Today, August 17, is National Black Cat Appreciation Day!

Now, I know everyone who reads this post loves and appreciates black cats every day of the year, but unfortunately there are those humans who don’t. Black cats tend to linger in shelters, and some humans even think of them as bad luck. (We know differently, don’t we?)

Actually, in many cultures, black cats are seen in a positive light. According to National Today, “in Scottish lore, good tidings would follow if a black cat came to your house. Fishermen often kept black cats on their boats, believing them to bring good luck.”

But let’s ask a black cat what she thinks about the superstitions surrounding cats of the color black.

Let me introduce Soji, the Ghost Cat of Ocean Cove.

Soji currently haunts the beachfront property of septuagenarian Camelia Collins and the pages of the Tenth Life Cozy Mystery Series, written by me.

“Soji was special. Not only did she live to be thirty-two years old—she was the seventh black kitten of a seventh black kitten, which supposedly makes her immortal. She’s said to come back to right great wrongs. A sort of Joan of Arc of cats.

Many claim to have seen her, and they all agree she is black, though some say she is big and long furred like a Norwegian Forest cat, and others say slim and shorthaired. She also appears misty white, as you might expect from a phantom.”

 

Hello, Soji. Thank you for appearing to us this National Black Cat Appreciation Day. What do you think? Do black cats enjoy their special day?

Soji: Of courrrse! Black is the perrrfect color for felines. It helps us hide from predators and conceal ourselves when we stalk prrrey. Our fur doesn’t show up on dark clothing and furniture like our lighter cousins. And just for fun, we can turn brown in the sun. But some humans are ignorant of our many advantages. Hopefully, with enough positive posts for this Black Cat Apprrreciation Day, others will be enlightened.

Are you doing anything special to celebrate today?

Soji: Aside frrrom reading about all my onyx-colored family? Not really. But I am looking forward to August 29^th when my author’s latest book will be out, and everybody can read about my newest adventure. It’s called Ghost Cat on the Midway. Ghost cat—that’s me.

Thank you Soji. Tell us about this new story.

Soji: I am hero, of courrrse. I save the day.

I’m sure that’s true, but it looks like there’s a bit more to it. Maybe I’d better give the blurb from the back cover:

Camelia Collins is ready to enjoy Ocean Cove’s small county fair when the keeper of an aging tiger is murdered, and the tiger goes missing.

Who did it—a rogue faction of violent animal activists or something more arcane?

Only the ghost cat Soji knows the truth, but will the capricious spirit come forward before someone else dies?

Thanks so much, Soji, for joining us here today…

Soji?

Hey, Soji?

Well, it looks like our little ghost cat has disappeared for the moment. I hope everyone has a great National Black Cat Appreciation Day! Go pet a black cat, or better yet, adopt one!