Those of you who are reading my Klepto Cat Mysteries often have questions about my process. And I’m always happy to respond. Last week, my proofreader asked me if I started writing the series with a plan in mind. For example, did I plan from the beginning to bring in Michael’s twin brother, Keith?
She was surprised when I told her, no. I had no idea that Keith existed until I started writing that episode. Heck, I didn’t even know that Savannah would meet and marry a handsome veterinarian (Michael) until that fateful day when her aunt Margaret introduced the two of them in passing when they stopped in at the veterinary clinic to pick up a couple of kittens after they’d been neutered.
Other people who wander in and out of my stories 
(some of them staying)—well, that’s usually a surprise, too. I started with the premise of one story—one book—about cats being catnapped. Savannah and Aunt Maggie materialized as I started the writing and then Max and Michael appeared. In the second book, Craig Sledge came on stage and I liked his character, so he got to stay. And what better fit for him than Iris—so she became a good friend of Savannah’s. The only constant that I planned from the beginning was Rags—a cross between my mother’s gray-and-white part-ragdoll cat and Lily, my cat who brings me her toys and my slippers almost every morning. (That’s where the klepto idea came from.) So I’m as surprised as my readers are to meet new characters.
Let me know if you have questions about how I approach the writing of this series.
Please don’t kill off any of the main characters. I hate that. When we follow a series faithfully and then somebody we’ve grown to love (personality wise), and then they’re gone, we get really upset. I love the Hallmark movies based on Charlaine Harris’ Aurora Teagarden Mysteries. Aurora finally met a wonderful man, finally marries him, and then poof, he has a sudden heart attack and is gone. I’m elderly (78) and TV and books are my entertainment so they are kind of a lifeline to the real world.
Where I live, people are either dying or having to be moved to assisted living every week. So it can get depressing. My best friend here is a year younger so hopefully she’ll be my best friend for a while. Two former tablemates (in our dining room) have passed on in just the past year.
I was too disabled to get a small townhouse that I could afford and still attend my church and see my then friends. But here I am an hour away from all that. I still drive but an hour is too long for me as that’s 2 hours coming and going.
My son comes and gets me for special occasions and takes me home. I wish they had a spare bedroom so I could at least stay overnight then I’d drive myself. Oh well.
So I guess that’s 2 requests, the second would be taking children to senior facilities because we love seeing little children and if there was a cat or dog, so much the better for pet lovers. I’ve been here 2 1/2 yrs so far and no children have visited but I put a request in to our activities director and he’s trying to get some children to come sing Christmas songs in December. Hope that comes to fruition. But we do have Yappy Hour every day for those of us who have a dog. The courtyard is all enclosed so they can’t get out, therefore, we can take them off the leash for that hour. We also have the opportunity to meet new people. That only came about after I came here and another dog owner asked the facility manager if we could have something like that. She agreed thankfully.
Love you, Nancy
Thank you for your thoughts, Nancy. I sure don’t plan to kill any of the main characters off–but who knows the turns a series will take?
Patricia
PS: Of course, I meant the 2nd idea as an idea for one of your stories.