Tuesday, August 24, 2010

A Cat Called Buick

I’m often asked if the characters and situations in my books are based on real people and the answer to that is simple. No. That little blurb on the copyright page—the one that begins with “This is a work of fiction”—is completely accurate and true.

That’s not to say I’m not inspired by the things I see and hear. If you read my July release, Firefighter Daddy, you’ll remember that the heroine, Rory, has a black and white cat named Buick.

I’ve never met a cat called Buick, but years ago I knew someone who had a cat named Evenrude. He didn’t purr quite as loud as a boat motor, but he was loud! However, Evenrude was a tabby, not a tuxedo cat.

More recently my neighbor had a black and white cat named Pete. Here’s a picture of Pete, taken one Hallowe’en on my neighbor’s front steps.

My family loved Pete, so when we decided to get a cat of our own, we fell in love with this black-and-white beauty. Her name is Imilie.

I guess you could say the cat in Firefighter Daddy is three real-life cats—Evenrude, Pete and Imilie—rolled into one. However, his name, Buick, came entirely out of my imagination and if you want to find out where that came from, well, you’ll have to read the book.

As an aside, and so as not to cause any hard feelings between the two felines who rule the roost at my house, here’s a photo of Lucy, our other cat.

Lucy hopes to inspire a story someday, too.

Until next time,
Lee

PS: Firefighter Daddy is available at eHarlequin.com, Amazon.com, and in Canada at Chapters.ca.

10 comments:

Rachel said...

"Lucy hopes to inspire a story someday, too."

What an adorable photo! I vote that Lucy gets a story very soon. Maybe the next book? Hint, hint.

Lee McKenzie said...

Thanks, Rachel! Lucy's interest in the rubber duckie cracked us up!

In my next book, The Wedding Bargain, one of the secondary characters has a little bijon frise.

I usually don't start the story thinking there'll be a pet so it's interesting to see how often one shows up ;)

Ros said...

Our dog's name was Dodge. We never knew what inspired his previous owners to name him that, but perhaps it was the same thing that inspired Rory. ;)

Love, love, love the photo of Lucy. That could be a poster or greeting card or something!

Estella said...

I love books with animals in them.
Lost my tuxedo cat to cancer a couple of months ago.

Lee McKenzie said...

LOL, Ros! Dodge is a great name for a dog.

I hadn't thought of Lucy's pic as a greeting card but now that you mention it, it probably would!

Lee McKenzie said...

Oh, Estella. I'm so sorry. Losing a pet leaves a big hole in our homes and our hearts.

I also love books with animals. Love to write themm, too!

Sharon Ashwood said...

Nice pictures! I'm afraid one of my cats always runs from the camera. I have a series of blurs and tips of tails.

The other one, however, is a complete ham!

Lee McKenzie said...

Sharon, I've met cats who love to ham it up for guests as well ;)

Amazingrose said...

Love the pics, i love animals especially dog and cats. But its a pity i can't own a cat cause am allergic to cats. I got sinus.

Lee McKenzie said...

Amazingrose, my house would be filled with animals and I would especially like to have a dog, but my family keeps insisting that two cats are enough!