the shelter fills up fast just before Christmas, and right after the Holidays, adoptions screech to a “no money, bad weather” halt.

Jack says one cat at a time, this is the camel’s nose under the tent, we can’t save them all. Yes, I know. I saw the look in the fluffball’s eyes as I carried Maddy out of the shelter, felt his little paw try to grab my finger, convince me to take him too.

So I hope someone who’s been looking for a healthy, six-month-old, gorgeous, litter-trained cat who aspires to a life of as little exertion as possible will soon give Maddy a happy home. She has a lot of love and purrs to offer. And so do the cats waiting in the shelter.