My new
release, Run Dog Run, is centered
around the world of greyhound racing. I
wanted to write an engaging story about animal rights issues, which are one of
my passions. I used to be a member of Wildlife Rescue, Inc. when I lived in
Austin. I rehabbed and raised orphaned wildlife with the goal to release them
back into the wild if possible. It was a very rewarding experience and planted
the seed for the Kate Caraway series.
Run Dog Run is my latest release, but not my first. I finished the first
draft fifteen years ago. It came close to being published several times, but no
cigar. An agent told me I preached and editorialized too much. She was right.
My first attempt was too heavy-handed. I rewrote it, but put it on the back
burner and let it simmer for a few years. Two years ago, I updated it again and
sent it out. Black Opal Books sent me a contract, and there you have it.
The story takes place in the Texas Hill
Country west of Austin. My protagonist, animal-rights
activist Kate Caraway, travels to a friend’s ranch in Texas for a much-needed
rest. But before she has a chance to unpack, her friend’s daughter pleads for
Kate’s assistance. The young woman has become entangled in the ugly world of
greyhound abuse and believes Kate is the only one with the experience and
tenacity to expose the abuse and find out who is responsible. On the case for
only a few hours, Kate discovers a body, complicating the investigation by
adding murder to the puzzle. She’s in a race against time to find the killer
before she becomes the next victim.
The most difficult part of
writing the book was doing the research, which sent
me to a few places I wasn’t thrilled to visit. A knot formed in my stomach the
day I drove up to a greyhound racetrack outside of Houston. I wasn’t sure what
to expect, but if I wanted to write a book about greyhound racing, I needed to
watch the dogs run. I spoke to the staff about what happens before and after
races, where the dogs are kept when they are not racing, how much of their
lives are spent running, and how to bet on the dogs. I also toured a greyhound
adoption facility where the dogs were well taken care of. The only problem is
that I wanted to take all of them home. In my book, I included a character who
operates an adoption facility. Part of my rational for writing the book is to
heighten awareness of the adoption process for retired racers.
Bio:
Kathleen Kaska is the
author two awarding-winning mystery series: the Sydney Lockhart Mystery Series
set in the 1950s and the Classic Triviography Mystery Series, which includes The Sherlock Holmes Triviography and Quiz
Book. Her first two Lockhart mysteries, Murder
at the Arlington and Murder at the
Luther, were selected as bonus-books for the Pulpwood Queen Book Group, the
largest book group in the country. Her latest Sydney Lockhart mystery, set in
Austin, Texas, is Murder at the Driskill.
When she is not writing, she spends much of her time with her husband traveling the back roads and byways around the
country, looking for new venues for her mysteries and bird watching along the
Texas coast and beyond. It was her passion for birds that led to the
publication The Man Who Saved the
Whooping Crane: The Robert Porter Allen Story (University Press of
Florida).
Kathleen is
a writer and marketing director for Cave Art Press. Her collection of blog
posts will be released in August 2017 under the title, Five-Minute Writing Tips: Does Anyone Have a Catharsis Handy?
Run Dog Run Kathleen’s her first mystery in the new Kate Caraway animal
rights series. A portion of the book’s proceeds will be donated to The
Greyhound Project.
Books are available through Black Opal Books,
Kathleen’s website, and Amazon.
