My agent likes it!

She loves that I'm developing/revealing more of Pru's character, she found the plot nicely complex (and at one point suspected a red herring - ha!). In short, Cats Can't Shoot – the followup to Dogs Don't Lie in the Pru Marlowe pet psychic series – is a go. Once I read it through one more time for myself, of course. Whee!

What's a pet psychic supposed to do?

Ever wonder if our animals know more about us than we'd like them to? Ever wonder if they'll talk? That's the idea behind "Dumb Beasts," my first pet psychic short mystery. It's just one of the short stories in the brand new Deadfall: Crime Stories by New England Writers, which is just coming out now.

Order Deadfall here.

Pet noir?

Just heard that my short story, "Dumb Beasts," has been accepted for Deadfall: Crime Stories by New England Authors, to be published in November by Level Best Books, a multiple-award-winning small publisher up here in New England. I'm tremendously excited for multiple reasons.

For starters, stories from Level Best's last anthology, Still Waters, have raked in several awards, so I know I'm in fabulous company. And... while I was re-reading my story, I realized that I might have a germ of a new novel. "Dumb Beasts" features a pet psychic who "hears" animals' thoughts – and this helps her realize a murder has been committed. The animals don't talk to her like we talk to each other; they only note what is important to them, in ways true to their species. But my heroine has always been better with animals than with people, so she catches on pretty quick.

I'm now toying with a larger story along these same lines. I want to be true to the animals, and give readers a thrill, too. When I sent "Dumb Beasts" in, I described it as "pet noir." What do you think?