Monday Morning Pages – Gym Challenges

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It’s getting up on that time of year when people set resolutions.  It’s all over the place – what resolutions do you want to set, what goals do you have, all that stuff.  That’s not the kind of challenge that I’m talking about.

Set a Gym Challenge

I recently participated in a challenge at my gym.  The objective was simple:  show up, every day, for twenty-five days in a row.

C’est fini.  That’s all.  K.I.S.S. – Keep it simple, sweetie.

To my shock, it worked.  I showed up, and I learned something.

Getting TO the Gym Is Half the Battle

Just being there counts.  Even if you go in with your razor and shaving cream, and spend an hour in the shower, it counts.

Why?

Because when we show up, we’re more likely to actually work out, even a little.  For example, one day I just got on the treadmill for an hour and watched an episode of my favorite show on Netflix.  The gym has free wifi, or it’s got television on broadcast on several machines.  You just bring your earphones, and they’ll tell you what channels you can connect with.  (This can sometimes backfire if you’re next to a Fox news fan, but that’s a different problem.)

Five Ideas For a Challenge

  1. Set your time frame.  Experts say it takes twenty-one days to develop a new habit, so three weeks is a nice chunk, or do twenty-five days like my gym did.
  2. If you’re a member at a health club, go there.  If you’re not, harness the power of the internet and use sites like YouTube to come up with workout plans.
  3. Walk.  Even twenty minutes a day is a good starting point.
  4. Commit with someone.  Contact a friend and ask them to be your “body buddy.”
  5. Talk about it on Facebook or other social media.  There’s nothing like making it public to keep yourself on track.  People will root for you and keep you motivated.

What about you, Dear Reader?  What challenge do you want to set for yourself?

Stories That Make You Late For Work – A Guide To the Blog

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Noon & Wilder – Stories That Make You Late for Work

Welcome to the world of Noon and Wilder.  On our blog, we like to talk about writing, reading, crafts, travel, cooking, and pretty much anything else that catches our fancy.  Oh, and we’re both Tauruses.

We hope you enjoy your time here.  Poke around, see what interests you, and feel free to interact with us in the comments or on social media.  We’re glad you’re here!

Sunday Journal – Cats, Cats, and More Cats or, Five Tips for Zoo Photography

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It’s not that I don’t like canids.  I adore them.  But I write a lot about cats because we decided our first series featured Siberian tiger shifters, so I’ve spent the last five and a half years researching big cats.  That, and the zoo has a world-class wolf habitat that is large and allows the wolves to roam.

And, well, hide.

We live with three cats and a dog, but what the dog lacks in numbers she makes up for in size and personality.  That leaves the zoo for me to study large cats.

Take It Off Auto-Focus

This lovely boy is the Amur leopard.  I must have stood there for ten minutes as he paced back and forth, always missing him when he was coming straight at me and getting his side or his back.

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Lovely pelt, nu?

The shot at the top is when he paused suddenly, turned, and looked right at my husband.  I only had time to snap the one shot; when I backed up to get both of them, the leopard moved again.

So here’s what I’ve learned in trying to photograph a shy Amur leopard:

  1. Like I said above, take it off auto-focus.  While I stood there, frantically pushing down on the shutter, the camera stuttered back and forth as it tried to focus.  He was only four feet from me!
  2. Look at the settings available to you.  If you’re photographing a moving animal, try “action shot” setting or whatever your camera calls it.  If you’re inside, try “night scene.”
  3. Never use a flash.  It’s rude.  How would you feel if some jackass came up and flashed lights at you?  It also won’t work if you’re in front of glass.  You’ll just get a very good picture of the jackass taking the shot in the reflection created on the glass.  And you’ll annoy the animals – and the people around you.
  4. Talk to the subject.  Be friendly.  You’re more likely to get some interaction, even if they don’t look right at you – and a lot of times, they won’t, because it’s seen as a challenge.
  5. Hold your body steady and exhale.  Squeeze the shutter at the end of your exhale so you have the steadiest shot you can.

What about you, Dear Reader?  What are your favorite zoo photograph techniques?

Here are a few more of the leopard:

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I was so close!  I just couldn’t get him coming straight at me; my camera went into conniptions. But it felt like he was close enough to touch.

Of course, the glass is like five inches thick.  And there’s mesh over the TOP of his enclosure.

Yeah.  Here, Kitty, Kitty.  NOT.

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Look at that muzzle.  This is a big son of a buck.

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He heard something; we weren’t sure if it was my husband or a passerby, but he paused and looked right out the glass.  I love how his closest ear is pointing right at me.

He’s looking at me, Ray.

Sealed by Magic

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ACN-RW_SealedByMagic_coverlgSeattle has been at peace since before it was founded on the banks of the Puget Sound. The war between the witches and the snake shifters ended and they now live separate lives. Generations of distrust have kept them separated, until Ari Fitzgerald meets sexy Zachary Bennett, a young witch from the Queen City Coven.

Ari is the son of the lamia king. He needs to find the source of the black market trading in lamia venom before any other snake shifters are hurt, or worse. The young ones are most at risk, because their venom is more potent. Ari discovers the source is a witch and suspicion falls on Zac and his coven. Ari doesn’t want to believe it.

Zac works for his brother-in-law, a powerful bear shifter who doesn’t care about shifter politics. When three coyote shifters come to town, looking for black-market lamia venom and a witch to kidnap, Zac gets caught in the middle between the bears, the lamiae, and the power-hungry coyotes. He’s going to need all the help from Ari that he can get.

Ari and Zac must find the source of the venom before the city erupts into a dangerous war, with the two of them on opposite sides.

Sealed by Fire

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ACN&RW_SealedByFireVanya is a sorcerer’s apprentice who finally achieves his goal, initiation as a sorcerer–only to find that he, himself, is the intended sacrifice in their ritual. When the ritual goes wrong, his master flees and he is left with the creature that his master summons.

Stranded on this side of the portal, Nash is a powerful being with only one desire–find the sorcerer who stranded him and wreak his revenge. Vanya agrees to help, and in the process, he and Nash find more than they ever bargained for: love, friendship, and belonging.

Can they protect themselves against the sorcerer’s growing power, or will he destroy all that they hold dear?

Emerald Keep

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emeraldkeepWhen Emerald Keeper Teeka returns to the city of Reghdad and leaves the harsh desert behind, he finds that not all dangers come from the Great Valley. The dangerous Daymonth is nearly upon them and no one can survive on the surface of the planet — but Senior Hunter Quill Mayer is trying to get to Reghdad, and Teeka, before the start of it. Even if he makes it, Emerald Keep denies Teeka’s Contract with Senior Hunter Quill, and Teeka discovers his enemy is more powerful than any of them suspected and he will stop at nothing to separate Teeka and Quill — even by striking in the very heart of the city.

Six Geese Laid – A Holiday Fable

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2015-12-22 Pic 1A. Catherine Noon and Rachel Wilder serve up Day Six with “Six Geese Laid” narrated by Vance Bastian, a free podcast.

Our story is set in the world of the Chicagoland Shifters, a magical place filled with Siberian tiger shifters, jaguar shifters, an animal empath, and our Hero, TJ Butler. TJ is a former Marine with a problem: he is in love with a young dancer who is also a werefox by the name of Dillon Kendall. But will TJ get his holiday wish? Or will all their gooses be cooked because they couldn’t leave well enough alone?

Cat’s Cradle

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Cat's-Cradle---X LargeWhen you’re a former Marine tiger shifter, love comes with a high cost – is it too much to pay?

Mitchell Brayden is a former Marine tiger shifter looking for love in all the wrong places. When he decides to rescue a young ocelot shifter from a rich, spoiled playboy, he embroils himself in a conflict that goes back generations.

Guadalupe Salazar grew up as a pampered pet of a benevolent patron. After his patron’s untimely death, he stays on with the patron’s son – a self-centered, weak man who got ensnared by the drugs and fast living in the States. One night, it goes too far and Lupe is beaten nearly to death. He is taken to a secret shifter clinic where he meets an unlikely knight in tarnished armor.

Together, Mitch and Lupe confront the playboy and his friends – but will their actions draw the rest of the jaguar familias, not to mention the ocelot clans, into a battle over Lupe’s future? Will the delicate balance of power destroy everything that Mitch’s small band of tiger shifters has built in Chicago?

Tiger Tiger

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TigerTiger72webWhen you grab a tiger by the tail, sometimes he bites back.

Chicagoland Shifters, Book 2

Veterinary trauma surgeon and animal empath Sasha Soskoff has found everything he ever wanted with his new partners Neal, Steve and Carlos. Life feels as safe and secure as it can be among a group of ex-Marine tiger shifters. Until a homeless man is found, gruesomely mauled and murdered, near Neal’s BDSM club.

When it’s determined a rogue tiger did the deed, the jaguars’ accusing eyes turn toward Sasha’s lovers. The precarious balance of peace tips dangerously toward war.

Neal knows damned well none of his tigers committed the crime. Someone must be in Chicago without his knowledge or permission, and they’d better find him fast before uncertainty and conflict rip the tight-knit band apart from the inside.

As Sasha struggles to heal the stress fractures forming among his tiger family, he begins to wonder if his dreams of a home, and love, were too good to be true. And it’s precisely that moment the killer strikes at the heart of the tiger clan—Sasha himself.

Warning: This continuing story contains more hot man-on-man and men-on-more-men ménage action than you can shake a cat at.

“Six Geese Laid – A Holiday Fable” – a New Short Story in Chicagoland Shifters

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I’m so excited!  The Noon and Wilder short story, Six Geese Laid – A Holiday Fable, is now available on the WROTE podcast, featuring the voice talents of none other than Vance Bastian.  It takes place after the end of Cat’s Cradle, and before the next book, Ambush, which is forthcoming in 2016.  Ambush is TJ’s story, a tale of loss, identity, and love.  Six Geese is a holiday fable that sets the stage for TJ, Dillon, and Craig.

Join me tonight, Tuesday December 22nd, for a live Facebook event from 7:00 to 9:00 P.M. Central Standard Time (GMT -6). I’ll have stories, anecdotes, and even an interview with Vance himself at 7:30.  Join me!

Cat's-Cradle---X LargeWhen you’re a former Marine, now tiger shifter, love comes with a high cost – is it too much to pay?

Mitchell Brayden is a former Marine looking for love in all the wrong places. When he decides to rescue a young ocelot shifter from a rich, spoiled playboy, he embroils himself in a conflict that goes back generations.

Guadalupe Salazar grew up as a pampered pet of a benevolent patron. After his patron’s untimely death, he stays on with the patron’s son – a self-centered, weak man who got ensnared by the drugs and fast living in the States. One night, it goes too far and Lupe is beaten nearly to death. He is taken to a secret shifter clinic where he meets an unlikely knight in tarnished armor.

Together, Mitch and Lupe confront the playboy and his friends – but will their actions draw the rest of the jaguar familias, not to mention the ocelot clans, into a battle over Lupe’s future? Will the delicate balance of power destroy everything that Mitch’s small band of tiger shifters has built in Chicago?