Author Spotlight: Kitty Cat Fun with Kris Bock!

Kris Bock is always brings the fun when stops by the blog–I love having her with me because I know it’s going to mean a good time!

Kris writes romance, mystery, and suspense.

In the Tales of a Reluctant Psychic mysteries, a quirky loner who can read the history of any object with her touch gets drawn into mysteries at the museum of oddities where she works. In the Accidental Detective humorous mystery series, a witty journalist solves mysteries in Arizona and tackles the challenges of turning fifty. Kris’s romantic suspense novels include stories of treasure hunting, archaeology, and intrigue. Readers have called these novels “Smart romance with an Indiana Jones feel.”

The Furrever Friends Sweet Romance series stars the employees and customers at a cat café. Watch as they fall in love with each other and shelter cats. In the Accidental Billionaire Cowboys series, a Texas ranching family wins a fortune in the lottery. Who wouldn’t want to be a billionaire? Turns out winning the lottery causes as many problems as it solves.

Kris also writes a series with her brother, scriptwriter Douglas J Eboch, who wrote the original screenplay for the movie Sweet Home Alabama. The Felony Melanie series follows the crazy antics of Melanie, Jake, and their friends a decade before the events of the movie.

Learn more at KrisBock.com. Sign up for the Kris Bock newsletter and get short stories from the Accidental Detective and the Reluctantly Psychic series, a cat café novella, a Sweet Home Alabama romantic comedy story, and other freebies. Then every two weeks, you’ll get fun content about pets, announcements of new books, sales, and more.

Here’s Kris to tell you about her latest release, The Magical Cat Cafe and Teashop! In the meantime, you can connect with Kris at the links below.

Website | Facebook | Instagram | LinkedIn

~*~*~*~

My latest release is The Magical Cat Café and Teashop – “a tender, cozy novel about finding family, healing, and home. Fans of intimate, heart-forward stories like We’ll Prescribe You a Cat and Days at the Morisaki Bookshop will find a new favorite healing story here.”

What is a “healing story,” and how did I come to write one?

I started my career writing middle grade novels (as Chris Eboch), including historical fiction, fantasy, and ghost stories. I released my first romantic suspense novels for adults in 2008, then followed up with romance (the Furrever Friends cat cafe sweet romance series, the Accidental Billionaire Cowboys, and the Felony Melanie: Sweet Home Alabama romantic comedy novels) and humorous mystery series (the Tales of a Reluctant Psychic and Accidental Detective humorous mysteries).

I’ve written main characters as young as ten and as old as sixty, in settings from ancient Egypt to the present day American Southwest. But despite the differences in my novels, you’ll find certain threads throughout all of them.

• I love the found family or “chosen family” trope of characters finding bonds that feel like family. This can include actual blood relatives, friends, and even animals.
• I like main characters who are nice people, maybe flawed, but relatable.
• I’ll put characters in danger, but I insist on happy endings.

In trying to come up with a tagline to summarize my writing, I finally settled on this: Feel-good stories with characters you’d like to know.

Healing Fiction

Last year, I noticed a genre coming out of Japan, with translation selling millions of copies in the U.S. People who normally read mystery or romance listed these books among their favorites of the year.

I had to read some to explore why these books were so appealing. I noted a few things:

They usually had several major characters, each dealing with something in their life: grief from losing a loved one, loneliness after retirement, uncertainty about what career they wanted. These were ordinary people with ordinary problems, even if the books had a fantasy element such as giant cats running a café (The Full Moon Coffee Shop) or a café that lets you briefly travel back in time (Before the Coffee Gets Cold).

These people stumbled upon a special place, a café, noodle shop, bookstore, (The Midnight Bookshop), or library (What You Are Looking For Is in the Library). By the end of the book, the characters meet each other, develop new connections, and find direction in life.

The wish fulfillment is relatable. Who wouldn’t want to stumble upon a place with a touch of magic, drink the perfect cup of tea, and have an epiphany? It’s simplistic on the surface, but readers who relate to the characters might make breakthroughs in their own lives – no magical café or mysterious librarian required.

The books are also, quite simply, feel-good stories that leave you smiling.

These stories fit with the trend toward cozy novels in various genres. It seems we crave a warmer, kinder world. And that fits with the sort of stories I enjoy writing.

Since I’ve already written a romance series set around a cat cafe, a magical cat café and teashop seemed like a natural fit. The magical realism element comes in as small touches of magic – the teashop owner doesn’t take orders; customers get what she delivers, but it’s always perfect. The scent of spiced tea or taste of the delicious bakery item might trigger a memory that provides a message. The cats have their own magical ability to know when somebody needs them.

These stories are character driven. While I always enjoy active plots, when I started writing romance, I had to slow down and let characters develop and grow. In these new “healing stories,” the reader gets to know the characters deeply and intimately. Change happens on the inside, through deep thought and vulnerability during conversations.

Personal growth, connection, kindness … The world needs more of these things. I’m happy to provide some to characters and hopefully readers too.

The Magical Cat Café and Teashop

A cozy magical realism novel with warm drinks, purring cats, and unexpected second chances.

This small-town cat café is more than a place for sweet treats and playful cats—it’s a sanctuary for people who each need something different: lonely seniors, harried mothers, struggling children. This cozy refuge becomes the stage for transformation and surprising friendships as the ordinary and the magical blend over steaming cups of tea and a parade of friendly felines.

Readers say: “This book made me smile many times, it is so lovely and heartwarming. I loved every minute of it. Highly recommended!” – Ann

“A heartwarming story told from various points of view, as different characters experience the subtle magic of the cat cafe. Connections are made and lives are changed for the better in this interesting tale.” – Robin

“What a sweet book! Of course I am nuts about cats so I knew I’d enjoy it, but I love the found family aspect. And the true magic happens in the connections between the characters and the way they come together to not only support each other, but to become a family.” – Kitty