Some fans of my Southern Witch series have told me that the ocelot Mercutio is their favorite character. I think Tammy would probably agree. From the time they meet in WOULD-BE WITCH she is taken with him. Mercutio quickly becomes her sidekick and a sounding board for her plans.
Here’s a brief exchange between them while they’re driving…
“Bryn doesn’t support the community theater here. Never seen him go to a play in town. Don’t you think it’s strange that he’s going to that meeting, Merc?”
Mercutio blinked.
“Yeah, me too. There’s only one type of arts that I believe Bryn to be a patron of.” Tammy paused. “You got it, black arts. What should we do? Tail him?”
Merc didn’t disagree.
* * *
I’ve been asked how Mercutio came to be a character in the books. I guess it began because I’m a fan of lions and tigers--maybe it’s the Leo in me? Obviously, witches often have cats, but since Tammy Jo spends a lot of her time fighting villains, it made sense for her to have a “big cat” for a sidekick. It would’ve been tough to hide a tiger in a small town, but people do sometimes try to raise ocelots, which are smaller than tigers, as pets—though ocelots are difficult to domesticate and some can’t be. The artist Salvador Dali used to have ocelots that routinely tore up his hotel rooms and everything in sight. The fact that ocelots are truly wild appealed to me.
Ocelots are territorial and, if threatened, they’ll fight to the death. Mercutio definitely shows those tendencies in the stories. He’ll fight anything that needs fighting, without a thought to how much bigger the opponent is.
In keeping with the paranormal aspect of the stories, Mercutio senses magic. He can track Tammy Jo or any creatures that exude magical energy. This makes him extremely valuable to Tammy Jo since she has an impairment when it comes to sensing magic. (Details about why her magic malfunctions can be found in BARELY BEWITCHED.)
Anyway, from the moment Tammy Jo and Mercutio came together on the page, I loved their interaction, and although it’s not always clear what man Tammy’ll end up with, it is clear what cat she’ll end up with. J
For a chance to win a copy of BARELY BEWITCHED, visit the comments and answer one of the following questions:
What’s the most unusual name you’ve heard for a pet?
OR
What’s your pet’s name and why did you choose that name for him or her?
“Bryn doesn’t support the community theater here. Never seen him go to a play in town. Don’t you think it’s strange that he’s going to that meeting, Merc?”
Mercutio blinked.
“Yeah, me too. There’s only one type of arts that I believe Bryn to be a patron of.” Tammy paused. “You got it, black arts. What should we do? Tail him?”
Merc didn’t disagree.
* * *
I’ve been asked how Mercutio came to be a character in the books. I guess it began because I’m a fan of lions and tigers--maybe it’s the Leo in me? Obviously, witches often have cats, but since Tammy Jo spends a lot of her time fighting villains, it made sense for her to have a “big cat” for a sidekick. It would’ve been tough to hide a tiger in a small town, but people do sometimes try to raise ocelots, which are smaller than tigers, as pets—though ocelots are difficult to domesticate and some can’t be. The artist Salvador Dali used to have ocelots that routinely tore up his hotel rooms and everything in sight. The fact that ocelots are truly wild appealed to me.
Ocelots are territorial and, if threatened, they’ll fight to the death. Mercutio definitely shows those tendencies in the stories. He’ll fight anything that needs fighting, without a thought to how much bigger the opponent is.
In keeping with the paranormal aspect of the stories, Mercutio senses magic. He can track Tammy Jo or any creatures that exude magical energy. This makes him extremely valuable to Tammy Jo since she has an impairment when it comes to sensing magic. (Details about why her magic malfunctions can be found in BARELY BEWITCHED.)
Anyway, from the moment Tammy Jo and Mercutio came together on the page, I loved their interaction, and although it’s not always clear what man Tammy’ll end up with, it is clear what cat she’ll end up with. J
For a chance to win a copy of BARELY BEWITCHED, visit the comments and answer one of the following questions:
What’s the most unusual name you’ve heard for a pet?
OR
What’s your pet’s name and why did you choose that name for him or her?
Happy Release Day!
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52 comments:
I've not heard too many weird names for pets, so I'll talk about one of my dogs. I have two, Coco and Brandy. Coco is completely white.. but then, her name isn't Cocoa, but Coco - short for Coconut. And now she responds to anything similar. Cocobear, Cococrazy, etc.
Thanks!
Morning Glow
ohmorningglow AT aol DOT com
Hm unusual, dunno about that.
but for my own cats, well my parents, I thought of some nice ones. Ramses, cos he was yellow and the name means son of Ra.
Morrigan, lol gave my mum a bunch of names and she liked it. oh and it fits, the cat is crazy.
Then there is Rhodri, cos I think the name is sooo cute :)
I love the commercial with "Mr. Barkie von Schnauzer", but my cats are named after Gods - I need all the help I can get - Isis, Freya, & Loki.
(robertmoonson)
My dog is named Kodi, short for Kodiac. When he was a puppy, he looked just like a bear cub.
I don't have a pet at the moment but my brother has an English Bulldog named "Q-tip". Q is white with an orangey coloured patch on his eye that reminded my brother of a used q-tip.
melacan at hotmail dot com
The most unusual name I ever heard for a pet was Gayne. I do have a dog, Sammy but she was already called Sammy when she adopted me. :)
Hi there Kim!
Loved your first book and would love to read this one!
Ok, to answer the question - I had a beautiful german shepard puppy named Akasha! I named her after the vampire queen Akasha in Anne Rice's Vampire Chronicles. Plus, I loved the name..it was different! Although have the time - I called her kasha for short. LOL But I've always had a love of vampires and I loved that name!
Congrats on the release too! It's been much awaited!!!!
Ruthie
The weirdest name I gave a pet was when I was in high school, and I named my cat "Homie G-Funk Era Superstar" but we called hiim "Homie" for short. haha
My current dogs names are Elliott who I named b/c I liked Elliott Reed on Scrubs, and Riley because I liked Riley Finn on Buffy. lol
bacarleton(at)gmail(dot)com
Good morning, you guys!
I'm actually allergic to cats. Doesn't that suck? So I can only have to them in books, but when I was little I wasn't allergic and we had a black cat called Magic. Kind of appropriate, now that I think back. :)
Hi Kimberly~
I loved Would Be Witch and am really looking forward to reading Barely Bewitched.
I have not heard of any really unusual names for pets and right now we do not have a pet. Our last cat's name was Oreo...we named him that because my kids thought that he looked like an Oreo with his black and white coloring.
My dog is named Zippy because he zips in circles when he's excited.
My daughter named her Yorkie Ru; she'd also spell it Roux. I called him Roo, because he jumped like he was on springs, and he reminded me of Kanga's little boy!
I think bandit was probably the most unsual name we had for a pet. We had a rat terrier that had one black eye, like a patch so we called her bandit.
We have a black lab right now and is name is Rocky but we end up calling him Boo Bear more than anything. Don't ask me why either.
I have a cat named Ginger, my mom actually named her, then I have Angel and Blue. Angel was named so because she was such a tiny sweet little thing when I found her and Blue because he's Siamese and has big blue eyes.
I would love to have an Ocelot like Merc but wild animals are best left in the wild.
My pet's name is Nikita, I called her like that because I like the sound of it =)
Thanks for stopping by Kimberly, I had fun with last week events on your blog!
The most unusual name I have heard for a pet is D.O.G. (don't say dog, say the letters individually)
My cat's name is Muffin-I was making blueberry muffins for my grandchildren one morning and I just got a new cat and could not come up with a name. Lori said-MawMaw what about Muffin- and it stuck:) To this day she is proud that she named my cat ( who is now 14 years old).
Well one of my cats is named Jax. I got it from Kim Harrison's Rachel Morrigan series. *GRINS* It just seems to fit my charming yet spazzy cat.
My cat is named Squeaky Elvis. Squeaky because the cat doesn't meow, he barks. Elvis because it was Elvis birthday when we adopted him.
I've had one dog, Mia and two cats, Amarillo and Poco. I called the dog Mia because she was mine. Amarillo was a ginger colored cat and Poco was small and adorable. The cats got along quite will with the dog.
The most unusual name would be my dog when it was a kid. It was a black lab and I wanted to name her Ebony but my dad wanted Lady. We compromised and named her Lady Ebony. That was until we found out what a dumb dog she was and her name became Lady Ebony DummDumm.
My cat's name is Moose. I named him Moose because he's a big, golden boy. Just like the character Moose from the Archie comics.
Mel K.
Meljprincess AT aol DOT com
A friend of mine named her dog "Flea". It's a very little dog and the name really does suit her.
wandanamgreb (at) gmail (dot) com
I have two cats named Max and Harley. I named Max because I liked the name and my husband named Harley after Harley Davidson motorcycles.
I have a cat named Pearl and she is solid white. I have a dog named Roxy. We named her Roxy because she is so spunky and she reminded us of the woman who plays Roxy on Army Wives.
unusal name I heard was Loo. I don't know what the owner was thinking.
kalynnick AT yahoo DOT com
A friend of mine called her cat Lacrima (= tear in Latin)... that's the most unusual name I’ve heard... I find it cute *sigh*
Hugs,
Ina
Can't wait to read the book! I have two cats named Merlyn and Nymenche. In the earlier legends of Camelot, Nymenche was the original Lady of the Lake. And of course I've always loved Merlyn. I also once had a cat named Miramis, named after a magical horse in a 70's fantasy movie.
Carter Martina
http://cc-chronicles.blogspot.com
A dog named Superbowl was unusual!
delilah0180(at)yahoo(dot)com
Hi Ruthie!
I realized that I didn't say thank you for all your warm wishes!
(Ruthie was one of the first paranormal fans to be interested in the series.)
I'm so glad that you ended up liking it! ;)
Hugs,
Kimberly
I am loving all the creative names. I should e-mail you guys when I'm trying to name characters. That can be such a challenge sometimes!
Also, thanks also to everyone who's told me the liked WOULD-BE WITCH, to all those who visited Parapalooza, and to Roxanne for reviewing the books and inviting me to guest blog. It's been a great week!
We named our cat Ninja because he likes to lie in wait for unsuspecting victims whether it's one of us, the other cat or one of the dogs -- then he attacks! Oh and he's fur is a creamy white color so the name doesn't match the color at all, just the personality. :)
My cats' name is Tar-a, because she is black as tar.
I would have to agree with xid trebor on the Mr. Barky von Schnauzer being the weirdest pet name I've heard. I had a dog when I was younger we named pepper because he was this little black/white/grey haired dog with so much attitude. He ran away run day and never returned. The last dog we had was named Herbie, he died 3 summers ago. My sister picked out the name and I don't really know why she choose this.
Thank you for being here Kimberly, I know your schedule must be crazy right now so I appreciate your time as I am sure the other readers do as well.
I am a huge fan and can't wait for the next book in the series. The first two have been so phenomenal
satan, honest to god
you can see pic of him, on my myspace
o myspace.com/blackroze38
What’s your pet’s name and why did you choose that name for him or her?
I named my kitty Cashew(nut). He is the color of a cashew and he is nutty. LOL. My other kitty is Squeaky cause when you pick him up he squeaks. And Bear Bear got named because he is orange colored with stripes and huggable like a teddy bear. And Charlie got his name cause I was thinking og Charlie tuna. LOL.
I think my dogs name is the most unusual I've heard. Pickles is my working dog for the deaf. She actually came to me with that name. I had the option of changing it and chose to keep it. I soon learned Pickles was the perfect name. I've always said she had a pickled attitude.
I've never owned a dog with more personality than she has. And what's even more surprising is she has such a great attitude after being abandoned in Katrina.
Thanks for the opportunity! Indigo
One of my cats is named Spot. It came from "Star Trek: The Next Generation" where Data had a cat named Spot, and I thought it was cute. However, it was also really appropriate for Spot because his nose is black, but he has a big white spot in the middle of it!
Our cat's name is Smokey and we call him that b/c he is a very big and beautiful cat. He has a white stripe going down his belly and he has blue eyes. Never ever seen a blue eyed cat.
I had a dog I called The Notorious D.O.G once, pronounced diohgi.
The kids said it sounded like some little japanese guy's name so they renamed him. He was just a stray and wasn't here long since I am allergic to dogs but he was fab, miss him lots.
In the past I've had dogs named Zeus, Laddie, Prince, Digger, Saber, and my favorite puppy I had a child, Puddles.
At one time my brother lived with me and came home one day with this huge dog, part sheepdog and whatever else. Named the dog Houdini, who practiced magic every chance he could get into my bedroom, making my shoes disappear day by day, lol.
Hi Kimberly!
Great to have you here! I have heard a lot of funny names over the years for pets. The one that I absolutely loved the most of all was when this lady brought her dog into the store where I work. I work at a family owned office/art supply store and the owner Leo, doesn't mind if you bring in your animals. So we get all kinds of dogs in our store.
One time a lady brought in a black and white shitzu into the store. There are loving dogs and very well behaved. This dog was just adorable with the long fur hanging to the floor, little tail wagging, and looking at me with its loving eyes saying, "Pet me, you know you want to!". He attached himself to me and followed me everywhere.
I asked the lady what her dog's name was and she said, "Ping Pong". I did a double take! What? She said, "Yep, we named him, Ping Pong, because he bounces all over the place!" It really fit him to a T! You should have seen the dog in action when I called his name! An absolute riot!
Hi Kimberly,
I have a weird pet name coincidence. My sister and brother's nicknames are Nika and Duke,my mom had moved into a new house and the neighbors had dogs the same name as my brother and sister.
I have pet allergies and can't have any of my own pets,but my mom asked me to name her puppy and I named her"Niu" its coconut in Hawaiian.
Hugs, Danette
Unusual names depend on the person. And I cant think of any right now.
My pet though - My first cat was named Bacchus, the Roman name of the Greek god Dionysus, the god of wine and theatre. And I was a theatre major. Based on that name, when my boyfriend got a cat he named him Sparticus. My cat after Bacchus died :( I named Zeus to keep with the theme. And it fits.
My last dogs name was Keela. She was a brindle Boxer with lots of gold streaks which reminded me of Tequila. But we shortened her name to Keela. She was a wonderful dog, she will be missed.
Hi Kimberly! Big COngrats on your new release!
I like the cover alot and enjoyed the blog.
I haven't heard any names that scream weird so I will go with question 2.
I have a yellow/white Lab and her name is Zena. After the warrior princess and show, love Lucy Lawless. But also because her dads name is Zeus, they are pure breeds and are huge dogs. She is almost 2 now and still thinks she is a small puppy. lol
Thanks for everything and enjoyed sharing and reading about everyones pets. :)
I have a dog named Gazzy that we rescued. He had been thrown out, abused, had heartworms, an eye ulcer and a broken leg. When we got him, we found out he was extremely gassy. I named him after the character in James Patterson's Maximum Ride books who also has gas. lol
Deidre
We have two Australian Shepherds. The youngest has the unusual name, Hallowendy was our Halloween puppy. The other is her older half sister/stand in mommy, Valentine, who joined us on (of course) Valentine's Day. How extremely intelligent and amusing these Fur-kids are!
rini00b AT hotmail DOT com
Dolph. I just liked the name from the Xanth series by Piers Anthony and went with it.
Valorie
morbidromantic@gmail.com
Our dog's name is Scrappy. It's just the name he came with from the pound.
My husband's a major fam of ocelot', though.
carolsnotebook at yahoo dot com
My Dog's name is Duchess. She came to us a s stray and the vet thought she had been living on the streets or about 6 months. She is schnoodle and she was so matted, she looked like she had tumors all over her body. She had skin infections, ear infections, and she was heart worm positive. With all of that she still acted like royalty. We helped her through all of her medical treatments, but could not bare to part with her. We adopted her and named her Duchess.
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