I’m Blaize Clement, author of the Dixie Hemingway Mystery Series, which is about a pet sitter on Siesta Key in Florida. The first book in the series was Curiosity Killed the Cat Sitter, the second was Duplicity Dogged the Dachshund, and the third is Even Cat Sitters Get the Blues. The fourth will be Cat Sitter On A Hot Tin Roof and I’ll write a Dixie Hemingway mystery every year until I run out of ideas.
Before I became a mystery writer, I was a family therapist in Houston. Being a therapist is a lot like writing a mystery. In either case, you have clues that help you find the thread that explains how something unwanted came to be. Therapists work their way backward, finding clues in the past to explain the present. That’s how I write a mystery, too.
This blog will talk about life, about mystery writing, about pet sitting, about cats and dogs and other critters, and about any other thing that wants to be talked about. I welcome your ideas and comments.
Blaize
(your e-mail is bouncing. Let’s see if this works)
Thought you would like this, written to another friend. I foresee a pot of catnip on the balcony in the spring.
Mary
During a brief dry spell my cat neighbors were playing on the balcony. Their owner was afraid I’d mind, but it’s the closest I can come to having cats with these allergies. The black one is Willie and the orange one is Hank — and I’ll bet you can guess for whom they are named. I’ve noticed them chewing on the dead dry plants, so I’ll have to be careful when I put
plants out next spring, nothing dangerous or too very special.
I already had a squirrel chow down on a Hawaiian plant, plumeria, I think, that I bought at Walgreens of all places.
Dear Ms. Clement,
I thoroughly enjoyed your first two Dixie Hemingway mysteries and look forward to your third, and hopefully, many to follow! You have an irresistable writing style and I find myself reading your books far past my usual bedtime.
Being an avid reader and an animal lover, your books touch a special spot in my heart. Keep them coming.
Jackie Mead
Your books touch a special place in my heart. Keep them coming. Jackie Mead
I read about Dixie’s adventures in Curiosity Killed the Cat Sitter and Even Cat Sitters Get the Blues and thoroughly enjoyed both well-written stories. Dixie’s cynical wit is really fun and you write with a fine style that keeps the pages turning and interest keen. Thanks and keep ‘em coming!
Have a nice day !
Write faster!
(no pressure, just kidding)
I live in Tallahassee; it’s fun to discover a new Florida-based series to enjoy. But I’ve gone through the three books rather quickly so am eager for number four!
I’m listening to Duplicity and really enjoying it.
What can we do to get Audible.com to carry your first book, too?
Thanks,
LD
Thanks for asking. Actually, the first book is also sold on Audible.com. They have my name spelled wrong, as Clemente, but if you search for the title, it’s there. I’ve emailed them about the misspelling of the name, and hope they’ll correct it.
I have really enjoyed all three of your books, and am waiting on the fourth. I have spent a few weekends in the keys so it is fun to read about a place that I can picture. I am also a cat lover (currently at 7 rescued furballs). Your “Dixie” character is great and very easy to believe because of your “first person” writing style. When is book 4 due?
Thanks, Susan, I appreciate hearing from you. The 4th book will be out early 09, and the title will be Cat Sitter On A Hot Tin Roof. I hope you like it too.
I got “Even Cat Sitters Get The Blues” from one of my book clubs. I have now gone to NetLibrary.com to get your other two. I can hardly wait until ‘09 for your next book.
Keep ‘em coming!!
I am really impressed by your books, mysteries with a lot of depth. I really appreciate the issues that you are addressing and that you don’t preach, just put them out there. I look forward to more in the series. Thanks so much for writing them.
Read your third book first and enjoyed the writing so much,
dashed off to the library and just finished your first and second
Dixie Hemingway mystery. Love both mysteries and books
dealing with cats. I now have a new author and leading
character to add to many others I read. You do make all
your characters very real and human.
I received “Curiosity Killed The Cat Sitter” as a gift at The Mystery Lovers Festival in Pittsburgh recently. I am loving it. You can be sure that I will be looking for your other books.
Thanks, Toni. I’ll let you know when the next book is out. It’s titled Cat Sitter On A Hot Tin Roof.
My sister got me hooked on your books. They are great
We are looking forward to your next book. When we were kids our aunt and uncle owned a little restaurent on Siesta Key. We have such fond memories of visiting there, that we are taking a trip with mom to Siesta Key in June. Can’t wait to enjoy the beach and sites. Not to mention the seafood.
Thanks for such an enjoyable read.
I just wanted to let you know my mom and I are eagerly awaiting your next Dixie Hemingway novel. It’s good to know that there are still quality writers out there!!
I have just discovered your books and I love them. They are witty and fun. I just picked up Curiosity killed the cat sitter and am already half done. This si the first book seris that has ever interested me that much. Thanks.
Hi Ms. Clement, I picked up your first book and was hooked!!! I have always loved a good mystery and yours is written about an area where my husband and I raised our daughters. Can’t wait to hear what Dixie is up to next .. with her love life and her mystery solving!! Thanks so much for the enjoyable time in your books!
So far, I have really enjoyed your book about the elderly dachshund, Mame but you need to do your homework on firearms!
A Smith and Wesson .38 is a REVOLVER and does NOT have a magazine. It has a cylinder.
Still, a pleasant light-hearted read.
Oh wow, I can’t believe I goofed on that! Obviously I’m not an expert on firearms, but I have accumulated tons of material on them to avoid making that kind of mistake, and I still did it.
Thanks for alerting me. I’m glad it didn’t keep you from enjoying the overall story.
I just read your 3rd book and it was wonderful! I don’t know how I found out about it, but already have the other two on hold at the library! I am a fan of yours now and will keep watch for every new book you have out. I expecially love it that I can get the in LARGE print, so it is easier on the eyes! I am down to 3 cats now, the youngest that is 9 years old and have two dogs and a bird. Your writing is wonderful! Please keep it up for many more years!
I picked up “Curiosity” during a week I happened to be pet-sitting for three cats. It seemed the appropriate book to be reading at the time. I got “Daschund” book today and finished it a few minutes ago. I had to come online to see if you had another book. I look forward to reading the “Blues” one soon. Thanks for the books, even if this one did make me cry. So glad to hear that another one will be out in early 2009.
Actually got Duplicity….as a gift to a friend who has the littermate of my mini doxie, Greeley. Both were rescued from a breeder’s mill. She loved the book and let me borrow it back to read it. I have my own copy, now, and went out and got the other two books! Can’t wait for the fourth! Greeley and the Meow Sisters (rescued callicos) are enjoying listening to the stories although they have noted my lax grooming schedule!?! Thank you so much for advocating responsible pet adoption and caretaking while providing a great read. You really captured the funny, adventurous, loyal, stubborn intelligent and independent spirit of a daschshund. Glad Ella Fitzgerald is part of Dixie’s life now! The great ones….Patsy, Roy and Ella!!!
I’m so glad I found you. Siesta Key is one of my all-time favorite places and cats are my all-time 4-legger. I will have to pick up your books and go to Siesta Key in my mind.
Best,
KJ
http://interminablewriter.wordpress.com
http://nanadiaries.wordpress.com
I’ve read the first three of your Dixie Hemingway books and enjoyed them immensely. One suggestion: You need to write faster!
I am a pet sitter in NJ and LOVE your books. Read the first two and am on to the 3rd and looking forward to the 4th
I see a little of myself in Dixi and can’t wait to see what she’s up to next. As long as you keep writing them, I’ll keep buying them!!!
on your comments about sarah palin, please advise where we can get info on press release about the “kill obama” comments in her speeches. thanks you.
Palin herself has never used the phrase. It was used by racists in her audience, without any effort on her part to stop it.
I just recently found and read your third book,” Even Cat Sitters Get the Blues”. I loved it. I am a big mystery book reader especially when there are pets involved. The thing that makes yours so much fun is I spend my winters in the Sarasota area. It is fun seeing places in print and knowing where they are. Keep up the good work.
Living in Sarasota as I do, I love your books. I have one wish though, that they would be published in hard cover large print. Or even soft cover large print. When we get old, the large print books are so much easier on the eyes.
If in fact they are available in large print, I have been unable to find any.
Actually, the books are all available in large print from a British publisher. I’m not sure where they’re found in the US, but the library might be a good place to look.
Chapter 2: I just found a source for large print books in the US. They’re published by Thorndike Press, and you can order them from Target online. They’re probably available in other outlets too, but I don’t know which ones. I’ll keep searching.
I got the first three at a bookstore, since I read quickly and was on my Thanksgiving vacation. They were great, and the growth of Dixie emotionally strikes home. HOpe your fourth book comes out soon.
I’m a petsitter in Louisiana, and when I saw Even Catsitters Get the Blues at a bookstore, I couldn’t resist. I went back and bought your first two books, and have just finished the first. Petsitting can certainly bring surprises, but I’m happy to report that I haven’t found any dead bodies–animal or human. Please keep the adventures coming.
LOVE YOUR “DIXIE” BOOKS. PLEASE KEEP THEM COMING.
HUGS,
LORRAINE
Granted . . the Page 99 Test works very well . . but so do the other 274 pages of CAT ON A HOT TIN ROOF! I just finished it and decided that Dixie’s many showers are going to be “cold water only” if Guidry doesn’t get moving soon. Maybe in book five, he can peel off his fine linen sport coat long enough to hop in the shower with her.
About 3 weeks ago, I bought “Curiosity Killed the Cat Sitter” to relieve bordom on a long flight. I loved it! And quickly located and read books 2, 3, & 4! Like someone else wrote before me, write faster!
I will point out one inconsistency. In book 4, Todd is 30 in his photo and would now be 33, the same age as Dixie is now. In a previous book when Dixie was 32, Dixie says she is the same age now that Todd was “then”, implying that he was 3 years older than her.
Math never has been my strong suit! Thanks for pointing that out. And for writing.
I received “Curosity killed the pet sitter” and “Even the Cat Sitters Get the Blues” for Christmas from someone I pet sit for. I enjoyed both, and have since purchased Duplicity and Hot Tin Roof. What fun, and adventuresome reading. Keep them coming. Prior to full time pet sitting I was a social worker for DPW. This has been a wonderful transition and really enjoy it
thanks, Claudette. Being a pet sitter is a lot like being a social worker, isn’t it? Except the pets are more fun.
Hi Blaize!
Well, I just finished your third book and eager to get my hands on your fourth! I purchased your first book at Circle Books in Sarasota while on vacation. I saw it displayed in the window and had to get it.
To tell you the truth, I thought it was going to be a fluffy (pun intended) beachy read…boy was I surprised! Your writing is supurb and the mystery elements keep me guess.
Thank you also for being so diverse in your characters–Gay folks, Hispanics, Native Americans…
Your site is so inviting as well! You seem like a fun, informed, open-minded and intellegent person. Keep writing! I love it! Cheers, Audrey
Dear Blaize,
So happy to find you. I would love to talk to you.
Brenda
I just discovered your series and I’m so glad there’s more to be had! I stumbled upon book 3 and checked it out of the library for my pet-sitting neighbor, but then read it myself! I’ve already placed books 1 & 2 on hold at the library and was excited to see that book 4 is “on order”
Thank you so much for writing a genuine character with fun content and just my age, too!
Keep it up, Please & Thank you!!