What makes a great catsitter

It's not just the security of knowing that our great friend Naomi (of the band Damon and Naomi) would feed and care for Musetta during our absence. It was also receiving this snapshot, from her cell phone, of Musetta waking from a nap "fine and fluffy."

Thank you, Naomi!

Gone fishin'

With Probable Claws in the can (or, at least, in the capable hands of the Poisoned Pen Press production crew), now's a perfect time to go on vacation, don't you think?

Back soon!

Spring ahead... to Probable Claws

Just got the word: Probable Claws, my fourth Theda Krakow mystery, will be published next April by Poisoned Pen Press! More info as I get it, and an excerpt will go up on my site soon. But in the meantime: someone is trying to poison shelter cats, and when Theda investigates she finds herself arrested for murder!

Colin Cotterill: Among the Hmong

In his latest Dr. Siri mystery, The Curse of the Pogo Stick, (which I review in today's Boston Globe) author Colin Cotterill has his Lao hero spend time with the Hmong hill tribes. Although he's taken against his will, Dr. Siri finds himself thoroughly enjoying his time with a people who are victimized by all, but who remain a spiritual and fun-loving people. A really lovely book.

PS. Check out Colin's website. It's fun, too.

Guest Blogger: Lauren Baratz-Losted

My guest today is author Lauren Baratz-Logsted, a multi-talented writer who has authored books in a variety of styles. Her latest, which looks like great fun, is The Sisters Eight a children's series about eight strong girls (sisters, no less) who find themselves and solve a mystery... with the help of their cats. (Here's a link to the first book.) Take it away, Lauren!

We all know the world can be divided into two groups. No, I’m not talking about Democrats and Republicans. I’m talking about Cat People and Dog People; and, since I’m here, I think we all know where my party allegiance lies. In fact, that allegiance is so strong, when I set out to write my first (unsold) book back in 1994, I had my heroine comment on the preference for feline help when solving mysteries, “Ever here that phrase ‘you sly dog’? As if!”

Twelve years later, in December 2006, having been stranded in Colorado by a blizzard, my family embarked on an exciting project: We decided to write a series of books together that would be suitable to the youngest of we three, “we three” meaning me, my husband Greg Logsted (whose YA debut, Something Happened, comes out in November) and our now eight-year-old daughter Jackie. The series, titled The Sisters Eight, would be about octuplets, born on 8/8/2000, whose lives change forever on New Year’s Eve 2007 when Mom goes out to the kitchen for eggnog, Dad goes out to the woodshed for firewood…and neither come back. Now the Eights, as they are known, must endeavor to solve the mystery of what happened to their parents while keeping the wider world from realizing that eight little girls are living home alone.

Jackie named the sisters: Annie, Durinda, Georgia, Jackie, Marcia, Petal, Rebecca, and Zinnia. Even if it’s her mom saying so, I think there are some pretty original names in there and I really like the metafictional hubris of naming a character after herself – the nicest character, of course.

Me, I got to name the eight gray-and-white puffball cats that play an important role in the series: Anthrax, Dandruff, Greatorex, Jaguar, Minx, Precious, Rambunctious, and Zither. I think I did a pretty good job of naming too.

As I say, the cats do have an important role. In order to solve the mystery, each sister must discover her own power, and as the sisters receive their powers, the cats do as well. So that when Annie learns she can _____, Anthrax similarly learns she can…

Well, I guess you’ll just have to start reading the series when it pubs on December 29 in order to find out. Oh, and series publisher Houghton Mifflin has kindly created a website for people to keep up with the Eights.

So you want to be a writer...

Very smart essay by novelist Allegra Goodman from the Boston Globe.

Chatting with Tana French

Two weeks ago, I got to interview Tana French for the Boston Phoenix. The Edgar-winning author of In the Woods was in town promoting The Likeness, her second smart psychological mystery, and we had a good chat over coffee in the elegant Oak Room. I got to pick the choice bits of our conversation for the Phoenix, which you can read here. But, space being what it is, I couldn't fit everything in. So here are some bonus bits:

You've been successful as an actress, so why start writing?
Everyone else in my family is a writer, but usually nonfiction. I think it's only me and a cousin who write fiction.

I've always written. I used to write short stories,and then some godawful poetry when I was a teenager. I never decided to go back to writing, I just had the idea [for In the Woods] and I really wanted to see how it would turn out. I really didn’t think I could write a book, but I figured I could write a scene, and then another scene, and the next thing I knew I had a chapter.

Does your acting background influence your writing?
Yes, because for me, what the character would do shapes the plot, not vice versa.

There’s a little bombshell dropped at the end of The Likeness that refers back to something in In the Woods. Had you planned this all along?
No, I didn’t have a clue. That showed up halfway through The Likeness when I was starting to write -- it was sort of back engineered. What happens in real life is that you’re wandering around the house daydreamign and you go, "Oh! I know!” ... Your subconscious does stuff that you weren’t planning on, and it seemed obvious, like I’d been planning it all the time.

Thank you, Worldwide!

Oh, my! I just heard from my editor at Worldwide Mysteries, which publishes mass market paperbacks of previously published mysteries - and he told me that their edition of Mew is for Murder sold 17,232 copies! I don't think I've sold that many of anything ever. Maybe I shouldn't admit that, but it's true. Now Worldwide is offering a lovely mass market edition of Cattery Row, so here's hoping this is a trend!

Agatha, libraries, pet psychics, and...

It's official! The new Barnes & Noble Library of Essential Reading edition of Agatha Christie's The Secret Adversary, with my introduction, will be published next March, same month as Christie's The Mysterious Affair at Styles, also with a new intro by moi. Right around then, Cambridge Voices should also be coming out (see below), with my short story, "Lady in Waiting." Plus, the next Level Best anthology, Deadfall, will have my short mystery, "Dumb Beasts" in it. So the next eight months should be pretty busy. As for Probable Claws? I'll let you know when I do!

Cattery Row in paperback!

Mass market paperback, that is (i.e., smaller – and significantly cheaper). Worldwide Mystery has just published this new edition of my second mystery, Cattery Row, available only online (to check it out, click here) and with an absolutely wonderful new cover. Don't you think so?

Cattery Row Worldwide Mystery edition.

Coincidence?

Do you think it was just coincidence that the second season of HBO's "Mad Men" started on July 27, my birthday? After all, I am a redhead ... though probably more Peggy (on the left) than Joan

If you have questions you'd like answered, check out the wonderful, inevitable "What Would Don Draper Do?"

Not quite a mystery...

Well, ok, there is a small element of suspense in my short story, "Lady in Waiting," but there are no bodies and no crimes have been committed. Instead, it's a sweet, little mystery I've written for a book called Cambridge Voices, a collection celebrating the renovation of my local (Cambridge, Mass.) library. There's a cat in it, of course, and the story takes place on the grounds of the library. I'm looking forward to its publication and will let folks know how to purchase the book when it becomes available. Right now, though, a big part of the mystery is when exactly my local library will re-open. This grand, beautiful, and historic (opened in 1889) Richardsonian Gothic building has been closed for renovations for something like two years now. For a long time, it seemed like nothing was happening, but in recent months, we've seen them dig up the beautiful grounds for an underground garage, re-shingle the turret, and start to build the futuristic extension. But the organizers now say that Cambridge Voices will be published in early spring, 2009. So here's hoping!

Fly, kitty, fly!

A genetic mutation – or the miracle of photoshopping? Either way, this amuses. Thank you, Caroline Leavitt, for sending it along!
Here's the link to the supposed news article about this Chinese winged cat, who supposedly sprouted wings to escape sexual harrassment.

Um, in other news, I've been busy with Probable Claws revisions and a bunch of outside projects. One of which involved me having coffee with Tana French in the Oak Room! I'll post more of that when the interview pubs next week.

Herding Cats

"Anyone can herd cattle. Bringing in ten thousand half-wild shorthairs, that's another thing altogether..."

Sometimes a metaphor needs to be played out. A friend alerted me to this ad a while ago, I've finally found it on Youtube

Help your cat find her way home again

To add a dramatic element in Cries and Whiskers, my heroine's cat, Musetta, gets lost. Turns out, she's involved in some foul play – but for a brief moment, my heroine breathes easier knowing that her cat is microchipped. If Musetta is picked up or turned in to a shelter, she'll be identified and returned. This is based on fact – my cat is microchipped – and I can't speak highly enough of this unobtrusive and vital technology. Well, it turns out that one company is making it easier for you to microchip your pet! What are you waiting for?

This post is taken from Darlene Arden's PerPETually Speaking blog. Darlene is a writer and radio personality, focusing on animals (and a member of my beloved Cat Writers Association) and she's right on the money here.

For longer than I count, dog owners have always turned over every leaf and stone searching for their lost pets. Cat owners, who were even more likely to allow their pets to roam seldom used to look for their lost felines, assuming they'd run away or found a new home. It's really hard to fathom that attitude these days although I suspect some people may still feel that way.
I now see nearly as many posters for missing cats as I do for dogs. Still there is a good way to help ensure that your lost pet will be reunited with his family: microchipping. It is becoming nearly as popular for cats as it is for dogs but we still need to make more people aware of microchipping, especially cat owners.

One microchip company, Home Again, has gone the extra mile for cats and their people, not only providing a safety net of microchipping but helping in another way as well. Home Again Proactive Pet Recovery Network has promised to donate $1. to the Winn Feline Health Foundation for every cat microchipped and enrolled in Home Again during the months of June, July and August. You still have time to take advantage of the company's generosity in helping feline health studies while taking that extra step to provide for your own cat's recovery in case he is lost.

While some cats wear a collar, a cat who gets loose can easily lose his collar and thus his tag as means of identification. Microchipping provides that added measure of security. If your cat is taken to a shelter or veterinary hospital, he can be scanned for a microchip, his number can be called in to Home Again and the owner will be notified.

It's sad to think that microchipped cats are fewer in number than microchipped dogs. It's a relatively inexpensive and painless way to protect your beloved companion. And by taking advantage of Home Again's generous donation offer, you'll be helping all cats have healthier lives through Winn Feline Foundation's studies which will greatly benefit from Home Again's generosity. They will be as generous as you are a responsible owner when you get your cat microchipped and enrolled in Home Again by the end of August.

Be a Wednesday Sister

We are sustained by our friendships, aren't we? Even the casual ones that only gradually deepen through time and proximity? That's the theme of Meg Clayton's The Wednesday Sisters, a marvelous new novel about women who meet casually, when their kids are young, and come to know and share their lives. Already, critics are recognizing its honest sentiment and fresh approach to real friendship: Booklist says, "“Readers will be swept up by this moving novel about female friendship and enthralled by the recounting of a pivotal year in American history as seen through these young women’s eyes."

Because the Sisters bond over books, its only appropriate that Meg has a blog called "First Books," where she has invited sister writers to share their stories. I'm this week's Wednesday sister, sharing my story of my two first books! What an honor. Thank you, Meg.

How far should we go to save our pets?

These days, we can get our kitties chemo or a new kidney, but should we? My buddy Vicki Constantine Croke wrote this thoughtful and well researched story for yesterday's Boston Globe Magazine, asking just how much is too much? Pictured is Boswell, a goose, getting anesthesia before his chemotherapy.

My Agatha (not the award, alas)

Nice bit of news - my editor over at the Barnes and Noble Library of Essential Reading loves my introduction to The Mysterious Affair at Styles,, Poirot's first adventure, so look for my name to be linked to the great Agatha Christie when this new edition comes out next March. What an honor!

And, not to hog all the glory, Musetta gets her 15 minutes of fame on Galleycat.

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?

How not to write

Now, there are clearly Kathryn Harrison fans out there, but I'm not one of them. I just found While They Slept, her take on the Gilley family tragedy to be narcissistic and unnecessary.

Writers on writing

Maybe it's because I'm teaching writing again, but I love this interview between Ann Patchett and Elizabeth McCracken. And, yes, I stole it - as all good ideas are stolen - in this case from good buddy and excellent novelist Caroline Leavitt (at right).

All About Agatha

Did you know Agatha Christie only received 25 pounds for her first mystery, The Mysterious Affair at Styles? And that wasn't even an advance. She only got that because someone agreed to serialize it, and that was her take.

I've been asked to write the introductions to two of Christie's novels; Styles, which introduced Hercule Poirot, and The Secret Adversary, her second mystery, which introduced Tommy and Tuppence. I got this assignment quite a while ago, but of course, I've just been reading, taking my time. But now they're due so I'm diving in. In addition to re-reading Christie's works, I've immersed myself in Christieana - from her autobiography to modernist critiques that defend her "formulaic" writing as a response to "formalism." (I'm not entirely sure I have that part right.) And another take that sees the detective story as post-modernist because of it's "double plotting." In other words, mysteries have the apparent surface story - and the darker, true understory, which we only glimpse as clues. This, according to one critic, " reflects [the post-modernists'] own highly self-conscious awareness of the artificiality of narration and the ambiguity of plots.”

Yes, I should be working on the new project. I definitely should be working on the "Probable Claws" revisions, but this is kind of fun!

Book promotion 101

Please don't suggest Oprah. Not that I'm not grateful, but...

Thank you, Oline!

"These are darn good mysteries." – says Oline Cogdill, mystery columnist for the South Florida Sun-Sentinel.

Make my day, why don't you, Oline!

Remembering to forget...

It's not like I don't have enough on my plate. I've got the revisions of "Probable Claws" to finish up (luckily, my editor is on vacation, which gives me some breathing room). And I've got my summer writing class to teach. But my agent is sending out my non-Theda manuscript this week, and so the time feels right to start on an entirely brand new project.

Sometimes, this part is easy. On Saturday, sitting at a cafe in Harvard Square, I started writing notes and bits of dialogue. They came from nowhere. But once I finally sat down to type them up and enlarge on them, I found myself second guessing everything. Should I start with a simple scene? Not let the narrator intrude so soon? Was I rushing the action, or was the pacing natural?

At some point last night, I remembered: I can't worry about this now. I've just got to get what's in my head out on paper. I can fix it up later. Years ago, a friend quoted pub rocker Nick Lowe to me, saying, "Bash it out now. Tart it up later." But, especially while revising "Probable Claws" and after polishing up the other ms., it's so hard to turn off that internal editor and just write!!

Anyone have any advice?

Wear your pet!

No, not "where your pet?" I mean, why not wear your pet as the wonderful ornament to your life that he or she is?

My friend Laurie has long pursued a variety of interesting crafts and arts, developing a real flair for folk art that looks (and feels) good. And now that she and her husband Ted have adopted a dog, they've discovered pet love. The result, as these pictures show, is PETS RULE JEWELS, a line of jewelry that incorporates images of your pets! A few months ago, when Laurie was still working out the kinks in the idea, she made me a pair of earrings with a photo of Musetta in them and asked if I'd wear them and let her know how they felt, how they hung, and what I thought. I loved them. They're light enough that I can wear them all day and night, they hang just right and catch the light. They're pretty. And at some point someone will go ... "wait a minute, is that your cat?" She's my friend, but beyond that, I just love these. And, yes, she does dogs, too. (That's Dolly, their adopted pup, to the right.)

The whole process is simple: Contact Laurie at petsrulejewels@yahoo.com and arrange to email her a picture of your pet. She will go over the details (sizes, etc., are at her website page), but they are VERY reasonably priced - and she's covering her own shipping costs for the rest of June.

Separated at birth?

Watching game 5 of the NBA playoffs last night, it occurred to me that LA Lakers star Kobe Bryant (far left) looks a little like a meerkat (right). Something about the eyes. Which makes me like Bryant more. Not a good thing for a New Englander, so, please, don't tell anybody.

( Find out which Meerkat Manor meerkat you are.)

Will Spitz, who works with my husband, just sent me this Pau Gasol/Llama comparison!

(Kobe photo Copyright: 2008 NBAE (Photo by Nathaniel S. Butler/NBAE/Getty Images)

Then again...

Tim Russert has died. He wasn't always perfect - who is? - but he was the kind of journalist we need more of. So sad. May he rest in peace.

Reasons to be happy...

Did you know Friday the 13th is actually a safer day to drive or wander about? A Dutch study tackled the topic and proved it true. And remember, to pet any black cats you might see, too!

The heat is on

Half past seven and the mercury is stuck at 94 degrees. I'm still trying to read through that non-Theda project. I like it, I do, but it's just too difficult to do anything in this weather that in any way resembles work. Did take a break to visit the lovely and ever courtly Bill Swartley, and not just because he has air-conditioning. (Bill turns 100 next week. Yay, Bill!) The heat is supposed to break tonight, but in the meantime, if you're looking for some cool, foggy relief, may I recommend Alan Furst's latest, The Spies of Warsaw," which I reviewed here? I'd like to offer you all my latest book, but it's not in any shape for anyone but me to read right now.

And in the meantime, some great news from buddy Caroline Leavitt. After all this heat, I cannot wait to really Breathe.

The numbers game

It's 90 degrees out and I'm trying to rouse myself to go back to revising the manuscript I put aside to finish "Probable Claws," while "Probable Claws" is with my editor. Wouldn't this be a great day to take a break? Yes, but as David Mehegan explains in this article, that's not going to happen.

Meanwhile, did anyone out there enjoy Elizabeth George's new "Careless in Red"? I wish I did, but as you can read here, in my Boston Globe review, I didn't.

The other redhead

That's me! To one reunion spouse, I am "the other redhead." (The primary redhead being the lovely Heidi Jensen) and it cracked me up. Because, you see, that's how Jon has been learning about the score of folks that he had to meet and hang with over this past reunion weekend. There was Beate, whose clothes were stolen in a Moscow bath (turns out that story wasn't entirely remembered correctly, but never mind, we had fun). And Muffy who had the guinea pig in the washtub freshman year. Loulon from Cajun country (who now works in New Orleans and NEVER goes out to hear music. How is this possible?) Eloise (who indirectly caused my drummer to break his hand - he punched a wall when they broke up, not her fault). And Mike and Jennifer, and Jeff and Tama, Liz and Greg, and and and...

It wasn't until yesterday afternoon, when I met another old friend Shelley (who always wore heels, but who did excercises to keep her achilles tendons from shrinking) for coffee, that I realized we all use the same systems, though. We met at Pamplona (which still exists, for which we are both grateful) and her sweet husband Ari came up and said, "Clea - the other redhead." To which I can only say, "Pleased to meet you!"

So, all in all, a very pleasant experience. Hi to any classmates or other old friends out there. So glad to have met you again.

Forgotten Books Friday

Let's hear it for Tubby Dubonnet! I first met this charming New Orleanian bon vivant under less than ideal circumstances. He'd chosen to stay in his Garden District home despite dire weather warnings about an oncoming hurricane, and soon enough he was stranded. That hurricane turned out to be Katrina, and following the breakdown of the New Orleans levee system, he soon found himself in a surreal world of stranded survivors, including, of course, an escaped convict.

I should explain here, Tubby is a fictional character, the creation of author Tony Dunbar. But "Tubby Meets Katrina," which a friend gave me, was my introduction to the charming gent, a true hero laboring for justice (and for the survival of friends and neighbors) in a hellish situation. I've since gone back and am working my way through Dunbar's Dubbonet novels, and in the spirit of Patti Abbott's Friday Forgotten Books project, I'd like to point readers toward his 1994 mystery debut, "Crooked Man," the first of the six previous Tubby Dubonnet novels, which now seem to be out of print. While these books evoke a more innocent epic, one of fishing and long lunches at Antoine's, they are also sly, funny, and very, very good.

The Dubonnet we first meet in "Crooked Man" does not have a strong work ethic, preferring instead to let his partner handle the heavy lifting. But he does feel a loyalty toward his roster of oddball clients – such as the Monster Mudbug, in trouble again because his Rolling Boiler parade float isn't licensed; Sandy Shandell, a transvestite stripper with a malpractice claim against her dermatologist - so when Monique, a sweet waittress/hooker who has gotten in over her head walks in, he gets involved. The ensuing story is madcap, silly, but logical enough to float, and Dunbar's local references are done with subtlety and style, with Dubonnet's relish of food and fishing woven neatly into the text, rather than the "He turned left on Decatur to get to Esplanade" variety.

Look for this book used or in your local library. Bring back New Orleans, and bring back Tubby Dunbar!

What kind of coffee are you?

At last, self analysis I can relate to, thanks to Blogthing.

You Are an Espresso

At your best, you are: straight shooting, ambitious, and energetic At your worst, you are: anxious and high strung You drink coffee when: anytime you're not sleeping Your caffeine addiction level: high

What Kind of Coffee Are You?

Hey, what do you expect? I have just sent Probable Claws off to my editor!

Forgotten Books

Have you heard about Patti Abbott's Friday Forgotten Books project? Death Was the Other Woman author Linda L. Richards has tagged me to write up this week's "Forgotten Book," and I'm thrilled to participate. In brief, Patti started this project stating: I'm worried great books of the recent past are sliding out of print and out of our consciousness. Not the first-tier classics we all can name, but the books that come next. And authors and bloggers have been diligent about digging up some wonderful reads. (For some of them, check out Patti's blog.)

For my turn, I'm picking Hilary Mantel's A Place of Greater Safety, a book I find myself re-reading regularly. It's historical fiction, but like all Mantel's work, defiantly unsentimental. Instead, as it follows the fathers of the French Revolution Camille Desmoulins, Jacques Danton, and Maximilien Robbespierre and their colleagues from their bourgeois upbringing through to their end, in the Terror of their own creating, it celebrates the blood lust in all of us, as enthusiasm begets cruelty and passion consumes itself. Along the way, it also gives very plausible reasons for things turning out as they do, in the great dance with Mme Guillotine, shifting in view point between the characters and a cool historical ominpotence, noting in little historical asides: Under the bridges, by dim and precarious fires, the destitute wait for death. A loaf of bread is fourteen sous, for the New Year. I love it.

As you can probably tell, Mantel is a writer of extremes. She tends toward either short, dark novels, like Fludd and The Giant O'Brien, or oversize ones like this and the recent, and also very lovely, Beyond Black. The emotions and themes in all her books, even the tiny ones, are intense, set off by writing so dry it verges on cryptic, a quality I noticed recently in a very short essay she'd authored for Granta on finding an icon in a Jiddah souk. I now look for her everywhere. In between novels, she shows up regularly in the pages of the New York Review of Books and other journals. But A Place of Greater Safety is the one I come back to. I was given this book by my husband, who received a review copy and brought it home to me because of its size (748 pp.) He knows I'm a fast reader and figured this would last me a while. It has.

(I've chosen to show this 1998 edition, which is the one I have, rather than the 2006 paperback because of its cover. Same book, but this cool paperback features a detail of a portrait of Desmoulins by Bole.)

And for next week, I tag Caroline Leavitt.

Smiley Muffin signs off

Oh, "Cat News," we hardly knew ye! So much for the Feline Institute of Agreeing With Me All The Time. (Click here to see the three extant episodes. Well worth your time.)

Everybody now: I'm furry! I'm pissed off! And I want you all to kiss my pouch!