Maggie Pill Mysteries

 I'm working on Book #2 of the Cats & Crimes series, and I'd like your suggestions. Lorilee will adopt a new cat, one that went through Hurricane Ian and came out a mess. She's long-haired, white, and skinny as a rail. What should Lorilee name her newest pet-friend? She's white but with green eyes, and she was rescued after Hurricane Ian last fall. I'll give a free e-book to the person who comes up with a name that makes me say, "That's it!" Here's what we've got so far: Tempest Hurricane Snowball Zephyr Eureka Bungle Esmeralda (Esme for short) Ptarmigan Little One Princess

 I try to blog monthly, and the "experts" advise blogging weekly. Yeah, right. No way is my life that exciting or my advice that critical to world peace. I will say that CATS AND CRIMES is doing well. I've had compliments on the cover and the characters, particularly the cats. If you're getting desperate for Christmas gifts and you have a mystery/cat lover on your list, buy it HERE . On the philosophical side, I've been considering why cozies are so popular. I think there are several reasons: they're funny, they're not scary, and, possibly most important, the bad person gets punished in the end. We live in a world where the guilty get away with far too much. (No, I don't believe it's worse now than it was before. We just get it shoved in our faces all day, every day.) The guilty have often escaped punishment with their money, their fame, lies and deceit, and, for whatever reason, the inaction of the rest of us.  But in a cozy, some amateur with not...

I found a better image online of my imagined version of Albert, a cat shaped like a soccer ball, but I couldn't reach the rights holder to get permission to use it, so here's my second choice. He's based on a combination of cats I've known, some large, some black, and some too lazy to move. Albert is huge. We've all seen a cat like him, one that looks more like a blimp than a pet. Albert's weight makes him lethargic, which creates a loser's circle: too heavy to move around much, the only exercise he enjoys is eating, overeating adds to his weight problem. Lorilee, the protagonist in Cats and Crimes , blames Albert's former owner, who equated food with love. Once any being, cat, dog, or person, gives in to gluttony, it's very hard to change. I guess what I'm saying is that Fat Albert will never be svelte. Once again, here's the link to the book. Pre-order now or buy it on November 15, 2022: https://books2read.com/u/3LVEz7

  About four years ago, my sister and I went out to lunch, and while we ate Chinese, we talked about my books. She said, "I think you need to write a crazy cat lady series. She could solve mysteries and the cats could be the fun part." I agreed that was a great idea. We both loved cats (though she loved every animal she ever met), and over our lifetimes we had lots of fodder for cat personalities, from barn cats to house cats to shelter cats. But I was in the middle of the Sleuth Sisters series, so the idea went on the back burner. When my sister died suddenly a few months later, I promised myself, "I'll write at least one crazy cat lady story someday, just for her." Enter CATS AND CRIMES. My protagonist, Lorilee Riley, has multiple cats, who sometimes help her and sometimes hold her back, but every pet owner understands that. The book releases on November 15, so I thought I'd do a series of posts on the cats who inspired the cats...if that makes sense. Cat ...

  My upcoming project introduces a woman who has 8 cats. (It doesn't have a title yet, so ideas would be appreciated.) She gets involved in solving a murder (of course), so it's almost a textbook example of a cozy mystery: amateur sleuth, humor, pets--you know the drill. The first completed draft is currently with a beta reader. After that will be revision, edit, revision, edit, etc. for months, so the "when?" is up in the air. The book was fun to write, because I used cats from my own past--not that I ever had eight at once. Some pics below are representations; others are real cats from my life. The Professor, a very ornery character, is based on my daughter's cat Taz, who was kept in a box for the first year of his life and never got over it. He lashed out at anyone who got close (except for her), so we all learned to give him a wide berth. Taz was black, but he had the same look on his face as this guy. Albert is completely black and...large. He's an amalga...