Кэрол Дуглас - Cat In An Alphabet Endgame

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E-mail: cdouglas@catwriter.com

Tailpiece

Carole Nelson Douglas on Getting There

and Back Again

Well, who thought we’d all live this long?

This is the 28th and final title in Midnight Louie’s alphabet mystery series.

Back in 1994, after writing the first two Midnight Louie mysteries, I knew I could not abandon this charming, swaggering, politically incorrect big guy of a stray cat.

So I committed to an “alphabet” title series that would eventually expand to 28 titles. What a rash leap of faith. There was no guarantee that publishers or sales would keep the series (or me) going that long, twenty-four years.

The thick and thin of the publishing industry is legendary, but Louie and I are both stubborn survivors, and I knew that Louie had “legs”. And, thanks to the support of readers expressing love and support from the days of notes and letters to thousands of emails, we made it through.

I “met” Midnight Louie in a newspaper feature I wrote in 1973 about a homeless black motel cat a woman flew two thousand miles home to rescue. The lodgers called him Midnight Louie and he lived off the motel’s expensive koi fish and the kindness of strangers. A trip from the fish pond to the pound’s Death Row was imminent. As a newspaper reporter, I was intrigued when the woman wrote a three-inch-long Classified ad that cost $30 to give him to the “right” home for a dollar. I defied journalistic custom to let him tell his story in his own words.

And he paid me back when I decided to make him a self-appointed Las Vegas PI whose narrative first-furperson chapters framed an innovative four-book “miniseries” inside a category romance line. That started a miniseries trend for trilogies and linked books that spread like wildfire through the many romance lines then, propelling many superstar careers of this day.

Not Louie and me. The editor “gave” the idea to the “real” romance writers she was pushing and kept us from publication for four years, then drastically cut the four books to fit into two volumes and buried them on the publisher’s list. Being done wrong only drove this twenty-pound, hard-boiled, alley-cat charmer into the mystery genre. That’s why I call him “Muscle in Midnight Black”. Louie’s adventures account for 32 of my 63 published novels and he stars in several short stories to boot, including an appearance with Sherlock Holmes and Irene Adler.

As for Louie and me now, we’re looking forward to exploring a reimagined world where the familiar remains in place, but fascinating new characters and cases enter stage left, and right. Even Louie can’t reinvent himself single-handedly for such a long-lasting career. Only readers can do that. Thank you all for your support of the journey Louie and associates and I have made in the best of company, you.

Also by Carole Nelson Douglas

“Her fine Sherlockian novels and her Midnight Louie books have turned her into a genuine mystery star. Pick one up and you’ll see why.” —Ed Gorman, Mystery Scene magazine

“ To paraphrase the COOL CAT DETECTIVE who stars in this scintillating new mystery series, Carole Nelson Douglas is on a roll. After garnering considerable acclaim for her delicious Irene Adler historical adventures, Ms. D. reveals yet another brilliant facet of her amazing versatility in these equally delightful contemporary puzzlers.” — Melinda Helfer, RT Book Reviews

The MIDNIGHT LOUIE Feline PI series in eBook and print

Cat in an Alphabet Soup… Cat in an Aqua Storm… Cat on a Blue Monday… Cat in a Crimson Haze… Cat in a Diamond Dazzle… Cat with an Emerald Eye… Cat in a Flamingo Fedora… Cat in a Golden Garland… Cat on a Hyacinth Hunt: Cat in an Indigo Mood… Cat in a Jeweled Jumpsuit… Cat in a Kiwi Con… Cat in a Leopard Spot… Cat in a Midnight Choir… Cat in a Neon Nightmare… Cat in an Orange Twist… Cat in a Hot Pink Pursuit… Cat in a Quicksilver Caper…Cat in a Red Hot Rage… Cat in a Sapphire Slipper… Cat in a Topaz Tango… Cat in an Ultramarine Scheme… Cat in a Vegas Gold Vendetta… Cat in a White Tie and Tails… Cat in an Alien X-Ray… Cat in a Yellow Spotlight… Cat in a Zebra Zoot Suit…

Cat in an Alphabet Endgame

Enjoy Sherlock Holmes, historical mystery, and adventure? Try the globe-trotting New York Times Notable IRENE ADLER Series featuring the only woman to outwit Holmes doing it again…

Good Night, Mr. Holmes

The Adventuress [previously Good Morning, Irene ]

A Soul of Steel [previously Irene at Large ]

Another Scandal in Bohemia [previously Irene’s Last Waltz ]

Chapel Noir and Castle Rouge: The Jack the Ripper duology

Femme Fatale

Spider Dance

Urban fantasy your favorite flavor of fiction?

You might want to join DELILAH STREET, Paranormal Investigator, rounding up romance and rogue supernaturals in post-monster apocalypse Sin City

(See the Delilah titles’ namesake cocktail recipes)

Dancing with Werewolves

Brimstone Kiss

Vampire Sunrise

Silver Zombie

Virtual Virgin

Neon Noir [5-story anthology]

Stories and Novellas in eBook

Alice Holds the Cards

Fruit of the Tomb [Louie]

Monster Mash [Delilah]

Once Upon a Midnight Noir [3 stories, also in print]

The Private Wife of Sherlock Holmes [Irene Adler]

Christmas Stories

The Rakehell’s Christmas Angel

Scrogged: A Cyber Christmas Carol

A Wall Street Christmas Carol [including SCROGGED]

Cat in an Alphabet Endgame

Digital edition August 2016

Wishlist Publishing

Digital ISBN-13: 978-1-943175-07-9

ISBN-10: 1943175071

First ebook edition Copyright © 2016 Carole Nelson Douglas

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including photocopying, recording or by any information storage and retrieval system, without the express and prior written permission of the copyright holder. This novel is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or, if real, are used fictitiously.

This book is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. Please purchase only authorized electronic editions and refuse to participate in or encourage the electronic piracy of copyrighted materials. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

Midnight Louie III cat in window image Copyright © Carole Nelson Douglas

Cover image Copyright © iStock.com

Cover and interior book design Copyright © Carole Nelson Douglas

Author photo Copyright © Sam Douglas

Digital formatting by Author E.M.S.

A Wishlist Book

http://www.wishlistpublishing.com