New Covers!

The “Petectives” ebooks are getting new covers:

Petectives

Petectives

Petectives: Christmas Party

Petectives: Christmas Party

Hopefully, these are improvements. Let me know what you think!

Today is National Black Cat Appreciation Day!

Appreciate me! Now!!!

Appreciate me! Now!!!

National Black Cat Appreciation Day combats the idiocy and superstitions that cause black cats to have the lowest adoption rates and highest euthanasia rates at many shelters across the country.

Here’s more information:
http://www.examiner.com/article/national-black-cat-appreciation-day-black-kitties-make-purrfect-pets

Petectives Profiles #3 Duke

A closer look at the characters in the Petectives stories
Duke is an entirely fictional character
• Duke is the leader of the Dog Patrol, an informal canine police force dedicated to keeping order in the neighborhood.
• 7 years old. Black and tan German Shepherd. 85 pounds. Disciplined, intelligent, honorable and somewhat cynical.
• Duke served as a police dog until he was injured in the line of duty
• Avid TV watcher – Duke’s favorite show is ‘The Littlest Hobo’, a show about a hyperintelligent German Shepherd who travels from town to town helping people and catching criminals.
• Duke has a gruff demeanor but he’s mostly friendly with Gatsby. Duke is not so friendly with Yoshi – he finds him to be arrogant and pretentious. Duke and Yoshi do have a history of working together before Gatsby was born and they both have a deeply hidden mutual respect for one another.
• Personal feelings aside, Duke respects Yoshi’s intelligence and Gatsby’s investigatory skills and would love for them to join the Dog Patrol but all three of them realize that cats wouldn’t be likely to follow his orders. He grudgingly agrees to work with them when necessary.

Petectives pictures

Yoshi looking thoughtful

Yoshi looking thoughtful


Gatsby: What are you looking at?

Gatsby: What are you looking at?


Maybe its just a neck massage but it looks like somebody's getting strangled.

Maybe its just a neck massage but it looks like somebody’s getting strangled.


Portrait of a Petective as a young kitten

Portrait of a Petective as a young kitten


Just hangin' out

Just hangin’ out


A five year old girl's portrait of Yoshi and Gatsby.

A five year old girl’s portrait of Yoshi and Gatsby.


Yoshi at three years old

Yoshi at three years old


Relaxing together

Relaxing together


Is this from the camera flash or do they have super powers?

Is this from the camera flash or do they have super powers?

Petectives Profiles#2: Gatsby

Gatsby

Real Life
• AKA: Philo; Catboy; Knucklehead Smith; Safety Cat
• Orange cat with light stripes. 12 pounds.
• Rescued pet; We got Gatsby at Pets Without Parents, a non-profit, no-kill, all-breed shelter for dogs and cats in Columbus, OH.
• Gatsby is usually skittish although he has been known to deliver a series of blows to dogs four times his size.
• Likes dry dog food as a snack
• He seems to howl at people doing things that he considers unsafe. This habit has earned him the nickname “Safety Cat”
• Supposedly an indoor cat but has made several attempts to escape to the outdoors.

Fictional
• Narrator of the Petectives stories.
• 3 years old. Orange cat with light stripes. 12 pounds.

• Gatsby is very intelligent but has a reckless temperament and doesn’t always think through the consequences of his actions. He’s prone to making risky decisions based on emotion.
• Gatsby has a very good vocabulary as a result of living with Yoshi, his housemate and partner in crime detection.
• Outgoing and friendly. Loves to get out of the house. Actually enjoys the company of some dogs.
• Something of a “ladies cat” before he met his girlfriend Molasses.
• Gatsby has a high regard for Yoshi although he would never admit it.

Petectives Playlist

A list of songs that I listened to while writing the novella Petectives. Some of the songs have a thematic link to the story, while others helped me set a scene or get into the heads of the characters. There are a range of genres represented but the overall theme is sort of jazzy sophistipop.

Sister Moon – Herbie Hancock featuring Sting: Jazzed up version of the Sting song. I have never had any idea what the lyrics mean but I have imagined that they are from a cat’s viewpoint.

Moondance – Van Morrison: The perfect song for the beginning of the story where cat detective Gatsby meets his lovely client on an October night under a full moon.

Black Cat – Janet Jackson: Gatsby’s annoyed that there are no songs titled “Orange Cat”.

Everybody Wants to Be a Cat – Jennifer Ryan: Slow, jazzy version of the theme song from the Disney classic “The Aristocats”.

Watching the Detectives – Elvis Costello: The big band version from the album “My Flame Burns Blue”. You can’t get any more detectivey than this.

Who’s Johnny? – El DeBarge

Somewhere in the World – Swing Out Sister

Peter Gunn – Art of Noise: No detective story should be written or read without this tune playing in the background at some point.

La Luna – Matt Bianco: Yet another jazzy moon song.

After All – Al Jarreau: A love song for Gatsby and Molasses.

Pink Panther Theme – Bobby McFerrin: Another cool detective song. This one with a cat connection in the title.

Heaven Only Knows – Swing Out Sister

Warehouse – Dave Matthews Band: I pictured this playing when Gatsby and Molasses are exploring the old abandoned house that turns out to be far more dangerous than they suspected.

What Is Hip? – Tower Of Power

Don’t You Worry ‘bout a Thing – Stevie Wonder

The Big Eye – Rusty Zinn: Rockin’ blues tunes with extremely paranoid lyrics.

Someone To Watch Over Me – Ella Fitzgerald

King Of Pain – Inner Circle

Petectives: Christmas Party – Free today for your Amazon Kindle

petectives cover christmas-revised 3
Today you can pick up a free download of PETECTIVES: CHRISTMAS PARTY for your Amazon Kindle:

Christmastime is here! But someone not filled with the holiday spirit is trying to kill an obnoxious dog and cat detective Gatsby finds himself in the crossfire. If Gatsby survives, he wants to throw a Christmas Eve blowout for the neighborhood animals. His partner Yoshi is dead set against the party but he may be able to use it to unmask a would-be killer and teach Gatsby what Christmas is all about. Throw in a canine love triangle and a cute orphan and you’ve got the recipe for one riveting Yuletide affair. The Petectives are throwing a Christmas party and you don’t want to miss it!