Cassie Black: The Secret Life of Pets (with Video)

Hello Bloglandia,

Release Day for The Undead Mr. Tenpenny has come and gone, and my baby is now an entire day old! And I’m happy to say his birth does seem to have been well-received by the Interwebs. Thanks to everyone who grabbed a copy of this darkly humorous paranormal mystery!

Now, to continue the celebrations, it’s time for another video. If you’ve missed any of these goofy things and hate to watch your shows out of order, be sure to scroll down to that Events List for the week and follow the links. You’ll also find links to some amazing reviews for the book.

What’s On Tap This Time?

In Part Three of The Undead Mr. Tenpenny Book Launch Video Extravaganza, I delve into the furry secret behind how I named some of the characters in this first book of The Cassie Black Trilogy.

And as I mention in the video, you’ll find some pictures below that show off what I’m talking about. Also, if you can’t stand looking at my ugly mug, you can read a small portion of what I discuss in the video (but not everything….oooh, teaser!).

Okay, Onto the Video…

 

Or, If You Prefer, On to the Blog Post….

While I don’t normally explain much about how I name my characters, my naming process in this series has a little secret.

And not every character is part of the secret. Some, like the title character Busby Tenpenny came from my tried and true naming source, Writer’s Digest’s Building Believable Characters.

I nabbed it at the local library’s annual used book sale one year, and while I don’t use much of the rest of it, I do make heavy use of the list of names by nationality in the back.

But back to that secret source of names for my characters….

Many of the main people wandering around in The Undead Mr. Tenpenny were named for pets.

 

And yes, I had fun with this!

So, let’s see which pets are soon to be famous…

Cassie is named for my dad’s dog, a tough but sometimes neurotic papillon mix.

Tobey Tenpenny got his first name from my mom’s dog, a grumpy at times, friendly at times Newfoundland/chow mix.

But it was with a few of the side characters that I really got to play up some of the features of my own pets.

There’s Fiona, a witch and schoolteacher, who was named for my cat.

Fiona the Cat is an orange tabby who came from a hoarding case. I’ve no idea what happened to her, but she walks with a limp. She’s also put on a bit of weight since moving in but has a tiny head. When Cassie (the character) sees Fiona (the character) for the first time, she describes her as…

“…a woman with reddish-blonde hair and a rather plump behind for her slim shoulders.”

Fiona (the character) also walks with a slight limp. You’ll learn why in Book Three (The Untangled Cassie Black).

There’s also Lola, a super friendly witch who Cassie describes as “A woman about five feet tall with richly brown skin and fluffy, grey-streaked black hair came dashing towards us.”

Lola was named after my rabbit Lola who was all black with fluffy bunny fur.

There’s also a few more characters named for pets, but you’ll just have to watch the video to get the full scoop.

Okay, everyone, I’ll be back soon to share with you another story behind the story….namely, why I was drooling while writing these novels!

Cheers! Or should I say, “Woof!”?

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More Fun for the Week Ahead….

Daily details of what’s in store (and what you’ve missed)….

• Monday – The Inspiration for The Undead Mr. Tenpenny (with video)
• Tuesday – Release Day! Links and a repost of a stellar review and another stellar review (no video, phew)
• Wednesday – Double dose of videos. 1) The secret of my character names, and 2) Why my magic system made me drool more than once
• Thursday – Oops, I forgot to tell you about the book. I do so in this post (with video) where I might also toss in a sample chapter.
• Friday – I had too much fun with cultural references in the book, and thought I’d share a few (with video)
• Saturday – Paperback show off!! What not to do with paperback design, and the final result after fixing it (with video)
• Sunday – A break from my books to post about what I read in February
• Wednesday (3 March) – Finally, what’s coming up next (with video)

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• Shop for The Undead Mr Tenpenny at https://books2read.com/CassieBlack1
• Or purchase the book directly through me for a slight discount at https://payhip.com/b/w7H6