Cathy Perkins's Blog, page 5

April 2022 the Year of the Miracle by Juliana

Louise Mondragon Aragon April 7, 1923-December 24, 2008 presente

 Dear Reader, 

I probably shouldn't tell you this, but...

This is the writing prompt: I'm challenging you to write a page, paragraph, or sentence and tell me your story. I love this prompt because it forces me to think out of the box and be original,  innovative, and magical. Magic to me is the unexplainable, like finding a $20 bill in your glovebox in your 65 Mercedez Benz just when you ran out of gas and were broke and poor. 

Back in...

My Tweaking Obsession

By Lois Winston

No, that title does not have a typo. I’m neither obsessed with Twitter nor with twerking. However, I am a compulsive tweaker.

 

Every author has her own process for writing a novel. The two most talked about are whether you’re a pantser or a plotter. Pantsers write by the seat of their pants. They sit down at their computers and start typing. Maybe they have an idea for the beginning of a novel or a main character. They may know how they want to start a book and how it will end. But...

Malice Magic!

 By Lynn McPherson

Malice Domestic 2022.

What a fabulous event! It was the first time I've been away since 2019. I was nervous and excited all at once. It blew away all my expectations. Walking through the hallway and all around the hotel, I saw author after author I admired. Maureen Jennings, Louise Penny, Sherry Harris, Rhys Bowen, and Lori Rader-Day, just to name a few. The panels were well-organized and entertaining, nevermind informative and fun. Dru Ann Love moderated one of my favorite pane...

Going in . . .by Dru Ann

This past month, I got on a plane or two or three to attend two reader/fan conventions.

First was to Albuquerque, New Mexico for the Left Coast Crime convention. This was the first time I was in a crowd of over 100 people. Was I anxious, yes, but that feeling of being among your tribe took over and except for a few blips, I had a wonderful time. In New Mexico, the mask wearing was optional. I wore my mask when I was in mixed company, meaning if I didn’t know three-quarters of the group, my mask ...

I tried to write the other day and other funny stuff by Lynn Chandler Willis

 I have a book due to my editor next week. I haven't left my zip code in two years and now I have two trips planned within a matter of days. I'm leaving Thursday for Malice Domestic and then next Thursday to New York City for the Edgar Awards. I'm not complaining. I'm just wondering how everything seems to happen at the same time. Boggles my mind. 

Speaking of my mind, or specifically the way it works, hold onto your seat. You're in for a wild ride.

7:00 AM: Ahhh...that first sip of coffee. So far...

Who Wants a Free Book!?

 by Bethany Maines

Whew! I can't believe we're half-way through April already!  Where did the last three months go?

How did I get here?

As I've blogged about previously, I decided to do an experiment in book launching for my most recent series by putting out all three books of the 3 Colors Trilogy in quick succession. February saw the release of A Little Red. With March came A Deeper Blue and in just a few short days, on April 27, I'll complete the trilogy with A Brighter Yellow.  

Reader's Choice

Fr...

Settings by Saralyn Richard The five books I’ve writte...

 

Settings

by Saralyn Richard

 

The five books I’ve written have three distinct settings, all different, all places t

hat I know and love. The two books in the Detective Parrott mystery series take place in Brandywine Valley, Pennsylvania. I have family members who live there, and I’ve been privileged to visit many times. A paradise for equestrians, artists, and nature-lovers, this is a landscape filled with wide, beautiful, and peaceful vistas. Country mansions, old-fashioned bank barns, horse st...

Celebrating the 2022 Agatha Nominated Authors for Best First Novel and Best Short Story

by Paula Gail Benson

 

Next weekend, after a two year absence, a group of devoted readers and writers will gather in Bethesda, Maryland, to celebrate the traditional mystery at Malice Domestic. Each year, it ’s been a great privilege for me to interview the Agatha nominees for Best First Novel and Best Short Story. Through this message, please enjoy meeting or reacquainting yourself with these wonderful authors , and don ’t forget to click on the links to read the nominated short stories!

 

Congrat...

Fake Eyelashes

 By Barbara J. Eikmeier

Not long ago while watching the news my husband said, “That lady must have something in her eye, look how she’s blinking.”

I watched for a few seconds, noticing her beautiful eye makeup and said, “Nah, she’s doing that because she’s wearing fake eyelashes.”

I recognized the rapid blinking from my own eyelash experience.  It was while recording an instructional quilting series in Golden, CO. The on-site stylist asked, “How do you want your makeup? Natural?”

It was a quil...

Gay Yellen: Back to the Big Easy

 

I am writing this from my hotel room in New Orleans, under the spell of memories from the past. In this city, where I spent three of my four college years, my visit has filled me with nostalgia and a sudden sharp awareness of unintended consequences.

Barely a month into my freshman year, I happened to notice a call for auditions for The Fantasticks, a musical I adored, on an obscure bulletin board. Luckily, there was still time for me to try out, so I screwed my courage to the sticking place, to...