Jas thinks that everyone has a super power.  Everyone, that is, except herself - unless you count her extraordinary ability to get herself in trouble.  But the last thing Jas expected to do on her family holiday in glitzy Las Vegas was to survive a cat attack and solve a celebrity murder mystery.

As she finds herself tracking an unknown killer through a bevy of Vegas parties, Jas develops a huge crush on the possibly evil - but GORGEOUS - Jack, and manages to collect some valuable life lessons for her Summer Meaningful Reflection Journal along the way.  Little Life Lesson Number 5:  when you go to prison, try not to be wearing a bikini.  But despite a few 'mishaps', Jas finally solves the case.  And to top it all off, Jack ISN'T evil, and has a bit of a crush on Jas too.  Perhaps she does have some super powers after all...

The super cool Bad Kitty by Michele Jaffe is out in June 2006 – join crime-fighting babe Jas Callahan on her first fabulous case during two crazy weeks in Vegas...  Here’s a taster of our interview with Michele herself, which you can enjoy in full once you’ve read Bad Kitty...

Thank you for bringing the Kitty into our lives!  As our resident expert on stylin’ sleuths, how far did you have to go to research Jas’s first adventure?
Basically, I am kind of like a research monster.  Researchzilla, you could call me.  I mean, I sample all the food that my characters eat before I let them snack on it, and I wear a lot of the clothes I put them in...

We have to ask...  how many pairs of cowboy boots should we expect to find at the bottom of your wardrobe?
I only have nine- (wait, is my husband going to see this? No? Are you sure? OK) -teen pairs of boots.  Nineteen.

I know this is a heinous suggestion, but if you could only have one make-up item for the rest of your life what would it be?
A butler.  Because without mascara and lipgloss and sparkly eyeshadow and shimmer eyeshadow and black eyeliner and green eyeliner and fake eyelashes ...  I certainly would not be leaving the house...  Ha ha.  Just kidding.  I’m way into being au naturel...  All I need is mascaralipglossglitteryeyeshadowshimmeryeyeshadoweyelinergoldfleckedpowderblush.

For more Bad Kitty goss check out michelejaffe.com

‘Bad Kitty bedazzles’ Meg Cabot

Reviewer: Haley

Michele Jaffe answers our questions...

Place and Date of Birth?  Los Angeles, California; March 20, 1970

Favourite Book?  Auntie Mame by Patrick Dennis                                

Favourite Song?  'Our Lips are Sealed' by the Go-Gos

Most Treasured Possession?  My green chair shaped like a pony.

Favourite Film?  Clueless

When did you start writing?  I wrote my first book - about an eight year old girl named Michele Jaffe whose cruel parents send her to the store where she gets kidnapped by mobsters driving stretch limos and the whole world mourns her and work pretty much grinds to a halt because no one can see what they are doing through their veils of tears - when I was, coincidentally, eight.  That was really my masterpiece.  After something like that you can’t just leap into the next project so I took twenty years off before trying my hand at fiction again (which I did when I was finishing graduate school and desperate not to become a professor because I look very bad in tweed.)

Where do you get your ideas and inspiration from?  Sparkly shoes and tacos mainly.  I believe these are the tools the idea elves use to communicate with me.  Because when I am stuck on something, if I just put on my sparkly shoes and dance around for a bit, BOOM!, an idea comes.  And then if I have a taco!  Wow!  No stopping me.  Idea elves are the only real explanation.  That, or I am hearing voices in my head.  And I think they like to give you medication for that.  (Also I eavesdrop on people’s conversations at the gym.  I know that is wrong, but I cannot stop myself.)

Can you give your top 3 tips to becoming a successful author?

1 Write
2 Keep writing
3 Take ice cream break, then write some more

Honestly, I think the hardest thing about being a writer is just making yourself sit down and write every day.  The discipline to do that is the single most important thing a writer needs.  After sparkly shoes, I mean.

Favourite memory?  Stepping out of the train station and seeing Venice for the first time.  I had no idea that the streets were made of water!  And there were no cars only boats!  It took my breath away.  I had to go have some ice cream to quiet myself down.  Wait, I should have said the day I got married shouldn’t I?  That was pretty good too, but still second.  Don’t tell my husband, okay?

Favourite place in the world and why?  I am not good at only having one favourite but if I had to choose a single place it would probably be my closet, because that is where my shoes are.  If there were a tiny freezer in there with ice cream, it would definitely win.

What are your hobbies?
Driving really fast
Shopping at Betsey Johnson
Shopping at Nanette Lapour
Shopping at BCBG
Shopping at Fornarina
Shopping at Max & Co
Shopping at that kiosk in the mall where they sell nail decals
Shopping at Sephora (glitter eye makeup, fake eyelashes)
Shopping at Serge’s Showgirl Wigs
Shopping at Agent Provocateur
Shopping at Fred Segal
Bedazzling
Eating tacos
Eating hamburgers
Eating ice cream
Eating chocolate cake with gooey inside
Pink champagne
Wax museums
16th Century encryption manuals
Climbing walls (as a noun, not a verb.  For example:  the Climbing Wall at the Canyon Ranch Spa at the Venetian, rather than ‘climbing the walls of my office.’  Although I guess that applies too)
Indoor Sky Diving
Dance Dance Party Revolution
Attending the rodeo
Arguing with people about whether or not there was a Shakespeare
Watching TV (especially Forensics Files)
Watching more TV (especially Pimp My Ride)
Movies featuring The Rock
The Clapper
Tom Jones
Staying out late dancing
VIP passes to night clubs
Stories about space plagues or giant squids

Basically I am quite boring.  Although I do have a disco ball in my dining room.

If you hadn't been a writer what do you think you would have been?  Rollerderby queen!  Michele the Menace would be my name and my adversaries would quake with fear as I roared toward them.  And I would wear pink satin shorts and my skates would have silver glitter lightning bolts on them.  For my day job, I would probably do something like neurosurgeon or lion tamer.