I
love black cats. I adopted two from a
shelter 15 years ago, when they were about 6 months old. Sadly, Shadow passed away last year, but the
other is still going strong, even in his advanced years. Spazzy has some white on his face and paws,
and earned his name as a crazy kitten.
He is constantly on the prowl for a lap to snuggle in, so the minute
you sit down in my house, be prepared to stay put a while.Shadow’s name fit him as well. He was skittish and wary, but also sweet and loving. He was scared of most people, yet I saw him chase neighborhood dogs off our property more than once. Shadow was completely black—dark and sleek and beautiful. I would never think of him as a symbol of bad luck, but I can see how people might view black cats as mysterious and otherworldly.
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| I miss my Shadow kitty dearly |
The ancient Egyptians believed cats had magical powers, and regarded them as sacred. In fact, they worshipped a feline goddess known as Bastet. On the other hand, Druids feared cats. All cats are nocturnal and appear dark as they creep through the night, sure-footed and stealthy even with no light to see by. This gave all cats a mystical aura, but the color black has often been associated with sinister forces.
Black cats, along with bats and spiders, have long been considered by some to be bad omens. Some cultures believed witches could turn into cats in order to avoid capture. Black cats were also thought to be familiars—low ranking demons tasked with serving and protecting a witch.
Even
with a limited understanding of diseases, societies throughout history were
also able to see the connection between cats and outbreaks of plague. Cats control rodent populations, and rats are
carriers of many diseases deadly to humans.
This added to the idea that cats had powers beyond human comprehension.
Thus,
an association with witchcraft and the occult, superstition, fear, and awe
combined to make black cats a symbol of Halloween, the night when the barrier
between the paranormal and physical worlds grows thin. Silver Lake, my debut paranormal romance, revolves
around a restless spirit—the ghost, Brandy, is desperate to communicate with
her living friends. In order to help,
Rain and Jason must reunite, and together they’ll face not only a haunted lake
house, but their own painful past.
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| My Spazzy kitty loves boxes |
And while not central to the story,
our heroine, Rain, owns a black cat named Minx.
I hope you’ll take a moment to read Silver Lake's excerpt and blurb below! If you'd like to enter the giveaway for a free e-copy, please leave a comment with contact info. Happy almost - Halloween J
Excerpt:
Blurb:
Rain Anderson
can't decide which is more unsettling—encountering the ghost of her missing
friend, or reuniting with the man whose love she foolishly rejected. But one
thing is certain: the past has come back to haunt her, quite literally.
Five years ago,
Rain's tight-knit group of high school friends unraveled when one vanished
during their senior year. Now, a parent's deathbed request has reunited the
friends at Silver Lake, including Jason Lansing, the man Rain discarded. Rain
and Jason discover the powerful attraction between them has survived, but
though Jason is willing to forgive, he can't let himself forget. The
possibility of falling for Rain again is too risky.
Slamming doors,
crashing objects, flaring fires—clearly the ghost has a message to share. As
Rain and Jason struggle to unravel the truth, they must face a desperate spirit
in need of help…and a burning passion that refuses to die.
Excerpt:
“I saw...a figure.
A figure with dark hair, and I think it was Brandy.” She shuddered and put her forehead back on
his chest.
Reluctantly,
he moved their bodies apart a bit and scanned her face. He held on to her shoulders and asked calmly,
“You saw Brandy? Brandy is here?”
She shook her head.
“No, I saw… like… an image of Brandy.
I woke up, because it was cold, and I saw something moving. It was Brandy, I’m sure of it, although I
didn’t see her face clearly. And then
she, um, disappeared.”
“An image of
Brandy? Are you saying you saw a ghost,
Rain?” He was pretty sure she’d had another
nightmare, but the way she had flown out of her room gave him the impression it
had been an extremely vivid one.
“I know, it sounds ridiculous. But that’s what I saw. And she sort of, well, went through the
wall. I’m sure you don’t believe me,” she
added miserably, lifting her stormy eyes to his.
He pulled her back into a hug before he could stop
himself. “I absolutely believe you. Whether you were awake or asleep, you saw
Brandy and that’s scary. I don’t think
we can deny that weird things are happening here.”
Jason smoothed her hair and waited patiently for her
trembling to subside. If a ghost really
was lurking in her bedroom, there wasn’t a whole heck of a lot he could do
about that. A rare sense of
powerlessness caused his jaw to clench in frustration.
He
stopped watching the door and instead focused on the gorgeous woman in his
arms. She clung to him, and his body
responded to hers with a familiar ache.
He knew he was losing the battle to keep his feelings platonic.
