Duffy Brown's Blog: New Cozy Series - Posts Tagged "cats"

Bruce Wills here. The other Bruce Willis with ears, wagging tail and daily yard-waterer in Iced Chiffon.
Have you ever noticed all the pets running around in cozies mysteries? And most of them are cats! What the heck? How did that happen? Does a cat greet you at the door, get your slippers, clean the kitchen floor after you spill the bacon and eggs? No! Cats sniff, turn up their nose and prance off. Dogs have owners, Cats have staff!

Once upon a time I didn’t have such a great life so I ran away and took up living under Reagan Summerside’s front porch. Don’t know why I chose her. Maybe because at the time Reagan’s life in Savannah sucked almost as much as mine.
But she’s an okay gal, even shared her McNuggets and fries with me but kept the martinis all to herself. I mean to tell you I could do with a martini or two on these hot summer nights.

Reagan has a consignment shop on the first floor of her half-restored Victorian. She and her Auntie KiKi who lives next door were going to name me Calvin Klein to fit in with the upscale clothes she takes in. One look at my mangled left ear, crooked tail and scared snout not to mention my questionable linage and they knew I was much better suited as Bruce Willis.

Life is good right now. Reagan says I’m the worse watchdog on the planet but I sure do make a lot of friends. If I fake a limp I can usually finesse a cookie or two from the customers and if I sit in front of the fridge long enough I get my daily dog…hot dog that is. The warm fall days here in Savannah are just made for me snoozing on the porch and one day I can get a slurp of Reagan’s peach martini.

So what is your opinion on pets in mysteries? Paw up or down? Do they distract too much from the mystery? Do you like it when they have a point of view? Do you like cats or dogs best in a book? (That’s spelled d-o-g)

Feline Bambino and Cleveland here…I’m the adorable black fur ball and Cleveland is the one on the pillow. We are here on Mackinac Island in a bike shop owned by Rudy and now that chick Evie Bloomfield.

Mackinac Island is one of those places stuck in time. Fact is it’s like the 1800s with no cars. Everything is horses and bikes. And there are parades for the tourists we call fudgies ‘caue they eat so much fudge. Oink!

The parades have bands and music and famous people like George Washington, Betsy Ross…you get the picture. Well, Rudy takes on the character of Mark Twain and Twain had cats named Cleveland and Bambino. Of course the two of us are much cuter than the original Cleveland and Bambino.

We hang out a lot on the pool table in the bike shop. I know, what is a pool table doing with bikes well it’s only here in the summer months when the fudgies are in town crowding up the place.

In the winter the table is at the Mustang Lounge the watering hole for locals. When the snow’s falling…and it sure does fall here on the island…the locals who stay all winter congregate at the Stang, drink beer, eat fried green beans and shoot pool. When the fudgies come back in the summer the Stang is so busy they have to move the pool table up here to Rudy’s Rides to make room. We have a parade moving the pool table with crossed cue sticks, a band and lots of beer.

There’s always something going on at Rudy’s Rides and this time it’s Evie Bloomfield helping Rudy run the place ‘cause Rudy broke his leg. She’s trying to hide the fact that she can’t even ride a bike but the scrapes on her knees and elbows are a dead give away.

And speaking of dead...yeah we got that too. Bunny the pain in the tail busybody around town wound up dead as a mackerel. At first it looked like a biking accident but I got a bad feeling in my whiskers about that. Something looks fishy…did someone say fish?
I got to go. It’s dinner time or maybe lunch time. It’s some time to eat and if I don’t hurry that fat-butt Cleveland will gobble everything up. Come visit sometime. It’s shaping up to be another crazy summer on Mackinac Island.

Feline Bambino and Cleveland here…I’m the adorable black fur ball and Cleveland is the one on the pillow. We are here on Mackinac Island in a bike shop owned by Rudy and now that chick Evie Bloomfield.

Mackinac Island is one of those places stuck in time. Fact is it’s like the 1800s with no cars. Everything is horses and bikes. And there are parades for the tourists we call fudgies ‘caue they eat so much fudge. Oink!

The parades have bands and music and famous people like George Washington, Betsy Ross…you get the picture. Well, Rudy takes on the character of Mark Twain and Twain had cats named Cleveland and Bambino. Of course the two of us are much cuter than the original Cleveland and Bambino.

We hang out a lot on the pool table in the bike shop. I know, what is a pool table doing with bikes well it’s only here in the summer months when the fudgies are in town crowding up the place.

In the winter the table is at the Mustang Lounge the watering hole for locals. When the snow’s falling…and it sure does fall here on the island…the locals who stay all winter congregate at the Stang, drink beer, eat fried green beans and shoot pool. When the fudgies come back in the summer the Stang is so busy they have to move the pool table up here to Rudy’s Rides to make room. We have a parade moving the pool table with crossed cue sticks, a band and lots of beer.

There’s always something going on at Rudy’s Rides and this time it’s Evie Bloomfield helping Rudy run the place ‘cause Rudy broke his leg. She’s trying to hide the fact that she can’t even ride a bike but the scrapes on her knees and elbows are a dead give away.

And speaking of dead...yeah we got that too. Bunny the pain in the tail busybody around town wound up dead as a mackerel. At first it looked like a biking accident but I got a bad feeling in my whiskers about that. Something looks fishy…did someone say fish?
I got to go. It’s dinner time or maybe lunch time. It’s some time to eat and if I don’t hurry that fat-butt Cleveland will gobble everything up. Come visit sometime. It’s shaping up to be another crazy summer on Mackinac Island.

Pets are the best like I said in my last blog post! They are our constant companions. They love us when we’re bitchy and in our sloppy PJs with no hair combed and when we have the flu. And they train us really well.
Here I thought we were supposed to train them! Ha!

Pet joke: What side of the door does the cat like to be on? The other side. That’s why I jump up and down the whole blasted night while trying to watch TV to let my cat in and out of the porch. Am I a well trained owner or what!

Then there’s the food issue. Every three days I bake my cat chicken thighs. Not breasts or legs or wings...but thighs. Then cut into small pieces and served room temp. Not cold and not hot.

And then we have the water glass issue. Know that snotty white cat on TV who eats his kibble out of a crystal glass...that’s my cat’s water bowl. Good grief.

I have two cats, Spooky and Dr. Watson. Dr. Watson was supposed to be for my son, a gift from my daughter. Yeah, right. We all know how the pet for the sibling thing works...parents get the pet! And I got Spooky out of the grocery store parking lot. He was living in the cart area. I herd this pitiful meow and suddenly had a new cat in my life.

If I didn’t have cats I’d have a dog. I know they are more work but they are always happy. Something about a wagging tail will cure any depression, a gift from the pet gods. I have a dog...the other Bruce Willis...in my Consignment Shop mystery series.

In Geared for the Grave there are two cats, Bambino and Cleveland. Here’s a little about Bambino:

I dropped my duffle and snagged a cue, aimed for the far pocket and sailed the yellow-striped ball across the felt till Rudy plucked it right off the table. “Hey, why’d you do that? I nailed that shot.”
Rudy scooped his hand into the pocket, dragging out a sleepy black and white kitten. “Bambino hangs out there, left pocket’s off limits.” Rudy balanced on one crutch--he was a one-crutch kind of guy. “So, Chicago, what brings a pool shark to my doorstep this time of night?”


Tell me about your pet. Where does he hang out? How does he have you trained? I’ll give away two Geared for the Grave totes from the answers.

Have a meowing-good day.
Duffy

Geared for the Grave
book one Cycle Path mysteries

We all do. The first thing you look at is the cover. Have you ever bought a book just because you like the cover? I sure have and I’ve put the book back because I didn’t like the cover. Guilty as charged!

So since covers matter and I sincerely think they do, what kind of cover on a book do you like best? Is there something that you see on the cover of a book that makes it an auto buy even before you read the back blurb? Is there something on the cover you see that will make you not buy the book?

I’m not into syfy or fantasy...except for Game of Thrones...so anything that has a dragon or alien or weird creature from out of space is a turn off for me. Ghosts are okay. Not an auto buy but a well written ghost can be a ton of fun, cause a bunch trouble and know things from the past that add to the book.
If there’s a creepy Victoria house that’s nice. A shack in the woods for me not so much. I don’t like to be scared to pieces and remote shacks sound like where kidnapped people are held. No way!
Anything with kids hurt or missing it out. I’m a mom and this is my worse nightmare. I don’t want to red a nightmare.

I like fun covers. If the book suggests fun and excitement I’m so in! I wanted a coffin sticking out of the back of Walker Boone’s ’57 Chevy red convertible for Lethal in Old Lace. Have Bruce Willis’s...the canine version...head perched over the seat. Trust me, it fits the story and who doesn’t want to ride in a ’57 Chevy dead or alive with our buddy BW.

This suggests fun and excitement and something a little different and totally Reagan and Auntie KiKi. I do have the new cover for Lethal in Old Lace and will do a big reveal in January. I love the new cover but the Chevy would have been nice too.

So the question is...what on the cover sells you on a book? I’ll giveaway a lighted pen and notepad from the answers.

Hugs,
Duffy