In March of 2014, I accepted a foster assignment from the Oregon Humane Society. I had no idea the job would change my life. A cat named Lux made headlines when he went on a rampage and trapped his family in their bedroom, fearful for their lives. When the family called 911, telling police the 22-lb Himalayan was out for blood, the incident went viral. The story reached the ears of celebrity cat behaviorist Jackson Galaxy who jumped in his pink ’57 Lincoln and hotfooted it to Portland. In normal circumstances, a violent cat such as Lux would be euthanized; Galaxy didn’t want to see that happ ..read more

I just talked with a woman who wants to save the world. Okay, maybe not the entire world, but the part of it that is home to feral and community cats. Dr. Rachel Geller is a certified Cat Behavior and Retention Specialist, an author, and President of All Cats All the Time, Inc., a 501c3 nonprofit dedicated to promoting the adoption of cats and preventing their surrender through free-of-charge cat behavior counseling. Dr. Rachel is now dedicating her time and energy to teaching others the steps to being a functioning advocate for community cats through her Surrender Prevention Workshop. The he ..read more

I’ve been clearing out my files lately, going through and tossing things that are no longer relevant to me and my life. I have a tendency to keep everything—every scrap of paper, every event program or ticket stub; every submission entry that got rebuffed. In my look down file cabinet memory lane, I found newspaper clippings from when there were newspapers. I found printouts from internet searches because loading used to be so slow I printed anything I thought I might want to read again. I also turned up a whole drawer full of rejection slips from manuscript queries to publishers and agents ..read more

Ghost Cat at the Mystery Hotel, the 3rd instalment of my Tenth Life Paranormal Cozy Series, is on its way! Today I’m beginning one of the last steps before Ghost Cat at the Mystery Hotel, the 3rd instalment of my Tenth Life Paranormal Cozy Series, is ready for release—reading through the proof copy for a final edit. Then once my editor and I are happy with the results, the magic happens, and the book goes live. We’ve got a tentative launch day of May 30th, and the eBook preorder link is up HERE. The paperback version will also be available for purchase on May 30th. Here is the wond ..read more

First birthdate: May 12, 1999 When I adopted Tyler from the Oregon Humane Society in 2017, he was listed as being 18 years old. A stray who had been living on the streets for an untold amount of time, Tyler required some care after a good Samaritan brought him in to the shelter. This included a complete dental extraction because his teeth were so bad. Teeth are often a gage of a cat’s age, and before the extraction, the OHS doctors assessed him to be quite senior. They gave him a tentative birthdate of May 12, 1999—May 12 for the date he was relinquished to OHS, and 1999 as an educated guess ..read more

How many clues do you want in your cozy mystery? Of course you want to guess the killer, but how soon do you want that to happen? How obvious should it be? How convoluted a tale do you like to follow? Should it be complex like the old Inspector Morse series or simple like Murder She Wrote? Do you like character-based or plot-based stories? What is your idea of the perfect cozy mystery? Photo by David Lezcano on Unsplash I am about to launch one cozy mystery while working on the first draft of another, and my mind is filled with questions. For the one being published, Ghost Cat at the Mystery ..read more

Unfortunately, movie audiences are influenced to emulate behavior they see on the screen. We cat people need to fight back with facts. Here are some: Source: Animal Charities and Welfare Groups Express Concerns for Cat Wellbeing in Hollywood Movie ‘Argylle ..read more

Category Five: EGGS Poor little boy! He’s dropped his bag of eggs and they have broken. Now he cries with his little dog looking on. Doggie may be in for a treat after all. Do dogs like raw eggs? I only know about cats, who usually don’t. What a different time that was! From the boy’s costume to the eggs in a bag. Can you imagine buying eggs by the piece and then taking them home in a brown paper bag? If we still did this, there would be a lot less egg cartons, but likely a lot more broken eggs.   The “Egg” category of my grandmother’s cook book boasts six recipes: Eggs in a Nest ..read more

Photo by Rebecca Campbell on Unsplash Photo by Andreas Oberdammer on Unsplash Photo by Keanu K on Unsplash Photo by Thais Lima on Unsplash ..read more

Part 8: The Beginning Click on the link to read Part 7: Something’s Wrong Clarence had no more spasms and continued to improve every single day. When his 7th-month birthday rolled around, he’d grown into himself and become a confident young cat. Dear Clarence, I can no longer think of you as an invalid. You are a perfect, energetic, impulsive, healthy seven-month-old kitten who happens to have only three legs. You’ve learned to claw your way up onto couches and chairs and beds. You chase Tyler and outrun him when he chases you back. You take care of all your cat business as well as anyone co ..read more