25
May 14

Romance-Mystery Writer, Karen Rose Smith

meandzoiekaren

Today we have a guest post from a prolific romance and cozy mystery writer, Karen Rose Smith. Karen is also an animal lover.

Caprice De Luca, home-stager extraordinaire, loves her big Italian family--parents, two sisters, brother and Nana. She likes to cook, wears vintage fashion and is a retro music fan. But most of all, she is an animal lover.

There's a lot of me in Caprice. But never more so than when she's taking care of stray animals and finding them homes. Thirteen years ago, I brought home a very sick black kitten from a friend's family farm. Ebbie and I bonded those first nights when I stayed up with her, applying acupressure to her sinuses so she could breathe. She's been my constant companion ever since, more like a sister than a pet. When we brought her half-sister London home to live with us a few months later, my husband and I thought two cats were enough!

Then two summers ago, we found Zoie Joy in a bush in our backyard. The temperature was 100 degrees. She was dehydrated, starved and needed love and care. She weighed 1½ pounds. She's the baby of the house and lives up to her middle name every day. Because I worried about her mom in that big world without care, we> began leaving food in feral feeders. That brought a sweet yellow tabby to our door who needed love, care, and medical assistance. Lance was only with us a short while, but he wrapped himself around our hearts and gave us an appreciation for living each day to its fullest.

Animals are part of what I write because they're a huge part of my life. I care for them, but they care for me too. Their unconditional love and affection brightens my days and brings comfort when arthritis pain keeps me awake at night.

After writing romance for over twenty years, I'm enjoying branching out into mystery where I can delve into everyone's relationships as well as create an intriguing puzzle. Including my love of animals into my storylines invests my heart in an integral way that I believe brings a core honesty to my novels. In STAGED TO DEATH, the first Caprice De Luca mystery, you will meet her long haired calico cat Sophia and Dylan--a stray part Shiztu and part Pomeranian who is adopted by Caprice's best friend. Two yellow tabby kittens also make an appearance. In DEADLY DECOR—book 2, Caprice takes in a pregnant stray cocker spaniel. In book 3, GILT BY ASSOCIATION—February 2015—you'll meet Lady, a cocker who becomes Caprice's sidekick, as well as Valentine—a gray tabby kitten she finds on a cold winter night in her backyard.

I love to hear about animal rescue stories. You can share them with me anytime on my Facebook page KarenRoseSmithBooks, on Twitter @karenrosesmith or through email at my websites www.karenrosesmithmysteries.com and www.karenrosesmith.com.

STAGED TO DEATH is available on Amazon and on Barnes and Noble

DEADLY DECOR will be released on June 3. You can pre-order a copy on Amazon or on Barnes and Noble

4 Responses for "Romance-Mystery Writer, Karen Rose Smith"

  1. Cindy Sample says:

    Hi Karen. I think cat lovers are the best cozy writers. I've had several rescue cats, my latest is also a Zoey, although I named her Zoey from the Bronx. She's orange and 15 lbs. and nobody messes with her, including me!

    I've been meaning to buy the first book in your series so this was the perfect nudge. It sounds terrific.

  2. Cindy--Thanks for stopping by and sharing. I named Zoie after a character in one of my books who ran away to find her bliss. I guess we are Zoie's bliss! It sounds as though your Zoey rules the roost as ours does even though she's the baby.

    Have a wonderful holiday.

    Karen

  3. Sandra Trezise says:

    Another cat lover. Interesting info.

Leave a Reply