Cathy Perkins's Blog, page 151

Dissecting Inspiration

Once you have been writing for a time, every good storyteller learns how to dissect what moves them. That favorite book, play or song…WHAT is it that causes you to emote. That will be different for each and every person, our emotions being tied to our DNA, our childhood and our experiences.

My WIP is about a musical prodigy, a cellist. Sound boring? I assure you it is not. There’s the harmony of of ancient prophecy, metallurgy and mystery playing alongside the melody of the cellist’s story.

I...

Personalities – Understanding Ourselves and Others

You might be an extrovertif you’d rather attend a party than sit at home watching tv. If you get a charge from being around crowds, small or large. If you sit down by a stranger at a conference, party or on a plane and within ten minutes they know what you do, that you’re in love, your astrological sign and whether you liked War Horse.

If you prefer solitary work, avoid crowds, and plan what you’re going to say on every phone call, you might be the opposite, an introvert.Granted most of us are...

Gong Xi Fa Chai

Ekaterina Shvetsova – DepositPhoto.com

No, this is not a new dish at House of the Giggling Panda. It is one of many ways to say, Happy New Year in Asia, where time will speed up to midnight of February 9, then freeze to a standstill on February 10. When I was a kid, I never heard of Chinese New Year. Today, I can get silly at year-end more than once a year.

Asia is a diverse part of the world with many differing cultures, but Chinese heritage influences nearly all of them. Think of it like Euro...

There’s A Sucker Born Every Minute

“Hello, ma’am, we’re conducting a survey this afternoon. Would you mind telling me if your refrigerator is running? It is? Well, you’d better catch it before it runs away!

Ah, those long, lazy summer days of my childhood when, if bored or stuck inside because of rain I’d fill the hours with prank calls to complete strangers. More times than not, the marks were gullible and elderly – perfect for pranking, but true excitement came when I was busted by the savvy target. “I know who you are and I’...

Alix Rickloff hosts guest author Liz Flaherty

I’m an ex-smoker. I admit, with a sad and bewildered sigh, that I probably enjoyed every Marlboro Light I ever smoked, plus whatever brands I bummed from other people. Some of the happiest times of my life were spent writing, smoking, and drinking coffee. The three things went together. Oh, bliss.

Yes, great nasty, stinking, carcinogenic bliss. A number of things—husband, children, three bouts of bronchitis plus an interesting segue into pneumonia—convinced me I should at least try to quit. So...

Changing of the Guard

The Australian Open is wide open now. Tennis champ Serena Williams came into the tournament as an overwhelming favorite, but she rolled her ankle during her first match, then in her quarter-final, she suffered a back injury.

She lost the second and third sets thus losing the match and getting bounced from the tournament by Sloane Stephens, (a great name for a heroine) a 19-year old American up and comer who, according to the talking heads, idolizes Serena.

The heads immediately began announcing...

My Self Doesn’t Want Any Self Help

Books are an important part of my life. Fiction in all its multicolored genres, are my preference. Non-fiction is fine, if there is something uniquely scientific or historical I can learn. Self help books? Worse than eating liver. I will admit to being someone who probably needs a self-help book or two, but at my age, I’ve made peace with my flaws. God made me this way, which is why I’m convinced he has a great sense of humor.

A recentissue of New Yorker has an enlightening (no pun intended) a...

Guest Editor/Author Stephanie Taylor

Today, please help me welcome Stephanie Taylor to Blame it on the Muse

Stephanie Taylor is a mommy of three by day but moonlights as a writer/editor and business owner by night. She lives in Huntsville, Alabama with her husband of ten years. Stephanie has published two previous novels, Doubting Thomas and Tinseltown.

How did you get into publishing?

Because I hated editing erotica. I had edited it so much that I was sick of it and decided that I was going to do something out of the norm that di...

Our pets – helpers or saboteurs?

I’ve had my fair share of animals over the years, some pets, some livestock and some that were just part of the family – dare you tell them otherwise.

Now the livestock, although more work, know their place. The pets that are accustomed to their three meals a day and live inside and out, tend to waffle on that same issue, but are generally agreeable as long as all their needs are met.

Then there are the ones that are part of the family. Sigh. Currently I have four human kids and three feline ki...

Stressful Free Time

Inside my washing machine with shredded pillow innards.

This was going to be a cautionary tale about laundry. In a nutshell I was going to warn you about the dangers of washing a 45-year-old pillow that read “Litter Laws Strictly Enforced” with your black socks. But after thinking it through, I realized that there wasn’t much to say. “Don’t do it” pretty much covers the subject. And if you don’t believe me, a picture is worth you-know-how-many words:

So, once I’d exhausted that idea, I had to t...