Last updated on May 7, 2026
Bask in a sunbeam with three cozy fantasy novellas of the Catsprowl, a busy neighborhood brimming with cats and cat-goddesses, book-keepers and bath-houses, piping hot chai, and pouncing kittens’ mischief.
(Now available in both ebook and paperback! The ebook is available at 99 cents for the Cozy the Day Away sale. The paperback is at the lowest price permitted for library distribution.)
The Prince of Her Dreams:
Najra has three dreams in her life: First, catch the attention of a prince. (Specifically, the God-Emperor’s bookish youngest brother.) Next, get him to hire her to assist with his research in the marvelous Archives in Tel-Bastet. And then, finally, read ALL the books.
Marrying the prince has never been in the plan. Najra has never lusted for anything but knowledge.
Unfortunately, the prince has dreams as well. Because he’s also a prophet who foresees trouble coming. Between her heretical geometries and her cursed spellbook, Najra has to admit that his dreams of trouble have her pegged.
Now what is she supposed to do with a matchmaking busybody of an Archivist pushing them together, an angry catfolk bodyguard pulling them apart, and a sweet, anxious prophet-prince who won’t even tell her what he wants?
What does a happy ending look like for a pair of mismatched dreamers who both love learning best of all?
For the asexual folks and the questioning folks who’ve wanted a story where your own desires are respected and valued, this one is for you. For the Witches vs. Patriarchy crew, this one is for you too.
Priye:
For a small alley-kitten, human words make a tricky tangle of misunderstandings that bite back. Purring and hissing and yowling are much more clear.
A human named her Priye, though, and he taught her that it means someone who is darling, someone who is treasured.
Growing up in the nooks between three cultures is hard, but Priye wants to make her own way. And she wants to repay the kind people who feed small hungry kittens. But it’s not always easy to hunt when everyone else is bigger and stronger and faster.
The humans who named her like soap and water entirely too much. But maybe they have a point about sharing things instead of hunting things?
(They absolutely do not have a point about soap, though. Soap is the most horrible thing ever.)
For the neurospicy folks who struggle with the words people expect, this one is for you. For the disabled folks and those who need to hear that your value isn’t in your work output, this one is for you too.
The Potter’s Dream:
Usually, the Temple of Bastet teems with cats and catfolk and cat-priestesses and cat-goddesses. It is not supposed to teem with mice. But kind-hearted priest Shai Madhur isn’t very good at denying a nourishing meal to anybody… not even the mice.
He needs a better mouse-catcher. But first, he needs to know where the shrine’s cauldrons have gone. Because a potter has come to Shai Madhur’s temple shrine, and the poor man looks hungry.
What kind of priest can Shai Madhur be if he can’t feed someone a nourishing meal? When he’s sworn his life to serving others, and suddenly he has nothing at all to give, what does he have left? Sermons of acceptance are all well and good, but they don’t fill an empty stomach.
And there’s something very strange about the potter.
For the caring folks who feel like the world needs more than you can give, and for the fat folks who’ve wanted the story where someone delights in your body exactly the way it is, soft and warm and comfortable and treasured because you live in it, this one is for you.
Cozy representation for lots of folks:
- All the humans are part of the global majority. (Not sure how you’d identify the catfolk, though.)
- Queer folks across the rainbow, including asexual, gay, demi, trans, and questioning.
- Several folks are neurodiverse, including a nonverbal character and more than one autistic, anxious, and differently-thinking characters.
- Fat folks are appreciated and supported.
- Disabled folks are valued regardless of their worker productivity.
- Several religions coexist side by side with the occasional divine cat-fight, but also a lot of purring.
- Nobody needs a fairy godmother’s makeover to be adored.
Book connections:
Chai and Cat-tales is set in the same city as Haroun and the Study of Mischief, and Shai Madhur and the shahzada are major characters in both, but you can read them independently. The stories take place across a span of time several years to several months before Chai and Charmcraft.
Where to get it:
Ebook on sale: Want more choices than Amazon? Check the links available at the Chai and Cat-tales book page. It’s also available from Barnes and Noble, Fable, Hoopla, Kobo, OverDrive, and more — including some digital libraries!
Paperback: The paperback version of Chai and Cat-tales is available from Amazon. However, it’s not formally part of the sale because it’s at the lowest price permitted by the printing system when expanded distribution to libraries is available.
About the author:
Lynn Strong (MLIS) is a professional information designer, an amateur but enthusiastic trope flipper, and a questionably recovered wordaholic who used to be paid by the column-inch. (It likely still shows.)
Lynn is also a queer and disabled person who has lived on three continents, speaks six languages with different levels of fluency, has studied (and taught) medieval Japanese dye techniques, and at one point semi-professionally burned Kool-aid while studying for a degree in theater tech.
No AI was ever intentionally used in the making of this book or its art: Lynn did not intentionally use AI in creating either text or images for this book. Lynn licensed images from Depositphotos which were vouched for by sighted people. (And since Lynn is low vision, seeing-eye humans are necessary!)