Welcome Cleveland and Bambino from GEARED FOR THE GRAVE!

Merow!

Today my guests are Cleveland and Bambino, the furry duo from Duffy Brown’s GEARED FOR THE GRAVE!

 

Synopsis: Mackinac Island is a peaceful summer resort town where everyone coasts through the streets on bicycles. But after someone sends a prominent local on her final ride, it’s up to one resourceful visitor to get things running again…

Hoping to shift her chances of a promotion in her favor, Evie Bloomfield heads to Mackinac Island to assist her boss’s father. Rudy Randolph has broken his leg and operating his bike shop, Rudy’s Rides, is too much to handle by himself. But Evie’s good turn only leads to more trouble…

After Evie’s arrival, wealthy resident Bunny Harrington dies in what looks like a freak bike accident. Upon closer inspection, Bunny’s brakes were tampered with, and now the prime suspect in her murder is also Bunny’s number one enemy: Rudy. So if Evie hopes to stay on her boss’s good side, she’ll need to steer Rudy clear of jail. Now she must quickly solve this mystery so she can put the brakes on the real killer’s plan!

Evie is assisted by two handsome dudes, which I have the pleasure of interviewing now!…

 

R: Welcome fellows! Describe a typical day in your life.

Bambino here and today is not typical. Fact is the world is coming to an end. Cleveland and I are cats,  all best pets are and today something terrible happened, The Servant…that would be Evie…told us…US...to start earning our keep, that we’d better be useful as well as ornamental around this house or it was no more Fancy Feast and she’d start buying that cheap three-for-a-buck tuna crap! Cheap tuna??? US! Where’s our crystal? Our china? Didn’t we train her better than this?

R: You guys have interesting names: is there a story behind them?

Cleveland here. Bambino and I are here on Mackinac Island in a bike shop owned by Rudy. Mackinac is one of those places stuck in time. Fact is it’s like the 1800s with no cars. Everything is horses and bikes. And there are parades for the tourists we call fudgies ‘casue they eat so much fudge.  Oink! The parades have bands and music and famous people like George Washington, Betsy Ross…you get the picture. Well, Rudy takes on the character of Mark Twain and Twain had cats named Cleveland and Bambino.  Of course we are much cuter than the original Cleveland and Bambino.

  R: How did you meet Evie?

Bambino here as Cleveland is off meowing for food so I’m taking over. Evie showed up one night at the bike shop. She’s from Chicago and came here to help Rudy because he broke his leg. She shot a pool ball across the felt, aimed it right at the side pocket…my home! That’s where I live around here. What was that girl thinking. 

R: Tell us about all the cats in your life – what interesting ones you’ve met recently!

Cleveland here. Bambino and I hiss at the cat across the street when he comes over and tries to get Evie outside to pet him. Hey, dude, she’s ours, get lost. Got it. Bambino  and I are very protective. We got it pretty good here until she starts talking that we need a job stuff. Wait till I tell you about that!

R:  Tell us about Evie’s latest adventure, GEARED FOR THE GRAVE

 

Bambino here to give you the 411. To boost her chances for a promotion, Evie Bloomfield helps her boss’ dad with his cycle shop and Cleveland and I, of course. The good idea turns bad when dad winds up prime suspect in a murder. To save her job Evie takes over the failing shop though she’s never ridden a bike, finding a killer though she can’t find her keys in her purse and discovering why someone is out to frame Dad. Can Chicago Evie survive life on Mackinac Island without her Honda, being on an eight-mile chunk of land with horses, carriages, bikes, fudge-eating tourists, the resident sage writing her eulogy and a killer who wants her dead? Well of course she can…she has Cleveland and me around. It doesn’t get better than that.

 

R:  What’s life like for a cat on Mackinac island?

Cleveland here. Bambino’s off playing with Evie. I keep telling him he needs to knock that stuff off. He needs to dole out the fun and only respond when there are treats involved. Life is pretty darn good as long as Evie and Rudy knows who rules the roost…that would be me and Bambino. We have delsih food and a place by the window to watch birds and the boats out in the harbor and we sleep on Evie’s back to keep ourselves warm. 

R:  How do you feel about Evie’s penchant for getting involved with murder?

Bambino here. Evie hunting murders is okay until she gets so involved that she forgets to feed us. I mean she lets the food bowl get half empty. What is that about! Half empty is not acceptable.

R:  R: So tell me how you feel about this woman, Duffy Brown? Did she do a good job portraying you?

Bambino here…I’m back with terrible news so here I am paws poised at the keyboard instead of snuggled on my memory-foam mattress with blue silk pillow. The Servant Duffy has another series, the Consignment Shop mysteries and guess what, there is a D-O-G in it. The mangy mutt is in all the books? A dog!! Bruce Willis! Where’s the loyalty, the love the good sense. Everyone knows the best pet is a cat in and out of a book!

I figured I had The Servant pretty well trained. Open the door, shut the door, scoop the litter, new toys every week, bits of steak and brie and salmon...you get the picture. But suddenly I’m second fiddle to a dog!

 R:If you could change one thing about Evie,  what would it be?

Yo, girl! Bowl half empty, fix that. And there’s the part of her getting chummy with that Nat Sutter guy. That’s not acceptable either. We do not share affections around here…got it.

 

R:  Any chance of your getting a “sidekick” in these stories- like maybe a handsome tuxedo cat – anytime soon?

Bambino here and I got a bad feeling…there is a d-o-g in Geared for the Grave. Meatball. I swear if Duffy writes anything more about that round roll of lard I’m shedding all over the house for a month. Now if she brings in another lost kitty or a handsome dud of feline then I’m all for it. Maybe a Puss In Boots type. Nothing better than a swashbuckling mewoster with a sword and feather in his cap. Now that’s some good catnip! Stay turned to see what happens. 

We absolutely will!

 

Cleveland and Bambino’s pal, Duffy Brown, is giving away a dead man pen and a tote and a cat oven mitt (see photos) to TWO lucky commenters! Y’all know the drill!

To enter, leave a comment on this blog post with your name and email address (entries without email will be disqualified). For extra entries, you can do any or all of the below:

 

* Follow my blog (+ 1 point)
* Follow me on Twitter (+ 1 point) (Link: https://twitter.com/RoccoBlogger)
* Tweet about the contest (+ 1 point)
* Friend me on Facebook (+ 1 point) (Link: https://www.facebook.com/ToniLotempio)#!/

* Mention the contest on Facebook (+ 1 point)
* Mention the contest on your blog (+ 1 point)

 

Winner will be chosen at random using random.org.  Don’t forget to mention all you’ve done in your comment. Good luck! Contest ends midnight, March 19!