Personal Assistants

Personal Assistants 

Successful writers often hire personal assistants to handle things like screening and responding to e-mails, sending out books, posting on social media, or handling the details involved with book signings or other presentations. These individuals do not help the writer do the most important thing – the writing. That said, there are other types of “personal assistants,” besides editors or agents who help authors create the works that readers eventually see. Here are a few of those who aid members of the Writers Who Kill blog.

Marilyn Levinson/Allison Brook - My kitties, Romeo and Juliet, are great distractors when they want my attention—usually to feed them. They know exactly how to do it, too, by invading my work space.

Annette Dashofy - Kensi is more of a boss than an assistant, although she does assist me in remembering when it's time to feed her. She's 15, has a heart condition, and has assisted me in learning how to pill a cat without blood being drawn. She also assists me in remembering to take time off to enjoy life...such as watching her nightly zoomie silliness. 

Molly MacRae - It's never been easy to tell which of us, the cat or I, is in charge of writing and which is assisting. The good thing is that neither of us cares to argue about it. As you can see from this picture, we're practically twins. Call us equals.  

Heather Weidner - I have two writing assistants, Disney, my crazy Jack Russell, who follows all the writing cave rules and Cooper, our Mini Aussie Shepherd puppy, who is learning the ropes. These guys are great for talking through plotholes and dialog. And they do a good job of reminding me when it's time to play, go outside, or eat a snack. When they are not on writing duty, they love long walks, chasing squirrels, and pup cups. 

Kait Carson - I'm lucky to have two assistants, although neither seems to care for my efforts. Piper, the brown tabby, loves making editorial comments, and Cub, the ginger demon, demands rewrites. 

Margaret S. Hamilton - I have two standard poodle writing buddies, usually found lounging around the kitchen supervising my snack consumption while monitoring my word count. Jazz and Louie are my plot hounds on our daily three mile walks, and tolerate my reading dialogue to them.

E. B. Davis – I only have part time assistants. Both must be fed well and want treats hourly. Biscuit, the poodle, demands pets, usually for at least a minute or two before she will let you go. If you don’t comply, she will put her snout under your hand to lift it back to her. Rocky, the senior gentle Corgi/Beagle, lays on my feet under the desk. They’re my granddogs! 

Fuzzy, Finned, and Feathered Sidekicks

 

Fuzzy, Finned, and Feathered Sidekicks 

by Heather Weidner

So many of our favorite sleuths have a pet sidekick like Spenser and Pearl, Chet and Bernie, Mary Minor Haristeen and Sneaky Pie Brown, and Stephanie Plum and Rex the Hamster. Pets are part of our families and integral to our lives.

During the pandemic, my two Jack Russell terriers (Disney the brunette and Riley her brother) became my fuzzy coworkers. They Zoom-bombed my staff meetings, barked at the most inappropriate times, snored during staff meetings, and provided comfort and support during the craziness.

So, it’s just natural to have pets in my mysteries. In the Jules Keene Glamping Mysteries, Bijou is a little Jack Russell, who is based on my dog Disney. She’s spunky and a ball of energy. The Delanie Fitzgerald Mysteries has Margaret Thatcher Reynolds, an English bulldog who has two speeds, slow and napping.

My Mermaid Bay Christmas Shoppe Mysteries features Chloe, a French bulldog, and her nemesis, store cat Neville the Devil cat. The pair who have a love/hate relationship are good company, and they’ve helped solve several mysteries in their quaint beach town. My new series, the Pearly Girl Mysteries (April 2024) has Elvis, a spunky Chihuahua. He may be small, but he’s a mighty defender of justice and an awesome squirrel chaser.

I am in good company with mysteries that showcase pet sidekicks. Here are the Writers Who Kill whose stories have furry and finned friends.

Sarah E. Burr’s Book Blogger Mysteries feature Winnie Lark and her fat, orange cat, Langdon. Her Glenmyre Whim Mysteries have Hazel Wickbury and her dog, Magnolia, and her cat, Bergamot.

Marilyn Levinson, who writes as Allison Brook, has Smoky Joe in her Haunted Library series. He’s the Clover Ridge library cat gray with a bushy tail (kinda like her own Romeo), and he actually belongs to Carrie, her sleuth. He has helped find a bag of diamonds and saved Carrie from a murderer’s clutches in another.

Korina Moss’s Cheese Shop Mystery series has Loretta, Willa’s judgy beta fish.

Susan Van Kirk’s Detective T. J. Sweeney in the Endurance Mysteries has a kitten named Eliot Ness, who’s the hero of Marry in Haste.

Grace Topping’s Laura Bishop Mystery series features Inky, a tiny black cat. Inky waits for Laura at home and gives her comfort after a trying day. She is an unusual cat in that she loves playing in water. So, an unattended basin of water is fair game for her. 

Molly MacRae writes about Ranger (a cairn terrier who makes a clever team with Rab MacGregor), Quantum (a brave and loyal smooth collie who belongs to Inspector Reddick), and Smirr and Butter (a large gray tom and a yellow kitten who belong to Janet and Tallie Marsh.) In her Haunted Yarn Shop Mysteries, there’s Argyle the cat who lives in the shop and can see and hear the ghost, and Bruce, the intrepid Scottie who belongs to fireman Al Rogalla.

Kait Carson has a rescue cat named Tiger in her Hayden Kent series, and her new series, set in Maine, features a large ginger cat named Jellyroll.

Lori Roberts Herbst, in her Callie Cassidy Mysteries, has a Golden Retriever named Woody and an Orange Tabby Cat named Carl. (You have to read her series to see who they are the namesakes of.)

Margaret S. Hamilton’s Jericho Mysteries feature three standard poodles, Tib or Thibodeaux, Boo or Boudreaux, and Pip or Pippa the alpha female.

In Debra H. Goldstein’s Sarah Blair Mysteries from Kensington, RahRah, the alpha Siamese cat is the star until a rescue dog comes along in Two Bites Too Many. The little dog is a fluffy mess. The pair live with Sarah, but everyone knows RahRah is in charge. 

Who is your favorite literary pet?

The Power of Pets by V. M. Burns

 Recently, I participated in a panel discussion with four other cozy authors. The moderator asked if we felt pets in cozy mysteries were an industry expectation or a reader expectation? If you’ve read any of my books, you already know that I love dogs, especially poodles. If in doubt, check out the covers of my Mystery Bookshop series. Those are my dogs (Coco and Cash). So, my inclusion of dogs in my books is because they are a big part of my life, not because the publishing industry expects cozy mysteries to include a pet. However, this question set my gears in motion.

There are quite a number of rules or expectations when it comes to cozy mysteries. Cozies typically feature a female protagonist who is an amateur sleuth. They are almost always set in a small town or village rather than big cities (although this is changing). Cozies can’t have graphic violence, explicit sex, or bad language. When I was discussing covers for my first book, The Plot is Murder, my editor asked for my ideas. To be completely honest, I didn’t have many ideas. I’m not good at covers or titles. I know what I like when I see it, but I’m not one of those authors who has a picture of their covers in their minds. I suggested books (it’s set in a bookstore) and maybe a dead body because…well, you know. This was my first rodeo, but thankfully, it wasn’t my publisher’s. My editor reached out and asked if I’d mind if they included my dogs. Apparently, the art department said that books with pets sell better. Imagine that. Who knew? Did I mind? Are you kidding? Of course not. Those are my fur babies. So, that’s how Coco and Cash (aka Snickers and Oreo) became the models on the covers of the series.

Over the years, I’ve gotten a lot of emails from readers who share pictures, comments, funny, and sad stories of their poodles (dogs, cats, birds, rabbits, etc.). That’s when I learned the power of pets. No one ever told me to include a pet in my books. Even when I was asked to write a second series, the topic of pets never came up. I chose to include dogs in my second series, Dog Club Mysteries, because I used to belong to a dog club and thought it would be fun. Did I mention that I love dogs? The idea of writing a cozy mystery that revolved around a dog club appealed to me because it would enable me to include lots of different breeds without the hassle or expense.

My current dogs, Kensington and Chloe are a part of my family. We’ve weathered a lot (especially over this past year). Based on the responses I hear from readers, pets are one thing that many people have in common. Regardless of race, age, or religion, humans share a bond with their pets. So, back to my panel discussion question. Are pets a reader expectation or an industry requirement? I don’t believe pets are a requirement for cozy mysteries. However, I do believe that pets have the power to bridge gaps and bring people together in books as well as in our real lives.

 

While visiting the land of Miss Marple and Sherlock Holmes, bookstore owner and amateur sleuth Samantha Washington finds herself on a tragical mystery tour . . .

Sam joins Nana Jo and her Shady Acres Retirement Village friends Irma, Dorothy, and Ruby Mae on a weeklong trip to London, England, to experience the Peabody Mystery Lovers Tour. The chance to see the sights and walk the streets that inspired Agatha Christie and Arthur Conan Doyle is a dream come true for Sam—and a perfect way to celebrate her new publishing contract as a mystery author.

But between visits to Jack the Ripper’s Whitechapel district and 221B Baker Street, Major Horace Peabody is found dead, supposedly of natural causes. Despite his employer’s unfortunate demise, the tour guide insists on keeping calm and carrying on—until another tourist on their trip also dies under mysterious circumstances. Now it’s up to Sam and the Shady Acres ladies to mix and mingle among their fellow mystery lovers, find a motive, and turn up a murderer . . .

Buy Links: Amazon, Apple, BAM, Bookshop.org, Google Play, Hudson, IndieBound, Kobo, Nook

About the author
V.M. (Valerie) Burns was born and raised in South Bend, Indiana. She is a member of Mystery Writers of America, Dog Writers Association of America, Thriller Writers International, and Sisters in Crime. V.M. Burns is the author of the Dog Club Mystery series, the RJ Franklin Mystery series, and the Agatha Award nominated author of Mystery Bookshop Mystery series. She currently resides in East Tennessee with her two poodles. Readers can keep up with new releases by following her on social media.

Bookbub: https://www.bookbub.com/authors/v-m-burns

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/vmburnsbooks/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/vmburnsbooks/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/vmburns

Website: vmburns.com

For Auld Lang Syne by Nancy Cole Silverman

I once heard what you do on New Year’s Day will reflect your fate for the following year.  That the first person to enter your home after the stroke of midnight will forecast the type of luck you’ll have, which may have something to do with why lovers kiss at midnight and friends gather together to bring in the New Year. For me, however, this year’s celebration is difficult, and I’ve rocks in my stomach as the new year approaches.

In December, I lost Cosette, one of my two standard poodles. For years, Cosette and Eponine, named for the two little girls in Les Miz, after all, they are French Poodles, have been my training wheels. They’ve balanced me. We’d go for our daily walks, and they’d sit in my office while I wrote. Occasionally, when I’d read my work aloud, one would look up, as though what I’d written had some sense of brilliance about it, then yawn and fall back into a gentle snooze.  Cozy and Eppy were my support, my peanut gallery, and in many, many ways my best friends. 

A writer needs friends like these. The demands of unfinished manuscripts frequently rob them of social engagements, missed phone calls with friends, and meals with family.  I am no different, except they were always there for me.  Chasing away my self-doubt, replacing the empty energy in my room with their constant presence, and occasional outburst when the postman would arrive.  But for everything, there is a season. Like the song, “Turn! Turn! Turn!” says, a time to every purpose under heaven.  And, as the year winds down I’m faced with the unhappy news that Eppy will soon join Cozy in a world I can only describe as an energy that I know surrounds me.

I felt that energy very strongly when the time came to visit the vet for the last time with Cozy and say goodbye.  I placed one hand gently on her heart and another on her head as she passed, and I felt her energy leave her body. The vet didn’t have to tell me she was gone.  I could feel her go and while there have been moments of sadness since, I know she is still with me. She has simply left her aged and pained body and now surrounds me in another form.

I tend to think of it like I do radio waves. Odd in that I spent twenty-five years in radio, and I find most of what I do or think about somehow relates to radio.  I still use it as the setting for my series with Henery Press today, and I can’t help but think that radio waves, that invisible frequency that man didn’t know much about until the mid-1800’s, has always been with us and always will. And because of that, I wonder, what other forms of energy surround us? What other dimensions can’t we see or hear, but only through faith, accept? 

I’m comfortable with that idea. And, as I write this, Eppy sits on my red couch.  Her health is failing, and I know that as the new year comes, so will change. Like I said, I’ve rocks in my stomach. The road I must cross is bumpy, but I’m thankful for the gifts they gave me and the times we’ve shared.  So this New Year’s Eve, I’ll keep them both in my heart and in doing so, know that they will both be with me in the new year. Like those invisible radio waves, they surround me and are with me always.

Nancy Cole Silverman says she has to credit her twenty-five years in radio for helping her to develop an ear for storytelling. In 2001 Silverman retired from news and copywriting to write fiction fulltime. In 2014, Silverman signed with Henery Press for her new mystery series, The Carol Childs’ Mysteries. The first of the series, Shadow of Doubt, debuted in December 2014 and the second, Beyond a Doubt, debuted July 2015. Coming soon, in 2016, is the third in the series, Without A Doubt. For more information visit www.nancycolesilverman.com

                              

The Year of the Sheep By Kait Carson

The Sheep ranks as one of the animals that people like most. It is gentle and calm. The cute creature often reminds people of beautiful things.

Starlight

This has been an awful year for pets. I lost my eldest cat, Starlight, on New Year’s Day. I posted my tragedy on Facebook. The feedback was amazing, including posts from others who had lost their pets recently or on the same day. A week later, a very good friend discovered his eldest dog had a serious kidney condition. The dog weakened and died in less than a week. Now my cat, Fred, has been diagnosed in kidney failure. He has 20% kidney function and his bone marrow is not producing new red cells. As a result, we are infusing him daily, and I am giving him three injections a week of EPO (yep the same stuff that cost Lance Armstrong his titles). So far, Fred is responding well, is much more active, and is getting his pink nose back. What is not happening is an increase in his kidney function, so it’s still a matter of time.

Why this tale of woe. I mean, really, I can whine in private. Well, it’s because there is a flip side to this. What you may not know is that once upon a time, I was president of PAWS Animal Welfare Society an animal rescue organization in Fort Kent, Maine. Our mission extended only to cats; we did not have the facilities for dogs. Our lack led us to work closely with local Humane Societies, one of which was Holton Humane Society. For the past year, I’ve been reading about Emerson, the Cat with Heart. Here is his Facebook page Emerson the Cat. When the stories first started, I had no idea who Emerson was, or why he had heart. I thought he was more myth than real. An invention of cyberland. I was shocked to discover that not only was Emerson real, he was injured, saved, and rehabilitated in my old neck of the woods.

Those are the stories that keep us rescuers going. The success stories. Holton Humane has limited resources, all non-profits do. But they went the extra yard and saved a cat that they knew would never bring in an adoption fee. I doubt they expected his story to go viral, but I’m glad it did. It calls attention to why Humane Societies exist. First and foremost, they are all about the animals. They bring kindness, love, and hope to animals that have experienced harshness at the hands of humans. What is most amazing is that these animals do not hold grudges against the race that caused them so much harm. Instead, they repay the cruelty with unconditional love.

 

All of my cats are/were rescues. Star, dumped in my yard. Hutch, left in a sewer just before a tropical storm was due. (In the service of full disclosure, Hutch’s mother may have moved her kittens into the storm sewer, he was found with his brother and sister, none of whom had their eyes open yet.) Missy, we found her when she was eating the squirrel food we put on top of a snowdrift on our back porch during the year of the 200 inch snowfall. Fred, from PAWS, had been picked up by the animal control officer in Quimby and would have been destroyed if PAWS didn’t take him. Zoe was dropped off at our vet’s by her owner’s mother. They didn’t want her anymore, they wanted the dog they just bought. She had dog bite marks on her neck and her medical record read, “euthanasia tomorrow.” Jenny, Piper, and Cub were abandoned in our yard late at night. Jenny is the mother cat, Piper and Cub her kittens. Smokey, now deceased, was abandoned in Arizona by his owner when she moved. He was under the porch steps in 110 degree heat. Elvis, also deceased, found my husband in New Hampshire. He was starving and found to have an acute, but treatable, thyroid condition common to elder cats. Each has brought a special richness to my life. (photos of all are on my FB page: Kait Carson)

Elvis

What about you? Do you share your life with a critter? How did you acquire him/her and what does the pet mean to you?