Free Book Friday: If You’re Going To Play With Fire…

Feb
23

….you’re going to get burned. Spice figured this out when she leaped onto the gas stove and burned off her whiskers over her eyes and on one side of her mouth. She still has the ones on the other side…. I asked The Internet if cat whiskers grow back and Google informed me that it would take a couple weeks and then she’d be fine.

Poor kitty!! The Internet also told me to keep her inside till they grow back because whiskers are so important for a cat’s safety.

I’ve always been scared of stoves. When I was in elementary school, a school friend accidentally knocked over a pot of boiling water on a stove and was terribly burned. I’m always obsessed with keeping pot handles turned in for that reason. Fire in general freaks me out. I never watch movies like Flashback. Or write about firefighters. When I was little, I used to make fire escape plans from my bedroom. (Is that weird?)

What are you scared of? And do you like to read books that include those subjects, or do you avoid them? Another scary topic for me is children dying. If I know a book includes a child’s death, I avoid it like the plague. Sometimes I’ll read one where a child is in danger, though–but only if I’m sure the child will be okay in the end. (Like, if it’s a romance novel–then I know they will be okay and can just enjoy the suspense.) You? Just curious–cuz I’m working on a proposal now that involves a child in danger. A random commenter will be chosen for their pick from my contemporary backlist!

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20 Responses
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2-23
6:04
pm

Oh, poor kitty. Glad it wasn’t worse.

I hate spiders lol. But I’ll pretty much read anything. I’ve always been a Stephen King fan which proves it :rotfl:

catslady -
2-23
7:54
pm

Poor Spice! hope they grow back soon!

Lis -
2-23
7:57
pm

I hate heights. Always have. I will not read blood, gore and killing.

ellie -
2-23
9:16
pm

Glad to hear Spice will be okay…what a scare!

I do not like to read books that have very vivid descriptions of violent acts against people or animals.

Shari C -
2-23
10:05
pm

I loathe snakes. I won’t read books with hideous descriptions of torture, vlolence and graphic scenes.

pearl -
2-24
1:27
am

Once, I was trying to set a really warm and fuzzy Christmas Eve mood, and my black and white kitty, Ranger, trotted across the breakfast bar and caught her tail on fire with a candle flame. I hollered, she ran, I gave chase…turns out that she ran fast enough to put herself out. DH came in there and blew out my candles and gave me a ’special’ look. So much for setting a mood! :rotfl:

I’m most scared of losing a member of my family, either by death or moving far away.:sad:

Desperate Writer -
2-24
4:53
am

Aw, poor Spice. Keeping a cat who has lost his or her whiskers inside is very important indeed because they can misjudge the spaces they can fit into and get stuck.

I do fire-escape plans. We have a little Jack Russell terrier dog and my plan for her is always to pull one of our pillows out of its case, put her in the case (like Santa’s presents in his sack, LOL) and once one of us has climbed out the window on to the ground, drop the dog in her pillowcase container down for the other person to catch.

Suffice it to say I hope I never need to actually do this!

Jess x

Jessica Raymond -
2-24
10:53
am

Poor Spice. At least she did it to herself unlike my cat who suffered the humiliation of having my sister cutting his whiskers because she decided she wanted to play hairdresser!:shock:

Susan -
2-24
1:00
pm

:talktothehand:Violence – can’t handle it. There’s too much of it in the real world and reading a book for enjoyment will have none in it. Period.

My youngest son and his friend once cut off all of our cats whiskers. Poor thing – but he really did look and act silly. :razz:

Karen B -
2-24
3:40
pm

Oh my Spice, poor kitty. Do take care.
I hate snakes and won’t watch a movie or read a book with them in. I am deathly afraid of them and can’t stand the sight or even read the name’snake’.

RobynL -
2-24
6:05
pm

When my sister was little she cut all our dogs whiskers off. The poor thing kept running into things until they grew back. When my children were little I didn’t like any children in danger stories but as the kids get older I can watch them if the kid is definitely going to be fine.

Maureen -
2-24
6:46
pm

Poor kitty…that’s how they kind of feel their way around the world, right? I’m afraid of fire, too. After they taught us about fire safety in kindergarten, I’ve never entered a building without trying to see my escape route. It was the first thing I thought about when buying my house–how can I get out???

Marty -
2-24
7:04
pm

I have no idea why, but I do not like going down escalators. I’m always hesitant when I do and feel really bad for people waiting behind me! If I find stairs, I usuallly will just use those. Although, that is better for fitness anyway, right!!??

Anyway, I have had nightmares of fires and my house being burglarized.

Kathleen -
2-25
12:06
am

ahh…she’s still cute, though!

I’m afraid of spiders. I don’t want to see them or read about them.

Kim -
2-25
8:36
am

I’m scared of spiders. Not the little ones, but those big ones, brrr.
But read almost anything as long as there is a happy end.:love: The one thing that I don’t want to read about is a man cheating on his wife or the other way around. No, when I see that this happens in a book, I just stop reading it.:talktothehand:

Stefanie -
2-25
8:43
am

I’m deathly afraid of fire too, Suz.

I don’t like to read a book where anybody dies. But there isn’t always a happy ending…or middle…or beginning…wherever the death occurs.

Poor Spice! My cat got up on my Mom’s stove once and burned off all the hair on a section of his tail. Scared me out of seven year’s growth!

Melissa -
2-25
10:44
am

Oh poor kitty!

All this time, I didn’t know you were afraid of firefighters, and I made you read my books to critique them, lol!

I’m afraid of spiders and won’t watch a show with spiders on it or read a book if a spider is in it.

Jill -
2-26
7:43
am

I’m afraid to put my fears in words. Sounds weird, I know. But I have this fear that if I say it out loud, it’s going to make it come true. Crazy. ops:

Cheryl S. -
2-26
9:41
am

That reminds me of the time our kitty, Tommy backed into a gas wall heater and caught his tail on fire. Luckily it only got the hair and not the skin, so no real harm was done. He steered clear of the heater after that. :roll:

In books, not much bothers me except violence against children and no gratuitous violence or sex please. It has to be instrumental to advancing the story or I will just skip over it.

In real life, I am scared to death of heights. Hate ‘em. brrrrrr :cold: Gives mr the chills just thinking about it.

Angie T -
2-26
10:48
am

Oooh, I’m scared of kids being hurt as well and my sister knocked a pot of water off the stove when she was little. 3rd degree burns and a few weeks in the hospital was the result. :( Keep those pot handles turned in folks!

Poor kitty!

I read about children in danger (am writing one right now, too), but definitely I prefer if the child lives. As a mom it’s very distressing to hear of children dying.

Meretta ~ American Title Finalist -