The True Story behind Blacktail the Pirate Cat:
The character in my book, Blacktail, the pirate cat was based on a real life cat. When my husband and I moved into the little rental house on Main Street in Berwick, we immediately installed a cat door in the basement window for Smidgen and Sassy-Lu (Princes Lu Lu). My husband, Mark, removed the glass from a small rectangular basement window and attached a styrofoam-lined box with a cat flap. This served as a little insulated hallway into the basement which opened up onto the top of a wooden shelf. It wasn't too long before a feral cat discovered the styrofoam box where he was able to keep warm and look outside at the same time. Needless to say, he had commandeered the cat door, making it impossible for my cats to use it. Blacktail was a typical feral cat with a dirty white coat, a few black patches on the top of his head and a long black tail. We named him Blacktail, the pirate cat and began leaving food for him. He was always guarded, but would tolerate my husband if he kept his distance. We got a cat trap from the SPCA and tried to catch him with the intention of getting him neutered. Unfortunately, that never worked out. He was far too sly to enter a trap, even though that is where the food was. After a week or so, we felt sorry for him because he was getting hungry as he now was accustomed to getting two square meals a day. We returned the cat trap and continued to feed him. After a few years we started looking for a house to purchase. At some point I realized, "What are we going to do with Blacktail?" It was highly unlikely that we could take him with us. He would probably return to the house. And on top of that, we were very worried the new renters may not want to feed a feral cat. That is when Mark said, "I guess we can't move." I agreed. Later I called up our landlord and asked him if he would sell us the house and he said YES! We bought the little house on Main Street and Blacktail continued to live in our basement until he passed away.
Review of the Canvas Tote Bag and T-Shirt:
My website is partnered with the Art of Where, an on-demand manufacturer of printed products that are drop shipped to the customer. They are based in Montreal. I am not big on trying to sell people stuff, but having said that, these products are nice. I wanted to a share a review of the items I purchased. Please note, they do charge a shipping fee when you place an order. This would be in addition to the shipping on a book order.
We are offering two styles of t-shirts, a spiral note book and a large canvas tote bag. I ordered both a t-shirt and a bag for myself. The bag is really nice. It is made of heavy-duty cotton canvas in a beautiful teal colour with a snowflake design on it with the book cover on the front. I chose the natural-coloured handles. There is an option for black handles and a choice of different fabrics for the bag.The quality is amazing. I am currently using it as a purse—a rather large purse, I must admit. The workmanship is excellent. The inside has a nice navy cotton lining with a zipped pocket and two additional smaller pockets that would fit a phone. I get lots of positive comments on this bag. The bag starts at $38.00 up to $55.00. I got the one that was lined and made of 100% cotton and it was $55.00 and is well worth it in my opinion. I love my bag.
I ordered the comfort t-shirt as well. It is a nice quality cotton shirt and the logo looks good. They come in different colours. I am wearing a ladies large in Azalea (pink) in the picture below. I am a size 12, and the large is a loose fit but comfortable. This t-shirt is $24.00.
Happy reading,
The tote bag and t-shirt.
Reader Dawn Harvey's spy cat Cali, code name: CalCal
Reader, Dawn Harvey's spy cat Chloe, code name: Geezy.
Reader Ginette Leclaire's spy kitties Soumoulou and Mazan. They are bilingual (French:English) and work as diplomats with the French government. Their mission is world peace.
Email us pictures of your secret agent cat to: theresa@theresamaclean.com
