August 22, 2024

Last day of my blog tour (and giveaway registration) is Thursday, 22 August

I can't believe I didn't post this earlier, but my ten-day blog tour with Lone Star Literary ends tomorrow.

I've gotten some great reviews and fun stuff about my book Hallow: A Fractured Family Tale and its characters. And I made my first video! If you visit one of the sites, click the video with the calico cat as preview; that's the Director's Cut. The links got mixed up and some show an earlier version.

The posts will stay up, but Friday 23 Aug is the last day to register for the giveaway, the traditional signed book and printed bookmark, but also a bunch more swag made by my friends and me.

Trying to link to a photo:
Giveaway

Hope to see you there!

June 2, 2024

Hallow, the 5th book in my cozy mystery series is now available as an ebook

I have a store now, and it's available at online stores too. The Zon is dragging its feet as usual, so here's a direct link. One reviewer described it as a cozy mystery with a sharp edge. You have been warned.

I don't see how to post an image, but you can see it here. Hallow was supposed to be the second book in the series; instead it's the fifth. I've been writing it for three years, and naturally a book with openly Jewish characters comes out after October 7. I'm a bit nervous, but I didn't want to be a coward.

The series: Johnny Ly, Dianne Cortez, and JD Thompson quit high-powered jobs and moved to an old mansion in a small Central Texas town. They thought their chief problem would be earning livings as a veterinarian, accountant, lawyer, and ABBA tribute band, but they keep stumbling over mysteries and finding cats.

February 9, 2024

Two hearts! I am almost verklempt!

But not quite. I am pleased and astonished that anyone noticed my ghostly presence. The hearts make me very happy.

December 31, 2022

He didn't. Tony Schwarz did.

December 1, 2022

My latest light mystery (cozy adjacent), released this week

The Sphynx Who Stole Christmas is available now on several platforms. So far they're just showing the ebook version, but print and large print should show up any day. If not, and you want a print version, send me a message. I should have some on my desk by then.

If you like to read series from the beginning, Book 1 is here.

Stop by my website to sign up for the celebratory book giveaway--not only mine, but the latest Louise Penny/Inspector Gamache. Subscribe to my newsletter, which I never write, for a chance to win.

Series
Millennials on the Case!
After earning multiple degrees and certifications, Johnny Ly, Dianne Cortez, and JD Thompson suspected the American Dream was not within their reach. So they quit high-powered jobs and moved to an old mansion in a small Central Texas town. Besides saving all the local stray cats, they thought their chief problem would be earning livings as a veterinarian, accountant, lawyer, and ABBA tribute band, but they keep stumbling over mysteries that threaten them and those close to them.

Book 2
The weather outside is frightful, and indoors isn't looking too good either, not when a crazed hairless cat invades their Christmas party and leaves a trail of destruction in his wake.
Nail everything down--Godzilla the Sphynx cat is coming to destroy your town.


[link:https://twitter.com/MRDimondAuthor/status/1597436317050187776]
The tweet has the same info as the post but shows the book cover. Most of it. Sigh.

I hope your holidays are better than theirs.

May 27, 2016

I guess it depends

On the industry/company. We were urged to be tolerant, which was difficult on deadline days when I'd work through lunch and others would take 4-5 breaks/day.

July 1, 2015

For Tiger Tim fans in Texas

You probably know by now that dear Tiger Tim, a 7 year-old orange tabby cat whose owner abandoned him at the shelter, passed last weekend from cancer.
Magnificat, his rescue organization, posted several videos on their Facebook page:
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Magnificat-Cat-Rescue-and-Rehoming/335821436543926?fref=ts

Thousands of people were ready to give him a home, even when he was known to be ill. Would you do that for another cat, a 10-year-old (or more) also abandoned by his owner? If you're near Bastrop, it won't be much of a trip to get him.
https://www.facebook.com/austinsiameserescue/photos/pb.61142653139.-2207520000.1435672680./10153499205353140/?type=3&theater
So many mature cats have been abandoned this summer. Add that to the flood of kittens always born this time of year, and the foster homes are full and bulging. So if your home was big enough for Tiger, I hope it's big enough for another kitty in the same situation.

If you're not in Texas, I know there's a rescue near you full to bursting with homeless animals. They'd be glad to hear from you.

EDIT: I keep saying that I've said my last word on Tiger Tim, BUT…
If you haven't gone to the Magnificat page today, hustle on over and see the tributes people are posting to him--poems, songs, videos, photos, articles…what is it about this cat?

April 6, 2014

Trapped stray kitties aren't strays

On one of the coldest nights of the year, I saw a fluffy white cat with spots near my house in the country. I posted on Craigslist, hoping to find an owner, but got no response. I saw this cat several more times. She seemed to live under a trailer with her kittens, according to the trailer owner, who didn't want them there. I started setting out a trap each night. But instead of a litter of kittens, I caught 1 kitten, the teenage mom cat, her 2 brothers, and a feral tom who took off shortly after his obligatory trip to the vet. He won't be making more kittens or making other cats sick, but the 3 teenagers (about 7-8 months) are obviously pets. Someone raised them and loved them and threw them out for the winter. I can't treat them like ferals. They obviously want to be pets again more than anything in the world, and they love living indoors. They are so cuddly: Cyril jumps in my lap when I sit down with them, and Sterling winds around my legs and begs for pets. That works fine, but I need a third hand when Mallory comes nuzzling around. I alternate hands between her and Sterling (until she swats him across the face, as she's won't to do.) The baby girl Lana is almost 3 months and has never been handled, but she's coming around. Her short little life must have been one long terror.

I've taken them to the vet for shots, neutering, and microchips. The girls will be spayed in a few weeks, when Lana is big enough. They are the sweetest cats, the best pets you can imagine, but there's no room for them in my house. I'm at crazy-cat-lady level with 5 cats of my own (3 ill) and a collection of foster cats.

I'm asking a rehoming fee, to partially cover their medical bills (and hopefully to deter evil doers), and I'm offering a discount if you take more than one. They've stuck together through so much! The black and white short-haired boys or the long-haired white and gray girl and her baby would be good pairs.

If you're in Texas or an adjacent state, I can get them to you. PM me and I'll direct you to the sponsoring rescue's application page.

Can you think of anything else I can do to get them out of my house into their own homes? I've contacted rescues (all full), posted a courtesy webpage on one of the rescue sites, taken them to Adoption Day, posted on Facebook and all my mailing lists, posted flyers, dragooned my friends into posting on their lists and bulletin boards, and posted on Craigslist with a link to a rescue site's application page.

I have an appointment on Wednesday with the Humane Society to talk about surrendering them, but that's breaking my heart. I've never surrendered an animal to be kept in a cage (or worse). Other rescue folks say that it's a good option, but I'm hating myself for it already.

Sterling
[url=https://flic.kr/p/mQA5kS][img][/img][/url]
Cyril
[url=https://flic.kr/p/mQyiwB][img][/img][/url]
Mallory
[url=https://flic.kr/p/mQA5mU][img][/img][/url]
Lana
[url=https://flic.kr/p/mQA5Bo][img][/img][/url]

UPDATE: I did take them to the Humane Society. The people there were very nice and already had a method to return them to me if they aren't adopted. Sterling's already found his home. I brought Lana back home because she was too feral, but she's getting more friendly every day. Thanks for all the support here!