Cloudy Rainbow Book Tour & Giveaway

Unable to get over
her fiancee’s death and facing the impending loss of her
15-year-old cat, Dulcie escapes to a virtual world. When Dulcie’s
best friend accepts a job from a clairvoyant who offers predictions
regarding Dulcie’s dead fiancée and Dulcie becomes attracted to an
online stranger, history begins to repeat itself in ways that are
both promising and terrifying. What Dulcie discovers through avirtual séance may mean the only chance she has left for love or
death itself.

My first novel, a paranormal romance, “CloudyRainbow” (Booklocker 2008) received an honorable mention in the
Writer’s Digest self-published awards. I wrote that book after my
beloved cat, Floppy, died from diabetic and liver complications. The
book is dedicated to him, and he is featured as a character in
it.

My second novel, the first book of the Cobble Cove Mystery
series, “A Stone’s Throw,” (November 2015) was published by
Limitless Publishing, LLC. It is the story of a widowed librarian who
visits her husband’s hometown and finds a new love with the town’s
newspaper publisher but also discovers some alarming truths about her
husband’s death and its connection to the publisher and his family.
Along with a variety of characters, there is also a cat and dog who
play minor but interesting roles in the novel. The second Cobble Cove
Mystery, “Between a Rock and a Hard Place” was released in
October 2016 by Solstice Publishing and a reprint of “A Stone’s
Throw” with an additional chapter was published in March, 2017.
The third book of the series, “Written in Stone,” was
released in April, 2017. I’ve also published a romantic comedy
novella, “When Jack Trumps Ace.”

I’m currently
working on a standalone mystery, Reason to Die, and have several
other writing projects planned for 2018 including a new cozy mystery
series along with the fourth volume of the Cobble Cove
mysteries.

I’m a member of International Thriller Writers,
Sisters-in-Crime, the Cat Writer’s Association, and Long Island
Authors Group and have published articles in Cats Magazine and Catnip
(Tufts University Veterinary Newsletter). I won the Glamour Puss
special award from Hartz Corporation for my Catster.com article,
“Brushing your cat for bonding, beauty, and better health,”
(June, 2016). My short mystery, “Stitches in Time” was
published in the Cat Crimes Through Time Anthology, (1999). I have
also published several other short stories of various genres in
Solstice anthologies. I live on Long Island with my husband,
daughter, and our cat, Stripey.

Website
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Dulcie glanced to her left at the gray and white cat sitting next to her keyboard. Floppy, her fifteen-year-
old male shorthair, purred as she paused in her typing to pat his head.“I don’t mean to ignore you, big boy,” she murmured. “Visiting a virtual world isn’t as compelling as
spending real time with you.”
She hit the ESC key from the online game she’d been playing to pass the time and shut down her laptop.
She glanced around the tiny kitchen she used as an office.
Tonight, would be especially hard. Thank goodness for Floppy’s company. October 9th, three years ago.
She looked at her kitchen clock, which featured her name encircled by yellow roses that matched her
wallpaper. It was an apartment warming gift from her friend Valerie. She was lucky she’d been able to
bring Floppy to her new home. She couldn’t stay at Frank’s place. Too many memories, clouded now but
like light through a rainbow.
They would’ve been married two years this past summer, if a tragic accident hadn’t torn them apart.
Tears spilled down her cheeks. She wiped at them with the same hand that had petted the cat. He put out
his paw gently as if responding to her sadness. The whitebooted foot gently touched her elbow. She gazed
into his yellow eyes and wondered if he remembered Frank, was just responding to her feelings (cats were
intuitive that way) or was just asking for more attention or his supper.
She couldn’t sit here anymore, so she got up and went to the pantry to take out a can of cat food. As she
opened the chunky chicken feast with a pull of its flip-top lid, Floppy jumped off the table and bounded
toward her as fast as his old body could carry him. She was worried about his slower movements, and the
aging that was becoming more apparent recently. Although more indoor cats were living to twenty or
older, a cat over eight was considered a senior.
Dulcie had studied the cat age charts on the Internet and in her feline health books and knew that Floppy
would now be well into his seventies in human years. It seemed such a short time ago that she had first
adopted him and held him in her hands. Her roommate had found the stray kitten near her dormitory at
college. Many changes had happened in her life since then. She’d studied journalism in college, secretly
hoping to make a career out of being a reporter, to live the glamorous yet poor life of Lois Lane without a
Superman. Then Frank came along, and she switched from writing articles to writing computer programs
to be near him in the computer science classes he taught as a junior professor.
Floppy’s plaintive meow brought her back to the present, and she remembered that she still hadn’t
scooped cat food into his food bowl. “Sorry, fellow,” she
apologized. “Mom was just daydreaming, or nightdreaming since it’s almost time for bed.”
She watched him lap up the food and then cleaned and filled his water bowl. She knew she was just
putting off getting into bed tonight. In the last few months, she’d traded watching late night television for
playing a computer game called Virtual Universe. As fans of this game were eager to point out, it wasn’t
a game but a virtual world where people via the Internet highway were able to communicate under
different names and even create characters that represented themselves. Was this unlike the
pen names that some authors used or the characters that they wrote about in their books? But these
computer images—avatars— had identities and even interacted in this virtual space. She’d once gone
dancing using a computer animation with a guy who called himself Nero.
She’d immediately thought of the Roman emperor. But to give the guy credit, he didn’t have any tattoos
and hadn’t built up his biceps in any virtual gym. He was ordinary looking, if computer images could be
labeled ordinary. She ran into him occasionally when she logged on, and they’d chat for a bit. But neither
knew much about the other, and she wasn’t about to indulge in any online relationship. For
all she knew, Nero could be a woman or a married man.
“I think I’ll just stick with you, Flops,” she said, bending down to give her cat a pat as he finished his
meal.
She took a last glance at her laptop, stifled a yawn, and headed across the room to her daybed which
doubled as a sofa. Valerie often berated her about why she’d chosen such a small apartment. It wasn’t a
matter of cost. She didn’t need much. It was only her and Floppy. The converted garage apartment she’d
had years ago before Frank came back into her life was taken now, so she had to find something else.
Fresh starts in new places were always best after life-changing events.
She pulled open the bed and then went into the bathroom to brush her teeth and change into her cat
decorated nightshirt. When she finished, she turned off all the lights but the reading lamp, got under her
quilt that was also cat patterned, and opened the Nora Roberts book she was in the middle of reading.
Before she could start another page, Floppy was there, treading gently up to her pillow.She lay the book down and cuddled with him. It was relaxing to stroke his soft fur and listen to his purrs.
While it wasn’t the best substitute for a lover, it was easier and less stressful in many ways.

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