The Question We All Must Face

"You don't really need to work..."

HANK PHILLIPPI RYAN:  May I introduce to you: Leon. Leon has never been on Jungle Red before. When I was living in Atlanta, a million years ago, I found Leon while I was out running. (On Ponce de Leon Avenue.) He was being tormented by some stupid kids, and I stopped and said--hey! Is that your kitten?

They said no.

I said--well, I'm taking him. I whisked him off to my apartment, where my tortoiseshell cat Lola immediately became furious, ran into the bedroom, and skooshed her body into an empty shoe box. 

I told Leon I could not possibly have two cats, and he was going to the humane society,but he didn’t listen. He did everything but sing and dance until I agree to let him stay.

Lola and Leon lived together for 14 years, and never said a word to each other. This was one of Leon’s favorite places. (You can see by the computer how long ago it was.)

generic pets but you get the picture

Can pets co-exist? What if they are different species? And what is your answer to –as Edgar nominee Steve Ulfelder puts it—The Question We All Must Face?

 What’s Reigning: Cats or Dogs?

            By Steve Ulfelder

You don’t need me to tell you house pets have an honored place in crime fiction. Cats and dogs are so beloved and talented that these days, they’re as likely to narrate the stories and solve the crimes as they are to cough up a hairball or have an accident on the rug. Laura Lippman, Robert B. Parker, Clea Simon, Spencer Quinn, and of course Lillian Jackson Braun are just some of the authors who’ve used quadrupeds to good effect.

In my series, though, I find myself at a risky crossroads: Conway Sax, my tough-guy hero (a former NASCAR racer who solves cases for his fellow recovering alcoholics), appears to be transitioning from a cat guy to a dog guy.

Why? Well, let’s not beat around the bush: because I find myself making the same transition.

When I began writing Conway in 2007, I had three cats (I’m down to one due to old age and a coyote, sad to say). I loved them all dearly; until very recently, had you asked me the Question We All Must Face (Are you a cat person or a dog person? No equivocating!), I would confidently have said cats. So it made sense to soften up and humanize Conway, who can be pretty brutal, with a pair of black-and-white housecats named Dale and Davey (as in Earnhardt Sr. and Allison—Conway names his pets after race drivers).

This worked just fine, with Dale and Davey becoming beloved characters. But then I hauled off and adopted Bonneville (usually known as Bonnie), a retired racing greyhound.

Uh-oh.

I have flipped for this dog, and for greyhounds in general. Here’s a piece I wrote about Bonnie for Crimespree Magazine: http://crimespreemag.com/pet-spotlight-bonnies-scars-by-steve-ulflder/. Here is her Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/bonnie.ulfelder?fref=ts&ref=br_tf. Here’s her Twitter account: https://twitter.com/CatysGaleForce.

Have I gone overboard? Yup.

Is it just a matter of time before I adopt another grey? Yup.

With this backdrop, you’ll be unsurprised to hear that while Conway retains his cats, greyhounds poke their pointy snouts into book four in the series, Wolverine Bros. Freight & Storage. A pair of greys named Dandy and Cha Cha make their goofy debut in this story, and while they belong to another character, there are hints that Conway will become their eventual caretaker.

What do you think, Reds and readers: Can a pair of retired greyhounds coexist with a pair of housecats in the same series, or am I setting myself up for disaster? At the very least, must I find Conway a love interest who owns a kennel?

Also, who are some of your favorite four-legged characters in mysteries?

HANK: Great question! And I cannot wait to hear your answers.

(And of course--a copy of WOLVERINE BROTHERS to one lucky commenter!)

And the winner of Katherine Hall Page's SMALL PLATES is  Brenda Buchanan! Email me your address...

TOMORROW ON JUNGLE RED: Ghosts.

**********************

Steve Ulfelder is the Edgar finalist author of four mysteries featuring big-hearted former NASCAR driver Conway Sax. Steve also co-owns Flatout Motorsports Inc., a Massachusetts company that builds race cars, and is an avid race driver himself. Visit him at www.ulfelder.com.

In WOLVERINE BROS. FREIGHT & STORAGE, Conway Sax is a man on a mission—this time in Los Angeles, where he uses his race-driving experience in a desperate bid to rescue Kenny Spoon, a washed-up TV star who’s been kidnapped. It’s a favor for Kenny’s mother Eudora, Conway’s dear friend and a fellow member of his tight-knit AA group.

When he returns to Massachusetts, Conway finds himself caught between Eudora and her two sons: Kenny, and Harmon, a cop who resents his talented, troubled half-brother. Each member of the Spoon family distrusts the others, it seems … and each has a past full of dark secrets that may explain why.

While Conway tries to learn why Kenny was kidnapped and protect him from further harm, a shocking murder devastates this complex, all-too-human family. Conway vows to find the killer and avenge the death, but each clue only points to more suspects.

It's an Honor to be Nominated by Steve Ulfelder

 LUCY BURDETTE: We writers have some really special moments and one of them is getting nominated for an award. (Right now, Hallie's book COME AND FIND ME is nominated for the Mary HIggins Clark award, and Rhy's NAUGHTY IN NICE is nominated for a Malice Domestic's Agatha award for best historical novel, and my story "The Itinerary" is nominated for an Agatha for best short story.) One of our good New England friends has a book nominated for an Edgar best first novel--as you've heard in other blog posts, we'd all kill for to land an Edgar. Instead of wallowing in envy, we're so thrilled for Steve. And as he's going to tell us, there's nothing better than the days and weeks before the winner is announced.

STEVE ULFELDER: While waiting for a panel at Bouchercon 2011 in St. Louis, I struck up a conversation with a guy who looked even more overwhelmed than I was by the
massive conference. (No mean feat, that - I'm easily overwhelmed. It's my
natural state.)

We had a lot in common. Like me, the guy was from Massachusetts. Like me, he'd recently seen his debut novel published. And like me, he was - I remember this great line - "waiting for the parade to come by my house." Unspoken follow-up: It would be unwise to hold your breath waiting for that particular parade.

The guy turned out to be Leonard Rosen. His debut was the brilliant All Cry Chaos. And half a year after that Bouchercon meeting, the two of us are up for the Best First Novel Edgar.

Small world.

Funny thing, publishing your debut. It's the biggest moment of your life. People tell you you're pretty great. You are queen or king for precisely 24 hours (release day) plus the duration of your launch party.

And then.

The wheel keeps rolling. The machine grinds on. The next batch of writers, debut and otherwise, get their turn. Their reviews are (at least) as good as yours, their blurbs (at least) as impressive.

So you take one last glance out front just in case there is a parade going past (there isn't), then do what writers do: plop yourself in the chair and work on another book. A better book.

As it turns out, Len Rosen and I have become friends. We bump into each other at panels, conferences, and festivals, and I'm always happy to see him. Len, who has the right perspective on life in general, is quick to point out the true value of an Edgar nomination: It serves as validation
from folks you very much admire that your book is good, that it does stand out.

And boy, do this year's Best First nominees - my competition, I guess, though I (naively?) don't view them that way - stand out. I read them all, starting with All Cry Chaos, and damn are they fine books. Edward Conlon's Red on Red, David Duffy's Last to Fold, and Lori Roy's Bent Road are utterly different from one another. And they're all ridiculously strong.

I'm honored that Purgatory Chasm is among them.

Here's the part where you roll your eyes while I insist I truly mean it: I  feel like I've won by being nominated. This week's Edgar Awards in New York will be a blast, icing on somebody's cake, but it's the nomination that made my year.

Knock it off with the eyes. I mean it! Truly!

After all, I got a nice bump in sales. I've received congrats from writers I admire. I'll benefit from the Edgar Finalist Author tag for the duration of my career.

Which, when you think about it, means I got a parade after all.


Steve Ulfelder is an amateur race driver and co-owner of Flatout Motorsports Inc., a company that builds race cars. In addition to being nominated for MWA's Best First Novel Edgar, his debut, Purgatory Chasm, has been named Best First Mystery of 2011 by RT Book Reviews. His second novel, The Whole Lie, comes out May 8.

Our own Hank Phillippi Ryan will be moderating a panel of the Edgar best first nominees this Wednesday--including Steve!