Meet Smokey and Autumn Amelia by Eileen O'Finlan

 

                           

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All in the Furry Family, Book 2 in the Cat Tales series is scheduled for release in February. The main characters of the series are two sister cats, Smokey and Autumn Amelia. For those who have read the first book. All the Furs and Feathers, this is a refresher and for those who haven't read it, an introduction.

Smokerina "Smokey" Koshkyn:

Smokey is the elder of the two Koshkyn sisters. She is a Russian Blue cat, taking after her father's side of the family. Smokey is an architect employed by Fluffington ArCATechure, a highly successful business owned by Abigail Fluffington. Her best friend is Jasmine, also a Russian Blue and a web designer.

Coloration: Solid bluish gray

Strengths: Highly competent at her job and most other things, self-confident, formerly a superb mouser

Weakness: Terrified of coyotes
Quirks: She gets the zoomies about an hour before a storm and when excited. If it happens at work, she has to go to the basement to keep from zooming around the office.

Regrets: She feels responsible for making Autumn Amelia believe she's not a real cat.

Autumn Amelia Koshkyn:

Autumn Amelia is Smokey's younger sister. She's a calico Maine coon like their mother. Autumn is a baker and chef. In All the Furs and Feathers she works from home for Furry Confections, a bakery owned by Tabby Furry.

Coloration: Calico - white, burnt orange, and various shades of gray

Strengths: She is a culinary genius. Her lovable personality naturally brings furs and feather together.

Weaknesses: An overload of odd quirks and the fact that she's not sure she's a real cat because she's never caught a mouse.

Quirks: She snacks without realizing it while she's cooking because it gives her inspiration for new recipes. She can't go to restaurants because the aromas put her into a trance-like state that makes her take food from waiters' trays or other patrons' plates without knowing she's doing it. More than once, she's found herself in a restaurant's kitchen improving their recipes. She has a secret fantasy about being the Pirate Queen of the High Seas.

Regrets: She has never caught a mouse, not that she'd know what to do with it if she did catch one.

The characters Smokey and Autumn Amelia were inspired by my own cats of the same names. Sadly, the real Smokey went to the Rainbow Bridge a few years ago. Autumn Amelia, though getting on in years, still lives with me. She does not cook, but she does like to eat.

The real Smokey and Autumn Amelia

Writing in Multiple Genres by Eileen O'Finlan

 

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I've heard it said that writers should only write in one genre. Why? I read and enjoy more than one genre. Why shouldn't I write in more than one? For me (and, I dare say, for most writers) characters and story ideas pop up in my head unexpectedly. I can't help what genre they fall into.

Though I began my writing career with historical fiction and that will probably constitute the bulk of my writing when all's said and done, sometimes the characters who visit my head are not historical. Sometimes they're not even human. Take for example, my newest release, All the Furs and Feathers, the first book in the Cat Tales series. Though the animals in this book are highly anthropomorphized, not a single human is in the story. Nor are any mentioned. For the animals of All the Furs and Feathers, humans don't even exist. Obviously, this is not historical fiction. It's fantasy. Not the epic sort of Lord of the Rings, but the cozy sort. I couldn't anymore banish the characters in it from my head than I could banish those in my historical novels.

So what's yet to come? Definitely more historical fiction. There's one in the works right now and another taking shape in my mind. As for fantasy, there will be more of the Cat Tales series to come, but there may be others as well. A few months ago I awoke from a dream that featured characters I haven't been able to get out of my thoughts ever since. I picture them in period clothing, but they live in a world that does not and never has existed. Fantasy!

The parade of characters that march through my mind on a regular basis range from historical to fantastical to contemporary. So for the moment, historical fiction and cozy fantasy are my focus. What else may come depends upon my cerebral visitors and how insistant they are about their stories being told.

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