Animal Welfare Week: Doghouse (A Gin & Tonic Mystery) by L.A. Kornetsky: Guest Author, Review & Giveaway

Pawlease help us celebrate Animal Welfare Week (October 5-11) and National Animal Shelter and Rescue Appreciation Week (November 2-8) with DOGHOUSE and the Gin & Tonic Mystery Series by L.A. Kornetsky!



Guest post by L.A. Kornetsky:

I’m getting ready for a move, and part of that is decluttering. Getting rid of things – objects, old paperwork – that I don’t need to haul with me any more.

But in a folder of otherwise no-longer-needed papers, there’s a sheet I’m keeping. It’s from the ASPCA, and it documents my adoption of the kitten once known as Minna, who became my beloved Pandora, gone now a little over a year.

There’s no point to keeping the sheet of paper. All it does is say that I paid x amount for a 4 month old female tiger kitten, spayed. But throwing it out isn’t an option, either. Because this was the first connection I had to Pandora, the first contract we made with each other: I would give her food, shelter, care, and a lap when she wanted it. I would give her a home. And in return, she gave me such love and companionship, letting her go at the end was no less a pain than losing a human friend.

I don’t have documentation from Indy-J, who was found on the street as a weeks-old kitten, and lived a long and adventurous life before cancer took her in 2000. But Pandora’s adoption paper will go in the current file, along with the papers for our current residents, Boomerang (aka Boomer you idiot), and Castiel the Kitten of Thursday (aka DamnitCas).

Because you keep the important moments, the documents that say “this is how you changed my life.”

(and some of you may note that I invite disaster in the renaming of my cats. You would not be wrong. But where’s the fun of living with Sir Napsalot?)

About the author: L. A. Kornetsky is the author of two previous Gin & Tonic mysteries. She lives in New York City with two cats and a time-share dog, and also writes fantasy under the name Laura Anne Gilman. She welcomes visitors to www.lauraannegilman.net, @LAGilman and Facebook L-A-Kornetsky.

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Praise for the third Gin & Tonic Mystery, Doghouse:

“Infamously nosy Ginny Mallard may be unlicensed as an investigator, but she has begun to make a name for herself as the unofficial champion of the tongue-tied. In the third installment of L.A. Kornetsky’s Gin & Tonic Mystery series, Doghouse finds Ginny getting herself tied up in a possible underground dogfighting ring. With help from her bartender friend Teddy Tonica, his tabby cat and Ginny’s Shar Pei puppy, they have to figure out what’s going on before someone else gets hurt.”—Cat Fancy Magazine, November 2014 issue

“Human and animal characters are equally appealing. A thoroughly enjoyable read.” I Love a Mystery

“Doghouse is a crafty mystery with engaging characters and countless unknowns…L.A. Kornetsky makes mysteries inventively delightful, and Doghouse entertains with wit and cleverness.” Single Titles

“I recommend it to those that really like animals and cozy mysteries.” Books and Things

“The third Gin & Tonic “researchtigations” is an appealing anthropomorphist amateur sleuth enhanced by life in a cheerful neighborhood bar. The lead humans and their animal owners remain fresh leads while the case proves bloody in the ring and the bar.” The Mystery Gazette

“Sniffing out clues…L.A. Kornetsky brings back Ginny Mallard and her bartender friend Teddy Tonica, along with Ginny's pet shar-pei puppy and Teddy’s tabby cat, for their third outing in Doghouse.” Library Journal

Praise for the second Gin & Tonic Mystery, Fixed:

“[Fixed] is the second foray into the lives of a very unlikely pair of investigators; unlikely and a whole lot of fun…Collared was the first title that introduced this extremely fun ‘family and friends’ grouping, and the author has come back with a sequel that will truly make Gin & Tonic a well-known duo! Very light-hearted, this is a great book. Any reader who likes the ‘cozy’ avenue will love this mystery, with a little bit of cat and dog language thrown in for fun.” Suspense Magazine

Praise for the first Gin & Tonic Mystery, Collared:
“The plot moves quickly, enhanced by smart dialog and good characterizations…Recommended for purchase where pet mysteries are popular.” Library Journal

About the book: Amateur sleuths Ginny Mallard and Teddy Tonica and their furry partners prove in L.A. Kornetsky’s DOGHOUSE (Pocket Books; July 22, 2014; $7.99) that twelve legs are better than four when it comes to solving a risky new case in the third novel from the “entertaining” (Library Journal) Gin & Tonic mystery series. At her favorite Seattle bar, professional concierge Ginny Mallard can always count on a perfectly mixed gimlet and a friendly welcome for her shar-pei, Georgie, from resident cat, Penny. On this visit, Ginny gets an unexpected bonus. One of the regulars asks her and her sometime partner, bartender Teddy Tonica, to save an old friend who’s facing eviction. This is no simple landlord spat. Rumors abound of an underground dogfighting ring on the premises—a crime guaranteed to get Gin’s hackles up. Gin and Teddy want to believe the old man is innocent of all charges, thought a new piece of evidence suggests otherwise. Penny and Georgie keep their noses to the ground as they help their humans investigate the vicious animal rights case. But the truth is buried deep, and digging it up will unearth dangerous complications for owners and animals alike.

Tortie Shorties

Book reviews that are short and sweet...just like Truffles!

This is the third book in the popular Gin & Tonic Mystery series, yet the first that I have had the opportunity to read, but that did not deter my enjoyment of the book in the least. Taking place in Seattle this isn't your typical "cozy"...I would define it instead as just a really enjoyable mystery.

Bar manager Teddy Tonica and his cat Penny, and private concierge Ginny and her dog Georgie, team up once again to investigate a case for the bar's cook Seth. Seth's old boxing pal Deke (who has taken a few too many punches to the head) has been kicked out of his home by a landlord who is accusing him of running a dog fighting ring. Seth swears his friend is innocent, but Teddy isn't quite so sure when he checks out the house and finds a puppy hiding in the basement. Teddy and Ginny agree to take care of the pup until the case is solved, and as they become more and more involved they end up finding themselves in a good amount of doggie doo-doo.

My favorite quote in the book: "If there's a crappy thing humanity can do to animals, assume someone's doing it." 

Teddy and Ginny are such refreshing characters; really good friends who aren't being thrown together romantically. Penny and Georgie help out in their own unique ways, and the short passages that reflect the investigation from their point of view were my favorite parts. Puppy Parsifal is a real scene stealer and little heartbreaker...I just wish we weren't left wondering who ends up adopting the little cutie pie! Maybe we'll find out in the next book, which I'm already looking forward to.

Giveaway: Leave a comment by noon eastern on Friday, October 10th for your chance to win a paperback copy of Doghouse. (US entries only, please.)

Stirring the Plot by Daryl Wood Gerber: Guest Author, Review & Giveaway

A WEALTH OF CHARACTERS
By Daryl Wood Gerber aka Avery Aames
Cookbook Nook Mysteries / Cheese Shop Mysteries

Have you ever noticed that in TV shows you can figure out whodunit by who is in the cast? Big-named actors are coming out in droves to appear in popular shows. The moment they come onto the scene, you think to yourself, “Aha! I know who did it.” But then there’s another named actor or actress, and you think, “Whoa, maybe I don’t.” But then two suspects get ruled out, there’s only one named actor left to choose, and yet again, you think, “Aha!”

In books, it’s a whole different story, isn’t it? Mystery authors do their best to play fair. They give you a number of suspects, and they keep leading you down the trail toward the solution. If you haven’t met the characters before the current book, they’re all suspect, aren’t they? Not the protagonist of course. You’re rooting for her. But the wily beautician, the mean grocer, the shady lawyer.

Isn’t that fun?

As a writer, that’s the most interesting part of writing for me. I love creating all these characters. They live in my brain and on the page. Over the course of my career, I’ve had the privilege to create a ton of characters. In fact, I just put a list together with all the names I’ve ever come up with [I can’t give someone in one book the same name as a character in another], and I discovered that for the Cookbook Nook and Cheese Shop mysteries alone (a total of 12 books turned into my editor, to date), I have created over 100 characters. And I’ve written a few suspense and thrillers that have a wealth of characters, too. I know. Yipes, right?! How do I keep them all straight? With charts. But I have to populate books. A mystery with one suspect and one protagonist isn’t much of a mystery. So there I go creating the wily beautician, the mean grocer, the shady lawyer, and more. Good guys and bad guys. By the way, I can’t have suspects continue to live in town after a book because, well, if  you read the next book first, you might know they aren’t suspect, so—author’s privilege—I move them, transfer them, make them disappear. Magic! Which means I have to come up with more “new” characters. Fun!

You know what else is a blast? Hearing from fans that love this character or loathe that one. I adore hearing what my fans think about my protagonist’s love life, too. Should she be with so-and-so? What about the one that got away?

FYI, I could talk for hours about how my characters are not based on real people, yet people still walk away convinced that some are. You might wonder whether my main characters in the Cookbook Nook and Cheese Shop mysteries are thinly veiled versions of myself. As if. They’re young and optimistic. Okay, yes, I am optimistic. Always have been. But I’ve never been as curious as they, nor as daring.

Last but not least, you might wonder where I get my character names. The ether?? Sometimes. I try names out, say them out loud, see if they stick. I’ve been known to change names for characters a lot. Jesse became Jenna (close). Kathleen became Vivian (not even starting with the same letter). I’ve give some characters offbeat names because I love when a name stands out—I can remember them well. However, that can backfire. A few fans have written to tell me a name was too weird. They didn’t like Edsel. Why not? I know an Edsel. They didn’t like Dane, either. Yes, I know a Dane, too. Not everyone can be Tom, Dick, or Harry. But what can you do? I thank my fans and move on.

Now, in closing, here’s a poser: in one of my books, after I changed a character name, one instance of the original name stayed in the book. Oops! I’ve only had one fan tell me so far. I won’t tell you who the character is or in which book, but the first fan to contact me and tell me who and which (before September 30), will win a cute Savor the Mystery mug! I will tell you it was in the first edition of the book and has subsequently been fixed, and I promise to reveal the answer in a future blog. Honestly, I couldn’t believe it when I learned of the mistake. That means my first readers, my editor, my copy editor, and I all missed it!!!

Savor the Mystery and enjoy all the characters you meet as you read.

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Below is a tidbit about STIRRING THE PLOT, the next in my Cookbook Nook mysteries. It comes out September 30!  FYI, though I write a series, each book is a stand-alone and can be read first, even if you haven’t read the others in the series.

Blurb: Halloween in Crystal Cove, California, is a big deal, involving a spooky soiree where the Winsome Witches, a fund-raising group, gather to open up their purse strings and trade superstitions. But party magicians, fortune-tellers, and herbalists are only the beginning of this recipe for disaster….

Jenna Hart has packed The Cookbook Nook chock-full of everything from ghostly texts to witchy potions in anticipation of the annual fund-raiser luncheon. But there’s one unexpected addition to the menu: murder.

When the Head Priestess of the Winsome Witches is found dead under mysterious circumstances, there’s no logical answer and plenty of blame to go around. With her aunt, Vera, unable to call on her ability to foresee the future, Jenna will have to use more than just sleight of hand and a few magic tricks to conjure up the truth….

[This is NOT a paranormal story. It is a traditional cozy mystery.]

Tortie Shorties

Book reviews that are short and sweet...just like Truffles!

I've adored every book in the Cookbook Nook Mystery series, and this one is the best one yet because it's set at Halloween! How absolutely adorable is sweet little kitten Tigger on the cover in his witch hat???

The Winsome Witches have planned a variety of fundraising events, including a haunted tour of various locations in Crystal Cove. The morning after the tour, High Priestess Pearl Thornton is found dead, sprawled face-down across the cold fire pit in her backyard. Tests show she was poisoned, and before long secrets come to the surface that make the friends start questioning how well they really know each other. Red herrings abound but there was one character I was particularly suspicious of, and I ended up being right but the motive was quite a shock!

My favorite new character in this book is Emma, owner of Pet Taxi, a service that shuttles animals to the vet or groomers. I hope she's going to be a regular character in the future.

If you're looking for something to put you in the Halloween spirit look no further than this wonderful book. I'm off to enter Truffles in the Black Cat Parade :)

Giveaway: Leave a comment by noon eastern on Friday, October 10th for your chance to win a paperback copy of Stirring the Plot. (US entries only, please.)

Sunday Smorgasbord #3

Since Sunday features a multitude of blog hops, instead of doing a single post for each one, Truffles and I have decided to merge them all into a Sunday Smorgasbord. Each week we will start with whichever hop Truffles is participating in (Sunday Selfies, Easy Sunday, B&W Sunday) followed by my customary weekly blog recap and what showed up in our mailbox this week.

Hey everybody, Truffles at the keyboard! I am SO excited because today the star of our Sunday Selfies (the blog hop hosted by The Cat on My Head) is one of our beautiful sponsor kitties, Cinnamon! Our friend Kevin from the Animal Shelter Volunteer Life blog kindly sent us this picture from his most recent visit to PAWS. Cinnamon is still waiting for her forever home. She found herself at PAWS following the death of her elderly owner. She looks like such a sweetheart and we just know that she would make a wonderful family pet for someone. You can read more about her here.

Last week on Mochas, Mysteries and Meows:

* Truffles Interviews...Pluckie from Lost Under a Ladder by Linda O. Johnston (w/Review & Giveaway)

* Opt to Adopt: Spice & Enny

* Truffles Models Costumes from Petco's Halloween Bootique

* Baseball, Truffles-Style: A Chewy.com Doubleheader
* Truffles Interviews...Nancy Lynn Jarvis' Cat Fala (w/Giveaway)
* Caturday Art:: Autumn Inspiration

Bought:

       

For Review:

 

Feline Freebies:

  

NetGalley:
   

Caturday Art: Autumn Inspiration

Here at Mochas, Mysteries and Meows we're all about the cozy moments in life: curling up on the couch with a good book, a cat (or three) snuggled up with you, your warm beverage of choice nearby. That is one of the many reasons why I love fall so much. Life is beginning to slow down from the hustle of summer, there's a crispness in the air and beautiful colors surround us. I am inspired by this season of reflection and transition. I find myself turning inward, not in a sad way but with a sense of contentment.

I created today's artwork, titled Autumn Inspiration, using Pho.to...and I'm pretty inspired by the fur baby in the picture too :)

Check out more artsy kitties here.

Truffles Interviews...Mystery Author Nancy Lynn Jarvis' Cat Fala (w/Giveaway)

Hey everybody, it's Truffles! With all the mysteries that Mommy reads I have often wondered what it would be like to live with a mystery writer. I had the opportunity to ask Fala, who lives with mystery author Nancy Lynn Jarvis, and her answers were eye-opening! 

Welcome Fala! Thank you so much for joining me today. Could you tell me how you came to live with your mom Nancy?
It took me three years to escape my original people and move in with my writer and that was only accomplished on threat of my imminent death! I know you’re reading this and thinking, “Whoa, that cat has as active an imagination as her mystery writer,” but it’s all true. I was owned — people do delude themselves into thinking they can own a cat, don’t they — by a family, but I wasn’t happy with them. Every time my new people visited, I would try to hide in the darkest recesses of their car, hoping that my black fur would make be less noticeable and I could escape, but it never worked. Finally the head of my captors’ household, who had already relegated me to living outdoors in a land filled with horrible beasts like coyotes, told my writer he was going to give my neck a good twist to spare me the coming winter. You can imagine her horror. I was deposited in my new home within minutes. It turns out he wasn’t really planning to do what he said he was, but I still hiss at him for good measure if he comes to my house.

Does your unusual name have any special meaning?
My full name is Fala-la-la--lala-la. I was presented to a five-year-old boy and a three-year-old girl at Christmastime. They were overly stimulated by the holiday and thought it would be amusing to name me after a carol. I was just a kitten then and didn’t realize what they were doing.

What is a typical day like for you?
I’m an early riser. I like to get my people up so they can enjoy the sunrise, but I find the effort involved in running and jumping on them while they sleep is exhausting. Once I get them up, I usually require a long nap. After that I like to sit on the white sofa. It would look more elegant if it were black so I keep leaving fur color samples hoping one day my writer will figure out my clues. After that, I generally like to climb on the kitchen counter to supervise dinner preparation and make sure I’m getting people tuna and milk for supper.

What's it like living with a mystery writer? Has she ever come across any dead bodies in real life???
Living with a mystery writer is in a word, intense. She has never come across any real dead bodies, but don’t tell her that. She acts out her stories as she writes them and can get quite worked up in the dead body department. I have to be fast on my feet to keep from being stepped on! Living with her can be frustrating, too. I’m a brilliant story teller, but a terrible speller. When I try to type my ideas on her computer in the midst of her text, she invariably deletes them. Her books get pretty good reviews, but I’m sure if she let me be an active contributor, all her reviews would be five-stars.

Cat to cat, do you have favorite nap spots, toys, and treats?
My favorite nap spot is in a fountain. Of course that means my people can’t have water in it, but that’s a small price for them to pay for all my cuteness. Here’s a photo of me in my fountain so you can see what I mean. I don’t play with toys, unless you count juncos and mice as toys. As for treats, I absolutely love broccoli with a touch of butter on it.

Sadly, black cats receive a bad rap. Have you ever had any bad experiences with prejudiced people?
I haven’t had bad experiences with people, but other cats, as I suspect you know, can be quite biased against those of us who are black. I assume they are jealous of our lustrous fur. What do you think?

What are you helping your mom work on right now?
My person is trying to do too many things at once. I’m trying to keep her focused on book six in her Regan McHenry Real Estate Mysteries series because she hasn’t yet written about the cats her heroine lives with, but she keeps rambling on about doing an historical fiction book and starting a new series called Geezers With Tools about two older handymen who solve mysteries. I think she likes the geezers idea because she had so much fun with her novel, “Mags and the AARP Gang,” about a group of renegade octogenarian bank robbers that she wants to do more humorous writing.

Any final thoughts for your adoring public?
I’m available for petting any time. I live at… See what I mean? She’s deleted my typing again!

Check out Fala's Youtube video:

About the author: Nancy Lynn Jarvis was a Santa Cruz, California, Realtor for twenty-five years but was having so much fun writing that she let her license lapse in May of 2013.

After earning a BA in behavioral science from San Jose State University, she worked in the advertising department of the San Jose Mercury News. A move to Santa Cruz meant a new job as a librarian and later a stint as the business manager of Shakespeare/Santa Cruz. Nancy's work history reflects her philosophy: people should try something radically different every few years. Writing is her newest adventure.

She put Regan, Tom , and Dave from the Regan McHenry Real Estate Mysteries Series on hiatus to write Mags and the AARP Gang, a comedy/adventure about a group of octogenarian would-be bank robbers, but she missed her characters, so they're back to solve another murder in recently released "The Murder House."

Nancy squeezed in editing "Cozy Food," a compilation cookbook in which 128 cozy mystery writers contributed recipes from their books and their lives. What she will work on next is unclear. She has ideas for a sixth Regan McHenry Real Estate Mysteries book, a complete departure book of historical fiction, and an idea for a new cozy series called Geezers With Tools about two old guys who encounter murder while working as handymen and pursuing widows.

Giveaway: Nancy is generously offering two lucky winners the ebook of their choice. Fala suggests "The Death Contingency" with her caviat that, "I think my mystery writer started our a bit weak in this book, although it got better as soon as she introduced Harry, the cat who really was the star of the book regardless of what others may think." Simply leave a comment (don't forget your email address!) by noon eastern on Wednesday, October 8th.

Baseball, Truffles-Style: A Chewy.com Doubleheader

Hey everybody, it's Truffles! While our house is a NASCAR household, much of the country in October is obsessed with baseball playoffs and the upcoming World Series. So I'm getting in the spirit with a doubleheader of my own: a Chewy.com doubleheader since I've fallen behind with my reviews the past couple months.

First up: Primal Turkey Liver Munchies Freeze-Dried Dog & Cat Treats. These treats are are single-source proteins produced using USDA meats, poultry and game raised in the United States and New Zealand without antibiotics or added hormones. They are for dogs or cats, and quite large, so your Mommy will need to break them up kitty-size, but they break really easily. I think they would also be quite yummy as "sprinkles" on top of wet food! We're gonna need to order another bag really soon.

Mommy tried and tried to get a picture of me actually eating the treats, but I inhale them so fast it's just impossible. Finally she gave up and just snapped a picture of me napping with them (teehee).

Back in August I was sent a package of BFF Tuna & Chicken Charm Me Recipe in Gravy Cat Food Pouches from Weruva. Mommy was really excited for me to try these pouches because she says when Tara was in her final months, one of her favorite foods was Weruva's Cats in the Kitchen pouches. B.F.F. is a line of luxurious natural and grain-free pet foods made with a high quality protein focus and limited carbohydrates.

I gave them a try, and I pulled one of the dirtiest cat tricks in the book: I LOVED the gravy, but left the meat behind. It wasn't really surprising since I only eat pate-style food.

Mommy took photographic evidence:

Chewy.com has more than 300 brands to choose from and will ship directly to your door with fast 1-2 day delivery. They truly have something that every kitty and doggie will find to enjoy.

We received these goodies to review for free. All opinions are our own.

Truffles Models Costumes from Petco's Halloween Bootique

I couple months ago I teased you with a bit of a mystery: what was in the large Top Secret box we received from Petco? At last, I can reveal that it was a box FULL of costumes from Petco's Halloween Bootique.

I was ecstatic. Truffles was thoroughly disgusted. Dressing cats in costume makes me deliriously happy. Tara would always just lie there and humor me. Truffles hates clothes more than any cat I've known and fights me tooth and nail.

So what's a cat mom to do? Wait until Truffles goes to bed and then put the costumes on her without actually "fastening" anything. (Oh, and buttering her up with a bit of rotisserie turkey to make her a little sleepy didn't hurt, either.)

I call this her "gypsy witch look"...

The peacock lost it's head...

I didn't think it would fit Truffles' personality, but she totally rocks the badass zombie hunter look!

Charging into battle!!!

Giddyup!

"Yes, I am Mommy's Little Pumpkin!"

Enough already! The monarch is ready for her nap.

Have you planned your pet's Halloween costume yet? We would love to hear about it!

Disclaimer: Petco provided us free costumes and toys from their Halloween Bootique collection. We were not compensated for this post.