C.E. Murphy's Blog, page 12

a celebration!

Last week I had to go down to Dublin, and a friend brought me out to lunch to celebrate having signed with an agent. We went to Bar Italia, which is fantastic btw, and when the waitstaff arrived to ask if we’d like to look at a dessert menu, my friend said, “Yes! We’re CELEBRATING!”

They asked what we were celebrating, and I explained I was a writer and I had just signed an agent after looking for one for a very long time. They gave me, and then my friend, high-5s, which I thought was really de...

on the topic of flavors

Look, this is neither here nor there, really, but some friends have suggested I’m some kind of weird supertaster/smeller or something because I find wine and coffee and several other foods so off-putting*. I’ve never put much credence into it, but:

I can’t use some of our silver forks because as they oxidize they begin to smell like garlic, and it’s disgusting when I’m eating not-garlicy food. Nobody else in the house notices this.

I can only use certain dishwasher tablets because there are s...

Recent Reads: Species Imperative, Julie E. Czerneda

Along that whole topic of ‘books don’t have shelf lives…’

I’ve been aware of Julie Czerneda’s books since they first came out, and somehow just sort of hadn’t ever gotten around to reading any. I specifically remember the title A Thousand Words for Stranger, which I still think is a great title, and I specifically remember the cover art for the Species Imperative trilogy.

Well, the other day, book one, SURVIVAL, was on sale at Kobo, so I thought “yes I should buy this” and I did, and read it, an...

what’s critical for author websites?

My friend and fellow writer Emma Newman is asking, over on Bluesky, “When you have been to an author’s website in the past, what have you been looking for? What info is critical for you?”

I think this is a great question, and am always looking for the answers to it, myself.

I streamlined my professional website (catiemurphy.com) significantly the last time I updated it, and it’s basically just What’s Out Now, What’s Out Next, and Here Are All My Books. There’s a contact form, but not a heckin’ l...

Cover Reveal: COYOTE DREAMS

I’m positively THRILLED to show off the new cover for COYOTE DREAMS (now) book 4 of the Walker Papers!

Watching these covers come to life has been a real joy, and I especially loved the original cover for COYOTE DREAMS, so seeing this one being so vibrant and perfect in a whole different way just makes me so very very happy.

COYOTE DREAMS will be out in July 2024, so get your preorders in now! ♥

Joanne Walker has accepted her path as a shaman—but she’s lost her spirit guide along the way.

With...

Release Day: Koalafied for Love!

My latest paranormal romance, KOALAFIED FOR LOVE, is available now!

I just need you all to know my son is responsible for this particular title, and once I had it, I obviously had to write a story about a koalafied accountant who falls in love when he comes to my lil’ shifter town of Virtue. :D

Koala shifter Oliver Campbell has spent most of his life working hard at embracing calm, because koalas are anything but: his koala would fight an armchair, given the chance…or a gorilla, for that matte...

a list of petty complaints

Complaint #1: I play Tetris on my phone in “solve a level” mode, not ‘marathon’ mode. They have recently raised the “buy ten more lines to see if you can complete this level” from watching an ad or 200 ‘coins’ (which you earn in-game by completing levels, or can purchase) to 1000 coins.

This has caused me to swear in my soul that I will never buy another goddamn ten lines or watch another goddamn ad, because that’s too much escalation. 300, even 400, I coulda maybe gone for, but no, now I will P...

Picoreview: X-Men ’97

Picoreview: X-Men 97: AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH

Ok, just to get this out of the way:

this post will contain spoilers, so if you don’t want spoilers, look away now

I loved it almost unconditionally, so I’m going to talk about the things I think they did wrong more than the ones they did right :D

Okay? Beyond this point, spoilers are on you. Although I’m going to start by talking about the Chris Pine Star Trek movies, so you have some space to look away in. :) (There are, mind yo...

Agent announcement!

I have just signed an agency agreement with Jennifer Udden at the Laura Dail Literary Agency, and I am OVER THE MOON about it!!!!

After an introduction through a mutual friend who thought we would hit it off, Ms. Udden and I spent a couple of months in email contact as I sent a variety of things, from completed manuscripts to very, VERY short book proposals back and forth, and eventually stepped things up with a vone call.

Our mutual friend was extremely right: we did hit it off, with what just ...

Milford writing retreat

I was afforded the unexpected opportunity to go on a writing retreat in mid-May. It was a great success, but I have to start by telling you about the first time I went on this retreat, in 2019, which MIGHT have been the first year this retreat was held.

That week, I wrote 41,000 words. Which is a lot. In fact, it’s enough that they said “we’re now going to use ‘murphy’ as our unit of measurement for this retreat forever,” which I thought they were joking about, except it turns out they’re not. :...