Here’s the first in a series of Behind the Scenes profiles of the characters in the forthcoming Cat Girl’s Day Off (Spring 2012). Natalie is the main character in the book and a reluctant heroine if there ever was one. Natalie’s name comes from two sources: one, my lovely niece Natalie W. and two, my Auntie Dora Ng (and her sons, my cousins Doug and Wes). I especially liked “Natalie” since her nickname is “Nat” which rhymes with “cat”…

Don’t forget to check out all the Sneak Peeks!

Sim Nat!

Name: Natalie “Nat” Ng

Age: 16

Height: Negligible, but if you must know, five foot two. Okay, really, like five foot one. And a half.

Build: Small but wiry, though not particularly athletic

Talent: Ability to talk to cats (Class D)

Hair: Short, black, with flippy purple ends

Eyes: Dark brown

Ethnicity: Half-Chinese

Grade: Sophomore

Best Subject: Trigonometry

Best Friends: Oscar Green and Melly Zinsz

A Brief Interview:

Describe yourself in one word.

What? Are you kidding me?

No?

Eh, okay. Ummmm….short.

I understand you can talk to cats. What’s that like?

Who told you that?

Let’s just say I know everything. So, what’s it like? What do cats talk about?

Nothing, really. What do people talk about? I mean, they like tuna a lot more than the average person, but other than that, they’re pretty boring. And really opinionated.

Don’t tell any of them I said that, especially my cat Meep.

What’s it like having two of the smartest people in the world in your immediate family?

What do you think that’s like?

Point Taken. If you could have any super power–

Talent.

Right, Talent. If you could have any Talent in the world, what would you want to have?

Definitely not the one I’ve got. Maybe something cool like my sister Viv. Her levitation thing is pretty neat.

Actually, no, I think I’d like my little sister Emmy’s Talent, to be like a chameleon. Or maybe just be able to go invisible. That would be really useful.