Mentors and Idols

Meow!  Today the Human and I want to talk about two of our  idols – MIDNIGHT LOUIE and his creator, Carole Nelson Douglas.

You may have heard the human on Facebook often speaking about her "mentor". That person is the fabulous CND.  Carole gave the Human good advice early in her writing career, and the human credits Carole with helping her finally break through into the world of traditional publishing.

Now, for those of you who are not familiar with him, let me say that Midnight Louie is my kind of detective.

In his own words, he’s short, dark and unobtrusive. He talks like a detective out of a forties pulp novel. Plus, he’s remarkably light on his feet and he can shimmy into places Columbo would never dare to tread.

And why not?  Louie is a cat.

Yessir, he’s a twenty pound, jet black tomcat with all of his—um—assets intact (well, for the most part). He has had a vasectomy – yeah, you heard me right. Louie is the first furpurrson of mystery, or as he puts it, the star of his own multivolume mystery series. And make no mistake about it, Louie is THE star, even though at times he finds himself sharing center stage with some very interesting humans: Crime-solving Temple Barr, PR woman and burgeoning sleuth, is Louie’s roommate. (No one “owns” Louie.) He’s Temple’s protector and “muscle.” Hard-boiled female homicide lieutenant C.R. Molina has to put up with the pair of them. Max Kinsella is Temple’s ex, a magician and counter-terrorist operative on the run. Matt Devine is an ex-priest radio advice counselor who’s become Temple’s fiancée.

And this is not to mention the feline characters, which include his alleged daughter, Midnight Louise (who loves ragging on dear old pops), Ma Barker, his mom who still oftentimes refers to him by his given  name, Grasshopper, a bomb and drug sniffing Maltese, Nose E., assorted cats, big and little…oh! And let’s not forget those glamour pusses, cats of the female persuasion that set Louie’s tail to thumping: Shaded silver and gold Persians Yvette and Solange, between whose affections Louie bounces like a furry black ball; the deadly Hyacinth, a seal-point Siamese whose claws are dipped nightly (supposedly) in Curare; and Satin, a comely black chick with a fluffy tail, one of Louie’s first amours and the maybe-momma of Midnight Louise.

Louie’s creator,the fabulously talented Carole Nelson Douglas, writes the series like a daytime soap,  interweaving plot points and characters throughout.  Deadly encounters and unexpected reunions force all the main characters into unforeseen loss and disclosure, the suspense leavened by Douglas's characteristic wit and heart.

Carole and Louie finished up the current incarnation of the series with  CAT IN AN ALPHABET ENDGAME. It answered questions which plagued loyal readers for years: Which man will Temple end up with? Will Louie have to move out of Las Vegas?  Will he finally end up with his true love Yvette?

(Oh, ho no spoilers here folks. You have to read the books to find out!)

Never fear, loyal fans, Carole Nelson Douglas promises us many more adventures from Louie! Thank goodness!  This October on our blog is proclaimed "Midnight Louie Month" and Carole will be introducing a new Midnight Louie series!  (and in case you missed the older ones, they are available in e-book and paperback on Amazon and Barnes and Noble, with lovely new artwork by none other than CND).

As Louie says, he lives in “the city that never sleeps” – and with a crew like that, who could?

More importantly, who would want to?

So Join us in October for more Louie (and Carole, too!)

 The Midnight Louie series:

• Catnap (1992) I
• Pussyfoot (1993),
• Cat on a Blue Monday (1994),
• Cat in a Crimson Haze (1995),
• Cat in a Diamond Dazzle (1996),
• Cat with an Emerald Eye (1996),
• Cat in a Flamingo Fedora (1997),
• Cat in a Golden Garland (1997),
• Cat on a Hyacinth Hunt (1998),
• Cat in an Indigo Mood (1999),
• Cat in a Jeweled Jumpsuit (1999),
• Cat in a Kiwi Con (2000),
• Cat in a Leopard Spot (2001),
• Cat in a Midnight Choir (2002),
• Cat in a Neon Nightmare (2003),
• Cat in an Orange Twist (2004),
• Cat in a Hot Pink Pursuit (2005),
• Cat in a Quicksilver Caper (2006),
• Cat in a Red Hot Rage (2008),
• Cat in a Sapphire Slipper (2008),
• Cat in a Topaz Tango (2009),
• Cat in an Ultramarine Scheme (2010)
• Cat in a Vegas Gold Vendetta (2011)
• Cat in a White Tie and Tails (2012)
• Cat in an Alien X-Ray (2013)
• Cat in a Yellow Spotlight (2014)
• Cat in a Zebra Zoot Suit (2015)
• Cat in an alphabet endgame (2016)
• ???????? (2017 – beyond)