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Interview With Author M.G. Rorai

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I’m excited to find out all about your new book, Catnip, Plushie Balls, and Q-Tips!
Can you tell us about the main characters (the kitties!)?

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Most of the kitties are just anonymous cats, reaching out to tell their tales of mischief and being
annoyed by their human (doesn’t every toilet paper roll need a good shredding??), but the
consistent narrators of the book are my two kitties, Socks and Elsa.
They are a sibling pair, and I’ve had them for about three years now. When my husband and I
were looking into getting our next cat, we checked the local shelters and came across Socks. He
was cute and adorable; at the time his sister was absent, as she was getting spayed. We took him
home, fell in love, and immediately went back for Elsa.
And they are a sleepy playful pair. If Elsa’s on the cardboard, Socks must have it. If Socks is on
top of the cat tree, Elsa must shove him off. The sleepy part comes in when they’ve spent their
energy and curl up together on said cat tree, cardboard, or even my futon couch, as if their little
spats were just passing clouds of fray.
So of course their antics are woven throughout this book, along with the previous one, Catnip,
Toilet Paper, and Lasers. You can see Elsa’s obsession with food and Socks’ infatuation with
cardboard. And I couldn’t leave out the battle with the auto litter box.

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I know you get this asked many times, but why poetry? Have you been writing
poetry all your life?

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I’ve always been a busy person, so short stories and poetry made time for me. I like being able to
see the beginning, middle, and end of a project instead of something that forecasts further ahead.
But as I progressed in my writing career, more poems collected together, and my stories
occasionally got longer.
With poetry, the rhyming felt like a puzzle putting the words together. A relaxing puzzle. This
and prose helped me throughout my academic career, balancing out hectic schedules with a
stress reliever.
Poetry is also a form of painting with words. It allows my thoughts to paint unique
images in a way different from my stories. Some people think in words; others in
images. I mostly think in images and love the artwork my brain creates when I put words
to paper. I hope some of that passes on to readers when they read my books.
Poetry’s just always been there, poking through occasionally between stories. While I
may not have written poetry all the time throughout the years, I’ve mostly been writing in
some form or fashion, whether it be poetry, books, blog posts, copywriting, or something
else that let my creative side bust a move from my very logical and analytical job.

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Do you have a “real” job other than writing, and if so, what is it? What are some
other jobs you’ve had in your life?

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My main job over the years has been as a teacher. I started out as a college Biology instructor,
working part-time at sometimes up to four different colleges in a semester. This was my living
for about four years. Then I became a full-time high school science teacher, but still taught
college at night. After about six years of high school, I was offered a full-time job as a
professor at the college I had adjuncted at since 2010, and I took it. I still work there.

Other jobs? I think grad school is a job, as I pretty much breathed school and lab 24/7. It was a
pretty stressful time. But other than that, I’ve worked as an Internet researcher at a recruiting
firm before stepping into the world of teaching. You could say I was a career student who briefly
stepped out into the world for some job experience before dipping back into academia. But
through all of this I wrote, not necessarily poetry, but mostly prose. I started taking poetry
seriously again during the pandemic, and my old poems spoke to me like flower petals
pressed in the pages of a favorite book.

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Does a big ego help or hurt an author?

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I think it depends on what that big ego is used for. Imposter syndrome is a big problem among
authors, and probably many fields—people just don’t think they are doing well and give up when
they aren’t succeeding fast enough. Or they see their work as subpar that will never go
anywhere. If ego is used to combat that low self-esteem, then yes, definitely it can be a big help
to motivate the author to keep going.
Where ego hurts is when it inflates the author to the point that their work is above all reproach.
Their words are golden and not even their readers’ or editors’ opinions matter. I once heard the
story of an author so full of themself that they refused editorial services for their latest book
when they’d had editing for the past ten or so books. And guess what? Their next release was
riddled with mistakes, and fans definitely complained.
But I can’t speak much to the effects of inflated ego as I lie more in the former category.

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As a writer, what would you choose as your mascot/avatar/spirit animal?

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Definitely a werewolf. The power and control they have in shapeshifting, but also keeping
animal abilities in human form, to me speaks of perseverance and motivation. I think they strive
for their goals, and meet their goals (not the wild brainless type, but the ones with human
intelligence), and that dedication and discipline to stay the course resonates with me. It says
when you’re down, you finish. When you want to quit, you keep going, because the
werewolf always gets their goal. They are strong and they use that strategically. It may
sound silly, I know, but it’s motivating to me.
Personally though, I’d rather choose a werecat, because cats are more awesome than dogs, but I
grew up on werewolf movies and comics, so the werewolf imagery is stuck in my mind, and
that’s what I associate strength with. But one of my favorite weekend house shirts has a
werecat drawing on it.
I would like to add a disclaimer and say that I am not a furry, I just appreciate the
characteristics of the werewolf/werecat. Also, I would like to add that I am aware that
weres are fictional – this question didn’t specify real animals only.

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What advice would you give a writer working on their first book?

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After the honeymoon period of, “Wow! I’ve written a book!” has ended, don’t expect your
book to immediately go viral and fly off the digital shelves. You may think your book is
awesome, and it may be, but there are tons of other books being published right alongside yours,
so you’ll need to figure out a clever way to get your book noticed by the masses.

Also, if you self-publish, not everything has to be high cost. Publishing on digital platforms,
such as Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Apple Books, Kobo, etc., is free, and editors and covers don’t
have to break the bank. The issue isn’t cost, it’s quality. You need to find services that will get
your book polished and noticed.

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What would you like to say to your readers and fans?

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Meow!
Laughing aside, I hope you enjoy my books and more to come. Just know that I write
when I can as my day job keeps me uber busy, so it’s mostly writing on weekends and
sometimes in the mornings before work. I generally publish when I can, but usually a
month or two apart from each release. I do try to stay active on my blog though to keep
everyone updated on changes/releases—you can find it here at
www.WrathofKitties.com.
Also, life is too short not to enjoy things. Go pet a cat, read a good book, and remember
that you won’t get this chance again. May you have many moments of mews, mirth, and
mischief.

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Book Excerpt  

 

The magnets are so cute

that I must knock them off

but get yelled at for this,

so the new approach is soft.

 

I sit by the fridge

staring at those squares

and when Human isn’t looking

I lick with tongue hairs.

 

All was going good

until one was quite sticky

leaving a bad taste,

and I’m not so picky.

 

I bite at the air

to get rid of the taste

then knock down that magnet;

good riddance, post-haste.**