Book 45, “Love at First Purr” is receiving wonderful reviews and comments. Readers do love a sweet kitty-cat story with a mystery that delights with many twists and turns woven through it. The humor and heart-tugs are a welcome bonus. That’s what I wrote into “Love at First Purr” and fans are obviously feeling it. I loved writing this story and I’m beyond pleased that readers are enjoying it.
So what’s going on in the Klepto Cat Mystery factory now?
Book 46 is with the editor and Bernadette Kazmarski is working on another blockbuster cover. This cover, I venture to say, should tickle your fancy. (When you see it, you’ll know what I mean.)
Since Book 46 is more about fun and frivolity than anything else, I’ve decided to write more sinister type of suspense into Book 47. Yes, I’ve started the ball 
rolling for that book.
Meanwhile, I’m taking more breaks as I attempt to break in my new office assistant, therapist, clown, love-bug and all around adorable fur-being, Olivia—and while she molds me into the purr-son she wants. So far so good. She’s a sweet bundle of love and energy—oh my. She’s such a bright spot in a difficult time. If any of you are struggling out there to maintain your sanity, if you’re struggling with loneliness, or if you’d just like to enjoy a ray of sunshine during these rather dismal days, consider adopting a beautiful fur-creature. Cats, in particular, were put on this earth for a purr-pose and we’re meant to establish a connection to one or more of them during our lifetime. Do it. It’s good for a homeless cat and it’s good for you. Do it!
You may have learned over the years that black cats and white cats the most challenging to photograph. Black cats have always been given a bad rap. It’s widely known that black cats are typically the last to be adopted from shelters. And many thought that had to do with black cats being linked to witchcraft. They’re also thought to be less interesting to look at—no personality in the fur, perhaps? However now people 
are giving up their black cats and avoiding adopting black cats because these cats don’t photograph well.
So which cats are easy to photograph. There’s a lot to be said for their eyes. Lily was a tabby—I found photographing a tabby quite interesting and usually successful. However, the lighting sure could change the color of Lily’s fur. Pointed cats are fairly easy to photograph. Once, I found our white odd-eye cat, Winfield sitting in the bathtub and 
thought it was a super photo-worthy pose. I tried and tried, but could not get a decent shot of what I was seeing—a white cat in a white tub and those gorgeous eyes. So I 
called a photographer friend of mine and she came over and got the shot I imagined .
kitty-girl.
There are periods in most lives when we can’t or we choose not to have a cat in our home. Any number of lifestyle changes and situations might make it awkward or impossible to own a cat. So what do we do instead? We might read about cats, enjoy the cat videos on facebook, become enamored with cat fiction. I can’t tell you how many people are in love with Rags (the star character in my Klepto Cat Mysteries) and his cat-friends. My own cat, Lily, had fans, too. I wrote about her so much and shared so many of her photos, that people came to know and love her. Some even shed tears when I reported her death.
and have them delivered. We attend church and concerts remotely. School is taught remotely, millions of people are now working from home as much as is possible, friends and family are connecting more than ever via technology. We even choose our next pet from photos and videos online. I knew our new kitten, Olivia, from her 
photograph for 5 weeks before actually meeting her in purr-son.
time—for me, like I said, I’m ordering groceries rather than shopping myself. Oh yes, and Amazon is my market of choice for many items I used to enjoy selecting from the shelf. If only you could get your hair cut online.
International Cat Day was observed Saturday, August 8, this year all over the world with the primary purpose of honoring the 2nd most popular household pet—the cat. Here in America we enjoy and care for over 74 million cats in our homes. Worldwide cat ownership has increased over the years. A whopping 57 percent of households now have cats. And as most of you know, cats are like potato chips, you can’t have just one.
Mysteries, for example.
I think most writers consider their cats to be office helpers, even though there are times when you most definitely need to close the office door to an overly zealous cat or kitten. Olivia experienced my office for the first time Sunday—on her third day here. She LOVED it and learned several new things, like how to get up on my desk, and she found new toys. To a kitten everything is a toy.
example. She wanted down immediately. I learned that she can and will jump down, so that resolved my fear of her climbing up and not being able to get down. Unlike most cats and kittens I’ve known, Olivia is not interested in climbing or hanging out in high places. I wonder if she had a bad experience with heights.
Sunday, though, she climbed up on the small cat tree, which I’d actually put on its side, and leaped from there onto my desk where the action was. This is also a great vantage point for bird watching at the many feeders I have outside. Now that was a thrill for Olivia. It’s obviously the best show she’s ever seen and I’m sure she’ll return over and over again because there are never any reruns—it’s always something new.
everything around here, but she now loves heights and climbing and jumping and she does it all with ease. One day I moved the cat tree to keep her off my desk because she was terrorizing my things. So she just jumped from the floor to my desk and went about her business. She is a busy girl–and so am I making sure I don’t roll over her tail with my office chair, or spill my coffee or dive onto my keyboard. She’s already done that once. Oooops! And I’m always 
looking for the photo opp with her.
This is day 6 with Olivia and she already has followers and cheerleaders interested in her, excited that she has been rescued and is being cared for, and eager to hear about her progress. Some are waiting for her to appear in the Klepto Cat Mysteries. But there are cats out there with many more fans and enormous fame.
you remember Stubbs. I wrote about him and if you ever took a tour through Alaska you may have heard of him or met him. He was the orange tabby who became mayor of Talkeetna, Alaska in 1997. He died a few years ago of 20. In fact we visited Talkeetna the year before he died and asked to see him, but were told he was too ill.
“like,” more and more cats are gaining fame. There’s a cat named Gli, who lives in a cathedral in Istanbul, and boasts 48,000 Instagram followers.
I loved receiving all of the sweet ooohs and ahhhs and words of endearment and welcome regarding Olivia. Oh, the things you forget about having a kitten! Olivia is reminding us. I’ll be reporting more Olivia “Tails” in coming weeks. Today I want to talk about a new book I read over the weekend.
Gardena, CA with her siblings and was taken to RESQCATS in Santa Barbara. A volunteer named her Olivia, and I agree, she is an Olivia.
She was supposed to come to us around July 10th, but her caregivers discovered that the little rascals from Gardena had arrived with ringworm and needed stringent treatment for 3 weeks. Jeffyne said Olivia did beautifully through the many baths required In fact she purred most of the time. We cheered her on from Ojai, relishing the videos and photos Jeffyne sent.
I’d hoped to introduce our new fur-baby, Olivia, to you today—after a 5-week wait to meet her in purr-son. But your introduction will have to wait until Monday, as we haven’t met her yet ourselves. Today! It happens today. She’s being spayed this morning. Once that’s over we’ll get a call saying we can pick her up. Since that won’t happen until later this morning, and since I like to post the blog early, I’ve decided to honor a day that should be special to us all—National Paperback Book Day. We missed it by a day as this year it was celebrated on July 30. Is it ever too late to read a book?
beginnings were every bit as revolutionary as the advent of the e-reader.
Penguin Books and began publishing paperback books of quality by authors such as Ernest Hemingway and Agatha Christie. He sold three million books that first year.
Agatha Christie and Emily Bronte.
