Books, More Books, and Cats

Hi, my name is Tyanne Clark and I’m addicted to books. The affliction, if you want to call it that, began way back when I was a little girl. Same with cats. I couldn’t be happier than when I’m surrounded by piles of books and with a purring cat or two by my side. 

I own Knead to Read, the independent bookstore in Lavender, Texas, and my bookstore mascots are Zelda, a fluffy orange cat, and Willis, a very handsome tabby. Having them there with me in the store makes my working life just about perfect.

Lavender has a small population, but what we lack in local resident population we gain from the Hill Country tourist industry. Plenty of tourists buy books when they’re on vacation. I won’t become a millionaire running this place, but it’s what I love.

I’m so happy that my BFF, Sabrina Tate, finally decided to make the move from Houston to Lavender.  We spent summers together when we were girls and have stayed close ever since. Sabrina wasn’t happy in the city and especially not working for that law firm or that woman who bossed her around and expected her to work nights and weekends. Life’s too short for that kind of nonsense.  Sabrina’s a book person, too, always has been. Not only does she love to read and discuss books with me, but she’s truly an excellent writer. Even better since she adopted her black cat Hitchcock. You can’t have a name like his without having some suspense in your life, and his happens on the pages of Sabrina’s novels. I can’t wait until Sabrina’s a published author and I can sell her very own books in my store. You might say I’ve been looking forward to that ever since I met her.

Yes, I’m a bit of a nag when it comes to pushing Sabrina on the writing, but I’m not sure where she’d be if I didn’t. Everybody needs a little gentle shove in the right direction now and then, don’t they? And she really does appreciate it, even if she pretends that I aggravate her. She does appreciate it, right?  Well, even if I do get on her nerves, her new agent is happy, and her prospective publisher is happy, and just think about all of the happy and excited readers she’ll have when that book – or should I have books, cause I know she’ll write one after another if I can only keep prodding her in the right direction – hits the shelves.  I, for one, can’t wait!

You’ll see what I’m talking about when I say Sabrina needs a prod in the right direction when you read about her adventures in Black Cat Crossing and The Black Cat Knocks on Wood. She not only writes mysteries, but she seems to have a knack for landing right in the middle of them. More fodder for her own mystery plots, I say.

Kay Finch grew up on a Pennsylvania farm, but she moved to Texas and discovered her favorite vacation spot, the Texas Hill Country. Kay is the author of the Bad Luck Cat Mysteries, including Black Cat Crossing and The Black Cat Knocks on Wood. She’s a member of Mystery Writers of America, Sisters in Crime, and the State Bar of Texas Paralegal Division. Kay lives with her husband, a rescue cat, and two wild and crazy rescue dogs in a Houston suburb. Visit the author at kayfinch.com.