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Lisa Erixon reads in Virden library

In a presentation at Virden library, Lisa Erxison unveils the day-to-day lives of 'No Ordinary Cats.'

Lisa Erixon, a retired teacher turned author from Lyleton, presented her new book “No Ordinary Cats” to a small audience of literary enthusiasts at the Virden Branch of the Border Regional Library on Feb. 2.

Erixon returned to Virden to share her work with the public after a recent visit to two Grade 3 classes at Mary Montgomery School. Prior to reading what she termed a “positive” passage about the interactions between a raccoon and one of her outdoor cats, Fluffity, she described how the story originated from her decades-long love affair with her feline friends. 

“The story itself was generated from the fact that I’ve always loved cats and been interested in what they are feeling, thinking and doing when I’m not around watching,” she said. “The specific origin came from the death of a cat that meant an awful lot to me, early in 2022. I found that in order to process his death, I needed to write out what I imagined had happened to him because with an outdoor cat you never know for certain.

“In order to bridge that gap from cat to cat, I interspersed all of the chapters with my own personal musings and the specific lessons I might have learned from the life of each of my cats…either from their lives or deaths. It is their story, but also my relationship with them too, in my own words.”

Erixon’s first foray into the literary world has been well received so far and it may not be her last.

“Even though the response has been overwhelmingly positive, which I have really appreciated, it’s a pile of work and there’s a fair bit of expense that comes with it, too,” she said. “The expense I think I could handle, but I just have to be in an emotional spot in order to get that second book written. I think there’s one there.”

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