By the time you hear from me next — Monday or Tuesday — I’ll be in South Africa.

In the meantime, I thought you might like to meet my editors, Soly and Misha. They’re one and a half. It’s nice to have editors so young, because at that age they can’t read much less write editorial letters.

Soly is the Abby. He’s named after Chanda’s little brother in Chanda’s Secrets and Chanda’s Wars. I’ve always had a soft spot for Soly (the character) because he’s so shy and vulnerable. I have a soft spot for my Abby, too, but being an editor he can be more than a little pushy. For instance, when I’m in the middle of a scene, he’ll leap on my lap, nuzzle my chin, and lick my ears. If my concentration isn’t entirely broken, he’ll wrap his little front paws around my forearm and suck on the inside of my elbow as if I’m his mother.

Misha, the Siamese, was given Baryshnikov’s nickname, seeing as how he loves to leap to the ceiling; more exactly, to the top of the kitchen cabinets by way of the counter. When he was a kitten we had to put wrapping all around the second floor railing after he performed a grand jete onto the stairs. If Soly is an in-your-face kind of editor, Misha is much more interested in punctuation and revision. He gets between me and the computer screen and tries to catch the cursor.

I’ve always had pets. I’ll write about them someday. Mr. Rose, the terrier with the hair lip who adopted me; Pecadillo who was abandoned when the neighbors went to jail; Muffin who was simple as a brick but amazingly loving — he’d roll over on your lap for a tummy rub, and if you weren’t ready to catch him he’d fall on the floor.

But that’s for another day. My plane awaits and my editors need a cuddle!

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BTW, a shout-out to the technologically literate: I may no longer be a blog virgin, but I remain dreadfully inexperienced. So… Question: I’d like to respond to people who leave me comments. Is there a way for me to do this within the comment section after the guest comment? Or am I only able to do a comment at the bottom, and/or to privately email each person who is registered? Thanks!