Hello there, Mr. Dog. What is your name and your author’s name?
I am a six-year-old golden retriever named Woodward “Woody” Cassidy, after journalist Bob Woodward. My adopted brother is a tabby cat named Carl, after another journalist, Carl Bernstein. Along with our human, Callie, we make a great team. Our lucky author is Lori Roberts Herbst.
Nice to meet you all. You remind me of my dog co-star, Fido, the golden retriever in our Cobble Cove cozy mystery series.
What book(s) have you appeared in? Please list them and their genre.
I’ve appeared in five cozy mysteries: Suitable for Framing, Double Exposure, Frozen in Motion, Photo Finished, and most recently, Negative Reaction.
Cool! I’ve been in six mysteries myself, and Fido has been in most of them but only had a starring role in our first book and one of the stories in our latest collection.
Are you in a series? If so, please give information about it.
Our series is called the Callie Cassidy Mystery series. Not sure why Carl and I don’t get top billing, but that’s the way it goes when you don’t have opposable thumbs. It’s a cozy mystery series set in a small mountainside town of Rock Creek Village, Colorado. I love it there. So much space for a dog to roam. So many humans to love on me. And so many mysteries to solve. It’s the best place on earth.
Sounds pawsome. Fido and I aren’t given top billing in our series either, so don’t feel bad.
Are you based on a real dog such as your author’s? If so, please give further details.
My author tells me she had the most incredible golden retriever in the world. His name was Rudy. He used to balance stacks of dog treats on his nose, and when she gave the command, he’d toss them into the air and eat them. I hope my human plays that game with me.
I hope so, too. I’m based on my author’s Siamese who is now on Rainbow Bridge. We aren’t exactly alike, but I try my best to keep his memory alive.
Can you share an excerpt from one of your books that features you in an important scene? If so, please include it.
From SUITABLE FOR FRAMING, a scene in which I petition Callie for a new brother—Carl the cat (written from Callie’s point of view):
A piercing howl rattled the windows. Woody was escalating.
“Woodward Cassidy, knock it off!” I said, using my strictest voice, one I’d learned at the hands of the master, Maggie Cassidy. The dog trotted over to me, nudged my leg with his wet nose, and went back to the door. This time, he let out a soft whimper and looked at me as if to say, I can do this all day, lady.
I looked at him sternly. “It’s not going to happen, Woody. Look at this tiny place.” I swept my hand around the cabin’s interior. Less than three hundred square feet, the cabin boasted a bedroom-slash-living room, a bathroom sans tub, and a kitchenette, all visible from the front door. Furnished in a traditional cabin-in-the-woods style, the room contained a cedar log bed and armchair that folded out into a futon.
Woody stopped whining and followed my gesture, his eyes inspecting the room. I took it as a sign of acquiescence and softened my tone as if I were trying to persuade a reluctant child that she couldn’t have a longed-for toy. “We don’t have room for a cat. They come with paraphernalia, you know. Like a litterbox.” I wrinkled my nose. “I’m sure you wouldn’t be the one cleaning up that mess. Besides, there’s nowhere to even put one.”
He trotted into the kitchen, straight to a spot in the corner next to the trash can. He sniffed the tile and tucked his furry body into the space.
I snorted and followed him into the kitchen, plopping to the floor beside him. I wrapped my arms around his neck. “It’s been the two of us for four years. Has that been so bad?”
His tongue slurped the side of my face. I giggled, and he slurped again. Then he wriggled his seventy-pound frame into my lap. “See? We’re good just as we are.”
But after a couple of minutes of the mutual lovefest, he launched himself off me and raced to the door, his focus back on the knob. Another whimper.
I heaved myself up from the floor and sighed. “Sorry, Chief. I’m the boss here, and we’re not getting a cat.”
An hour later, I tucked the litterbox into the corner Woody had selected, grimacing as I filled it with some little pebbly stuff called “clump and seal.” Then I watched the two creatures streak around the cabin, bound across the bed, and finally snuggle up together in a big ball of orange fur. They looked at me with self-satisfied expressions. “Point taken,” I said. “You’re both delirious with happiness.”
A tail-wagging good excerpt. Thanks for sharing it.
Do you have any new books coming out? Please give dates and details.
My newest book releases on April 25, 2023 (tomorrow!), and my author assures me there will be more! If you subscribe to her newsletter, you’ll get all the news on upcoming books. (You’ll also get some free prequel short stories featuring my human and her friends, but they are set before my time. I’ve heard they’re pretty fun anyway!)
Sounds great!
Are you and/or your author on social media? If so, please list your links.
Website: www.lorirobertsherbst.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/lorirobertsherbst
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lorirobertsherbst/
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/21039904.Lori_Roberts_Herbst
BookBub: https://www.bookbub.com/profile/lori-roberts-herbst
Amazon Author: https://www.amazon.com/author/lorirobertsherbst
Thanks for the interview, Woody and best tail wags to you and your author on your upcoming release. I’m sharing your blog tour below.
Negative Reaction (Callie Cassidy Mysteries)
by Lori Roberts Herbst
About Negative Reaction
Negative Reaction (Callie Cassidy Mysteries)
Cozy Mystery
5th in Series
Setting – Colorado
Independently Published (April 25, 2023)
Digital – Number of Pages: 305
ASIN : B0BXFV1N4C
Wedding bells are ringing in Rock Creek Village. But when a venomous villager crashes the nuptials, events take a toxic turn…
The long-awaited day has arrived—photographer Callie Cassidy’s best friend is tying the knot. With a gentle snow falling outside and family and friends gathered inside, the wedding couldn’t be more perfect. Even Callie’s golden retriever, Woody, and her tabby cat, Carl, have donned tuxes for the occasion. And the icing on the cake? Callie’s trainee, Braden, is acting as official photographer, with the assistance of his twin brother, Banner. Callie is as proud as if she were their mother.
But as the ceremony ends, an uninvited and apparently inebriated visitor barges into the Event Center. The guests are shocked—and more than a little dismayed—to see Brian Ratliff, the twins’ absentee father, who slunk out of town two years prior, leaving his teenage boys to fend for themselves. Several volatile confrontations ensue, concluding with an angry altercation between Brian and Braden.
When Brian later winds up in a coma, the victim of poisoning, suspicion mounts against Braden. Callie is incensed, certain the boy isn’t capable of harming his father. Besides, plenty of villagers despised the man—any of them might have slipped him the toxin that rendered him unconscious.
As evidence accumulates against Braden, Callie fears he will end up taking the fall. With Detectives Raul Sanchez and Lynn Clarke stonewalling her, she turns to family and friends—including the town’s feisty new cub reporter—for help. Together, can they prove Braden’s innocence—and reveal the true culprit?
About Lori Roberts Herbst
Lori Roberts Herbst, who writes the Callie Cassidy Mystery series, spent much of her life writing, editing, and psychoanalyzing. Through thirty years of teaching journalism, advising newspaper and yearbook staff, instructing budding photographers, and counseling teenagers, she still managed to hang on to a modicum of sanity. Her books have earned first-place CIBA awards in the Murder and Mayhem division. She currently serves as secretary of the Sisters in Crime North Dallas chapter and is a member of the Sisters in Crime Guppies and the Mystery Writers of America.
Author Links:
Website: https://www.lorirobertsherbst.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/lorirobertsherbst
GoodReads: https://www.goodreads.com/LoriRobertsHerbst
BookBub: https://www.bookbub.com/profile/lori-roberts-herbst
Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Lori-Roberts-Herbst/e/B08RBD4QGK/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lorirobertsherbst/
Purchase Link – Amazon
TOUR PARTICIPANTS
April 24 – Reading Is My SuperPower – REVIEW, GIVEAWAY
April 24 – Sneaky the Library Cat’s Blog – CHARACTER INTERVIEW
April 24 – fundinmental – SPOTLIGHT
April 25 – Literary Gold – SPOTLIGHT
April 25 – #BRVL Book Review Virginia Lee – SPOTLIGHT
April 26 – Christy’s Cozy Corners – CHARACTER GUEST POST, GIVEAWAY
April 26 – Brooke Blogs – SPOTLIGHT
April 27 – Ascroft, eh? – AUTHOR GUEST POST
April 27 – Indie Author Book Reviews – CHARACTER GUEST POST
April 28 – Celticlady’s Reviews – SPOTLIGHT
April 28 – MJB Reviewers – REVIEW, GIVEAWAY
April 29 – Maureen’s Musings – SPOTLIGHT
April 29 – Escape With Dollycas Into A Good Book – AUTHOR GUEST POST, GIVEAWAY
April 30 – FUONLYKNEW – SPOTLIGHT
April 30 – Sapphyria’s Book Reviews – SPOTLIGHT
May 1 – Jane Reads – AUTHOR INTERVIEW
May 1 – Baroness Book Trove – SPOTLIGHT
Have you signed up to be a Tour Host?
Hello, Kitty. What is your name and your author’s name?
Welcome, Mr. Big Dog. What is your name and your author’s name?
Hi, there, Mr. Cat. What is your name and your author’s name?
My author had a big black and white tuxedo cat named Solomon, who passed away a few years ago. He lived to age 20, and was a very patient, sweet cat. I guess he and I have some traits in common. We’re not exactly alike, though. He had a tendency to eat plastic and nibble any plants or flowers he could get near. I have more discerning tastes.
Sneaky The Library Cat's Blog 