BOOK CLUB FRIDAY--AUTHOR CLEA SIMON

Clea Simon is the author of seventeen mysteries in the Theda Krakow, Dulcie Schwartz, and Pru Marlowe pet noir series. The latter two are ongoing and include her most recent books. Learn more about Clea and her books at her website. 

What a winter! Up here in Massachusetts, we’re all going stir-crazy with the cold and the record-breaking snow. I know I’m crazy to get out. But my kitty, Musetta, is not. While she may have a more luxurious coat than I do (mine’s pink down, so yes, I do look like a marshmallow), my tuxedo medium-hair beauty is definitely a house cat – and that’s the way we like it.

You see, I’m a big proponent of keeping kitties indoors. There are just too many dangers out there for domestic beasts: coyotes (even in the suburbs,) hawks, fisher cats (which aren’t cats at all, but nasty weasel-y things with huge jaws,) and aggressive dogs, not to mention cars and the occasional evil human. Besides, it’s only natural for your kitty to hunt, and wouldn’t you rather your pet “hunt” a toy than a songbird?

“But doesn’t your cat get bored?” I get that question all the time. The answer is no, partly because I don’t let her get bored. In fact, I think part of the deal we make when we take in a cat is to keep her or him entertained and exercised. That keeps her healthy and trim and out of trouble (for the most part.) The key is to keep in mind that cats are hunters – obligate carnivores – so they’re evolutionarily designed for short bursts of intense energy. Now, originally, those might have been for chasing gazelle on the veldt. But in the house, that means two or three play sessions a day. The rest of the time can be spent napping  – and dreaming of that long-ago veldt!

So how to keep kitty amused? That’s simple! I’m a total sucker for every new toy that comes on the market – if it has catnip, so much the better. Our current favorites are the rattling fur mice made by Zanies. A friend brought one over and now we’re addicted! (We buy them in bulk, which is useful because Musetta tends to disembowel them pretty quickly.) But in truth, the best and longest lasting toys are the ones you can make yourself: a bunched-up ball of foil or a wine cork. As long as you can throw it, and she can bat it around, you’re all set up for hours of fun – and a healthy, happy indoor cat.

If only my own cabin fever were so easily resolved!

Kittens Can Kill

The dead don’t keep pets. So when animal behaviorist expert Pru Marlowe gets a call about a kitten, she doesn’t expect to find the cuddly creature playing beside the cooling body of prominent Beauville lawyer David Canaday. Heart attack? His three adult daughters angrily blame drug interactions, feline allergies—and each other. And begin to feud over their father, his considerable estate, and that cute ball of fluff. While the cause of death is pending, each sister has an axe to grind—with arguments that escalate when David’s partner reads out the will. Pru’s special sensitivity to animals, which caused her to flee the cacophony of Manhattan for the quiet Berkshires, adds further problems. The local vet is overwhelmed as the animal hospital's money runs out. There’s a needy Sheltie and some invasive squirrels, too. But the dead man’s kitten, his former partner, and his troublesome family keep drawing “wild-girl” animal psychic Pru back in. Despite the wry observations of her trusty tabby Wallis, now the wrongfully accused kitten’s guardian, and the grudging compliance of her cop lover, this may be one time when Pru can’t solve the mystery or save the kitten she wants to believe is innocent. A single witness knows the truth about that bright spring morning. How far can Pru investigate without risking her own hidden tale?

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GUEST AUTHOR CLEA SIMON ON THE CARE AND FEEDING OF CATS

Clea Simon is the author of fifteen mysteries in three series, two of which – the Dulcie Schwartz feline mysteries and the Pru Marlowe pet noir – are ongoing. Her most recent books are Grey Howl, the seventh Dulcie Schwartz feline mystery, and Panthers Play for Keeps, the fourth Pru Marlowe pet noir. Learn more about Clea and her books at her website. 

Hi folks!

I’m thrilled to be a guest on Killer Crafts and Cozies, but I’m afraid I’ve got a problem. You see, I write what are nominally cozies – the Dulcie Schwartz feline mysteries certainly are, although my Pru Marlowe pet noir mysteries have a bit more edge – but they contain neither crafts nor recipes. Don’t get me wrong, my characters like to eat (well, Dulcie does – Pru prefers to drink). And they all have special skills: Dulcie is a graduate student, so she’s an ace at any research you would like her to do, particularly if it involves a late 18^th Century manuscript. And Pru is great with animals – though the fact that she can understand what they are thinking, how they see the world, does give her an unfair advantage. But neither of my heroines are handy with a needle and thread or shears or trowel, nor do they share recipes.

What both Dulcie and Pru share is a love for the animals in their lives, particularly their cats. And so it seemed like maybe I could put that to use – maybe craft a cat toy for my own Musetta, one my fictional feline companions (Dulcie’s rambunctious tuxedo cat Esmé and Pru’s curmudgeonly tabby Wallis) would also enjoy.

I’d like to say that I got out my scrap bag and sewing kit. That I whipped together a little mouse-shaped figurine, stuffed it with catnip, and let the hijinks begin. Only it didn’t work that way. For starters, for reasons I can no longer remember, it seems I have been hoarding ribbon as well as cloth in the scrap bag, and between that and the loose threads, the bag was such a tangled mess that I barely managed to extract one decent-sized piece of denim before shoving the rest of the mess to one side of the kitchen table. Then I discovered that someone – I’m not saying who – appears to have chewed through a corner of the bag of high-test organic catnip that my gardener friend Tinuviel sent me from her yard in Maine, leaving me with less than a tablespoon of the herb. Potent or not, that’s not enough to stuff a mouse. Also, new glasses or not, threading a needle has gotten harder with time. Wasn’t the point of aging that my horrible nearsightedness would finally be countered by farsightedness? Isn’t it unfair that now I have both?

Anyway, I finally got the needle threaded when I realized that the tangled glob of scraps and ribbon had disappeared. And when I ducked down to see where it had fallen, I lost the needle. Had to be on the table, still, right? So I started looking  – maybe it got into the remaining scraps – when I see a paw, white, fuzzy, reaching up. Reaching around. And soon enough, the catnip bag – chewed but still fragrant – disappeared, too.  First things first: I found the needle, buried safely in that one remaining scrap of denim. Only by then, the thread had pulled out. Luckily for me, by this point, Musetta had abandoned the tangled ribbons – as a responsible pet person, I know how much havoc ribbons can cause when eaten – and was busy disemboweling the catnip bag with her rabbit-like hind feet. And it hit me: I don’t need to make a toy to entertain the cat. I’m her toy, and all my crafts attempts are merely games.

Sometimes, the best skill to learn is when you’ve been mastered.

Panthers Play for Keeps--A Pru Marlowe Pet Noir

When Pru Marlowe takes a dog for a walk, she doesn’t expect to find a body. But Spot, a service dog in training, has too good a nose not to lead her to the remains of the beautiful young woman, and despite her own best instincts, Pru can’t avoid getting involved. The young woman seems to have been mauled by a wild cat – and Pru knows there have been no pumas in the Berkshire woods for years. And while Wallis, Pru's curmudgeonly tabby, seems fixated on the idea of a killer cat, Spot has been sending strange signals to Pru’s own heightened senses, suggesting that the violent death was something more than a tragic accident. As motives multiply, a cougar of a different sort sets her eyes on Pru’s sometime lover, and another woman disappears. With panther panic growing, Pru may have to put aside her own issues – and her own ideas of domesticity – to solve a savage mystery.

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MONEY MATTERS WITH SHEILA--PROTECTING YOUR PETS DURING A DISASTER

The real Leo

Today we welcome Janet MacPhail, fifty-something animal photographer and amateur sleuth protagonist of Sheila Webster Boneham’s Animals in Focus Mystery Series. With all the recent fires and weather-related disasters that have hit various parts of the country this past year, Janet is here to offer some tips on evacuating and protecting pets during a disaster. Learn more about Janet and Sheila at Sheila’s website. 

Are Your Pets Prepared for a Disaster?

(as told to Sheila Webster Boneham)

Hi! I’m Janet MacPhail, animal photographer and devoted pet owner. You might know me from the Animals in Focus Mystery series, which has been chronicling some of my misadventures of late (a little too many, if you ask me). Anyway, Anastasia asked me to drop by and talk about keeping pets safe when disaster strikes.

Disaster is something we’d all just as soon not deal with of course, but that’s no reason not to plan ahead. I know I wouldn’t evacuate without Jay, my Australian Shepherd, and Leo, my orange tabby. I live in northern Indiana, a mostly benign and lovely place that occasionally gets whacked by blizzards, tornados, and flooding. You may live with different possibilities. And of course we all hope never to deal with a house fire or other accidental or man-made hazard, but we also know they happen. So I thought I would tell you what I’ve done to increase the chances that my animals and I will all come through any of the above safe and sound. I mean, crafty killers are bad enough, right, Anastasia?

The real Jay

One thing that always worries me is what would happen to Jay and Leo if there were a disaster when I’m not home. Not that I leave them alone that much, but still…. So I have little signs posted by my front and back doors (and I made sure my boyfriend did the same). Stickers for that purpose are available from many vets, shelters, and other sources, or you can make one yourself. When Jay first joined my family, I crated him when I was out, so I included that information on my signs. I also note where Leo’s carrier is kept, where he likes to nap, and where their leashes hang. That way if someone had to get them quickly, they’d have everything they needed.

I also keep a list of names and phone numbers of a couple of people who would take them in a pinch. My neighbor, Goldie, for sure—if she’s home. My brother and his partner. I’ve even arranged with my vet to pay the bill if someone drops them off there. I signed a boarding and medical care authorization form, and I got a copy to keep in my evacuation kit (I’ll get to that in a minute).

My guys are used to being in the car and around strangers, but I still think a secure crate for each of them is essential. I mean, crates can keep them safely confined in a chaotic situation. They both wear tags for easy reference, and they have microchips implanted by my vet for more permanent identification. (I have those scanned whenever they go to the vet for something else, to be sure they’re still active.)

I have a waterproof box with Pet Evacuation Kit painted on the side, and I keep it on the storage shelf in my front closet. Here’s what’s in it:

∙ A list of phone numbers—mine, my two best friends’, my brother’s, my veterinarian’s.

∙ Copies of each animal’s rabies certificate and vaccination records.

∙ Proof of ownership so that if someone else rescues my boys, I can show that they are, in fact, mine–license registrations, microchip numbers, and photographs.

∙ If anything happened to me, I would want whoever took in my guys to know as much as possible, so I have a data sheet for each including his name, description, sex, age, feeding instructions, health-care needs, and a recent color photo.

∙ A week’s supply of dry food sealed in air-tight bags, and a couple of bottles of water. I rotate food and water once a month to keep everything fresh.

∙ Enough cash to pay for boarding the boys for at least three days. This wouldn’t be a problem with my vet, but who else will extend me credit if they don’t know me and I have no plastic on me? And cash can be hard to get at during a crisis.

So there you have it. I hope you never have to live through a disaster of any kind, but if you’re like me, you’ll feel better knowing you have a good chance of getting your pets to safety along with the rest of your family, come what may. Be safe!

The Money Bird

Animal photographer Janet MacPhail knows that trouble is in the air when Labrador Retriever Drake fetches a blood-soaked bag holding an exotic feather and a torn one-hundred-dollar bill during a photo shoot at Twisted Lake. One of Janet's photography students reports seeing a strange bird at the lake, but he turns up dead before Janet can talk to him. When she learns that the mysterious retreat center near the lake is housing large numbers of tropical birds, Janet is sure there's a connection and decides to investigate between dog-training classes, photo assignments, and visits to her mom at Shadetree Retirement. With help from her Australian Shepherd Jay and her quirky friend Goldie, Janet is determined to get to the bottom of things before another victim's wings are clipped for good.

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BOOK CLUB FRIDAY--GUEST AUTHOR SHEILA WEBSTER BONEHAM

Sheila Webster Boneham is the author of the Animals in Focus Mystery series as well as 17 nonfiction books, six of which have won major awards from the Dog Writers Association of America and the Cat Writers Association. Along with showing her dogs in various canine sports, Sheila founded rescue groups for Aussies and Labs. Learn more about Sheila and her books at her website and blog.--AP  

Dog Hair in My Palette

Most creative people are creative in more ways than one. I know writers who compose music, musicians who stitch quilts, textile artists who throw pots. For my part, I write, I take photos, and I paint. Mostly I work in watercolor, sometimes combined with ink, but I occasionally work in oils, and I love colored pencil. Although I’m best known for my dog portraits, I paint other subjects as well.

Writing and painting engage different parts of the brain, and the processes complement one another. Here are three lessons I’ve learned about dividing my time between the two modes of expression.

~Taking time out of my word-intensive work life to paint makes the writing come more easily. This makes sense, of course, because while writing and painting both create images, “painting” with language and painting with pigment engage different parts of the brain. I often work out plot and character and other writing issues while I’m painting, and I often have flashes of paintings I’d like to do while I’m writing.

~My photos are mostly of nature—landscapes, animals of all kinds, other interesting outdoorsy things. To find my subjects, I often have to walk fair distances. Getting out in the open and immersing myself in natural environments, helps my writing in several ways. The physical activity away from a keyboard stimulates my subconscious to work out elements of story. Encounters with wildlife and with interesting plants reinforce my sense of my small place in the world. And sometimes something happens that inspires a story or a scene in a story.

~Cropping photographs and focusing a painting to show the essentials and eliminate elements that interfere with the real story reminds me that less is often more, a lesson that surely applies to writing as it does to the visual arts. Clutter and mental noise distract. (Now if I could only apply that principle to my desk!)

As I wrap up the third Animals in Focus mystery, I find that working in other media not only support my inspiration and craft, but also remind me that Janet, my protagonist, is herself an artist, the camera her tool, and the image her creative expression. Like creative characters in and out of written stories, she brings a different way of seeing to her life and to her sleuthing. I wonder whether she has as much dog hair in her camera case as I have in my palette?

The Money Bird

Animals in Focus Mystery #2

Animal photographer Janet MacPhail knows that trouble is in the air when Labrador Retriever Drake fetches a blood-soaked bag holding an exotic feather and a torn one-hundred-dollar bill during a photo shoot at Twisted Lake. One of Janet's photography students reports seeing a strange bird at the lake, but he turns up dead before Janet can talk to him. When she learns that the mysterious retreat center near the lake is housing large numbers of tropical birds, Janet is sure there's a connection and decides to investigate between dog-training classes, photo assignments, and visits to her mom at Shadetree Retirement. With help from her Australian Shepherd Jay and her quirky friend Goldie, Janet is determined to get to the bottom of things before another victim's wings are clipped for good.

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HEALTHY LIVING WITH JANICE--HAIRBALLS

Photo by Wieke de Rijk

The Healthy Living segment of our blog is all about ways for people to stay healthy or become healthy. However, I recently came across a great tip for those of you who have cats as pets and thought I’d pass it along.

Nothing grosses me out more than coming across a hairball my cat upchucked. Those of you who have cats know what I’m talking about, right? Yuck! So here’s a tip to prevent hairballs:

If you drizzle a teaspoon of olive oil over your cat’s food, any hair she’s swallowed will easily pass through her digestive system. Give it a try. What do you have to lose other than another hairball deposited in your favorite pair of shoes?