Why Don't Cats Like to Swim?
This is a new title for my first book, Imponderables, the one that "started it all" (I can't quite figure out what "it" means -- or "all," for that matter). When HarperCollins decided to redo the covers on all of my paperbacks, the powers that be decided to change the title so that it conformed to the question format of all the others in the series. I'm a little sad that the subtitle, "The Solution to the Mysteries of Everyday Life" disappears with the change -- right from the start, the "Everyday Life" content of the book was the essential ingredient to me. But the contents of the book is unchanged.
But another side of me is pleased as punch with the title change. I'm a "dog person." I've liked cats, but they always seem to be cats who act like dogs. If I have to have a book title with "Cats" in it, I'm glad it addresses their unwillingness to do something.
If you want to know what Imponderables obsessed me before I had readers, this is the book to read. Imponderables includes the two Imponderables that inspired the series (Why do Corn Flakes and Sugar Frosted Flakes both have 110 calories per ounce? If we can put a man on the moon, why can't they make a saltine package you can open with your hands?). Also included is my all-time favorite Imponderable submitted by an outside party (one Susan Sherman Smith): "Why do women open their mouths when applying mascara?" Susan passed away this year, and I'll always remember her support, her sense of humor, and her keen intelligence.