True, I liked cats. Friends' cats sat on my lap during cocktail parties. Strays followed me on the street. And in my apartment I had a Goldscheider porcelain figure of a Siamese, almost life-size. But no cat!

Then I received a Siamese kitten for a gift. I panicked! How does one take care of a cat! What do they - do? What am I supposed to - do? The first night with that tiny furry bundle under my roof...well...I slept not a wink.

I looked for cat-care books, but they all assumed I knew more than I did. Which end of the cat is the front? (Not really. I exaggerate, but not much.)

Somehow, we muddled through, Koko and I. He was my first Koko. I admired him - and - if I may say so - he adored me. Since then, I have had a dynasty of Siamese, and I write mystery novels that fool readers into thinking I'm an expert on felines. I love them, that's all. I empathize with them: I know what they're thinking...they know what I'm thinking.

If only I had had a nice, easy-to-read, easy-to-understand book "way back then" when I was a dummy.

- Lilian Jackson Braun, author of The Cat Who... Mystery Novels