Black Cat and the Immigrant Child - A Guest Post & Giveaway

I'm pleased to allow Elaine Faber to take over Cozy Up With Kathy today. Elaine writes the Black Cat Mystery series. Black Cat and the Immigrant Child is the fifth book in the series.

Why Do Writers Write?

I’ll bet if 100 people were queried, at least 75% would claim that someday they plan to write a book, most likely a memoir. The remaining 25% would likely conclude that even though they may never get around to it, and the world will be the lesser for it, they could if they wanted to. The thousands of hours required to write, edit, and format a book for publication never enter the equation.

Yet a frightening number of us do spend the time and energy, and a zillion books DO get published every year. Most of them get posted on Amazon, where they are buried as deep as a sticker in a cow plop among millions of other books. Occasionally, one actually sells! 

Now, I’ve become one of those people who decided there was a book in me that would be a loss to the world if they did not delve into its pages. After about a skillion hours of writing, rewriting, editing, mentoring, and more rewriting, my novel was finally completed, formatted, published, and made available for sale to the millions of folks clamoring to be amused, entertained, charmed, and delighted by my scintillating characters. This became the first of twelve more novels to follow. 

In my cozy cat mystery series (the latest called Black Cat and the Immigrant Child) none have yet to become a New York Times Best Seller, but there is a cat who, with his ancestors’ memories, knows where the bodies are buried. In this adventure, he wants desperately to assist his inferior humans, who are usually too busy searching for bandits’ lost loot and protecting the little girl found on the prairie alongside a dead man. The story contains a smattering of romance, a few downright stinkerisms, cartels and drug lords, an innocent refugee child, and a cat that joins forces with a Maine Coone barn cat and a rat to help his inferior human catch a killer. 

So, why do I write when the hours are long, the glory is nonexistent, and the financial rewards are few and far between?

I guess I write because these characters are in me, screaming to get out, and even if I don’t have a Best-Seller, many of the good folks who read my novels come back and tell me about their reading experience. For just a little while, they left their troubles behind, traveled to a little resort town, and entered my make-believe world, where the good guy wins with lots of laughs along the way. For a few hours, they frolicked through the pages, with a cat determined to help Kimberlee solve the latest mystery.

That’s when I know. That’s why I write. That’s why it’s all worth it.

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Bio:

Elaine Faber has published 12 mystery novels and one ‘CAT’ anthology. She is a member of Sisters In Crime, Northern CA Writers and Publishers, and Elk Grove Writers’ Guild. Her stories have also appeared in multiple magazines and anthologies.

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 Black Cat and the Immigrant Child (A Black Cat Mystery) by Elaine Faber

About Black Cat and the Immigrant Child

Black Cat and the Immigrant Child (A Black Cat Mystery)
Cozy Mystery 5th in Series
Setting - Texas
Publisher: ‎ Michael L. Faber
Publication Date: ‎ January 6, 2026
Print Length: ‎ 254 pages

A tale of corruption and deceit met with compassion and tenacity.

Kimberlee, Dorian, and their pets return to Grandmother Lassiter’s multimillion-dollar horse ranch on the Mexico/Texas border to settle her affairs following her demise.

On their first day in Texas, an illegal immigrant, likely carrying drugs, is found murdered on the Lassiter ranch. A six-year-old girl is at his side.

Black Cat and Angel overhear a ranch hand admit to the murder and declare to eliminate the child who witnessed his crime.

Determined to shelter the little girl, the family is thrust into affairs that include intrigue, humor, and mystery. Join the family as they ride with wild horses and search for a notorious Wild West bandit's undiscovered stolen treasure.

Black Cat joins forces with Murphy, his Maine Coon rival and compatriot, and Cedric, the resident barn rat, in an attempt to prevent another murder and capture the miscreant.

Sprinkled generously with Black Cat and Angel’s humorous relationship and interactions, this is another story that will delight Black Cat’s fans, cat lovers, or readers who enjoy light mysteries and humor.

About Elaine Faber

Elaine Faber lives in Elk Grove with her husband and cat. She is a member of Capitol Crimes, NCPA, and Elk Grove Writers Guild. She volunteers at the American Cancer Society Discovery Shop. Elaine has published 12 cozy mystery novels and an anthology of cat stories. Her books include a WWII historical fiction series, a series of cozy cat mysteries, and two paranormal mystery-adventures.

Author Links: Website: Facebook Goodreads 

 Purchase Link - Amazon

Mrs. Odboddy and the Conniving Candidate - An Interview

Today I'm happy to welcome Elaine Faber back to Cozy Up With Kathy today. It's Election Day in the United States thus a perfect time to talk about Mrs. Odboddy and the Conniving Candidate, the fifth book in the Mrs. Odboddy Mystery series.

Kathy: Today is election day in the United States of America, a fitting day to talk about your latest release. The Mrs. Odboddy series takes place during WWII. What are the major similarities and differences regarding voting then and now?

EF: On November 7, 1944, a Presidential election was held during the final stages of WWII, the setting of my latest mystery novel, Mrs. Odboddy and the Conniving Candidate. 48,025,684 voters turned out to return Mr. Roosevelt to his unprecedented fourth term, making him the longest-serving President in U.S. history. By contrast, in 2020, 158,481,688 voters went to the polls. (This year, 2024, there are 186 million registered voters.)

Kathy: Was there specific inspiration for this story? 

EF: In the previous mystery novel, Mrs. Odboddy’s Desperate Doings, Agnes ran afoul of the prejudiced city council as she searched for a permanent home for Shere Khan, the displaced carnival tiger she adopted. It seemed natural that when a seat opened up on the Newbury City Council, she should run for office. Of course, campaigning for any office has many snags, and it’s not surprising when Agnes begins to experience her unworthy opponent’s skullduggery! And boy, do things heat up as the campaign draws nearer to Election Day.

Kathy: After Mrs. Odboddy makes the decision to run for office, all manner of troubles befall her. She's certain her political opponent is behind it all. The question is posed, "is winning an election worth it when her family is at risk?" 

EF: Agnes faces soul searching questions about continuing the campaign when political shenanigans put her family at risk. Should she become a quitter when things get tough or keep fighting for a righteous cause?

To complicate matters, the State has received an anonymous letter declaring Agnes and Katherine are unfit foster parents, and continued care of their foster child is threatened.

In the midst of domestic and political challenges facing the family, Katherine’s ex-boyfriend, who left her at the altar the year before, returns in an attempt to restore their relationship. Katherine feels unable to send him packing when he manages to ‘save the day’ on multiple occasions. 

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Blurb:

As the war continues to rage in Europe, Election Day approaches in Newbury. Among other inequities, the Newbury City Council makes it difficult for local women to obtain business licenses even for home-bases businesses. Mrs. Odboddy decides to run for the vacant city council seat, but she has no idea what political obstacles she will face. The trouble starts, first with disasters in her home, to violence and racism against her friends, and then theft charges are filed against her!

To make matters worse, her granddaughter’s old boyfriend has returned to town declaring his unwanted, undying love. His heroic responses to multiple adverse events affecting the family make it difficult for Katherine to send him packing.

 

Agnes suspects her political opponent is behind all the trouble, including the state’s attempts to remove their beloved ward, Mattie. It seems that Agnes is up against a conniving opponent who will stop at nothing to prevent her winning the election. How can she prevail against such sinister deeds? Is winning an election worth it when her family is at risk?

Join Agnes as she faces overwhelming odds in her efforts to bring much needed change to Newbury. 

 

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Other Mrs. Odboddy adventures.  Amazon. (e-books $3.99 and paperback $16.00)

Mrs. Odboddy - Hometown Patriot is a riotous romp through a small California town in the days following Pearl Harbor. Agnes joins other American housewives as they fed their families with rationed food, collected papers and cans, knitted sox for the troops; all the while exposing local conspiracies and spies. http://tinyurl.com/hdbvzsv

Mrs. Odboddy Undercover Courier. Planning to join Mrs. Roosevelt on her Pacific Island Tour, Mrs. Odboddy and Katherine carry a package to President Roosevelt. Sure the package contains ‘secret war documents,’ Mrs. O is fully prepared to fend off Nazi agents on her train trip across the USA. http://tinyurl.com/jn5bzwh

Mrs. Odboddy – And Then There Was a Tiger   Asked to bank the War Bond money, Agnes loses it instead! In her attempt to restore her reputation, she learns more than she thought possible about counterfeit money, Good Will stores, and tigers!  https://tinyurl.com/yx72fcpx

Mrs. Odboddy’s Desperate Doings   Locating a home for a tiger and exposing a thief becomes paramount, but as her own mental health is questioned, Agnes’s challenges mount. https://tinyurl.com/5xah4cnt

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Author links: 

www.mindcandymysteries.com  (Elaine’s website)

Elaine.Faber@mindcandymysteries.com (email)

Author Bio:

Elaine is a member of Sisters in Crime (SIC), Northern California Publishers and Authors (NCPA), and Elk Grove Writers Guild (EGWG). She has published eleven cozy mystery novels, an anthology of short cat stories, and multiple short stories published in twenty-one independent anthologies. Novels include a WWII humorous historical fiction series, cozy cat mysteries, and a paranormal mystery adventure series.

Elaine has won numerous awards for her novels and short stories.

Elaine volunteers at the American Cancer Society Discovery Shop in Elk Grove, CA. She lives with her husband, and feline companion, Truffie, who contributes inspiration for many of her cat-related stories and novels.

Mrs. Odboddy's Desperate Doings - A Guest Post & Giveaway

I'm pleased to welcome Elaine Faber back to Cozy Up With Kathy today. Elaine writes the Mrs. Odboddy Mystery series. Mrs. Odboddy's Desperate Doings is the fourth book in the series.

 

The Author’s Elevator Pitch
By Elaine Faber

As a published author, I plot mysteries, contrive red herrings, bring bad guys to heel and conflict star-crossed lovers. My stories unfold across ten published novels and an anthology of ‘cat stories’. The blurb on the back of my latest novel explains the story in 70 words or less. 'During WWII, this eccentric elderly lady exposes an art thief, all while she fights the war from the home front. When she isn’t knitting sox, or pursuing art thieves, she seeks a home for a hapless carnival tiger. That’s when she falls from a tree and begins to hallucinate….’

When I composed my first short story in high school, no one told me that to become a successful author, it took more than writing intriguing plots and stimulating dialogue.

More recently, I learned that one cannot attract a traditional publisher without a social media platform of 5,000+, which I don’t have, so I must consider self-publishing. But, for even a minute chance of success, one must also master the skills of a publicist, a bookkeeper, editor, a full time blogger, cover designer, and salesman. I must become an expert orator and watch for panel dates or speaking opportunities. Though not necessarily a ‘master’ at any of the above, but feeling somewhat competent in most, I attended a writing conference. Imagine my dismay to learn, there was yet another expert skill to be mastered...

I was instructed to memorize an ‘elevator pitch’ about my book, in the off chance that someday while standing in line at Starbuck or the dry cleaners, I might run into a literary agent sipping a Carmel Macchiato or a publisher picking up his dry cleaning.

The conference director explained that in such an eventuality, I must command the agent’s undivided attention with an opening hook, define my plot’s originality, create a desire to read my scintillating novel, convince him that my witty novel is on an inevitable track as a New York Best Seller. I must explain why everyone from a Texas cowboy to a Hollywood stockbroker would spend his last dollar to buy my book… all in sixty seconds or less.

Yet, impressed by the credentials of the conference speaker who gave his impressive presentation, and willing to follow any expert advice for the chance of producing that Best Seller, I diligently stood in front of a mirror and memorized my elevator pitch about Mrs. Odboddy’s Desperate Doings, determined the best places to smile, pause for special effect, or use impressive hand motions to emphasize the final sentence. .

Unfortunately, I’m convinced that should I ever be fortunate enough to find myself on that much imagined elevator with an agent or a major publisher, in spite of my good intentions and hours practicing my 60 second elevator pitch, the conversation would more likely go something like this...

“Ooh! Ooh! Wait! You’re that Zondervan guy, right? Hold on! Let me push this button and stop this thing. Let me think. Oh, I remember. I wrote a World War II humorous novel, see? You’re gonna love it. You’re not in a hurry, right? About that book I wrote… How does it go? It’s about this quirky, old lady, see? Wait. Don’t go! There’s more. She thinks that the local doctor is stealing art work, and there’s this tiger, see, a real live tiger… and, and…Nazi spies…” 

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Mrs. Odboddy's Desperate Doings: A WWII tale (Mrs. Odboddy Mysteries) by Elaine Faber

About Mrs. Odboddy's Desperate Doings

Mrs. Odboddy's Desperate Doings: A WWII tale (Mrs. Odboddy Mysteries)
Historical Cozy Mystery 4th in Series
Setting - California
Elk Grove Publications (April 30, 2022)
Paperback: ‎ 264 pages

After falling from a tree, Agnes’s behavior and delusions escalate from ‘merely eccentric,’ to ‘near mayhem ’ Still seeking a permanent home for a displaced carnival tiger, she goes to unthinkable extremes in an effort to prevent city hall from destroying the big cat. When Agnes witnesses a well-known citizen commit burglary, and the church’s beloved Good Shepherd painting goes missing, she becomes obsessed with exposing the art thief. But, questions arise whether the extent of her bizarre behavior is due to a ‘brain bleed’ from her head injury, or is something amiss in her medical treatment?

As WWII rages across the Pacific, dealing with victory gardens and rationing at home doesn’t stop Agnes from fighting the war from the home front. From city hall, to the hot seat at Newbury’s Police Department, and finally to a San Francisco mansion, Agnes pursues injustice to save a tiger and expose a shocking conspiracy at the highest levels of Newbury’s elite society.

Mrs. Odboddy’s Desperate Doings is a hilarious WWII mystery-adventure you’ll not soon forget.

About Elaine Faber

Elaine Faber lives in Elk Grove, CA, with her husband and two feline companions. She is a member of Sisters in Crime (SIC), Elk Grove Writer’s Guild (EGWG), and Northern California Publishers and Authors (NCPA). Elaine volunteers with the American Cancer Society. She has published nine cozy mystery novels, and an anthology of cat stories. Her short stories are also published in 22 independent anthologies.

Black Cat’s Legacy, Thumper meets Kimberlee and with the aid of his ancestors’ memories, helps her pursue her father’s cold case murder. http://tinyurl.com/lrvevgm Black Cat and the Lethal Lawyer, Thumper (Black Cat) goes to Texas and confronts an embezzling attorney and thwarts an attempted murder plot. http://tinyurl.com/q3qrgyu Black Cat and the Accidental Angel, Black Cat and his companion are left behind following an MVA and find new adventures on an emu farm. http://tinyurl.com/y4eohe5n Black Cat and the Clue in Dewey’s Diary Kimberlee follows clues to stolen gold coins in Austria, as Black Cat faces intrigue in hometown Fern Lake. http://tinyurl.com/vgyp89s Mrs. Odboddy-Hometown Patriot, Eccentric Mrs. Odboddy is determined to expose Nazi spies and conspiracies on every hand. http://tinyurl.com/hdbvzsv Mrs. Odboddy-Undercover Courier, Mrs. Odboddy prevents Nazi spies from stealing the ‘secret documents’ she is carrying by train to President Roosevelt. http://tinyurl.com/jn5bzwb Mrs. Odboddy-And Then There was a Tiger, Falsely accused, Agnes seeks the missing war bond money and befriends a displaced carnival tiger. https://tinyurl.com/yx72fcpx Mrs. Odboddy’s Desperate Doings. Agnes exposes an art thief, and seeks a permanent home for Shere Khan, the displaced carnival tiger, she https://tinyurl.com/5xah4cnt The Spirit Woman of Lockleer Mountain. Is the woman in the woods a missing neighbor, the imaginary local Native American’s Spirit Woman? http://tinyurl.com/y7rp7f3x All Things Cat, Twenty-one short stories written about, or narrated by about cats from all walks of life. http://tinyurl.com/y9p9htak

Elaine’s Website http://www.mindcandymysteries.com  

Purchase Link - Amazon 

 a Rafflecopter giveaway