Sneaky’s Interview of Ivy from Marie Lavender’s Romantic Drama Collection, Directions of the Heart

Wow, Meow. I have another character cat of author Marie Lavender here with me today. What is your name, pretty cat?

My name is Ivy. 

Very mice name for a cat character. What book(s) have you appeared in? Please list them and their genre.

I appeared in Directions of the Heart. This is a modern romantic drama collection.

Are you in a series? If so, please give information about it.

Ivy’s human co-star, Victoria.

I’m not in a book series, but you could say there is a series since there are four different tales in the collection. I am only in one of them, however. That tale is titled “Strange Heat.” The story is about my owner, Victoria, who goes on a bizarre adventure when she pretends to be someone else for a week. One of the other stories in the collection includes a Golden Retriever. Uggh…dogs!

Debbie has written stories with different cats, but I’m a regular in her series. In fact, I had my photo on the cover of her latest, Written in Stone. I had to beg her a lot for that, but, like most persistent cats, I got my way. Fido, my dog co-star, has yet to get his photo on the cover, even though he’s had some good parts in the books. Dogs just don’t have the finesse us cats do.

Are you based on a real cat such as your author’s? If so, please give further details.

Yes and no. In appearance, I am purely from the author’s imagination. But, when she knew years ago that people can have heterochromia (different colored eyes), she was always curious to find out if cats could too. And it does happen, in rare cases. Obviously! My demeanor, however, is based on a very sweet white cat she had as a child. The cat was named Princess. Though the kitty passed too early, her spirit stayed in Marie’s heart, and eventually came out on paper.

Awww. Debbie also featured her special cat boy, Floppy, in her first book, Cloudy Rainbow.

Can you share an excerpt from one of your books that features you in an important scene? If so, please include it.

It was three nights later when she received the call.  Vicky sat at home in her apartment on Northampton in the South End. The place was decorated just the way she liked it, highly modern yet with occasional knickknacks which made a place home. Ivy, a white shorthaired cat with a beautiful genetic defect of one green eye and one blue, curled up next to her. With one hand, Victoria stroked the feline while with the other, she read Jacobs’ Death and Life of Great American Cities when the phone rang. She reached for it with reluctance. “Hello?”

“Tory?”

She frowned. She thought she knew the voice, but it sounded so tiny. And only one person used that nickname with her. “Lyssa, is that you, honey? What’s wrong?” 

She could hear the tears in her friend’s voice. “The cops are here. Could you…could you come over? They asked me to call someone.”

As she leaned forward, her heart began to pound. Hard. “What? What happened?”

“I…I was attacked.” Lyssa’s voice sounded distant, like she was in shock.

“Oh, God, Lyssa.” She swallowed against the fear rising inside her. “I’ll be there in a few minutes, all right?”

“Okay.” Then she heard the dial tone.

Victoria dropped her book and left the apartment as fast as possible. Glancing back for a split second as the door shut, she saw Ivy lift a paw in the air, and one pink pad appeared, as if to offer her own support.

When Vicky reached Lyssa’s place, a policeman let her in. She rushed inside to find her pal sitting on a chair. The woman looked so pale Victoria’s breath caught in her throat as she approached her friend. “Are you all right?”

When Lyssa didn’t reply, she asked a nearby officer, “Is she okay? What really happened?”

The cop shrugged. “She was attacked. She pressed charges, gave us his name after he took off, but it might not stick. There’s hardly any evidence. And he may get off on a hearsay technicality. No one saw him coming or going from here.”

“It doesn’t mean it didn’t occur,” she spat out.

“I know. But when she’s a bit more coherent, you might suggest her trying for a restraining order. Even if the proof here is scarce, it would protect her in the long run.”

“All right. Thank you.”

“Of course.” The cop stepped away.

Victoria could only shake her head. The police looked about done besides. She pulled up a chair near Lyssa and wrapped an arm around her. “It’s okay, honey. Everything’s gonna be all right,” she murmured, uncertain how true that was.

The cops stayed for another half hour to make sure they didn’t miss anything, then left. They promised to post a unit outside, to keep an eye on things.

Her friend seemed less unresponsive after a while. She threw some teal pajamas on and prepared for bed.

Victoria shook her head and followed her to the room. “Who was it, Lyssa? Who did this to you?”

“Just some guy.”

“From work?”

She shook her head. “Look, he didn’t go too far, didn’t…well, you know. The neighbor heard me screaming.” She rubbed at her eye, as if she’d been hit.

When she moved her hand, Vicky noticed the bluish bruise forming there. Jesus…

She swallowed hard. “Okay.”

A weird moment of silence sprung up between them.

“I know what you’ll say,” Lyssa accused.

She frowned. “What do you mean?”

“You’ve never approved of my lifestyle. You’d claim I brought it on myself.”

“No, Lyssa. I would never say that.” Victoria bit her lip, considered her friend’s reaction. Sometimes they acted more like sisters than friends, which was both distressing and encouraging.

Purrfect, and I loved your dramatic acting in that scene, lifting your paw.

What do you like most about your role in your authors’ books?

I like that Victoria falls back on me for support when her plan goes awry.

It’s always good for human co-stars to ask for our assistance.

Are you a talking cat in your books or just a silent one like I am who just meows occasionally?

I am fairly silent in the book, but I try to be as helpful as I can.

Of claws.

What advice would you give other cat characters?

Love your owners, and do your job as well as possible. Behind the scenes, Victoria and I are really close.

I am quite close to Alicia and Laura, and now Gilly, too. John is okay for a guy who likes dogs.

Do you have any new books coming out? Please give dates and details.

Not that I know of, but Marie is always a surprise!

So is Debbie, but I use my feline wiles on her to get her to fill me in on her plans. In fact, I’m going to write a guest post for your author about what I’ve uncovered soon.

Are you and/or your author on social media? If so, please list your links.

I don’t know what you’re talking about. But, after fishing around, I think these are Marie’s links:

​http://marielavender.com/
http://iloveromanceblog.wordpress.com/
http://marielavenderbooks.blogspot.com/
http://marielavender.blogspot.com/
https://www.facebook.com/marie.lavender.58
https://www.facebook.com/MarieAnnLavender
https://twitter.com/marielavender1
https://plus.google.com/u/0/+MarieLavender/posts

​​http://www.linkedin.com/pub/marie-lavender/27/187/10a
Amazon author page: Author.to/MarieLavender
https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/6938764.Marie_Lavender

http://marielavender1.allauthor.com/
http://authorsdb.com/authors-directory/1578-marie-lavender
http://www.pw.org/content/marie_lavender
http://manicreaders.com/marielavender/
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCJu8HjRVYCFOqcIoX6ZxdqQ/videos

Looks like you caught them. Concats, and thanks for being here today, Ivy. I always enjoy intermewing pretty girl cats  expecially those with lovely two-color eyes like yours. Maybe we can continue our chat on a cozy couch somewhere.