Along Came Diesel
by Miranda James
Back in 2009 when my Wanda Nell Culpepper series came to an end (not by my choice or my editor’s but due to less than stellar sales figures), I was casting about for ideas for a new series. My editor and her boss suggested I consider writing about a librarian with a cat.
I’m a librarian, and I had two cats at the time, so I thought that was a pretty great idea. The minute I started thinking about the cat in the series, I knew exactly what breed he would be and his name. Back in 2001, while visiting a friend, I met the first Maine Coon cat I’d ever seen. His name was “The Diesel” – after a Washington Redskins player with that nickname – and he was huge, weighing in at about forty pounds. He was a gentle giant and utterly charming. Thus I decided to model the cat in my new series after him, but I called my fictional Maine Coon simply Diesel.
In my books Diesel doesn’t share his thoughts like the animals in some other series, nor does he solve the crimes. He’s a companion to my amateur sleuth, Charlie Harris, who has come back to his hometown in Mississippi after his wife’s death. Diesel accompanies Charlie almost everywhere, except for church and the grocery store. He’s a sociable kitty, but Charlie is his Number One Human.
Readers have quickly adopted Diesel and Charlie and made the books successful – more successful, in fact, than anything else I’ve written. I’ve received many letters from readers who now want to have a Maine Coon of their own, and I find that both humbling and endearing.
Readers also complain about the cat on the cover of the books, because he doesn’t look like a Maine Coon. Authors, unless they are mega-sellers, have little control over their book covers, and my suggestions about the cat have not changed things. The cover cat is, however, a very handsome fellow. Diesel, in his own inimitable way, has this to say about Cover Cat:
“He’s my official stand-in. He protects my identity so that, whenever I need to, I can be anonymous.”
As any cat lover will tell you, arguing with a cat is an exercise in futility.
Diesel and Charlie’s latest adventure is chronicled in Out of Circulation (Berkley Prime Crime).
I’m a librarian, and I had two cats at the time, so I thought that was a pretty great idea. The minute I started thinking about the cat in the series, I knew exactly what breed he would be and his name. Back in 2001, while visiting a friend, I met the first Maine Coon cat I’d ever seen. His name was “The Diesel” – after a Washington Redskins player with that nickname – and he was huge, weighing in at about forty pounds. He was a gentle giant and utterly charming. Thus I decided to model the cat in my new series after him, but I called my fictional Maine Coon simply Diesel.
In my books Diesel doesn’t share his thoughts like the animals in some other series, nor does he solve the crimes. He’s a companion to my amateur sleuth, Charlie Harris, who has come back to his hometown in Mississippi after his wife’s death. Diesel accompanies Charlie almost everywhere, except for church and the grocery store. He’s a sociable kitty, but Charlie is his Number One Human.
Readers have quickly adopted Diesel and Charlie and made the books successful – more successful, in fact, than anything else I’ve written. I’ve received many letters from readers who now want to have a Maine Coon of their own, and I find that both humbling and endearing.
Readers also complain about the cat on the cover of the books, because he doesn’t look like a Maine Coon. Authors, unless they are mega-sellers, have little control over their book covers, and my suggestions about the cat have not changed things. The cover cat is, however, a very handsome fellow. Diesel, in his own inimitable way, has this to say about Cover Cat:
“He’s my official stand-in. He protects my identity so that, whenever I need to, I can be anonymous.”
As any cat lover will tell you, arguing with a cat is an exercise in futility.
Diesel and Charlie’s latest adventure is chronicled in Out of Circulation (Berkley Prime Crime).
Just click the thumbnails to see larger images of the cats who reside with Miranda James.
