Category: Uncategorized

First POV: The Cat Lady

I wrote about Kate Funk back in April after a wildly successful Kickstarter campaign to raise money for a cat calendar. In true internet style, she raised more than $20,000 more than she asked for. Go figure. For our August issue, I interviewed Kate again. This time, I got to meet the cat as well.

Yes, AC is a cat – and a rather grumpy one at that. He’s also the rising star of 31-year-oldKate Funk’s cat creations. AC can be seen on everything from iPhone cases to magnets and greeting cards. But he’s probably most famous for being the “World’s Most Super Amazing 100% Awesome Cat” in a series of calendars entering its sixth year (2014’s theme: Magical Creatures). Turning to Kickstarter in February, Funk hoped to raise $3,500 to cover 2014 production costs and a portion of her travel expenses for the National Stationery Show. To her surprise, she netted almost 1,200 donations totaling some $25,000 – proof positive that the Internet’s love for all things feline knows no bounds. Even better? All of that led to a book deal with St. Martin’s Press and a spot in Urban Outfitters’ online store. But about that cat.

Where did you and AC meet?

I always wanted a cat, and my parents wouldn’t let me have one. Then I had roommates that were allergic. In 2006, I finally had a roommate who wasn’t allergic. It was Brennan Groh, who does the graphic design for the calendar. So I went to a shelter. They put you in a room full of kittens and you get to pick. AC was the one that sat in the corner and just kind of stared at me like he didn’t know what to think of me. So I picked him because he was the weirdest.
Read more on milwaukeemag.com. And, of course, we got some great photos.

I survived NaNoWriMo

Last month, I decided to start an undertaking that most people would consider ridiculous: writing a 50,000-word novel in one month. So, with thousands of other crazy people, I committed myself to writing 1666.66 words a day for 30 days. This challenge is known as NaNoWriMo, or National Novel Writing Month.

November is over, and I have something resembling a novel. (No, you can’t read it.) I didn’t write 1666.66 words every day. Some days I wrote nothing at all, and other days I would crank out 5,000 words.

The key to actually finishing the novel — or at least what all the pep talks told me — is to not edit, to just write. So that’s what I did. Even though I write thousands of words a day at work, coming home and writing for pure creativity was relaxing and, honestly, a lot of fun.

I can’t say I’ll do anything with the finished novel; I might not even read it again. But the experience reaffirmed my love of writing.