Mollie Hunt's Blog, page 5
March 27, 2025
ANNOUNCING A NEW COZY CAT MYSTERY by Debbie De Louise!
Debbie has turned her new cat into a mystery character! In her new release, Murder at Meadow Lake Clubhouse, it’s her daughter’s red tabby kitten named Soup who becomes a whimsical supernatural being in Book 1 of a cozy mystery series.
Widow and retired realtor, Rose Fairchild, is gifted with a sixth sense. Moving from Long Island to a community in South Carolina, Rose is reluctant to leave the house she shared with her husband Harvey and her cat Moxie before they died, but a strange vision of a disappearing kitten on the community’s website intrigues her.
When Rose arrives in the Meadows Lake community, she meets two singles her age: Grant, a real estate agent and widower, and Blake, the divorced Fallsview sheriff. She also meets the orange cat of her vision who introduces herself as Soup and claims to be sent by Rose’s husband as a guide for her new life.
Soon after, a murder takes place at the clubhouse. The victim is the restaurant cook who wasn’t well liked, and Rose becomes involved in the sheriff’s investigation, only to receive a written threat to stop snooping around. Will her visions help her solve the case… or will she need help from her supernatural kitten?
Debbie De Louise is a retired reference librarian from a public library on Long Island and the award-winning author of the Cobble Cove and Buttercup Bend cozy mystery series. She is a prolific writer who has also published standalone novels of various genres, a non-fiction cat book, and a collection of cat poems.
Debbie is a member of International Thriller Writers, Sisters-in-Crime, the Cat Writers’ Association, the South Carolina Writer’s Association, and the North Carolina Writers Network. She recently moved to South Carolina with her husband Anthony; daughter Holly; and cats Harry and Hermione. That was where the family added the new kitten, Soup, to their household.
Murder at Meadow Lake Clubhouse (Book 1 of the Soup the Supernatural Kitten Mysteries) is available now on Amazon in Kindle eBook or paperback (more formats and sellers coming soon).
March 19, 2025
ANNOUNCING MY BOOKS ON KINDLE UNLIMITED!
Two books now available through Kindle Unlimited. Read for free!If you belong to Amazon’s Kindle Unlimited program, you already know you can read thousands of books at no cost. Authors get paid by the page, so we benefit too.
“Kindle Unlimited offers a seamless digital reading experience with unlimited access to popular series, best sellers, classics, and more.”
Now the most recent books in my two cozy series are on Kindle Unlimited: Crafty Cat, Book 11 in the Crazy Cat Lady Cozy Mystery Series, and Ghost Cat at the Mystery Hotel, Book 3 in the Tenth Life Paranormal Cozy Mystery Series.
Not book 1? you ask.Don’t worry. Books need not be read in order. Whether you want to catch up or are new to the mysteries, these books can be read as a standalone.
Crafty Cat, a Crazy Cat Lady Cozy Mystery
Romance, death, and cat quilts.
Lynley shifts from quilting to sleuthing when the guild’s elder is murdered and a beloved cat is stolen. Located in Portland.
Ghost Cat at the Mystery Hotel: A Tenth Life Cozy Mystery
The game is murder at the Mystery Beach Hotel.
When Camelia Collins meets an old college friend for a murder mystery weekend at the coast, death becomes more than a game.
March 15, 2025
Creating Comfort for Your Senior Cat, 5-STAR REVEW and EBOOK RELEASE
I am very proud of my newest book, Creating Comfort for Your Senior Cat: Stories, Poems, and Illustrations of Cats in Their Golden Years. It’s nothing like I’ve ever published before, being a non-fiction work that lands in a genre somewhere between cat health and memoir with poems and cat portraits thrown in. It was fun to write, despite touching on some of the saddest of times, when my cats neared or crossed the Rainbow Bridge. That final despair was worth every moment of living with those wonderful cats!
eBook now available!I’m happy to announce that an e-version of Creating Comfort for Your Senior Cat is now available! I was amazed at how nicely the pictures came out. You are able to check out the first photo, me and Tyler, in the sample provided on the Amazon page. If you still would rather have a print copy, that’s also available here.
And a 5-Star Review!Authors love reviews, especially the 4- and 5-Star ones. Please leave one when you finish a book. It’s good for everyone all around.
Meanwhile, here is my first review for Creating Comfort for Your Senior Cat:
TLC for Senior Cats
Reviewed in the United States on February 24, 2025
“Creating Comfort for Your Senior Cat: Stories, Poems, and Illustrations of Cats in Their Golden Years” is a personal, poignant ode full of words of wisdom about life with senior cats. Mollie Hunt’s dedication of providing a home filled with love, security, peace and dignity for older cats shines through as she shares her experiences with the reader. She covers a variety of the most common feline health conditions and how she managed them for her senior cats.
As the title says, she has written her experiences in a variety of literary forms as memoir of personal stories and poems as well was photos of her cats. For those of us having the honor of living with senior cats we recognize the heartfelt honesty Mollie discusses about each of her cats. If you share your home with a senior cat now or perhaps will sometime in the future, Mollie’s book gives real-life experiences for providing TLC for our beloved older cats.
~Ramona D. Marek, MS Ed.
Freelance Writer & Author
I don’t think writing non-fiction will be my new obsession. I have too much fun frolicking with the fictional Lynley and Camelia, to say nothing of ghost cats, clowders, foster cats, and human characters that I make up as I go along. But this book was an important step for me.
Whether you’re looking for suggestions on how to compliment veterinary care with your own home solutions, you like cat poetry, or you just like the pictures, I hope you enjoy Creating Comfort for Your Senior Cat!
***NOTE: AMAZON BOYCOTT HAS ENDED: PLEASE DON’T CONTINUE TO BOYCOTT AMAZON BOOKS!
“Activists have called for people to let their (lack of) spending speak to major retailers like Walmart, Target and Amazon to protest the companies dismantling diversity, equity and inclusion programs after President Donald Trump has worked to scrape federal DEI policies.”
I understand and agree with what the boycott is trying to do, but as of yesterday, March 14th, 2025, the Amazon boycott is over. Please remember that while the amount Amazon makes on a $3.99 eBook from an independent author is a microdrop in their bucket, the small percentage the author receives is a the backbone of their income.
March 4, 2025
I AM OBSESSED WITH THE PALLAS’S CAT
The Pallas cat is one of the smallest wildcats in the world, weighing only around six and a half pounds. Their diminutive size plus their thick gray ticked fur, round ears, short legs, and irresistibly long, bushy tail make them—okay, I have to say it—the cutest little animals around.
Picture by Tambako the Jaguar
They’re adorable!I don’t mean to diminish their ferocity or their majestic baring, because they are, in every inch of their small bodies, dangerous predators. Do not, and I repeat, do not try to pet the Pallas cat!
Photo Credit: Tambako The Jaguar, via Flikr
According to BBC Wildlife, Pallas cats live all across Central Asia. They prefer grasslands and steppes. Warmed by their thick, insulated coats, they can live at high, cold altitudes. To keep their feet pads from freezing in the snow, they sit with their feet on their tail. Again, So Cute!
Like many of the wildcat species, Pallas cat populations are decreasing, putting them on the Near Threatened list. Their greatest threat comes from habitat loss and depletion of food supply, both due to human encroachment, but predators such as raptors, wolves, domestic dogs, and yes, humans too, play their part. Hopefully we don’t have to wait until the Pallas cat is on the endangered list to turn this sad trend around.
Pallas cats are elusive. They are highly territorial loners who hide and are rarely seen, so those seeking pictures must go to great lengths to photograph them in secret.
Pallas cats change color from winter to summer to blend with their surroundings.
A Pallas cat’s fur grows twice as long on their belly and tail as the rest of their body.
Do you notice something different about this kitten’s eyes? Pallas cats have round pupils like humans instead of the slit-shaped ones common to most felines.
A Not-so-fun fact: I shouldn’t have to say this, but BTW it is illegal to own a Pallas’s cat as a pet.
There are so many amazing things about this little creature that I can’t list them all. Here is a good article: WIRED’s Creature Feature: 10 Fun Facts About the Pallas’ Cat.
February 25, 2025
TODAY IS WORLD SPAY DAY!
World Spay Day today!World Spay Day is celebrated annually on the last Tuesday of February. It’s a day to recognize the benefits of spaying and neutering pets, and to advocate for these procedures as a way to reduce pet overpopulation.
February is also recognized as Spay/Neuter Awareness Month.
The Doris Day Animal League (now the Doris Day Animal Foundation) started World Spay Day in 1995 as “Spay Day USA”. The event has since become a global campaign.
Spaying and neutering pets can:
Improve pet healthReduce animal sufferingDecrease the number of animals euthanized in sheltersSave the lives of companion animals, community cats, and street dogs
The previous information is provided by Google AI. What’s your reason for spaying your pets?
February 8, 2025
February is National Cat Health Month
Photo by Myko Makhlai on Unsplash
This month is National Cat Health MonthFor cat people, every month is National Cat Health Month, because we know how important it is to keep out feline companions healthy and happy. Though our cats may not like their yearly (or twice-yearly for seniors) trip to the vet, it’s for their own good. Creating a health baseline helps keep track of any changes that might signify an issue long before the symptoms become apparent, which can be a life saver since many diseases may be managed or even cured if caught early.
Photo by Judy Beth Morris on Unsplash
Establishing a relationship with a veterinarian that is right for you and your cat.The first thing I do when I adopt a new cat is to take them to our vet, not because they are sick, since many of my adoptees come from the Oregon Humane Society where they receive the beast health care possible, but to introduce the cat to the doctor for what I hope will be a long and happy relationship. Like our own doctors, cats benefit from consulting someone who knows them and is familiar with their issues. That sort of care may cost more initially, but for me, it’s worth it. In the long it may even save money since the doctor won’t have to repeat questions and exams that have already been done by someone else, and some issues can be resolved by email or phone, saving the cost of a visit.
Photo by Kate Stone Matheson on Unsplash
Day to day care at home.Much of keeping a healthy, happy cat begins at home. Providing our cats what they need in the way of good food, opportunities for play and interaction, a calm environment where they can get away from it all for their daily eighteen-hour naps, to say nothing of our love, are all things that support ongoing health.
If our cat becomes ill or develops a chronic disease or condition, it’s doubly important to provide them with whatever it takes to minimize their distress and set them on the road to recovery. Unfortunately in some cases, recovery isn’t possible, which is when it’s time to work on comfort measures.
If you have a senior cat, check out my new book, Creating Comfort for Your Senior Cat: Stories, Poems, and Illustrations of Cats in Their Golden Years. I relate stories of my own senior cats—what happened and what I did to make them comfortable as they faced the struggles of elderhood.
National Cat Health Month focuses much needed attention on our cats’ health and well-being. You can help spread the word.
Photo credit: EveryCat Health Foundation, Advancing feline health research that benefits every cat, every day
February 1, 2025
THE PANDEMIC—FIVE YEARS LATER
This coming March 2025 is the fifth anniversary of the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. In 2020, our lives were drastically altered in ways we never imagined possible. Then finally it was over, and everybody went back to their old ways—except they didn’t. The pandemic had changed the world as we knew it
I believed it was important for us to remember what happened, the sometimes grisly, sometimes glorious details of that period, because there are lessons to be learned by remembering and nothing to be gained by forgetting.
To that end, I buckled down and wrote a memoir, There’s a Cat Hair in My Mask: How Cats Helped Me through Unprecedented Times.
Cat Hair combines two topics, COVID and cats. The story begins at the start of the pandemic when I came down with COVID and ends a year and a half later as I pulled myself out of anxiety and depression by rescuing a cat who’d been sentenced to death.
Do you remember February 2020? How our lives were instantly thrown into a new kind of chaos? Trapped in our houses, watching the bad news, wondering who would die next, many of us turned to our pets.
But 2020 wasn’t just about a plague. The year dealt us shock after shock. We watched a man get murdered on TV. We saw our streets flow with fire and rage. There were other fires too—wildfires that set the Pacific Northwest ablaze like never before. Then came the New Year. We were hopeful for a better 2021—until January 6th, a day of American infamy.
In Cat Hair, I take us back to those events through my eyes and the eyes of the world. I also include more personal experiences—a childhood filled with nameless fear; being abused as a teenager; my years as a hippie during the sixties and seventies. There were cats then too. I wouldn’t have made it through without them.
Chimchar
Cat Hair is more relevant now than ever. As we celebrate the fifth anniversary of the pandemic, we would be wise to look back at the beginning. I still hear people ask each other, “How was it for you?” These tales must be told, must be read.
~Jaimz~
What readers say about There’s a Cat Hair in My Mask: How Cats Helped Me through Unprecedented Times – A Memoir:
“…a page turner that kept me up past bedtime.” —Verified Reader
“…I felt like I was watching her story unfold in front of me. Honest, vulnerable and brave.” —Verified Reader
“…a memoir about one woman’s battle with depression and anxiety and how she helps cats and they in turn help her.” —verified UK Reader
There’s a Cat Hair in My Mask: How Cats Helped Me through Unprecedented Times is the winner of the Cat Writers’ Association Muse Medallion Award for Books: Non-fiction, as well as the CATalyst Council Connect to Care Award celebrating the power of the human-feline bond.
Purchase your copy here: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0BQXVZLBJ
For Multnomah County Library members, read for free here: https://multcolib.overdrive.com/media/9810404
January 20, 2025
NEW NON-FICTION CAT BOOK by Mollie Hunt
Creating Comfort for Your Senior Cat: Stories, Poems, and Illustrations of Cats in Their Golden Years“I LOVE THIS BOOK! I felt like I came to personally know each of these endearing cats…” —Rosa House, author
I’m so excited to announce the publication of my new book, Creating Comfort for Your Senior Cat: Stories, Poems, and Illustrations of Cats in Their Golden Years. It is exactly what the title says, a compilation of stories and poems I’ve written about my own cats and others I have cared for as they face their elder years. In this book, I go beyond their necessary veterinary care to what happened when they got older and what we did to make them comfortable under circumstances that arose.
I realize I am better known for writing cozy and sci-fantasy fiction, but as devoted cat-person, I decided it was time to put some of the things I’ve learned into words that can be of help to others. Since I love the older cats, that seemed the perfect place to start. This book, with its poetry and photos of the cats themselves, has been a joy to produce.
I am not a vet, nor am I giving any advice meant to replace veterinarian medicine, but as a long-time cat shelter volunteer and a cat foster parent, I’ve had a lot of hands-on experience with cats. My own beloved cat Tyler recently celebrated his twenty-first birthday!
Dirty Harry developed arthritis. Heating pads and warming blankets were only the beginning.
Tinkerbelle had a heart murmur. Diminishing stress and overstimulation in a home with four cats was a challenge.
Ginchan was seventeen when the litter box issues began. When a medical cause was ruled out, we found ways for him to still live his best life.
Mollie Hunt & Tinkerbelle, Registered Pet Partners
You can purchase Creating Comfort for Your Senior Cat: Stories, Poems, and Illustrations of Cats in Their Golden Years here.
January 14, 2025
INSPIRATION – DIVINE INSIGHT OR MAGIC?
Is it a spark from an outside source, or is it born within ourselves? I can’t answer that question, but I can tell you a story about something that recently happened to me.
I belong to a small group of creatives who meet once a month to discuss and delve into our creativity. The members are diverse: an artist/poet/seeker; a collagist; an essayist who wants to learn memoir and fiction; a creative who, because of a health condition, follows her spontaneous heart and soul; a writer…
Yesterday was our January meetup. I was at the beach working on my book and didn’t want to stop. I told my husband: “I’m thinking of skipping the meeting. I feel about as creative as a slug.”
But I went anyway, clicking my phone to Zoom, because I’d committed myself, and because I’ve learned there is always something to be learned when people get together like that.
The format is about the same each time. After hellos, our leader poses a series of questions around our creativity. Yesterday, the first question was: “Over the next six months, what do you want to express through your creativity?”
After some contemplation, I wrote,
“I would like my work to express my political beliefs and my view on the future of our country and our planet. I’m stuck, however, because it’s not something I will do in my cozy mysteries which I try to keep unbiased and light so not to alienate those with different views. That only serves to lose them as followers, and then I can teach them nothing. So it has to be subtle, fact-based, or maybe like Star Trek: The Original Series—a parable.”
Then I had a flash of inspiration:
“Cat Spring!”
I have been going back and forth on the second part of my cat sci-fantasy, Cat Spring. The book, like the rest of the Cat Seasons series, is in two parts. The first part is fine, but in the second part, I took off in a direction that I didn’t really like. I didn’t care for it when I first wrote it twenty years ago, and I found it even less appealing when I attempted to update the manuscript just recently. I’ve thought about ditching the whole second half and going in a different route, but I couldn’t for the life of me decide what that route might be.
The revelation was not what I expected from the creativity meeting, but there it was, a perfect scenario for me to lay out a fictional extrapolation of an apocalyptic future, then have my cat characters turn it all right. It’s not going to be easy, but I have a plan.
An interesting side note is that the person who posed the question said she’d only just had the idea a few minutes before the meeting started, that she was planning on going asking another set of questions when her own inspiration hit her.
So here is inspiration in its evolution, step by step:
I almost skipped the meeting, feeling noncreative, but I didn’t.
The leader asked a question that had only just popped into her mind.
Her question led me to something I both want and need to do, and a new story to come.
Photo by Jr Korpa on Unsplash
Where do you think creativity comes from? Have you had any blasts of inspiration lately?
January 10, 2025
AN INTROVERT TAKES ON THE WORLD
“Writing is something you do alone. It’s a profession for introverts who want to tell you a story but don’t want to make eye contact while doing it.” —John Green
Artwork Origin Unknown
Writers can be notorious introverts.
It makes sense. Who else would choose to hole themselves up alone in a room for hours on end immersed in one’s own thoughts and imaginings? When the other kids are yelling for you to come out and play, you shut the blinds and pretend you’re not there. When given a choice between going to a party and staying home, home wins out every time. When you do go out, you wind up talking to the cat. Sound familiar? This is me, for sure.
Some people think introverts make better writers because they are more aware of their surroundings, more at home in their heads. But writing is only half of a writer’s job. The other half is shameless self-promotion in the form of readings, presentations, and author events, all of which require taking your introverted little self out in public. What could be more alien or abhorrent to a true introvert than talking in front of the masses? Public speaking scares most people, but for an introvert, it’s a version of absolute hell.
There are solutions though, and no, it’s not picturing the audience naked. For me, it’s slipping on an alter ego, one that can withstand the rigors of crowds and confusion; one that is not the least bit bashful or shy.
Let me introduce you to ~Mollie Hunt, Catwoman~. Catwoman is part Wonder Woman, part Audrey Hepburn, part Hillary Clinton, and part my mother. She is talkative, friendly, self-assured, assertive, and a little bit loud. She is thick-skinned and cannot be offended or hurt. She is also definitely part cat.
The template for this alter-me was first invented when I did antique and collectible sales, so I guess she’s part hawker* as well. I needed her because, on my own, no one would notice me let alone buy my wares. I’d had some acting experience which I used to develop a persona that worked for the situation. Now I carry that into my writer’s life, not to sell stuff but to sell myself.
The world is a scary place.
People may not like me. I may mess up and forget words. Things that are out of my control may go awry. I may spill coffee down the front of my dress. But whatever happens, Catwoman can deal with it. I have to believe in her, because otherwise I would never leave my house.
Artwork Origin Unknown
*For more on hawking, check out my blogpost, Hawking Your Wares on FireStar Press.
