Lakeland, Fla. – Victoria J. Saunders absolutely loves “chunky,” “fluffy,” and “groopy” cats.
In fact, the Plant City author and digital artist loves colorful plus-size kitties so much, she wrote and illustrated the best-selling hardcover picture book about them.
Recently #1 Cat Book on Amazon, “The Chunky Alphabet” He has a love letter to the muscular cat, specifically his own cat Mishka, who is a certified “entity”.
Don’t know what a “unit” is? Just open this bizarre alphabet book.
“U stands for Unit,” said Saunders, Who goes by her married name Vicky Smooth on Instagram. “To use it in a sentence: ‘That cat is a complete entity.’ Meaning it’s just a big ol’ cat!”
Saunders said that “Mishka’s vet described her as a potato. So I figured that was the threshold to bring her to Chunkydom.”
“Chunky” is part of the secret online language of fat-pet owners. That’s where Saunders was comforted and smiled a few years ago when she was fired from her job at – wait for it – CAT scan tech at Lackland.
“I would have liked to move [chonky cat sites],” she laughs. “I loved the community, and everyone was so positive.”
So to boost his spirits, he started mixing quirky words with cheeky pictures.
And the rest is chunky history.
In the book, the letter Z stands for “zoomies” (that is, cats running crazy fast), which Saunders had in human form when he learned “The Chunky Alphabet” was a hit. No. 1 for Cat Books on Amazon.
“Oh, of course I had Zoomies myself when I found out,” she said. “But Mishka just looked angry with me.”
Saunders will sign “The Chunky Alphabet” Tips Bookworm The event is pet-friendly (of course) from 2-4 p.m. on August 6 in Plant City.