Cathy Perkins's Blog, page 160

Getting back in the game

Fall is my favorite season for so many reasons… not the least of which is (please, God) cooler weather. But my favorite sports – tennis, football, and lately, baseball, are in their prime.

It’s easy to spot themes in sports but this week, I was struck by the tenacity of various players and/or teams even when they’d seemingly lost their confidence in their pursuit of a title. Yes, let’s start with Serena Williams who in the third set appeared to have no chance of pulling out the win. But I...

Confessions of a Website Avoider

My name is DT. I am a website avoider.

The collective assembly replies. Hi …. DT.

As I approach the completion of my next MS, and face the drudgery of “shopping it”, I’ve been in denial about the need for a website. Agents like to see what kind of web presence an author has, how many times a site is hit. Call me irresponsible (my DW does routinely), I’ve held off for many reasons, most of which are lame. A few of the reasons have some semblance of credibility and I would like to share them...

Indie bookstores – some are just delightful

Hi everyone!

I live in a smallish town, around 120,000 people in the surrounding area. We have all the basic stores, including basic bookstores, likeChapters, (which is the company behind Kobo). I also adore second hand bookstores. I don’t go garage sale shopping, I do like to tour second hand book stores for fun.

One indie bookstore in my town, Mosaic Books, just opened a second store. With all the changes in the publishing industry, opening a second store surprised me. We went to the open...

New Beginnings

I’ve always thought of this time of year as the beginning of the year. I know, silly but it just seems so right. I think it’s because school starts in September. My school days are a thing of the past on both sides of the desk. But the excitement of the year starting in September lingers.

My family is enjoying some new beginnings. Our oldest daughter and her husband are both teachers. They’re started their school year last week. Their children, 7 and 4, were eager to get back to class and...

Why Those Special Features Are So Special with Alexis Morgan

The Muse is excited to welcome paranormal author Alexis Morgan to sit in the guest chair and chat with us this Friday. The author of over thirty books, novellas, and short stories that include contemporary romances, American West historicals, paranormal romances, and most recently, fantasy romance, she writes about strong alpha heroes and gutsy heroines. Alexis has been nominated for numerous industry awards, including the RITA©. So without further introduction, here’s Alexis in her very...

The Boy in the Woods

Although my twins didn’t return to school until September, they had summer homework. And for some reason Labor Day weekend seemed like the best time to do a book report with plot graphs, essays on theme and conflict, and a hand-drawn color picture of the scene they felt best summed up the entire book.

While my son wrote about an underground prison where a post-apocalytic world sent teenage boys to fight to the death with zombies, my daughter announced she was going to write her own book. A...

Weddings and Brides

I’m celebrating the release of my e-novella, Last Chance Bride, today. Not to surprisingly, with a title like that, the story has a bride and a wedding ceremony. But the wedding in this story is not very traditional, and the bride definitely doesn’t wear white. But the wedding is, nevertheless, a joyous celebration.

As all weddings are, regardless of culture or ceremony. Because, well, wedding are a celebration of love, and there just isn’t anything more joyous than that. This past weekend...

Creature Comforts with Guest Bronwen Evans

This Friday, the Muse is proud to welcome New Zealander BronwenEvans to our guest chair. Bronwen grew up loving books and has always indulged her love for story-telling, constantly gobbling up movies, books and theatre. Her head is filled withcharacters and stories, particularly lovers in angst. Is it any wonder she’s a proud romance writer?

She writes both historical and contemporary sexy romances for the modern woman who likes intelligent, spirited heroines, and compassionate alpha heroe...

Welcome Debut Author Jody Vitek

I’m excited to introduce a brand new author today. Her debut novel is Florida Heat. Jody Vitek is a fellow Minnesotan with a gift for tellingstories about great places and unique subjects. Florida Heat takes us from Texas to Florida and immerses us in the worlds of horses AND powerboat racing. If you think that sounds like too big a stretch, it’s not! Jody weaves her subjects together believably and even manages to give readers a teensy bit of suspense in this contemporary romance. I aske...

Who Stole Summer?

I grew in a time when summers started before Memorial Day and didn’t end until after Labor Day. This week, I watched the neighbor kids head off to school this week and wondered who stole the summer. Kids didn’t get out until mid-June, and already they were heading back.

In my day, unless the weather was bad, we were expected to exit the house and not return until the lunch bell sounded, kicked back into the outdoor zone, and don’t dare showing up before the dinner bell (mom had one of thos...