Speaker 1: Live.
Speaker 2: This is pet Life Radio. Let's Talk Pets.
Speaker 3: Hello, Fela and friends. Welcome to Catatude. I'm your show
host Michelle Burn and today I have a really cool
show for you. If you like books and you like cats.
Of course you like cats, right you're listening to Cavitude,
then you're gonna love my show with this author, So
stay tuned. Will be right back.
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Speaker 1: Let's Talk Pets on Petlifradio dot com.
Speaker 3: Welcome back everyone. I'd like to welcome David Sterling. He
is the author of The Cat That Chased Cadillacs and
the cat that followed phantoms.
Speaker 5: Welcome David, Thank you, Michelle. It's great to be here.
Speaker 3: Thank you. I'm very excited to have you on. So
before we get started in talking about your bucks, you
must love cats.
Speaker 5: I do love cats. Yeah, I've ever since. Honestly, when
I was a baby, even before I was born, we
had a cat.
Speaker 3: There you go, it's darting nose. So there you are.
And did you now you're a protagonist in both books.
It's a black cat.
Speaker 5: Yes, his name is Buck. He's a black cat detective
and he lives in a little mountain town in northwestern
North Carolina.
Speaker 3: Okay, does it follow you a little bit?
Speaker 5: Yeah, I guess you could say that I rescued a cat,
a black cat named Panther, and gosh, since he was
two weeks old. I mean, his eyes were barely open
and I can hold him in the palm of my hand.
And you know, over the years, I've come to realize
that how black cats are so mischievous and curious, more
than any other cat I've had. I think people say
that orange cats are kind of the same way. But yeah,
I based Buck on my cat Panther.
Speaker 3: I love that you're showing a cat in a way
that it's not just stereotypical black cat, you know, because
sterry stereotype of black cat is always scary and stay
away in this. And your cat is intelligent and insightful
and is curious and all of that. And you know,
I don't have a solid black cat. I have a
tuxedo Mollie, and she is not that curious. So maybe
it's all black. I don't know. Dennis is a partner
and coon, he's pretty curious. Wow.
Speaker 5: Yeah, nin koons are fantastic.
Speaker 3: So let's talk about your books. What inspired you to
create a series? Because you have two books so and
you're I'm sure there's more coming. So a series about
a cat that chases cadillacs or you know, follows phantoms.
The cat actually has a detective business. He does.
Speaker 5: Yeah, he owns his own detective agency. His owner is
the town's detective. And it's a very small town, so
there's only one detective. There's only a handful of police,
and he has no idea what his cat, Buck is
up to. Buck is an indoor outdoor cat. He has
his own detective agency underneath of the shed in the backyard.
So his human detective Shaw has no idea of this
secret life of Buck. He has no idea. He doesn't
know that he talks, that he helps him solve crime,
that he places clues on his desk every once in
a while for in order for him, Detective Shaw to
figure out, you know, the solution to whatever crime they're
involved in. And I don't think that's ever going to change.
He's probably going to remain, you know, a secret hero.
Speaker 3: Okay, I love it. It borders on let's see if
I can say this, sorry anthropomorphism.
Speaker 5: Yes, yeah, you're right.
Speaker 3: You know, before I knew what the word what meant
many years ago, I wrote a paper and use this
in know this type of style and learned about it.
And it's interesting. So did you always have an affinity
and they're moreph I say it a few times and
once or twice it'll sound right. So did you have
a piper anthropomorphism or did you it just kind of
just worked out that way.
Speaker 5: No. I think I've always been of a mind, even
as a kid, that animals were, you know, intelligent enough
to gosh, I don't know, have their own lives, right,
Like when I was little, I remember watching the Doctor
Doolittle movie not the Eddie Murphy one, but the Rex
Harrison one based on the original novels. And after I
saw that movie, and I was only like, I don't know, Michelle.
I started to read early, so I was young, and
I remember my mom had gotten me the like a collection,
so they were like, I don't know, five or six
paperbacks in this collection. I just devoured them. And then
when I was a little bit older, I saw the
Watershipped Down movie, and wow, Honestly, as a kid, that
was a little bit traumatizing, but I wanted to know
more about that world because, like you're saying, the anthropomorphism
in it is just so intriguing, especially when you have pets,
because you, as their caretaker, their owner, you know that
they have their own lives and their own thoughts, and
these books and these movies give you an opportunity to
dive deeper into all of that. So I read the
Richard Adams books, and just as a kid loving animals
and wanting to be a vet or a marine biologist
or something, I would just eat this stuff up. So
when it came time for me to actually write a book,
I've had short stories done before, but I've never done
a book. It's just a larger endeavor. I thought, you
know what, I'm going to go back to my first love,
which is animals, and in this specific case, a cat.
Speaker 3: Okay, let's talk more about Buck. Sure, how did you
decide to define him? I mean as a detective and
so you know that shapes his characteristics somewhat. But did
you base him a little bit on your cat while
you did, because he's black cat, same black cat, right,
how did you go about giving him these other distinct
personality features.
Speaker 5: That's a great question. Well, yes, Buck is based on
my cat, Panther, but he's also based on what I like.
I love crime fiction. So he's a little bit of
James Bond. He's a little bit of you know, all
these noir detectives. He loves Miles Davis, he likes a
good cup of tea. He has all these qualities to
him that you can see from these noir films or
old dime store detective novels. That's Buck. So he's a
little bit of Panther. He's a little bit of me,
I guess you could say. Okay, by the way, Panther
is sitting here right next to me. Whenever I have
a zoom call or a meeting or something. He's got
to be a part of it.
Speaker 3: Of course. Funny if you have so. My cats are
very independent. However, anytime it's you know, chill time, day
in the night, there's Molly. And if you have your place,
you know, on the couch where you want to sit, nope,
if Molly's there, that's her spot. You just have to
it because she's not cuddling and she will not move
unless you will.
Speaker 5: Oh my gosh.
Speaker 3: Yeah, a lot of attitude. I think she was born
in front of my doorsteps, so I think she should
have probably been picked up a little bit. But she's
always dependent spirit. So I have a question for you.
So Buck obviously talks in the book, but if he
were to talk, you know, how would it What would
he sound like? I know, ja, what would boy sound like?
Speaker 5: That's great, It's just if you were to hear him,
it would just be a meal like him and his
He has a girlfriend. Her name is Tabitha and she
actually is the police station cat, and they talk in
the police station. But as far as the other you know,
policemen or detectives that work there, all they hear is mews.
They have no idea that their cats can talk. But
there's also birds and foxes and dogs and goats and
beavers and they all talk there. They all have their
own way of talking as well.
Speaker 3: And so each species can understand what species is. But
let's just play if they're on this, I know it'll
sound like a meal, but it would be like a
I don't know. In North Carolina they have a little
Southern accent. You know, they're not Southern. Would it be
mew like meow? I mean, I'm in the South, but
it's I'm in further south. I'm in Fort Lauderdale, but
not the South. It always cracks me up that, you know,
places further north, like North Carolina Tennessee, are that considered
the South and that people have the Southern accents. You
come down here and it's you don't have any Southern accents, right.
Speaker 5: I can guarantee you that Buck does not have a
Southern accent British. It's not British either. And this is
so funny, Michelle, because I have had people ask for
the audio version of these books, and I have not
found a voiceover artist that I'm happy with as Buck's voice.
Because all these stories are told in first person as
Buck is relating it to the reader. So I have
yet to find the perfect voice for Buck. But it
would be, say, a younger, twenty eight year old, maybe
from without a definable accent. I would say, because I'm
originally from Philadelphia, right that Philadelphia area, and when I
came down here, oh my gosh, the accent, especially on
people who are who were born here. Sometimes I could
only understand maybe fifty percent of what someone was saying.
Speaker 3: And it's not that much of a difference either as
far as physical.
Speaker 5: Difference, right, Yeah, but I definitely didn't want Buck to
have a Southern accent, but he has more of a
I don't want to say Northern accent because then you
think New York and it's not like that. There is
a crow Crack in the books that has a New
York accent. But Buck is more middle of the road,
non denominational.
Speaker 3: You could say, I think he sounds like he's polished
in the British. That gives me a little British, you know.
Speaker 5: Well, he does like tea, so he's got that.
Speaker 3: Yeah. Okay, let's talk about the chasing Cadillacs. What does
the Cadillac represent.
Speaker 5: Well, that's a good question. In the first book, there
is a car dealership, and without giving too much away,
the person who runs the dealership is an antique car collector,
so he has a few vehicles that are vintage, and
one of them happens to be an old Cadillactaville, which
is really a beautiful car, and that car kind of
plays a crucial role in that story.
Speaker 3: Okay, and yes, you're right, the older cars were. They're gorgeous.
Speaker 5: Yes, their works of art.
Speaker 3: You're right. The colors and everything. Now everything's like white
or gray or silver or black. Sometimes you see a red,
not like what it used to be.
Speaker 5: Yeah, this one's a This is a cream de Ville. Right, Yeah,
it's pretty pretty sweet. I wish I had it.
Speaker 3: Okay, we're gonna take a short break.
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Speaker 3: Welcome back everyone. We're talking to David Sterling. He is
the author of this series, the Cat Detective book series,
and the first is the Cat that Chased Cadillacs. The
second is the Cat that followed phantoms. Now, let's talk
about before we talk about your second book briefly, what
do you like best about writing books?
Speaker 5: Oh? Wow, that is a great question. I don't know.
As an author. I think that it's something that has
to It has to come out, like I couldn't hold
it in, you know what I mean. It just has
to come out one way or the other. And I
certainly have great days writing and I have poor days writing.
I think my favorite part of writing is probably the
world building, So coming up with Buck's office and his
tea collection and the way that he interacts with other animals.
The crime, whatever crime he's solving, is basically the plot
of the story, and that's a whole other issue. But
I love creating the world that Buck lives in.
Speaker 3: It sounds like fun and it's on my bucket list
to write a book one day. Okay, let's talk about
the phantoms. What do the phantoms symbolize in the second story.
Speaker 5: Well, the town that Buck lives in, it's called Copper Summit.
It has a storied history and it's not it's not
all pleasant. And Buck comes to find out about this history,
and I think that's where the phantoms come in. I
think if your listeners love a spooky, somewhat supernatural story
with black cats and crime and those types of things,
I think they would really enjoy phantoms.
Speaker 3: Okay, And I want to just put it out there
that were not stereotyping black cats like holl of Cats,
because I've done a lot of shows on that and
a lot of cat levers don't really like that stereotype,
because it's sure one. I'd like that you made Buck
a black cat because and I knew this from way back,
because my cats all adopted me. I found that, all
of them, but my dogs I adopted at rescue and
they're they're all gone and doggy heaven. But I always
liked black dogs, yeah, and mutts. And I didn't know
until I saw a poster once at one of the
shelters that you know, most people don't adopt black dogs,
and I thought, well why, And then that goes on too,
the same with black cats. And there's even during did
you know, even during Halloween they put you know, like
the kabash on adoption speak with cats because people will
get them for just oh, something cute for my costume
or decorating my house for in a party and then
bring them back or just abandon them.
Speaker 5: It's the worst. You're right. I have heard about that.
There's a scene in The Cat that followed Phantoms where
Buck is on the sidewalk walking with Tabitha and an
interaction occurs with a human being and Buck predicts it.
He's like, look, I'm a black cat. It's around Halloween.
This is gonna happen. And Tabitha says, no, no way,
and it does, and she's shocked. Because you're right, people,
and not everyone, of course, but those who don't have
an affinity for animals. I think, you know, look at
black cats and black dogs as unlucky, and that's a
horrible way to look at a beautiful, intelligent animal. So
that is something that I wanted to bring to the
forefront with Phantoms because it's just it's honestly, it's a prejudice.
I don't know why people feel that way, but it is.
Speaker 3: It is a prejudice. Do you ever did when you
were creating your book? Did you read parts of it
to Panther? I'm just wondering, because all the time he's
a cat. I know that I understand every word.
Speaker 5: Probably that's a great question. Michelle and I now.
Speaker 3: You talk to yourself when you're working, all right, I
gotta do this. I do that all the time, and
my partner will go, what'd you say? I go, oh,
I'm just talking to myself. I'm not talking to you,
but I don't listening, right, so, you know, but I
would probably talk to my cat if my cat was
nice enough to hang around my key office.
Speaker 5: I absolutely talk to panther. We have conversations. He's a
very vocal cat, but I can't say that I've actually
read passages to him. However, when I'm writing, he is
on my arms. He's in front of me on my desk,
laying in front of me. So I've got to position
my arms in a way that I can reach the
keyboard with both hands and write, and that's not always easy,
but that's where he wants to be, and I don't
complain about it.
Speaker 3: Isn't that funny? I think more so with cats than
with dogs. Were hated to you, but some people have both.
Cat will position themselves in a spot and you can't
only get them to move, so it's like, all right,
how can I work around this? You know, because we
don't want to disturb them.
Speaker 5: Yeah, that's so true. There's that old Japanese print of
a cat on a Japanese woman's very long kimono, and
she has a pair of scissors in her hand, and
she's actually cutting her kimono so she doesn't disturb the
cat as she moves. That's great, Yeah, that's funny.
Speaker 3: How do you think our cat loving audience will love
your book? How do you think your books will appeal
to them?
Speaker 5: Okay, good question. They are their first and foremost crime novels,
cozy mysteries, you could say. But at the same time,
there's a lot of cat behavior in them, so to speak. Like,
for instance, you know Buck will he's black, right, so
he knows that he can hide in the shadows. He
knows that he can be very secretive and furtive, just
like Panther, Like I'll trip over him in the daytime.
It's crazy. But like Buck understands that he's got that
special ability. He calculates his jumps, you know, in other words,
he thinks about it for a couple seconds before so
he jumps from one rooftop to another. And you can
see that in his back legs and his eyes. He
has a special messenger that delivers messages around town who
is a bird. But the bird is a little bit
scared of Buck, and Buck is just a little bit
you know, he wants to taste that bird so bad,
So there's this tension between the two of them. Pretty
much in every chapter, there's some type of cat behavior
that is brought up because I just you know, I
love cats and panther in particular, But seeing his behavior
over the years and growing up with cats and working
at an animal hospital, you kind of understand the way
that hats to look at the world, and so I
wanted to bring that into a book.
Speaker 3: What lessons do you hope readers take away from the
cat's adventures? So when Buck's crime solving.
Speaker 5: I think, more than anything else, probably an appreciation of
the animal world. Like I said, I love crime novels
and movies and that whole genre. But it's being told
through a cat's eyes and through other animals points of view.
So I could have done this with a human, but
I chose to do it with an animal because I
believe that animals lives are important and the more people
that I can make understand, well, you know what, maybe
my cat or my dog knows a little bit more
than I think I think that's a good place to be.
We as the human race, I think, should appreciate animals
intelligence more than we do. I think that's what I
would hope that readers take away from these books. There's
a third book coming out by the end of the year.
It takes place in a theme park that has an
animal section, So more than the other two books, I
think this book, it's called The Cat That Tracked Trains.
That book will I don't know zero win on that
aspect of what I'd like to convey to readers.
Speaker 3: Okay, thanks, Do you think that your book might help
cat adoption?
Speaker 2: Oh?
Speaker 5: Gosh, I hope so that would be so great. That
would be so great. You know what, I'm very pleased
to see that there's really not very many pet stores
left that sell animals. I mean, when I was a kid,
you'd go to the mall and or you drive past
pet stores and you know, they're just coming from mills.
And even when I was younger, we never got our
animals or pets from pet stores. We would always adopt
or like you said, they would choose you, they'd find you,
and you know, yeah, I'm yours. Now, there's nothing you
can do about it. So I'm really glad that puppy
mills and things like that are pretty much a thing
of the past.
Speaker 3: Pretty much. I mean, and I don't knock breeders. I
know that people that want a certain breed or show
dogs and they want to go to a breeder, and
this is nothing against them, But I have an affinity
for shelters and rescues. Yes, with my cat crew, my
dogs were from rescues. And one more point about rescues
is that there's so many rescue specific you know, rescue
breed specific types, more so probably for dogs than for cats,
but for cats as well. I mean, if you live
in a warm climate, cats are everywhere. Dennis was abandoned.
Molly was born on my front step. Charlotte's her sister
from another mister that stayed my doorstep for four months
until my partner wanted her to invite her in. And
she's misunderstood, which means she doesn't like to use the
letterbox nine. Okay, this is good karma for me nine
years of her not using I've tried everything, and I
know the cat behavior is out there saying no, you
haven't tried this, but she's special. Okay, I have another
question for you. If Buck had one piece of advice
for all the readers, just like a general piece of advice,
what would he tell them.
Speaker 5: He does say, and I believe it's in the first book.
He says, never assume. And that might be a written
in stone detective rule. I don't know, but it seems
like it would be right. Keep an open mind about things,
and I try to do that. I think Buck certainly
does that. Panther probably does that as well. I don't
think that.
Speaker 3: I don't know.
Speaker 5: I would just say that never assume. When it comes
to solving crime. You've got to keep an open mind
for everything.
Speaker 3: Yes, in general, even when life drives you crazy and
throw you curveballs, keep an open mind. It'll wait. Okay,
you have our listening audience of Catitude. Why should they
get your book?
Speaker 5: All the books are so much fun, Michelle, And I mean,
I say that, of course I'm biased, but they are.
I struggle to come up with the genre for it,
Like when I was submitting through Amazon and everything. They're
certainly mysteries, they're probably cozy mysteries, but there's a bit
of fantasy in there, and it's just a unique read.
If you love animals, you'll like these books. If you
love crime novels, you'll like these books. There's something I
think for everyone each in each one of these books,
but especially if you love animals and if you love cats,
then you've got to read them.
Speaker 3: I agree, and I like the tone of the voice
of the book as well. I'm an avid reader and
I thought they were very well done. Where can people
find the books? Right now?
Speaker 5: They're on Amazon, So if you look for The Cat
to Chase Cadillacs or The Cat That Followed Phantoms where
you can book under my name G. David Sterling, you'll
find them. I'll probably go wide before the end of
the year, which means they'll be available at Barnes and
Noble or Apple Books or those types of outlets, but
right now they're on Amazon.
Speaker 1: Well.
Speaker 3: I wish you amazing success and thank you so much
for coming on Catitude.
Speaker 5: Thank you so much, Michelle, it was great to be here.
Speaker 3: I hope you all enjoyed this show. I want to
thank my guest David Sterling for coming on Catitude and
sharing all of this great information about his books, The
Cat That Chase Cadillacs and The Cat That Followed Phantoms
David Sterling, available on Amazon. Thank you to my cat
crew that teaches me about cats that make me really
appreciate Buck the stories, So thank you, Dennis, Charlotte and Mollie,
and of course thank you to everyone listening attitude. I
greatly appreciate your loyalty and your listenership, and of course
the show would not be the same about the magic
of my producer, Mark Winter. Thank you so much, Mark,
and hey, remember, lose the attitude, have the gratitude.
Speaker 1: Let's Talk Pets every week on demand only on Petlight
radio dot com.