Mudpie Interviews...Author Patricia Fry's Tortie Sophie

This is the life story of Rags, the amazing, precocious cat who stars in the Klepto Cat Mystery series. Read about his precarious kittenhood. Marvel at some of his intriguing and touching teenage escapades. And delight in revisiting many of his more recent adventures. Rags is a cat with a purpose. While some people believe it’s to cause chaos, others see this feline as a knight in furry armor. If we could get into Rags’s head, however, we’d probably see that it’s filled with butterflies and trinkets. Yes he marches along in life to the beat of a different drummer and leaves behind an assortment of reactions. Is Rags clever or naïve, intuitive or fluky, smart or lucky? And does it really matter? One thing’s for sure, he makes an impression wherever he goes and that’s just the way his fans like it.

Even if you haven't had the opportunity to keep up with Rags' many amazing "tails," readers are sure to marvel at this closer look into the life of an exceptional cat. Whether he's using his sticky paws to help solve a mystery, heroically saving the life of someone important to him, or simply getting into normal feline mischief, there's never a dull moment in Rags' daily life. I can guarantee after reading it you'll be adding some of the Klepto Cat mysteries to your Kindle!

Mudpie was very excited to have the opportunity to chat with Sophie, author Patricia Fry's gorgeous tortie! In our interview Sophie offers insight into the life of a cat writer's furry muse and the very frightening experience she and her family recently dealt with. We think you'll enjoy meeting this lovely lady!

Welcome, Sophie! Thank you so much for chatting with me today. Could you start by telling us a little about yourself and how you came to live in your forever home? 

I was minding my own business one day while hanging out with my kitty-friends in the shade of some big trees when I saw one of the older cats walk away. I was just a baby kitten then. I’d been alive for only about 10 weeks, and I was curious. I wanted to see what was beyond the shade of the big trees. I had a little trouble keeping up with Sam (That’s what I heard the people who fed us call the big yellow cat. They called me Patches.)

Yes, we had food…sometimes. But I didn’t get much. Maybe that’s because the people frightened me. I hid when they came and when they left, the food was practically all gone. So that day I followed Sam, hoping he would lead me to a plate of food—and he did. Only it was not out in the open like it usually was. It was inside a wire contraption. I guess Sam wasn’t hungry because he didn’t pay much attention to the food. I was hungry, though, so I sneaked up on the contraption, found my way inside, and whamo. I was caught.

I tried and tried to get free of the thing. I thought maybe Sam would help me get out so I could go back to my mom and siblings. But all I saw of Sam was his tail as he disappeared into a thicket. I was all alone and frightened. But I was no longer hungry.

Soon one of the people came to let me out. I couldn’t wait to run back to where my mom lived, if I could remember where it was. I’d never been this far away from the other cats and my family. But the human did not open the contraption. She took it with me in it someplace where a man dressed in blue picked me up, touched me all over and poked me. Pretty soon I guess I went to sleep because when I woke up I saw other people—all strangers. Maybe they’ll take me back to my momma. I sure hoped they would.

But that isn’t what happened. Some of the strangers put me into another wire contraption and carried me off to a far away land. I was so scared. When they finally let me out of the contraption, the first thing I saw was another cat. I thought I recognized him as our friend, Snow, but it wasn’t Snow. When I ran to him to say hello, he looked puzzled, but he said hello back and we becamefriends.

I’ve lived inside the house with two humans and other cats now for eleven years. I no longer miss my momma, my siblings, or the other cats under the trees. I’m happy living here. To me, this is a scary story with a happy ending. At least I’m safe here and loved.

What is a typical day like for you?

I get up with the lady human—my human mom—and the other cat, Lily, about four every morning so I can eat. We eat regularly around here and I don’t even have to go out hunting for food. If I get hungry and no one has fed me or given me a treat, I remind them. They say I have a built-in clock because I’m usually right on time with my reminders. It’s one of my powers.

After breakfast, I wait patiently every morning for the sun to shine through the living room window, then I find the strongest beam and stretch out in the warm ray. Most of the day, though, I curl up in one of our kitty beds.

I play when I feel like it—my favorite thing is to toss a toy mouse in the air, then pounce on it. I’m not sure why this is so much fun, but there’s something familiar about it. Maybe it reminds me of my kittenhood when we sometimes caught furry little critters in the brush.

My favorite time of day is when Dad-human or Mom-human come out of their offices and sit in the big room all comfortable-like. Mom makes a lap for me and I love curling up and getting petted all over. Imagine, me, a kitten who’d never been touched except by other cats, enjoying the feel of hands on my body. It’s so heavenly. And I love my dad-human. He’s the one who gives us cats treats. I hang out with him in his office mostly. But my favorite thing about him is his petting and the combing. Boy does that comb feel good when he runs it through my fur. Makes me a happy-happy girl.

Do you have any fur siblings? How do you feel about them? 

When I came here to live with my new mom and dad, I first met Winfield, the white cat. He welcomed me here. I loved Winfield. Max had a story similar to mine. He was what they call a feral cat and boy did he have bad manners. Mom was always cleaning something up after Max. He wasn’t very cordial to me, either. But it was okay if he was grumpy. Winfield and I were best buds.

There came a time, though, when both of the guys were gone. Mom and Dad were sad for a while, then one day Lily showed up. She was so small. I was intrigued. And she was tons of fun. I loved playing with that tiny fur ball. She made me feel like a kitten again, even though I was three years older than her. I’m still the big brother. And I still love Lily, but we march to a little bit of a different drummer. It’s a big house and she goes her way and I go mine. Oh, we do hang out in the sun beams most mornings together and we take our afternoon nap on the bed together. But we don’t even eat together because the little scamp will steal my food. The humans are afraid I won’t get enough to eat and will fade away. So they make sure I get to eat in peace and quiet without Lily trying to horn in on my meal. You see, I guess I didn’t learn much about taking care of myself from my mother and siblings. I’m too polite that way.

Your human is a cat writer...do you enjoy being one of her furry muses or do you shun the spotlight?  

I think I have cameo appearances in some of her stories. But she knows I’m not interested in the limelight like Lily is, so she doesn’t talk about it much. I do see her watching me sometimes as if she’s trying to come up with a good scene using one of my talents.

What are my talents? Mom calls me a shredder. Well, I used to have a fun job in Mom’s office. She had what she called a fax machine. All I knew about it was that, every once in a while it spit out a piece of paper. Yeah! When I’d hear a ring, I knew a paper was coming out soon, so I’d run into the office, sit on the desk and wait. Once the paper hit the floor, I’d grab it and run into the living room where I’d start ripping it into neat little pieces. It was so much fun. I still wonder whatever happened to that paper-spitting machine.

I also help Mom do filing sometime. She has this big filing cabinet and I love to lay on top of the files when she has one of those big drawers open.

Tell us about your author's cat mysteries. 

Mom loves us cats and even other cats she doesn’t know so well. When she decided to stop writing so many articles and all those books for other authors, she seemed sad. She told us that she didn’t want to stop writing altogether, so she started writing what’s called cozy mysteries. Of course they have cats in them and even on the cover. So far, I haven’t been on the cover of any of her 29 Klepto Cat Mysteries. Suits me just fine.

 
The star of the stories is a part ragdoll cat who doesn’t look at all like a ragdoll, if you ask me, and he’s a thief. Mom calls him a klepto cat, but he’s actually a thief. Fortunately, for him, some of the things he finds or takes actually help the detective in the story solve a crime or resolve a mystery. I think mom is glad that she has Lily and me—especially me—and not a naughty cat like the one in her story.

I understand you recently had to evacuate the wild fires in California. That must've been super scary! How did you handle it? 

Oh my catness!! That was the scariest thing I’ve ever experienced in all of my eleven years. Everyone was kinda upset, I guess it was because there was a fire someplace. I don’t know, I didn’t see it or feel it. But I was affected by it. You see, one night, Mom loaded up the car with some of her things. She made Lily and me get into our carriers—the ones they use to take us to the veterinarian to get poked. I was not happy. Poor Lily was just kinda scared. She hunkered down quiet like, so I talked for both of us, trying to get Mom to take us back home. But she didn’t listen. She just talked back to me all quiet-like. She just wasn’t listening.

It took a long time before she stopped the car and took us out of there. But it wasn’t the veterinarian’s office. It was another home. Mom let us get out of the carriers, but we sure didn’t know where we were or what we were supposed to do. We just wanted to go home where the smells and sounds were familiar.

There was the smell of another cat in that house. I never did see him, but I knew he was there. We stayed for two nights. It was horrible. Lily and I refused to eat or poop. We wanted to eat and poop at our own house. Finally, though, we couldn’t wait any longer and we did eat a little and we used the litter box.

Like I say, two days later, Mom drove us home. I thanked her all the way. I wanted her to know how happy I was to be going home. Again, Lily just laid in her carrier next to me all quiet-like. I can’t even express to you my joy at being home. But for some reason I was very nervous about maybe being taken away again. I don’t know why exactly, but I began secretly licked myself…a lot.

One day Mom noticed that some of my fur was missing. She checked me all over for injuries. She petted me a lot and asked me what was wrong. Heck, I didn’t know, except that I was still nervous. So what did she do? She put me into the carrier and took me to that awful veterinarian who does the poking, and just when I thought things were back to normal.

Mom thought I had a thyroid condition, but the veterinarian said she was pretty sure I was suffering stress from my evacuation ordeal. Well, yeah!!! Wouldn’t you be suffering stress in my situation?

It has been seven months now since that awful time and I do feel much better. I feel safe again and I have stopped the nervous behavior. That makes Mom and Dad awfully happy. So I’m happy.

Anything else you would like to tell us about yourself? 

I have a secret. I’m beautiful. Mom says I’m sort of old-fashioned looking which is why she named me Sophie—an old fashioned name. I’m glad I’m old fashioned. I sure don’t want to look like some of the new-fangled cats you see online today. (Yes, I look over Mom’s and Dad’s shoulder while they stare at their screen.) Have you seen some of those cats, Mudpie? Some have short legs, some are polka-dotted instead of mottled like you and me. Some cats have too much fur and then there are some with no fur. Did you know that people put clothes on cats? No lie. I’ve seen pictures of cats dressed in tutus and rain coats. I even saw one wearing eye glasses. It’s ridiculous if you ask me.

Now to my secret: Everyone thinks I’m a tortoiseshell cat, like you are, Mudpie. But I’m actually a calico. When I roll over on my back, which is rare, you can see a large white patch of fur surrounded by a lot of black fur—definitely a calico trait. I also have a little white on my chin and one of my toes. I fooled you, didn’t I? Most people and other cats think I’m a total tortie.

Yeah, I think I’m pretty good-looking and I’m happy. Happy to be safe now and living with people who love me. Life is good. Thank you for asking.

Disclaimer: I received a free copy of this book from the author  in exchange for a fair and honest review. As members of the Amazon Associates affiliate program, if you click on our links and buy something Mudpie gets a little money for her piggy bank!