Today we sit down for a cha with Colbie Summers from mystery author Kathy Krevat’s
Gourmet Cat Mysteries.
What was your life like before your author started pulling your strings?
I was focused on raising my wonderful son Elliott and making my business a success. My company, Meowio Batali Gourmet Cat Food, was inspired by my cat Trouble. She has digestive issues, so I started making her organic, human grade food. When I found out other cats had the same problems, Meowio was born.
I’d just moved back in with my father – his second bout of pneumonia really hit him hard right at a time when I had a little difficulty with my day job. We’re trying hard to make it work. After being a city person for so long, leaving San Diego for small town Sunnyside takes some getting used to.
And stumbling over my new friend’s dead body was not something I ever expected.
What’s the one trait you like most about yourself?
I’d have to say my stubbornness, which I need to succeed at business, and life in general. Being a single mom at a young age was never my plan, so I had to push hard to find, and keep, jobs to support us.
What do you like least about yourself?
My stubbornness. It kept me from having much of a relationship with my father when I left home at eighteen. He’s pretty stubborn too, which is why twelve years went by with infrequent visits.
What is the strangest thing your author has had you do or had happen to you?
Did I mention the stumbling over dead bodies stuff? Besides that, she made me get a treatment for lice! Yes, it was part of an investigation, and I didn’t actually have them, but my head was itchy for days. She’s also forced me to have encounters with chicken poop, fight a rabbit over my strawberry patch, and get head-butted by a baby goat.
Do you argue with your author? If so, what do you argue about?
She likes to say I do what she tells me, but you should see what happens between the outline and the finished book. I control plenty of the action; she just doesn’t realize it yet.
What is your greatest fear?
Something terrible happening to my son or father because of my investigations.
What makes you happy?
So many things! Seeing Elliott singing and dancing on stage in his junior theater musicals, when he’s at his most joyous. Having coffee with my father on the porch during a quiet morning, before we start our day. Hanging out with my cat Trouble, even if she’s complain-meowing while waiting to taste-test a new recipe.
If you could rewrite a part of your story, what would it be? Why?
I definitely wish I hadn’t fought with my dad and moved out when I was eighteen. We missed out on so many years of family because of pride.
Of the other characters in your book, which one bugs you the most? Why?
I’d have to say Gina Pace. She’s a personal trainer who puts me through a punishing workout to get any information from her, and she keeps reminding me that I should get rid of my “paunch.”
Of the other characters in your book, which one would you love to trade places with? Why?
Besides Trouble, who lives like a queen, I’d choose Elliott. He’s twelve, at that wonderful age where so much is new, and he’s figuring out who he is in the world. He’s surrounded by love at home and has great friends. His whole life is in front of him, and I just know it’s going to be wonderful.
Tell us a little something about your author. Where can readers find her website/blog?
Kathy Krevat is the only one I know who’s busier than me. She’s the author of the Gourmet Cat Mystery series, the Chocolate Covered Mystery series (under the name Kathy Aarons), and the short story, “One Flu Over the Cuckoo’s Nest” in the Crossing Borders Anthology. Learn more about her and her books at her website.
She also performs stand-up comedy, usually in San Diego clubs, but now online via Zoom.
When she’s not writing, she’s volunteering for the CCA Writers’ Conference (the only free writing conference for high school students in the US), Left Coast Crime 2020, and more.
What's next for you?
Kathy is working on a young adult mystery series, where I’m sure to have a cameo.
The Trouble With Talent
A Gourmet Cat Mystery, Book 3
Sunnyside’s most gifted students have been at the mercy of a shadowy network of college fixers—including an abusive oboe teacher whose recommendation is necessary to get into Julliard and a school secretary who alters grades for cash. When they turn up dead, Colbie has to untangle a cat’s cradle of suspects and motivations—from livid parents and students whose dreams have been crushed to an entire secret Facebook group of spurned lovers.
Suddenly, holiday preparations just got a lot hairier. With the big re-order now on hold and the real killer still at large, Colbie discovers that someone has been grading on a very dangerous curve—and it will take all her newfound sleuthing talent to land safely on her feet.
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2 comments:
Thanks for having Colbie on your blog!
You and Colbie are welcome any time, Kathy.
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