Cat Had a Tail

By Steven D. Bennett

A man, bored with the literary affectations of his girlfriend and her friends, finds his mind wandering and wondering about the other "cats" surrounding him at an open mic night in the Cafe 575. Whether it's the caffeine or influence of the haiku, his curious imaginings lead him to believe that a game of cat and mouse is happening between two men. As one leaves and the other follows, he tails both through the dark alleyways where he finds himself not only a witness to a murder, but also the prime suspect! Racing back to the Café, he realizes that his only chance to prove his innocence and reveal the killer’s identity will be found within the mystery of the haiku.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Steven D. Bennett
• Release date: Sep 2, 2010
• ISBN: 9781458085788

Steven D. Bennett

I was born in Boston and grew up in Connecticut and San Diego, which gave me a good background in both history and tanning. I have four children and six grand-children, remarkable in that I am only 35. The fact that I have been married for almost 36 years is the result of an in-utero wedding and honeymoon.I have published many short stories, poems, songs, and recently wrote and directed a musical melodrama that was performed in the San Diego area. With six books under my belt (THE PATH OF DAYS, TRACE THE DEAD EYE, HUMOR OF THE GOSPELS, HUMOR OF THE GOSPELS Daily Study, THRONE and THE CHUCK-IT LIST) I am looking for a bigger belt to stuff the seventh, which hopefully will be completed in time for the Christmas season. It is about a writer who finds to his horror that a mistake he made on page 47 completely invalidates the plot, forcing him to thus track down and kill anyone who has bought the book lest they spread the truth about his miniscule talent. It is titled DON'T READ THIS! and looks to be a best-seller, unless people take the title literally. Fortunately, nothing I write can be taken literally. It is also fortunate I did not stay with the working title: DON'T BUY THIS! Personally, I don't buy a word of it.I also have a blog, I Wandered Off the Tour: A Journey In Self-Publishing, which contains my thoughts and experiences through the tormenting process of creation.Other than writing, I like listening to the same dozen albums and re-runs of the same dozen TV shows I've heard and seen hundreds of times, to the endless delight of my wife.

Book preview

CAT HAD A TAIL

by

Steven D. Bennett

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Smashwords Edition

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Copyright © 2010 by Steven D. Bennett

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Cat had a tail.

You could see it plain as day, even from where I was sitting. Even if you weren't paying attention, like I wasn't. But I wasn't paying attention less than anyone around me, there at the table of Café 575. Me, Beth, her two friends, Claire and Spence. Open mike night, and they were transported via the haiku brought forth from Maxwell, the skinny guy on the small stage with greasy hair and stubble-goatee.

Me, less so. Normally the high point of the week, Saturday night, sitting with Beth just about anywhere, reveling in the roasted smell and taste, listening to the rhymes and meters and lyrics. Maybe not appreciating it as much as her, maybe mostly not at all, but at least being there, with her. Listening.

Tonight my thoughts wandered. Blame it on the argument we'd had earlier, Beth and I, about our relationship. No, not just our relationship, why stop