Whiskers Abroad by Carrie Carter

Would you ever take your cat to Japan? Probably not, but if you did, then you may want to read 'Whiskers Abroad' by Carrie Carter. Part travel log, part travel guide, but definitely a whole lot of fun and laughs. Carrie chats with Papamutes about her book, how it all came about, and why her sister's cat, not her cat went to Japan. well sort of. And there's Cat Trivia! Meow, listen now!

photos: courtesy of Carrie Carter

Transcript

You're listening to a Papamutes Unmuted podcast.

Papamutes:

Welcome to Papamutes, everybody. My guest today is Carrie Carter. Carrie is the author of Whiskers Abroad: Ashi and Audrey's Adventures in Japan. The book's about Carrie's love for traveling to Japan and her love of cats. It's part travel log, part travel guide. Carrie, welcome to Papamutes.

Carrie:

Thanks for having me on.

Papamutes:

Where are you now, physically? You're not in Japan, obviously, but where are you coming from?

Carrie:

No, no, no. I'm in Houston, Texas.

Papamutes:

Houston, Texas. How's the weather?

Carrie:

It's actually quite nice today; low 80s.

Papamutes:

Why Japan?

Carrie:

Well, Japan, because I've actually been there multiple times; actually, a total of 14 times.

Papamutes:

Wow.

Carrie:

Yeah. Well, my husband worked for an airline, so we were able to fly most of those trips by standby, so that's what that was about. But yeah, I liked Japan, and I was familiar with it, and I wanted to write a book using a cat in Japan. It was going to be a sci-fi... Not really sci-fi, but like a mystery. And then I'm like, it should be more like a guidebook.

Papamutes:

Now, how did that idea come about? You just one day said, "We're going to Japan again."

Carrie:

Well, I would like to claim the idea was mine, but it was actually my sister's. Every year, I send out an emailed to all my friends what I like: coffee, reading about infectious diseases, petting a cat. It's a big gamut of things. And I'm always like, "Can you find me a career or a job, something new to do?" My sister looked at the list and she's like, "Why don't you combine writing, cats, food, travel and Japan?" And she's like, "Just write a book about it."

Papamutes:

Now, have you ever authored before?

Carrie:

I have not. I have written some screenplays and stuff, but nobody's ever picked them up to produce them.

Papamutes:

Now what's the cat's name? Yeah, let's not forget about the cat's name here.

Carrie:

Okay, the cat and the book is named Ashi? Yes, and he's actually my sister's cat. We used her cat for the model. In the book, the character is Audrey, which is a lot like me. Me and Audrey have a whole lot in common. We even look alike.

Papamutes:

Do you have any other pets?

Carrie:

I personally have a cat named Frenemi.

Papamutes:

But no other pets?

Carrie:

No, just the one cat.

Papamutes:

Okay. Ashi.

Carrie:

Yeah. It means foot or paw in Japanese.

Papamutes:

Okay. Now, I think you answered this already. How many times have you traveled there? You said 14 times?

Carrie:

14, yes.

Papamutes:

All 14 With the cat? Or no?

Carrie:

No. Actually, none of them with the cat. I can't imagine actually taking a cat to Japan. They would totally freak out with the noise and the people and the activity. In the book, the cat goes to Japan, but in real life, the cat has not been to Japan, although he probably would like to go to the fish market and eat a bunch of raw fish.

Papamutes:

I'm sure.

Carrie:

Yes. Throughout the book, there's lots of photos and the cat doing things in Japan, but he's been photoshopped into all the pictures.

Papamutes:

Okay. You're going to Japan, but it's fictionalizing the cat being there. Okay.

Carrie:

Yeah. There's an element of magical realism because the cat tells his side of the story. He writes a diary.

Papamutes:

I see. Okay.

Carrie:

When my cat types on the laptop, she just walks across and it's a bunch of random letters. It never makes a story.

Papamutes:

I hear you. I have two cats myself. If you were traveling with a cat, is there advice? I'm sure people travel with pets, they definitely do that, but I don't know if it's extreme to going to Japan.

Carrie:

Yeah, I don't know what's going internationally, because then you're going to end up running into quarantine laws and all that stuff.

Papamutes:

And they won't be in first class.

Carrie:

No. My friend, who works for United, it was like, "Oh no, people are going to see this photo and call me and be like, can I put my cat first class?"

Papamutes:

I took it hook, line and sinker. I was like, wait a minute, does she have to pay for the cat, a human cost for the seat? And-

Carrie:

In the book, the cat manages to get himself an upgrade from being down at the cargo into first class.

Papamutes:

If you were a cat, if you could morph into a cat magically, which breed would you be? Which breed is your cat?

Carrie:

She's just a little tuxedo cat, black and white cat.

Papamutes:

What about Ashi?

Carrie:

Ashi's gray and white, but he's tuxedo cat, but he's gray instead of black.

Papamutes:

Okay. Now, if you could morph into a cat other than those types-

Carrie:

I think I'd want to be a solid black cat.

Papamutes:

Solid black cat?

Carrie:

Yeah, because they look so sleek.

Papamutes:

All right. You don't want to be a Siamese Persian or British short hair cat or anything.

Carrie:

Nah. I want to blend into the background and be able to spy on people and hear what they're saying.

Papamutes:

You're a cat lady, you're a cat lover, so to speak. Now, your husband the same?

Carrie:

Yeah, he likes cats too. When we first got together, I had a little black cat named Asti, and he had a black cat named Divo. But they never got along.

Papamutes:

Asti.

Carrie:

Yeah, like Asti Spumante.

Papamutes:

Right. Well, Asti and Ashi. Did I get the name right? Your sister's cat.

Carrie:

Yeah, they're both correct. Yes. And I would've used Asti for my book, but she was elderly at the time and getting on up there, so it's like, eh, I would have to take 5,000 pictures because she passed away in 2017.

Papamutes:

Okay. Now, the book part, what's the process to write a book? Obviously you have to get the information, you write it down. Was there anybody helping you formatting? So it's a legitimate book, so to speak, and not just random notes and stuff like that.

Carrie:

Right, right. I'm a outliner. I know some people like to just go and write and start doing it, but I outline from beginning to end. I do my midpoint so I know where it's going, where it's headed. And then I would write both sides, Audrey's version and Ashi's version. And then I sent it to my sister. But she would read it and make comments, and then she would do the layout for it. Because she did all the graphics for the book. I did several passes editing, and the final pass my publisher did the remaining editing.

Papamutes:

Now, who's the publisher?

Carrie:

It's Bayou City Press. It's micro press in Houston, Texas.

Papamutes:

I got some cat trivia here I'm going to throw at you, but let's just have some fun and go through some. Would you like to try some cat trivia?

Carrie:

Absolutely.

Papamutes:

Let's do it.

Carrie:

Let's see what I know.

Papamutes:

All right. How many kittens on average are in a litter? Four, six or eight? On average.

Carrie:

I'm going with six.

Papamutes:

That is correct. She's on fire. All right, here we go. How many human years are in one cat, year of life? Five, seven, or 10?

Carrie:

I thought it was seven.

Papamutes:

Correct. You're out of control.

Carrie:

I know. My cat, Asti, lived to be... She lived to 18 years.

Papamutes:

Wow. Geez.

Carrie:

What is that, 86? No, wait. I'm trying to do math in my head.

Papamutes:

It's okay.

Carrie:

I'm tired after work, but yeah, she lives a long time.

Papamutes:

All right. Which country has the largest population of cats? Would that be United States, China, or India?

Carrie:

Ooh. That's a tough one.

Papamutes:

Yeah, I was surprised myself. But-

Carrie:

Because we're all very large countries, space wise and area wise.

Papamutes:

Now, I'm giving this info-

Carrie:

I'm going to go with China.

Papamutes:

Actually, it's United States.

Carrie:

Ah, okay.

Papamutes:

I'm going off cat sites. I should have wrote the cat sites down. But I try to get some legitimate, not just random people online putting up questions. I forget the cat... or the site I was on, but supposedly it's United States. Cats can jump five, 10 or 12 times their own height?

Carrie:

10.

Papamutes:

Five.

Carrie:

Aw. I gave my cat superhero jumping ability.

Papamutes:

Our cats, they really have some ups, but according to this, it's five. If there's any cat perfectionists out there and I'm wrong, relax.

Carrie:

Yeah. Well, yeah, that's probably right. Five is probably about right, five or six. Because I was thinking, well, my cat jumps onto the fence, and the fence is a little bit under seven feet.

Papamutes:

Yeah. Well, the one-

Carrie:

That's not 10 times.

Papamutes:

Our one cat is a tabby, bulky, heavy set, and the other one's... I should know this, but she's very thin and can really jump. Anyway, are you familiar with the cartoon and old from the 40s, 50s, 60s, Tom and Jerry?

Carrie:

Yes.

Papamutes:

Which character is the cat, Tom or Jerry?

Carrie:

Tom's the cat, right? Tom cat.

Papamutes:

That is correct. Tom cat. And just for bonus points, what is Jerry? What animal?

Carrie:

He's a mouse.

Papamutes:

He's a mouse. Yeah, okay.

Carrie:

Yeah, he's the mouse.

Papamutes:

These are tough questions, I'm telling you. What is a group of cats called, a clouder, a kindle or a pack?

Carrie:

It's a clouder. That one I know.

Papamutes:

Correct. Boom. No hesitation on that one. Very nice. Let's try this true or false. Kittens in the same litter can have more than one father. True or false?

Carrie:

True.

Papamutes:

Yeah, since a female releases multiple eggs while she's in heat. True. I guess-

Carrie:

That's why you could have a cat colony that goes from two cats to 27 in three months.

Papamutes:

That's where they term the cathouse from. Each cat's nose is unique, just like a human's fingerprints. True or false?

Carrie:

I'm going to go with true, even though I'm not sure on the answer on that one.

Papamutes:

That is true, that is true, according to my website that I went to. Cats use their tails to organize their litter box. True or false?

Carrie:

False.

Papamutes:

That is correct. They use it for-

Carrie:

Their tails? Climbing and balance.

Papamutes:

Exactly. Exactly. Balance. Yep. Very good. Some cultures, especially in Asia, think black cats are good luck. True or false?

Carrie:

True.

Papamutes:

That is true. I like black cats.

Carrie:

I do too.

Papamutes:

Unless they cross in front of me. Cats live longer lives than dogs. True or false?

Carrie:

True.

Papamutes:

Yes, true.

Carrie:

I'm always stunned at how short dogs' lives are. I expect them to be the same level as a cat. And then my friend's like, "Oh, my dog passed away," and I'm like, "So soon?" And they're like, "No, that's not soon."

Papamutes:

Let's see. Last one. Cats have more bones than humans.

Carrie:

True? True.

Papamutes:

True. 200.

Carrie:

I think they have little, tiny bones.

Papamutes:

Yeah, right. 230. And humans have 206.

Carrie:

Close, though.

Papamutes:

Again, if that's not ultimately accurate, relax out there, people, I'm just going offline here. Actually, I wrote this down, but it's an obvious answer, I think. Which country is larger, Japan or China?

Carrie:

Well, for China, yeah, definitely.

Papamutes:

Definitely. No doubt about it.

Carrie:

I've got a trivia question for you.

Papamutes:

Let's do it.

Carrie:

How many cat islands are there in Japan?

Papamutes:

Cat islands?

Carrie:

Yes. One, three or seven.

Papamutes:

Well, I'm going to say one.

Carrie:

There's seven.

Papamutes:

I had no idea.

Carrie:

There's one famous one. Everyone knows about the one that was near Fukushima, and that's it. When you see them in the news or online, that's the one they usually talk about. But there's six other cat islands where it's predominantly hundreds of cats and 10 people living there.

Papamutes:

Really? Wow. Cat islands. More cats than humans.

Carrie:

Yes. I have not visited a cat island yet, but I think the next trip to Japan, I will.

Papamutes:

Yeah. Well, you have to.

Carrie:

I know. I have to now.

Papamutes:

Now you have to. Now, have you been to other countries out outside of Japan? Although the book is featuring Japan, have you been anywhere else?

Carrie:

I have. Like I said, because my husband worked for an airline, we did a lot of traveling. We've been to Italy and I've been to Germany and I've been to Brazil and South Korea, China, Thailand. We've seen a good amount of countries.

Papamutes:

When you went to write this book, why Japan and not another country? Why not fictionalize the cat going to, I don't know, Germany.

Carrie:

Right. Well, I think I picked Japan because one of the things I really like about Japan is it's a wealthy country like the United States is. It has a high GDP. But it's so culturally different than us. And it's really different being there, the way they do their food, the way they do their culture, their safety. I don't know, I find it fascinating being out of my element.

Papamutes:

Nowadays, you can YouTube, people go to Japan, and they videotape, they walk around. They may not even narrate, but with the high def cameras, it's like you're there.

Carrie:

Right. You see a lot.

Papamutes:

It's amazing because you have this perception, or at least I did, of certain areas in the world. And then you see it, and it's like, okay, I'm okay. I could go there.

Carrie:

I thought Japan was going to be super noisy, particularly... Let me rephrase that. Tokyo was going to be super noisy. And you know what?

Papamutes:

And it wasn't?

Carrie:

No, it's not. There's one section that gets noisy at night because it's the entertainment district, but the rest of it, during the day, it's relatively quiet. You don't hear cars honking, people are relatively quiet. They don't talk on the train. The trains are silent, the subways are silent.

Papamutes:

They don't talk on the train. Just cultural? Or-

Carrie:

It's just cultural, yeah. I guess if people are there with their friends, they'll talk to each other, but most people are probably commuting back and forth with work, and they're just on their phone or reading a book. On their phone looking at things, not talking. I saw a person talking on the train on their phone once, and the conductor went in there and made them get off the train.

Papamutes:

Huh? No.

Carrie:

I guess there's no talking on the phones.

Papamutes:

It's like a library. Geez. Wow. Okay. I beat it. I have a section called this or that. This is outside of our subject, just to get your personal preference. Here we go. Plane or train? As far as traveling, plane or train?

Carrie:

I'm going to have to go with plane just because, for the United States, our train system's not that great.

Papamutes:

But I meant train like travel.

Carrie:

Yeah, yeah, yeah, I know.

Papamutes:

Not that I-

Carrie:

The trains in Japan and South Korea and... Hadn't taken one in China, but I'm pretty sure they're amazing too because they're all high speed. And even Germany, they have a high speed train too.

Papamutes:

Yeah. Again-

Carrie:

Throughout Europe, they do.

Papamutes:

... you see so much on YouTube, it's just the train system is amazing around the world. Steak or sushi?

Carrie:

Sushi, definitely.

Papamutes:

The cat likes it too, I'm assuming. Passenger or driver?

Carrie:

Oh, passenger. I don't like driving. And I'm a horrible driver; I will admit to that. I can't judge distance very well. That's a bad skill. That's a necessary skill when you're driving, to judge distance.

Papamutes:

Yes, definitely. Wine or beer?

Carrie:

Wine. I'm not a beer drinker, but I do like my wine.

Papamutes:

Okay. City or countryside?

Carrie:

City.

Papamutes:

Preference.

Carrie:

City, mostly. Countryside for getaway.

Papamutes:

True. Art museum or history museum?

Carrie:

Art museum.

Papamutes:

Going with the art.

Carrie:

Yeah. Because you get to see what people created. You know?

Papamutes:

Mm-hmm. Where history is about-

Carrie:

Although I guess history might be about what somebody created too.

Papamutes:

That is true. TV or movies?

Carrie:

Movies. I like to write screenplay, so yeah, I'm going to go with movies.

Papamutes:

There you go. Eggs or pancakes?

Carrie:

Pancakes.

Papamutes:

Not everything, but what's one of the most exotic things you've eaten out of the United States?

Carrie:

Well, one of the more exotic things I've eaten, and also probably one of the more disgusting flavor-wise. I'm sure there's people that love it, but it just was not for my palate, something I was not used to. It was a fermented stingray dish.

Papamutes:

Fermented stingray.

Carrie:

Yeah. And I didn't even know what it was, I just picked it up off the buffet and tried it. And I was like, "Ooh, that's intense." And the chef came out and I asked him what it was, and he's like, "Ferment stingray." And I'm like, "Ooh. Okay."

Papamutes:

All right., you had guts at least. Winter or summer?

Carrie:

Summer.

Papamutes:

Lake or ocean?

Carrie:

Ocean.

Papamutes:

Ocean. All right, last one. Messy or tidy?

Carrie:

Oh, I wish I could say I'm tidy, but I am horribly messy.

Papamutes:

You're not a tidy cat.

Carrie:

I am not, no. I want to be. I keep thinking in my mind I'm going to get organized and everything's going to have a place and be all neat, but-

Papamutes:

Oh, well. Don't worry about it.

Carrie:

Never happens.

Papamutes:

Any other books in mind that you want to write?

Carrie:

I am working on a sequel to Whiskers Abroad. They're going to go back to Japan for this one, and then the next... If this book does okay in sales, then there'll be a third one, which will probably go to someplace like Thailand or South Korea.

Papamutes:

Okay. And just the one cat?

Carrie:

Just the one cat, yeah. But he'll make friends in Japan. Ashi, yes.

Papamutes:

Ashi, Ashi. I want to say Ozzie, but Ashi. Okay.

Carrie:

Ashi.

Papamutes:

Ashi.

Carrie:

I wish the cat could sit with me when I do the podcast, but he's not at this house.

Papamutes:

Where can people, besides Amazon, find the book? Or is that the best place to go?

Carrie:

You can get it on Amazon or Barnes and Nobles and Books a Million. I don't know, I've never shopped at books a Million, but I know they've got actual physical storefronts places so if some people like them. And you can always order it through my publisher, Bayou City Press.

Papamutes:

Okay. And you have a website also, right?

Carrie:

I do. It's carriecarterwrites.com.

Papamutes:

Right. Nowadays, if you type in the title of a book, everything pops up. It's like, okay, where do I want to go? Amazon, the website, et cetera. All right. Well, look, this has been great. I really appreciate you taking your time to come on. And have a good evening.

Carrie:

You too. And thanks for having me on. I really appreciate it.

Papamutes:

No, it's my pleasure. All right, take care.

Carrie:

All right.

Papamutes:

Bye-bye.

Carrie:

Bye.

Papamutes:

Well, there you have it. Carrie Carter, author of Whiskers Abroad. Check it out. Interesting book. Interesting concept, and a nice lady, fun. And that's what the book's about. Again, it's a travel log, it's a guide with a cat thrown in. All you cat lovers, go out there and buy that book. Until next time, take care.

Speaker 3:

This Has been an Unmuted podcast with Papamutes.