The Chase is on with Fat Cat at Large & Janet Cantrell

Get Lost in a Story Readers, if you love recipes and love cats as well, you’re going to love Janet Cantrell’s new series.  Please welcome Janet, author of FAT CAT AT LARGE!

ABOUT FAT CAT AT LARGE . . . .

When she’s not dreaming up irresistible dessert bars for her Minneapolis treatery, Bar None, Charity “Chase” Oliver is running after her cat, Quincy—a tubby tabby with a gift for sniffing out edibles. But what happens when this cat burglar leads Chase to the scene of a real crime?

The jig is up for Chase’s adorable plus-size cat, Quincy. His new vet says “diet”—that means no more cherry cheesecake bars. From now on he gets low-calorie kibble only. But one taste of the stuff is all it takes to drive him in search of better things. Quincy’s escape is the last thing Chase needs after the nasty run-in she has with underhanded business rival Gabe Naughtly.

Chase tracks Quincy down in a neighbor’s kitchen, where he’s devouring a meatloaf, unaware of the much more serious crime he’s stumbled upon.

Gabe’s corpse is lying on the kitchen floor, and when Chase is discovered at the murder scene, she becomes suspect number one. Now, with a little help from her friends—both human and feline—she’ll have to catch the real killer or wind up behind bars that aren’t so sweet.

Includes recipes for people and cats!

How can we resist THAT blurb.  Now, let's learn about Janet Cantrell

DONNELL:  Hi, Janet:  You’re no doubt a cat lover.  When I read your blurb, I had visions of a fat, That Darn Cat.  Do you remember that movie?  Tell us what inspired Fat Cats at Large.

JANET: My own Agamemnon, a rescued feral cat, all black, is my inspiration for Quincy and his antics. That little guy was as smart as could be. He would hook one claw over the lip of a glass, preferably a full one. Then he’s slowly tip it. Just before it went over, he would dash out of the way. He never got a drop on himself, but he soaked many couches, chairs, and rugs. He also put on some heft in his old age and had to go on insulin the last year or so. The world is a duller place without him.

DONNELL:  Love your protagonist’s nickname, a perfect name for an amateur sleuth.  I take it Fat Cat at Large is a cozy mystery?  And with names like Gabe Naughtly, I take it humor is involved?

JANET:  Absolutely! I love naming characters and like to put something about them into their names. I’ve made a habit of jotting down interesting ones when I see or hear them. Sometimes, changing one letter makes the name perfect.

DONNELL:  Obviously Chase is partial to cats, but is there a potential love interest for Chase in Fat Cat at Large?

JANET:  By the end of the book, she’s interested in a couple of men. In the very first chapter, she’s smitten by the vet Quincy is seeing. Sort of. The other guy, a handsome homicide detective with dark blue eyes, comes in later.

DONNELL:  I love books that provide recipes.  Are you a great cook, and are you saying you’ll provide recipes for cats as well?

 JANET: I’m not a good cook at all! But I do love baking. I’ve had a lot of fun bringing in different versions of dessert bar recipes to my church choir for them to sample. They’re very willing to tell me which recipe is best. It’s taken a bit of research, though, to provide the healthy cat treat recipes. Cats have dietary requirements—lots of things they should and should not have.

 DONNELL:  The book is set in Minneapolis.  What’s a Texas girl like you placing a book like this in Minneapolis?

JANET: I was a Texas girl for quite a few years, due to Hubby’s employment, but we’ve now relocated to Tennessee. Like Johnny Cash, I’ve been everywhere. We lived in Minnetonka, near Minneapolis, for three and a half years. I love that part of the country and it’s a joy to be writing about it.

DONNELL:  Obviously mystery authors have to research.  What’s the most interesting/unusual thing you’ve discovered doing research?

JANET: So far, in this series, it’s been the history of butter sculpture, which I researched for Fat Cat Spreads Out, the second book, due out in June of 2015. Did you know that butter sculpture is an ancient Tibetan art form?

DONNELL:  If you’re not writing or cooking, where will we find you?

JANET: Sometimes playing, listening to, or writing music. Doing some hiking. Playing with and entertaining grandkids. Even sometimes working in the yard.

DONNELL:  You also write under another name.  Tell us about your alter-ego, Kaye George.  How are the two of you different, and why two names?

JANET: Kaye George has written lots of stuff over the years. Janet Cantrell is a pen name for this series only. Fat Cat is the only true cozy series I’ve attempted. Kaye George had three other series and some short stories to her credit.

DONNELL:  If you could meet anyone, living or dead, who would it be and why?

JANET: I’ll have to switch to being Kaye George for this because I would love to time travel back about forty thousand years or so and meet a real live Neanderthal. I could check on what I got right and what I didn’t in the Neanderthal People of the Wind series.

DONNELL:  Janet, now it’s your turn.  Time to ask the readers a question.  And here you can list whether or not you’ll do a giveaway.  (note not every author does.) Yes to the giveaway.

 JANET WANTS TO KNOW:  I write several different types of stories and books and love to read fiction as well as true crime and biography. How many different kinds of books do you read? Fiction only, or non-fiction, too?

Thanks for being our guest today, Janet.  Interested in learning more about Janet/Kaye?  Check out these links.

http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/fat-cat-at-large-janet-cantrell/1118663280?ean=9780425267424

http://www.amazon.com/Fat-Cat-At-Large-Mystery/dp/0425267423/

Kaye George/Janet Cantrell~~

National bestselling author of the FAT CAT series~~ Agatha Nominee & Silver Falchion Finalist~~ http://kayegeorge.com/ Want my newsletter? Email me and I'll put you on the list.