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Must Love Nancy
It's been a big week for me. The UK launch of my memoir Sex and the Kitty took place on Thursday night. Neighbours, friends, fans - you name it - all turned up to celebrate at my favourite local pub, the Amble Inn. I spent the day beforehand preparing in the best way known to cat: sleeping. To help get me in the right mindset for the night's celebration, I chose to nap in a box of my books. I like to think this added a personal touch to the copies which later went on sale at the launch: a tuft of fur here, a speck of flea dirt there. There can't be many authors who would go to such lengths for their readers.
As if the launch itself were not exciting enough, the whole event was filmed by a film crew from America for Must Love Cats on Animal Planet. As those of you who have read my book will know, this was not the first time I have dipped my paw into the world of show business. You will not be surprised to hear I performed like a seasoned pro, executing several takes of the 'Nancy walking into pub' shot (motivated in part, I'll admit, by some strategic placing of smoked salmon on the floor just inside the door), and I did not betray even a flicker of annoyance when the show's host John Fulton woke me from my nap later in the evening to interview me. However I did draw the line when I escaped into the pub garden for a comfort break only to find a cameraman lurking in the bushes, hoping to film me answering the call of nature! This breach of privacy aside, the film crew behaved professionally, and since I heard them utter the phrase 'pure gold' on several occasions, I can only assume they were happy with the evening too.
Friday saw me faced with another full day of filming for Must Love Cats, this time for the 'day in the life of Nancy' sequence, at my home and in some of my local hangouts. Filming began with some straightforward requests: coming in and out of the cat flap, walking down to the local park, charming some small children in the playground. My UK readers will be aware, however, that we are currently experiencing an unseasonal heatwave, and I'm sure all my readers will know that if there's one thing cats like to do in a heatwave, it's sleep. I fought against my natural urges as best I could, trying to do what was being asked of me with good grace. I wandered around the aisles of my corner shop. I trotted along the street chatting to neighbours. I hopped in the back of a taxi. But the sweltering heat combined with my sleep deprivation combined to cause somewhat of a sense of humour failure, and by 4pm I let it by known that Nancy was closed for business. When we finally returned home for the final shot, of John Fulton serenading me with his specially-composed Nancy song, I had had enough. I turned my back to him, had a brief wash, and went to sleep.
Nancy will appear in the next season of Must Love Cats, on Animal Planet, early next year. Ed's Note: Nancy wrote this piece at the beginning of October when the UK was sweltering in an unusual (for the UK that is) late heat wave! Nancy's book: Sex and the Kitty is reviewed here You can view Nancy’s blog at www.nancy-the-cat.blogspot.com or for those of you on Twitter: @NancyWriterCat.
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