They're killing the cats at JFK again. I rescued 2 of the cats that were trapped last fall and taken to the ACC for euthanasia. I put them in my feral cat colony at the Brooklyn Navy Yard. I see one all the time - a pretty little gray tortoiseshell who rolls at the feet of the queen bee of that particular colony. The other one disappeared. If Port Authority would only let us trap/neuter and return all of the ferals to the airport, the cats could live happy lives and keep the airport rodent-free at the same time.

The Port Authority has claimed that feeding the cats attracts rodents (and birds!) but that's not true. I know rodents, believe me, from my work at the Brooklyn Navy Yard. Those are rats! I've created several colonies throughout the Navy Yard and I work with a handful of dedicated feeders to fill automatic feeders and waterers once a week in the feeding stations. The workers love the cats because they no longer see the rats that used to overrun those areas. The cats are fixed so there's no noise, no smell, no fighting and no kittens. The fixed cats fill their territory, and new intact cats that appear move right on through, so the population grows smaller gradually from natural demise.

The Mayor's Alliance for Animals and Neighborhood Cats registers the colonies in their database and trains us how to trap, and the ASPCA Mobile Clinics fix the ferals for free – yeah, New York City! It's been proven the only way to control the horrible rodent problem here is to create feral cat colonies.

So why is Port Authority killing the cats at JFK?

There's a rally at Union Square next week:

An In Defense of Animals Action Alert:

Stop Roundups of Cats at JFK Airport - July 24

The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey's board of commissioners has demanded that Port Authority and JFK Airport staff explain on Thursday why the agency is continuing to round up feral cats at JFK Airport, and why they continue to refuse offers of assistance from the NYC Feral Cat Initiative to implement a humane Trap-Neuter-Return (TNR) program. Please join us for a rally outside of Port Authority headquarters to voice your support for stopping the cat roundups at JFK Airport, and demand that they allow a pilot TNR program.

What: Rally for feral cats at JFK Airport
When: Thursday, July 24th - 11:45 a.m. to 1:30 p.m.
Where: Port Authority Headquarters in Union Square, 225 Park Avenue South, (between 18th & 19th St.), New York City

Tags: feral cats

I'm giving a reading Thursday evening at In the Flesh, hosted by Rachel Kramer Bussel!

IN THE FLESH EROTIC READING SERIES
July 17th at 8 PM
AT HAPPY ENDING LOUNGE, 302 BROOME STREET, NYC
(B/D to Grand, J/M/Z to Bowery, F to Delancey or F/V to 2nd Avenue)
Happy Ending Lounge
212-334-9676

Admission: Free!

In The Flesh features a range of authors, from erotic writers D.L. King, editor of Erotica Revealed, and Susan Wright (A Pound of Flesh) to letter lover Samara O'Shea (Note to Self, For the Lover of Letters), memoirist Scott Pomfret (Since My Last Confession), Jeremy Edwards, (Clean Sheets, F is for Fetish), novelist Anna David (Party Girl) and playwright/memoirist Rachel Shukert (Have You No Shame?). Hosted by Rachel Kramer Bussel (Spanked, Rubber Sex, Dirty Girls). Free candy and cupcakes will be served.

I was also interviewed by Audacia Ray for the Naked City blog for the Village Voice. Check it out!

Tags: a pound of flesh

Last night my cat almost got hit by ball lightning. There was a huge thunderstorm that came in repeated waves, with lightning hitting all around our house. Our neighborhood is up on a ridge along the border of Brooklyn and Queens, hence the name Ridgewood. A couple of times the ground shook like lightning hit the school at the end of the block.

Kel and I were sitting on the couch watching the flashes through our front windows. During one loud strike, I was looking over at our computer which was still on. There was a loud snap or pop, and I saw a bright white sphere near the top of the hutch. It flashed as it disappeared.

My cat Bobert was sleeping behind the guitar case on top of the hutch. We stared at each other wide-eyed. Bobert saw the ball lightning, too! He was stunned so it took him a moment to jump off the top of the hutch. Then he took off and I didn't see him for a while.

Kel heard the popping sound, too. He claims it was an electrical spark, like a short. He was looking out the windows in the other direction. So he's being very noncommittal in an effort not to insult me. When I offered to take a lie detector test (since Bobert can't) he said UFO conspiracists believe what they believe. Which I think is even more insulting. So now I'm delusional, huh?

Bobert and I saw ball lightning. I swear.

I'm very excited - the reprint of A Pound of Flesh was just released in mass market paperback!

A POUND OF FLESH
by Susan Wright
Fantasy
Roc/Penguin Group

Between dominance and subservience lies a power no amount of pain or pleasure can extinguish: Freedom.

"A masterpiece." Affaire de Coeur

"Spellbinding... [with] plenty of political intrigue and battle scenes." –Alternative Worlds

"Featuring vivid cultures and lots of action, this should appeal to the fans of Jacqueline Carey, Terry Goodkind, and Storm Constantine." – Library Journal

Marja was once Lexander's pleasure slave – until the master found himself enslaved by her love. Together, they have vowed to free all slaves by destroying pleasure houses throughout the world. But this undertaking requires Marja to disguise herself as a slave once more and infiltrate one training house after another to sow the seeds of revolution - and risk losing the man she loves in the process.

You can order online at my website.

Or go directly to Amazon.

I'll be signing books at TES Fest over the July 4th weekend and at In the Flesh on July 17th, NYC.

Oh, Andy...

I found your video, you naughty man, right where you left it on YouTube. I love it when you get that masterful gleam in your eye, the way your glove caresses the whip, giving it a firm smack that sings to my soul... as only your hand can

The last time I saw you was at the Kathy Griffin show at Madison Square Garden. I paused near you in the exit hallway. Andy, you looked so pale. Are you working too hard, traveling the world, delivering your dire bulletins like the never-ending beat of doom?

You had a very cute young man with you who urged you to go backstage to see Kathy. I called out – "Oh, yes, you have to go. Kathy will be disappointed if you don't." You must remember me – I waved when you looked over.

BTW, I like your friend. I'd be happy to work him into our scene. (Call me.)

Susan

I was driving out of Manhattan yesterday after picking up 2 sick foster cats from PetCo at Union Square. Yes, that's how I spend too much of my time. About two blocks from the Midtown Tunnel, I heard on the radio that people were protesting last month's verdict on the shooting of Sean Bell (the unarmed black man who was shot by three police officers, of which two of them were black). The protesters had just blocked the onramp to the Queensborough Bridge, shutting down traffic. As I crossed 2nd Avenue on 36th Street, I saw a dozen police officers standing there staring south.

Down 2nd Ave, a block away, a crowd of people were marching towards me. It looked like at least a hundred people spilling off the sidewalk into the avenue. They were carrying white signs without the sticks, because that's illegal in NYC. I zipped into the tunnel just as they were arriving to shut down traffic behind me coming in from 36th Street.

I have to say my first feeling was relief. I really didn't want to get blocked from getting out of Manhattan during rush hour. I had to get these cats to the vet, go pick up my thyroid prescription, blah, blah, blah. I'm sure the drivers who got blocked behind me felt the same way – "Why inconvenience me? I had nothing to do with the Sean Bell verdict."

But as I drove home, I realized it was a really smart move. How many protests have I attended that got NO attention whatsoever from the media or officials? I remember the huge peace march near the United Nations that Kel and I went to prior to the US invasion of Iraq. There were at least 100,000 people. Block after block of 1st Avenue was filled with protesters and late arrivals were being routed up to the 60's to get onto 1st Ave. But we were orderly and didn't block cross streets or the bridges and tunnels.

Afterwards I had to search to find the briefest mention of the enormous protest. Only local rags in NYC carried it. And the number of people was grossly underestimated by the media and police. CNN showed a few stragglers, completely misrepresenting the scope of the march. It sucked in every way possible that our message was blocked by those in power.

But I woke up this morning and found that under a thousand protesters had done such a good job in shutting down the rush-hour commute that it's a top news story today. Al Sharpton got arrested. I'm not a big fan of his, but whoever thought up this idea for a protest – a peaceful pray-in at the onramps of bridges and tunnels – is brilliant in my book.

What do you want to bet that the people who were blocked from leaving Manhattan don't feel the same?

I went to SINSations in Leather in Chicago last weekend with Kel, then came home and promptly got so sick I've been in bed ever since. I'm still feeling punky, but there was one thing I saw at the event that I keep thinking about. Actually, I saw LOTS of wild and wonderful things - Lovely Rita and Femcar top the list!

But this one was new to me. Self-suspension bondage. Have you ever seen it?

Kel and I wandered back to the play space late on Saturday when it was nearly empty. There was one woman there alone – with Lochai
and another guy practicing body harnesses on Kate and her friend nearby. This lone woman proceeded to tie herself up and suspend herself, stretching up to her toes to get the rope through the hoop. At one point she dragged a chair over with her foot to stand on it. She ended up hanging upside-down with one foot bound to her butt. It was graceful, like a silent ballet. And she did it really fast. Wow! Kel and I were mesmerized, and the remaining people in the ballroom ended up gathering with us to watch.

You can see some of Lochai's suspension photos here.

I seem to be going from event to event lately. Tomorrow, Wednesday evening, I'll be at GMSMA's Forum on Erotic Fiction at the Center (13th Street and 7th Ave in NYC). I'll be reading from one of my books – maybe I'll read the suspension scene from To Serve and Submit.

In case you haven't seen it, the NY Post ran an article about a man who suffered a mishap while in bondage at the Nutcracker pro-domination house in NYC. He was left alone while in bondage (a big no-no!) and his foot slipped out of his high heel shoe, causing him to choke on his collar that was tied to an eye-hook.

Okay, this is a newsworthy story - certainly questions of whether this happens often (no, or there would be stories every day about BDSM accidents), whether pro-domination is legal in NYC (yes it is) and whether there are safety standards to keep people from being harmed (definitely, including the standard practice that you're not supposed to leave someone alone when they're in bondage).

But the Post didn't ask those questions. Instead, their reporters managed to get the guy's real name and details of his life and outed him, along with contacting his wife to tell her what had happened.

And the Post's response to this invasion of privacy? According to the paper's spokesman, Howard Rubenstein: "The Post will happily name every adult caught in a dog collar."

Shame on the NY Post!

Here's the links to Conde Nast's Portfolio Media Blog which condemns the Post's practice.

And the latest Post article.

My sister Lisa Wright DeGroodt is also an author. She's written several books in her Quest series, fantasy novels about an alternate land where good battles evil with the help of ordinary humans.

Lisa was just featured on the Leaky Cauldron’s weekly Pottercast. Leaky Cauldron is the official Harry Potter podcast and is one of the top podcasts on I-tunes. The episode is now available for downloading: http://pottercast.the-leaky-cauldron.org

She mentions how I sent her the first Harry Potter book and told her she had to read it because it was the same genre she was writing in. I'm just editing her 5th book now, Land Quest, and it's great. Charm Quest, the 4th book is going to be published in a couple of weeks. Her website is here. Check it out!

If you're wondering why I don't update my journal very often, here's everything I did for NCSF in the last quarter of 2007...

Media Report – Sept-Dec 2007
by Susan Wright

I responded to 6 Incident Response requests – dealing with 2 individuals, a hotel trying to break a contract, and attacks on 2 clubs and a large event.

I did 6 interviews – Including with the Associated Press in Boston, The Bay Area Reporter, 1010 Wins in NYC, and The Colbert Report about Leather Weekend Street Fair in NYC. I agreed to alert the TCR producer about any large media incident we would be willing to discuss on-air with them.

I gave 3 media trainings via the phone, and arrangements were made for me to give 1 in-person media training for the board of a large BDSM organization in April 2008.

I responded to 11 inquires for information on BDSM statistics for: the Hawaii Department of Health, a PhD dissertation, a student documentary, and a clinical psychology student. Plus an inquiry about removing Sexual Sadism, Sexual Masochism, and Fetishism from the American Psychiatric Association's Diagnostic and Statistic Manual IV-TR.

The Media Committee approved 6 press releases that I wrote which included information about what NCSF does for the community. I broadcast 1 Action Alert in support of Folsom Street Fair calling for letters in support of Miller Brewing for being a sponsor of the Fair.