Silence of the Lamb’s Wool and A Cat’s Tale {+ Giveaway}

I’m delighted to welcome author Betty Hechtman here today to celebrate the release of SILENCE OF THE LAMB’S WOOL, the second installment in her Yarn Retreat Mystery series that hit bookstores yesterday.

As part of the celebration, Betty is joining us to talk about ‘A Cat’s Tale.’ In addition, thanks to Betty and the lovely Danielle at Penguin Group, I have a print copy of SILENCE OF THE LAMB’S WOOL to giveaway to a lucky visitor. Please see the end of the post for the giveaway details.

Here’s a brief synopsis of this cozy murder mystery (which also includes a knitting pattern and a recipe):

Dessert chef Casey Feldstein has learned one end of a knitting needle from the other after inheriting her aunt’s yarn retreat business, but a murder threatens to unravel her latest event . . . . .

      Casey’s running a new retreat called “From Sheep to Shawl” at a resort on the atmospheric Monterey Peninsula. Participants will learn about sheepshearing, fixing up the fleece, and spinning, and will eventually knit a lovely shawl.
      Nicole Welton has been hired to teach the fleece-to-fiber portion of the retreat. She’s an expert spinner, and her small shop in Cadbury by the Sea houses a beautiful assortment of spinning wheels and drop spindles. But when the new teacher fails to show up for class and is found lying dead on the boardwalk, it leaves everyone’s nerves frayed.
      Now Casey has to knit together clues faster than she can count stitches before someone else at the retreat gets dropped . . . 

Please join me in welcoming Betty as she talks about ‘A Cat’s Tale.’

People often wonder where I get the idea for characters. Well, when it comes to the animals in my books, they are all based on real life ones.

The black cat on the cover of SILENCE OF THE LAMB’S WOOL is based on a cat who lives down the street, but considers the whole street his domain. Including my yard. Almost my house. The first time I met him, he was on our front porch preparing to come on inside. If he’d been a stray I would have invited him in and let him join the family, but he was wearing a name tag which proclaimed that his name was Julius.

When I decided I was going to put a cat in YARN TO GO, I knew I was going to base it on Julius. I even kept his name since it seemed to have so much personality. He’s a sleek black cat with arresting yellow eyes. He has so much presence it doesn’t seem to matter that he is on the small side. Whenever I encounter him on the street, he saunters past with frequent stops to give me the once over with those eyes.

The fictional version of Julius is a little different. In the books, he’s a stray who chooses Casey Feldstein as his human. He also seems to take pleasure in annoying the manager of Vista Del Mar, the hotel and conference center where Casey puts on the Yarn Retreats by wandering around the grounds.

Casey has never had a cat and it’s all a new experience for her. In SILENCE OF THE LAMB’S WOOL, Julius is doing his best to train Casey in how to live with a cat. Actually she’s a little worried about having a pet since she has a reputation of not sticking with people or jobs. But Julius makes his way into her heart and she realizes that no matter where she goes, he’s going to come with her.

I’m pretty sure the real Julius runs the show at his house, too. He lives with a corgi named Pepper. They are Queen Elizabeth’s favorite kind of dog and have bulky bodies and little short legs. Every now and then I see the man down the street walking the corgi on a leash. And there scampering along behind them is Julius, free to make side trips in everybody’s yard. It’s my favorite image of him and I hope to be able to work that scene into a future book.

Betty, thanks for joining us and sharing this insight into Julius. It’s wonderful that you based your character cat on a real one. And the real one sounds impressive.
Now let me share a bit of background on Betty.

SILENCE OF THE LAMB’S WOOL is the second book in the national bestselling Yarn Retreat series that features dessert chef Casey Feldstein who puts on yarn retreats at a slightly sinister hotel and conference center on California’s Monterey peninsula.

Betty Hechtman also writes the national bestselling Crochet mystery series. All books in both series include patterns and recipes. She says it is like a dream come true to be able mix her love of mystery with her love of making things.

She grew up in Chicago and has a degree in Fine Art. In addition she has studied everything from improv comedy to magic. She has written newspaper and magazine pieces, short stories and scripts. She lives in Southern California and Chicago and has yarn stashes in both cities.

For more on Betty and her writing, visit her website, connect with her on Facebook, and she also blogs at Killer Hobbies. 

GIVEAWAY DETAILS:

This giveaway is for one print copy of SILENCE OF THE LAMB’S WOOL. The giveaway is open to U.S. residents only and will end Wednesday, July 9. 

To enter, just click on the Rafflecopter widget below and following the instructions. The widget may take a few seconds to load, so please be patient. The winner from this giveaway will have 72 hours to respond after being contacted or another winner will be selected. The email will have ‘Thoughts in Progress Betty Hechtman’s Tour’ in the subject line, just so you know what to watch for (in case it goes into your spam folder).

Thanks so much for visiting today. Do you enjoy cozy mysteries that include pets, especially cats? 

*This post contains affiliate links. a Rafflecopter giveaway