Cathy Perkins's Blog, page 168

Calling For Inspiration!

After a lot of starts and stops, I finally finished my second book. It took me nearly a year to write. When I look at my author friends who have three-book deals and wrote their second and third books in less than six months, I breathe a sigh of relief that I didn’t have their deadlines, but at the same time, I wonder if I should have written this one faster.

I suppose, though, a deadline breathing down your neck is a source of inspiration. Or a source of terror, take your pick. I just hap...

Guest author: Darcy Burke

Please welcome my friend and fellow Pixie Chick (2008 GH finalist), Darcy Burke! Darcy just published her first book, a wickedly sexy Regency romance, appropriately titled Her Wicked Ways.

Here’s Darcy:

Thank you so much for having me at Blame it on the Muse today! A muse is an interesting thing and, as you know, very different for every writer. It might be a fictitious “guide” in a writer’s subconscious, or maybe it’s even a real person who inspires them. I’m not sure I can pinpoint my mus...

And Fade … To Dark

I’ve written a few stories over the years, none of them overly dark. It started out as short stories for my daughter, graduating to full blown book length when I discovered how much fun it was. My first one was so laughable, its poor composition and dangling participles was number seven with Webster’s definition of poorly written English. I still cringe when I look at it.It was a first attempt and despite its many flaws, it has a permanent museum display in the heart.

What’s changed? Bette...

Gracebook by Grace Burrowes

I have never reached the bottom of my appetite for solitude, not when three feet of snow socks me in at home for ten straight days, not when I’m churning on five book deadlines at once-t, not when I’m alone in the truck from DC to Seattle and back. People have said things to me like, “Don’t you sometimes just want to go to the mall and hangout around other people?” or, “I love watching the crowds at a ballgame,” or, “One of things I like about church is that I get to see everybody.”

Does n...

Welcome Debut Author, Lea Nolan!

Thanks so much for having me! I’m so pleased to be here.

So, could you tell us a little about your writing journey to publication?

I’ve been writing seriously for about three-and-a-half years now. My best friend, Laura Kaye and I started writing fiction after we read the Twilight series by Stephenie Meyer. I’m not gonna lie, those books grabbed me by the throat and reminded me how fantastic young love can be. I figured if Stephenie Meyer could be a mom who wrote then so could I. Plus, I wa...

Team Loki or Team Thor?

Last weekend I had the pleasure of seeing The Avengers twice. I took each of my sons and their friends on two different days. Now, let me preface this by saying that going into this adventure, I was a Team Thor gal all the way. I loved the first Thor movie and Chris Hemsworth is a beautiful specimen of a man. Furthermore, I’ve always favored the hero, good guy type over the villain.

Until last weekend.

Imagine my surprise when I found myself riveted to the villain Loki, played by Tom Hiddle...

Welcome Guest Stacey Joy Netzel

I’m so pleased to have Stacey Joy Netzel with us today. She has a new book out,MORE THAN A KISS,a contemporary romance inspired by a Netflix commercial.

Stacey says she fell in love with books at a young age, so for her the graduation to writing them was natural. An avid reader and fan of movies with a happily ever after, she lives in her native Wisconsin with her husband and three children, a couple horses and some barn cats. She works part-time as a travel agent, and in her limited free...

Hiking Training for Idiots – Saga #2

Update. T-Minus 20 days and counting to the We-Are-Insane (aka Idiots) Vacation.

Training hike: I'll be seeing this guy and his hat a lot.

Last week I told you about beginning to train for our long-distance hike in England. Since then we’ve filled in even more plans and are learning more and more about our conditioning and readiness for this amazing trip. Hot dang! Someone should make a documentary of this—we’d be booked for comedy shows across the country.We have now taken four neighborhoo...

A Modest Rant… by Grace Burrowes

I’m ambivalent about the holiday we call “Mother’s Day,” and now that everybody has called Mom and gotten flowers, I will air some of that ambivalence. For one day a year, Mom gets breakfast in bed (maybe), or she’ll find the house clean by virtue of Dad and kids pitching in. Maybe she’ll be queen for a day, get some cards, a few flowers.

Lovely gestures, and no doubt they are the result of sincere sentiment on the part of those who make them.

But what about motherhood generally—parenting g...

What is it about books?

How often have you been asked this question. “What’s so good about reading?” It’s usually from someone who doesn’t know the joy of reading.

It might have even been a family member or your spouse. My DH will only read if it’s a shoot em up or he’s totally out of options. Can you imagine a life without books?

Those who aren’t readers – don’t. They don’t read, they don’t pick up books by someone’s reading chair out of curiosity, and they wouldn’t know how to pick out a present in a bookstore....