Let’s welcome Ruth J. Hartman to the blog today and learn more about her new book, Butterfly Betrayal. Welcome, Ruth. Tell us about your newest book and the cats in your life.
My newest book, Butterfly Betrayal, is about a butterfly farm, a young woman named Seneca, and her cat, Winifred. Seneca runs into trouble when she discovers a body in her greenhouse. The man turns out to be her attorney, who she’d depended on to get her out of a current jam, when a neighbor double-crosses her by going back on a legal contract.
Winifred, a caramel colored, feisty feline, likes to wear butterfly costumes every day. Yes, really! When Seneca is working with her monarch butterflies in her green house or milkweed fields, or when in her café, Painted Wings, Winifred is right there supervising what the cat considers to be her property. And why shouldn’t she? Don’t cats really run the world? 😊
If you own a cat, or three, like I do, you become many things. When they want to lie on your lap just as you were planning to get out of your chair, you become their pillow. When you walk into the kitchen, even just to pass through the room, you become their waitress, supplying them with much longed-for treats. And when you’re standing there, minding your own business, not realizing you have a thread hanging loose from the bottom of your jeans, you become their plaything.
Those of you who are cat moms or dads know what I mean. Cats are funny, sweet, and affectionate. They are also, spunky, feisty, and dramatic. I love all sides of my cats. They keep me entertained when they leap four feet into the air to catch a catnip mouse I’ve thrown, and they sleep on me (all three!) when I don’t feel well and need some little furry nurses to get me through my illness.
I’ve been a cat lover my entire life. I think it started in the womb because my mom was one too. They’ve always been there, no matter what stage of life I was in, from hurrying home to see my cat after a long day at elementary school, to choosing the first cat I picked out with my husband, to retiring from my dental hygiene job so I could write full time, where my cats earn their keep (not really…. they’re usually napping!) as my fuzzy editors.
Winifred is a combination of a couple of different cats I’ve had. Actually every cat in every one of my books (yes, they all have cats!) has personality traits and quirks from one or more cats I’ve had through the years. If you like felines as much as I do, or if you’d like to learn more about them, I hope you’ll enjoy my new release, Butterfly Betrayal!
I first met Ruth on Zoom meetings, then when we got together at a mystery conference, we hit it off. THEN our husbands hit it off. Here’s a little more about my friend, Ruth.
Ruth J. Hartman spends her days herding cats and her nights spinning mysterious tales. She, her husband, and their cats love to spend time curled up in their recliners watching old Cary Grant movies. Well, the cats sit in the people’s recliners. Not that the cats couldn’t get their own furniture. They just choose to shed on someone else’s.
Ruth, a left-handed, cat-herding, farmhouse-dwelling writer uses her sense of humor as she writes tales of lovable, klutzy women who seem to find trouble without even trying.
Ruth’s husband and best friend, Garry, reads her manuscripts, rolls his eyes at her weird story ideas, and loves her despite her insistence all of her books have at least one cat in them. See updates about her cozy mysteries at Ruthjhartman.com.
Friends, be sure to check out Butterfly Betrayal.
Blurb:
Raising butterflies is peaceful and calm, until someone dies.
Majestic Monarch Butterfly Farm might flitter away forever. That is, unless Seneca James acquires the property next door. She and Winifred, her costume-wearing cat, have a fight on their hands. Their land sits next to a milkweed-covered field, essential for monarchs. If she’s unsuccessful in buying it, her precious, winged friends won’t survive. When people end up dead on her farmland, Seneca is suspected of murder.
What is it about the milkweed field that’s worth killing for? And who’s the murderer?
Here are some ways to connect with Ruth.
https://www.bookbub.com/authors/ruth-j-hartman
https://www.facebook.com/ruth.j.hartman
https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100063631596817
Ruth, thanks for visiting with us today. It’s been fun.
Jackie Layton 