One of the joys of writing Blue Moon is finding uses for elements I introduced earlier just for color or bits of business. Do people writing novels do this, too, or is the tuxedo cat stealing cream in chapter four never to be seen again?

What if you needed a sudden noise in the middle of the night in chapter thirteen? Wouldn't it make sense for Mr. Underfoot to turn out to be the same cat? And then, near the climax when the villain needs to send a message, poor little kitty gets a curtain call?

Grisly example but does this happen in novel-writing?