By Belinda Goldsmith

NEW YORK (Reuters Life!) - Mystery author Shirley Rousseau Murphy has become a favorite author for cat lovers, one of the first of a growing group of writers combining their love of writing with their love of their animals.

Rousseau Murphy, who trained as an artist and used to weld metal sculptures, has just released the 13th installment of her award-winning mystery series starring cat private investigator Joe Grey called "Cat Deck the Halls."

Joe Grey, his girlfriend Dulcie and tortoise-shell coated friend Kit search for the killer of a man shot in cold blood beneath a Christmas tree.

Rousseau Murphy has been writing for about 30 years and has won a list of awards from the Cat Writers' Association which now has about 200 members, compared to the Dog Writers' Association of America which has more than 500 members.

But she said it was while working on an adult fantasy book, "The Catsworld Portal" about 15 years ago that she knew she really wanted to explore the world of sentient cats:

Q: How did you come to start writing from a cat's view?

A: "We came home from vacation and there was a stray cat in the neighborhood that no one wanted. She was beautiful and within about 20 minutes I had her. She would sit on my desk and had wonderful big green eyes and I would look at her and think that she is a young girl. That started "The Catsworld Portal" where the cat is a shape shifter. I had such a good time thinking how I would feel as a cat that I just got into the cat skin and could not leave the world of the cat."

Q: So that led to the Joe Grey mystery series?

A: "Yes. Cats are very curious and can be very aggressive in pursuing a crime. I cannot imagine abandoning this world now. Every time I start a new book it is fresh and new and it is a perfect fit for this particular writer."

Q: Did you always like cats?

A: "Yes. We always had cats, we had dogs, horses and a billy goat. I had more animal friends than human friends. As you live around animals you get to see how much communication they are capable of and what they are telling you a lot of times. I can tell when one of my cats is staring at my back."

Q: Do your fans tend to be cat people or mystery readers?

A: "It is primarily cat lovers. It can be both. I get some wonderful letters from people who in illness will come back to these stories because they are upbeat and there is a certain innocence in the cats themselves. They are very intelligent and active but they are never evil and look at humanity in a primal, innocent way I find fascinating."

Q: Joe Grey was based on a real cat. Are the others?

A: "Kit is one of my cats and she was a stray. She is very like her. She is headstrong, imaginative, wants things her way. I think maybe tortoise-shells are prone to be that way."

Q: How long do you take to write a book?

A: "Generally about a year. I take little breaks and do a lot of revision. I try to stick to my deadlines. My books are usually wanted by the end of January."

Q: Do you still paint, sculpt, or just write?

A: "It is 100 percent writing now. I can't think both ways. I did large oil paintings, I welded metal sculptures. When I started to write I put all that away."

Q: Any advice for aspiring writers?

A: "It is a very difficult market today and a writer who is serious about getting published needs to commit totally and assess the market very carefully. Get totally familiar with it, set their own work rules and stay with it and find an area unique to them."