PORT ANGELES — Author Elizabeth Ann Scarborough of Port Townsend will make a rare public appearance Tuesday — to read from her latest novel about a feline detective — at Renaissance, 104 E. Front St.

Admission is free to Scarborough’s reading at 7:30 p.m., while patrons may want to come at 
7 p.m. to partake in Renaissance’s coffees, teas, chocolates and cheeses.

Scarborough is the author of 22 fantasy and science fiction novels, including the 1989 Nebula Award-winning The Healer’s War, inspired by her service as an Army nurse in Vietnam.

Cleopatra 7.2 is her most recent published novel from Ace/Berkley — on paper, that is.

Tuesday night, Scarborough will read from her newest e-book, Spam Vs. the Vampire, a tale set in a town eerily similar to Port Townsend.

She’s unabashed about penning a vampire tale in the wake of the Twilight series and jokes that “it’s practically one’s patriotic duty” as a novelist on the North Olympic Peninsula.

Spam’s synopsis

“Spam is a cat whose human disappears, and he knows she’s been in recent contact with a man claiming to be a vampire,” Scarborough explained in an interview last week.

The woman “thought [the vampire] was playing. Spam is now sure he was not” and is in fact a bloodsucker. So Spam the cat applies his wits to a search for them both.

Thanks to the e-book format, Spam Vs. the Vampire became available to readers immediately after Scarborough finished writing.

“I am so much more eager to talk about Spam than I usually am when I’m asked about my latest release,” she mused. “Usually the book is cold . . . it’s often several months between the time I’ve written it and the time it’s published. It’s nice to be able to talk about it while it’s still fresh in my mind and I still have a feeling for the characters,” instead of already being immersed in the next book.

Scarborough promised to read from another one of her novels, too, after consulting her Tuesday night audience.

“I will probably ask if they want another cat story or would rather hear about Cleopatra” or one of the many other heroines she’s written about.

“I will be bringing some of my backlist print books,” Scarborough added, since some of her titles can be hard to find.

To learn more about the writer’s past and present and to purchase e-books of Spam Vs. the Vampire or any of her other novels, visit www.EAScarborough.com.

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Features Editor Diane Urbani de la Paz can be reached at 360-417-3550 or at diane.urbani@peninsuladailynews.com.