Kaitlyn Dunnett/Kathy Lynn Emerson here. I’m having trouble coming up with something I want to write about this time around. The world outside my cave alternates between depressing and horrifying. I’m not actively engaged in any writing project at the moment. And I doubt readers really care what I’m currently binge-watching—The West Wing, if you must know—or reading. For those who do, I’m into my umpteenth reread of the fourth book of Elizabeth Peters’ Amelia Peabody mysteries, The Lion in the Valley, having read the first three again during the last part of 2025. I just finished the latest Jayne Ann Krentz paranormal romantic suspense (The Shop on Hidden Lane) and am about to plunge into the next installment of Patricia Rice’s historical series, this one titled The Madman’s Dangerous Delusion.

Short blog, right?

Since I suspect we could all use a smile right now, I’ve decided to go with something most people enjoy—cat pictures. Here are some of my favorite photos of various cats who have brightened our lives over the years, starting with our current housemate, Shadow. Here’s one of the rare occasions when she actually let me hold her.

These are the cats of 1970, Spot, who stayed with my parents, and Jeremiah, who adopted me and my husband one day at the laundromat in Lewiston.

Here is Jeremiah (a female, by the way), with her adopted kitten, Lancelot (also female), from a friend’s litter. Her brothers were Merlin and Idyll. I was in grad school for a degree in English literature at the time.

Lavinia came from the local animal shelter. Isn’t she a beauty?

You may recognize Calpurnia, adopted at the same time as Lavinia. She appears in my Deadly Edits mysteries.

This is Feral, who came to us from my in-laws. He was always good at helping with cleanup in the kitchen.

Bala and Nefret were barely weaned when we found them under the floor of the stable we used as a garage. They were with us a long time and both appeared in my Liss MacCrimmon mysteries (under assumed names). Here they are “helping” my husband fish a cat toy out from under the refrigerator.

Both had their nutty moments. Bala is trying to break into the closet.

Nefret went crazy over over the cover detached from one ear of a pair of earmuffs.

Say what you will about cats, most of the time they make you smile.

Kathy Lynn Emerson/Kaitlyn Dunnett has had sixty-four books traditionally published and has self published others. She won the Agatha Award and was an Anthony and Macavity finalist for best mystery nonfiction of 2008 for How to Write Killer Historical Mysteries and was an Agatha Award finalist in 2015 in the best mystery short story category. In 2023 she won the Lea Wait Award for “excellence and achievement” from the Maine Writers and Publishers Alliance. She was the Malice Domestic Guest of Honor in 2014. She is currently working on creating new editions of her backlist titles. Her website is www.KathyLynnEmerson.com.