I am heartbroken to say that after 17 wonderful and eventful years, we said goodbye to our beloved cat Shadow Moon last week.

Shadow came to us through the owner of an occult bookstore called Pandora’s box. That bookstore was my first introduction to magic and witchcraft, and I went over several times a week to browse and play with the kittens as they grew up.

My son Ian had just lost his three-legged pal, Dennis the Menace, who was killed by a feral cat. He wanted another kitty, so I took him over to meet the litter at the bookstore when they were ready for adoption.

He picked out Shadow, and we named him Shadow Moon because we adopted him on the day of a full lunar eclipse.

Shadow loved us all, but you’ve heard the saying that cats pick their owners? He became my best friend, familiar, and writing companion. 
He loved to jump up on my manuscript and fall fast asleep when I wrote in the kitchen. In fact, he jumped onto every surface in our house, whether we had company or not. Since he had since grown into an 18-pound cat, the guests weren’t always pleased. I never stopped him, figuring he was family and had a right to sleep wherever he pleased.

He was a bully, demanding attention by pulling down my newspaper with a paw so I couldn’t read.

At 5:00am, he’d walk across Paul’s face to tell him it was time to get up and feed him.

But he would always come to us, even if he was outside. All we had to do was whistle ‘Sittin’ on the Dock of the Bay.’  Even in Shadow’s last days, Paul could get him to raise his head by whistling his song. 
When I was going through my brain surgery issues, I felt it was time to make final funeral arrangements. Paul and I toured a beautiful forest ‘burial’ site called Better Place Forests in Flagstaff. We will be cremated and our ashes spread below a lovely Ponderosa Pine we are purchasing, along with Shadow Moon and Teak. Our family will all be together again.


I featured Shadow and his daddy Magic in my first book, Song of the Ancients . They were so much fun to write, and I’ll miss them.


But in this next book, I think I’ll feature our Border Collie/Aussie dog Teak. He’s super smart and has traveled with us extensively, so I’m sure I can get him in all kinds of shenanigans—maybe even a rescue.




If you have a moment this week, please wish Shadow Moon a peaceful crossing and a long, restful nap in his next life. What is remembered, lives. We will remember you always, and love you forever, my dark prince.