Tag Archive for: Cathy Perkins

Holiday Traditions – Time for a Change

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Holiday Traditions – Time for a Change

By Cathy Perkins

Clicking out Heels is also changing. Rather than our group’s
question and answer posts for First Wednesday, we’ll focus on a peek behind the
scene element. Barbara Plum kicks it off for us in January. Can’t wait to see
what she shares!
Sometimes change is good. Doing the same things over and
over can provide continuity and a sense of tradition, but they can also become
stale and lose their original meaning.
Holiday traditions are changing in our family. Our children
are grown, married, and starting their own families. While certain foods are
still ensconced on the holiday table, this year, the family will gather around
one of our children’s table. Added bonus? I don’t have to cook!
Because I’m not the hostess this year, rather than spending
hours preparing, my husband and I took off for a working vacation in Hawaii. The
vacation part? With warm sunshine, vibrant foliage and a blue ocean for inspiration,
we had a wonderful time, hiking and snorkeling. 
While my husband played golf, I
drew on that inspiring scene and finished Calling for the Money, the next book
in the Holly Price mystery series. Now that we’re home again, initial comments
are returning from my beta readers. The good news is they like it. Even better,
they had a couple of great suggestions that I’ll work in before sending the
manuscript to my editor.
What about you?


Are there certain traditions that endure with your family?
Or are you making changes as well? 

An award-winning author of financial mysteries, Cathy Perkins writes twisting dark suspense and light amateur sleuth stories.  When not writing, she battles with the beavers over the pond height or heads out on another travel adventure. She lives in Washington with her husband, children, several dogs and the resident deer herd.  Visit her at http://cperkinswrites.com or on Facebook 

Sign up for her new release announcement newsletter in either place.

She’s hard at work on sequel to The Body in the Beaver Pond, which was recently presented with the Claymore Award.

Happiness…The Pursuit

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Happiness…The Pursuit

By Cathy Perkins

With so much meanness floating around the US right now, I found
myself falling into a funk. Rather than wallow in disgust with our elected
leaders—and unfortunately, I have to use that term in spite of too many lacking
leadership—I decided to focus on the good things in life. At the top of that
list of good things is happiness.

When you think about happiness, it’s something we all want.

Defining happiness, however, is a bit tougher.

Google says happiness is “the state of being happy.”

Gee, that was helpful.

Beyond that, the definition seems to divide into two broad
categories:

  • the immediate emotion: joy and pleasure
  • life satisfaction: an overall appreciation of
    one’s life as a whole

While I’m all for events or activities that bring joy and
pleasure, I found I was drawn to that more subjective well-being. I find joy
and pleasure in my family and my community as much as I do my personal pursuits
of writing, art, and travel. What makes me happy doesn’t necessarily make another
person happy. And given that I’ve been staring at a blank screen for two days,
trying to figure out the one scene (that I skipped) needed to finish the first
draft of my latest novel, writing is not making me happy right now.

Longer term, though, I believe happiness revolves around
your purpose in life, the successes you’ve had, the satisfaction of who you are
and what you’ve accomplished. I’m happy right now because I’m grateful for the
life I have now. This isn’t because of something I’m doing at the moment, but rather
because I work hard and have achieved things I’m proud of.

So, what about you? Do you feel life is good, meaningful and
worthwhile?

An award-winning author of financial mysteries, Cathy Perkins writes twisting dark suspense and light amateur sleuth stories.  When not writing, she battles with the beavers over the pond height or heads out on another travel adventure. She lives in Washington with her husband, children, several dogs and the resident deer herd.  Visit her at http://cperkinswrites.com or on Facebook 

Sign up for her new release announcement newsletter in either place.

She’s hard at work on sequel to The Body in the Beaver Pond, which was recently presented with the Claymore Award (at least after she finishes that last scene in Calling.)

Gathering

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We recently returned from a week at the beach (Pacific NW style – no, it does not include bathing suits!) with our kids and granddaughter.

Whew, what a whirlwind! I did, however, edit all 320 pages of my latest novel.

One of the many things we discussed last week was the upcoming holidays and the chaos of coordinating many, many people’s schedules.

It gets more complicated as we get older, doesn’t it?

But as the holiday season rolls toward high gear, rather than gathering
with my family or writing buddies, this week I’m gathering with my day job peers.
I’m stuck in an Orlando conference center, spying an occasional palm tree
through the window, and trying not to find the Christmas carols, oversized
gingerbread houses, and 80 degree weather too weird.

Between the day job, building a house, dealing with the
flood, keeping an eye on my latest release and promotion–and oh yes! the holidays—writing time
has evaporated. Instead of becoming frustrated, I’ve decided to consider it a
chance to gather my thoughts. To allow the plot points of the next Holly and JC book to simmer. To let the
characters nag at me to tell their story.
Strange as it may seem, I’m looking forward to the six hour
flight back to Washington state when this conference ends. Six hours without
email or a ringing phone. Sounds like writing heaven to me.
What about you, my
writing friends? Are you finding time to write? (Do share how you manage that!)
My reading friends?
Is curling up with a book a respite or a vision as fleeting as a Thanksgiving turkey’s lifespan or a sugar plum
fairy?

Follow Your Bliss

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By Cathy Perkins 
“Follow your bliss and the universe will open doors for you
where there were only walls.” Joseph Campbell
I’ve
been trying to finish an amateur sleuth mystery (the next Holly Price story) but another story keeps nagging at me. It’s one I’ve picked up and put
down about a dozen times; changed the focus; the motivation; everything except
the central characters and the theme.
I’m
not sure why that book keeps pulling me back. Maybe it comes from the idea that
each one of us has something special to contribute—maybe work we feel compelled
to do. By doing it, we feel fulfilled and enrich the world. Joseph Campbell
talks about finding your own path (“If you can see your path laid out in front
of you step by step, you know it’s not your path. Your own path you make with
every step you take. That’s why it’s your path.”). 

How do you find that path?
Some refer to it as following your bliss. Others say, find your heart’s
passion.

But
is that passion the broader goal or a kernel that embodies it?

For
many of us on this blog, our passion is writing. Taking intuitions, snippets,
dreams and moments of pure fantasy imagination. Adding overheard conversations,
glimpses of a vignette as we pass by. Grabbing that nebulous possibility, and
shaping and turning into a polished story. Is writing the passion we want to
share with the world? Or is it a particular theme or story that we feel we have
to tell to reach that bliss?

I
really have no idea, so I keep putting one foot in front of the other and
step-by-step find my path.
Right now, that path is
strolling along with a forensic accountant who’s trying to find her own path through life…
You might hear a bit more about her later. But as much fun as
the amateur sleuth story is to write, that other story is still there, a siren song.
Even if we take the steps
to become an author, maybe we chose a certain path because we fear the stories
we want to write won’t sell. We love chic lit or romantic mysteries or literary
stories where the characters rule and the words flow to a different rhythm, but
we read online, hear from editors, agents, creative writing texts that D, all
the above are passé. We’re tempted to follow trends rather than listen to the
story inside us. I think most of us have cleared that hurdle, but the doubt is
always there–should I have chosen a different path? 
Overall, I’m happy with my
path to “here.” Sure, there have been highs and lows, joys and
regrets. I’m happy our paths crossed, here on the blog, at various publishers, conferences, or any of the other places we’ve connected. I hope my passion for writing lives
on and that I can share my joy and make a small corner of the worlds a better
place. 

And in the meanwhile, I
think my other story is still growing—or growing up—quietly evolving in my
subconscious. I have many books still to write.
But I suspect “that story”
will one day be the one I have to tell.
What about you?
 “As you go the way of life,
You will see a great chasm.
Jump.
It is not as wide as you
think.” 
― Joseph
Campbell

An award-winning author of financial mysteries, Cathy Perkins writes twisting dark suspense and light amateur sleuth stories.  When not writing, she battles with the beavers over the pond height or heads out on another travel adventure. She lives in Washington with her husband, children, several dogs and the resident deer herd.  Visit her at http://cperkinswrites.com or on Facebook 

Sign up for her new release announcement newsletter in either place.

She’s hard at work on sequel to The Body in the Beaver Pond, which was recently presented with the Claymore Award. 

Book Birthday!

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A year ago – wow, that year went by quickly – someone at Amazon pushed a button and In It For The Money launched into the world. Of course, the release ended up more of a splat than a soar. I foolishly agreed that a pre-sale period was the marketing tool du jour and worked with my editor and cover artist to create the prettiest, shiniest book of the series, while the link sat online for people to anticipate the upcoming book.

Yeah, that whole planning thing? Didn’t work out so well.

The author (that would be me) has to put an “asset” in place when setting up a pre-sale. Due to a snafu, that dummy file went out on release day to everyone who pre-ordered the book. (Yikes! Cringe!!) One saving grace – I’d marked up the file like crazy: “This is a placeholder. If you receive it, contact Amazon for the actual file.”

So, what’s the best way to describe the book release process? Sorta like having a baby. (Many authors compare the book writing process to actual birth.) Except sometimes the “baby” arrives butt-first and there’s some uncomfortable adjusting to do.

But stumbles and all, the anniversary of In It For The Money’s launch rolled around – and I decided, why not celebrate? Let’s call it a Book Birthday! In It For The Money is on sale at 75% off (only 99 cents – first time ever)! Grab your copy now!

IN IT FOR THE MONEY


In It For The Money by Cathy Perkins
Holly Price traded professional goals for personal plans when she agreed to leave her high-flying position with the Seattle Mergers and Acquisition team and take over the family accounting practice. Reunited with JC Dimitrak, her former fiancé, she’s questioning whether she’s ready to flip her condo for marriage and a house in the ‘burbs.

When her cousin Tate needs investors for his innovative car suspension, Holly works her business matchmaking skills and connects him with a client. The Rockcrawler showcasing the new part crashes at its debut event, however, and the driver dies. Framed for the sabotage, Tate turns to Holly when the local cops—including JC—are ready to haul him to jail. Holly soon finds her cousin and client embroiled in multiple criminal schemes. She’s drawn into the investigation, a position that threatens her life, her family and her already shaky relationship with JC.

LINKS:

Amazon: http://bit.ly/InIt_AmazonUniversal
Nook: http://bit.ly/Nook_InItForTheMoney
Kobo: http://bit.ly/Kobo_InItForTheMoney
iBooks: http://bit.ly/iBooks_InItForTheMoney

When Writers Travel

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Who else loves to travel?

We just returned from Southeast Asia. I’m not sure if this
was a bucket list trip or simply an area of the world we were curious about.
Both my husband and I were too young for what we call the Vietnam War, but I
remember the protests and the horrors of the war shown on the nightly news. Soldiers
being spit on and called “Baby Killers.” The MIA bracelets. Four Dead in Ohio. (My blogmate’s books are set in the era, by the way.) The guys in the deli where I worked during college
with their bravissimo: “I was stoned the whole time,” and our church youth advisor,
a then, newly-minted lieutenant, who would not talk about his time in Vietnam. My
brother-in-law, a medic during the war, who also does not discuss his experiences
there.
I could go on, but I think you get the drift. Or maybe you
remember.
Then there’s Cambodia. A close friend’s daughter served there
with the Peace Corp and kept me intrigued with a running series of Facebook
posts. And who isn’t moved by the atrocities committed by the Khmer Rouge?

So we went.


And we loved Saigon. 
The locals call District 1, which is
the old town, “Saigon” while the sprawling city is referred to as Ho Chi Min
City. There’s energy and optimism, friendly people, and 6 million scooters
(mostly being driven by young, texting locals). 
One of the things we did was a
street food tour – vendors set up, legally or not so much, wherever there’s an
open spot of pavement. Hygiene may be optional for some of those vendors. 😉
Our guide for the tour said Saigon is in to “Capitalistic Communism.” They
relate to Cuba, consider Russia a socialist country, and think North Korea is a
disgrace. By the way, they still don’t like the Chinese, even as China pours
investment money into the country, and the French… well…the south doesn’t hate
them as much as the north. But you know, we never ran into anyone who openly disliked
Americans. Instead they all wanted to practice their English on us.
Go figure.
Although the War Remnants Museum, chronicling the “American
War,” was a sobering reminder of what a horrible war this was for both sides.
We worked our way north with stops in Hanoi where we checked
out the Hanoi Hilton and learned it was a massive torture prison built by the
French (see “they hate the French” above, along with the 95 years of French
oppression). 
Ironically enough, the Vietnamese have huge respect for John
McCain and his decision to stay with his men rather than using name and
position to bail himself out. (cough, cough, bone spurs.)
But damn, the coffee and cheese were French and amazing.
On to Halong Bay, which was awe inspiring. Seriously. I thought it would be water, a small bay, with a few of those rock monoliths. A picture may be worth a few words here.
   

And on we traveled, through Cambodia and down the Mekong, back to Vietnam. So many glimpses of a different lifestyle. A third world country struggling to move ahead. Pride in the remnants of a kingdom in the past. Something beyond tolerance for the religious practices embodied by hundreds of temples. The quiet serenity of sunrise at Angkor Watt. 
Terrifying safety issues in manufacturing. Health and hygiene issues
that made us cringe and wonder why we obsess over plastic straws. 
The sadness of
the long-term impact of the Khmer wiping out every person in the country who
could read and write and the current struggle of the Cambodians to find their footing. 
The search for foreign investment in the face of those struggles. Quiet disdain
for the puppet government put in place by the Vietnamese, who also installed 8
million landmines to keep the Khmer out of Vietnam. (There are roughly 4
million mines still hidden in the ground. They pay children $1 for each turned
in mine – people also use the explosives to blast fish in ponds, but that’s a
separate story – and many bear the missing feet and hands as a sickening
reminder of how dangerous those devices are.)

What can a writer learn? 

A sensory overload? That iced Vietnamese
coffee is wonderful? An appreciation for friends and a zest for life? A
sobering realization three generations of Vietnamese live in an area roughly
the size of my living room. An appreciation for air conditioning (gah, I grew
up in the South and yeah, Robin Williams had it right. Vietnamese weather? Hot
and damn hot.)

Maybe it’s getting outside our own heads for a while. Trying
new things. New experiences. Learning about a new-to-me ancient culture. Meeting
new friends and recapturing a curiosity about the rest of the world.
Whatever you want to call it, I’m glad I went. And I’m
already eyeing another area of the globe…
What the most interesting place you’ve visited lately?

An award-winning author of financial mysteries, Cathy Perkins writes twisting dark suspense and light amateur sleuth stories.  When not writing, she battles with the beavers over the pond height or heads out on another travel adventure. She lives in Washington with her husband, children, several dogs and the resident deer herd.  Visit her at http://cperkinswrites.com or on Facebook 

Sign up for her new release announcement newsletter in either place.

She’s hard at work on sequel to The Body in the Beaver Pond, which was recently presented with the Claymore Award. 

International Beaver Day!

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April 7 is International
Beaver Day, a day aimed at celebrating and raising awareness of these furry,
dam-building rodents. (Bet you didn’t know that!)
Photo Credit: Michael S. Quinton National Geographic
I swear I’m not quoting my BeaverSav protesters, but beavers really
are remarkable creatures. (BeaverSav is a completely made-up organization protesting
the destruction of beaver habitat by the archeologists in The Body in the Beaver Pond. I might’ve had a bit of fun with one
of the protestors in the story, but they really are dedicated to restoring the
beaver’s habitat.) 
Anyway, given a chance, beavers could serve an important
role in solving many of our planet’s major environmental problems.
Their dams help create one of the Earth’s best life support systems. The dams
flood the land upstream of the dam, restoring wildlife habitats for a number of
species, protecting and filtering our drinking water, storing flood waters to
reduce property damage, and maintaining surface water flow during drought
periods.
Sadly, beaver numbers declined—the current population is
roughly 10% of what it was before European settlers moved in—and the majority
of wetlands were drained, disconnecting waterways from their floodplains. Eventually,
rivers became more like canals—or sewers—contributing to our current problems
with water pollution, erosion, and escalating damage from regional floods and
droughts. 
Really bad photo by Cathy Perkins
Beavers have made a
remarkable comeback over the last century. I can personally attest to several
families in our neck of the woods. They keep trying to turn our river and its
side streams into a giant wetland, but the river floods every spring, sweeping
the dams away. Industrious critters, the beavers simply gnaw down more trees and start
over.
Beavers:
Wetlands & Wildlife or BWW (a for-real group dedicated to protecting the species) declared April 7 International Beaver Day to honor
Dorothy Richards, also known as the “Beaver Woman,” whose birthday fell on that
day. Before her death in 1985, Richards studied beavers for fifty years, had
two consecutive beaver families living in an addition to her house (that might
be taking your passion a bit far) and wrote a book called Beaversprite: My Years Building an
Animal Sanctuary.
Okay, she kinda mighta
been the inspiration for the woman from BeaverSav, but I’m sure Ms Richards is
much more fun to hang out with.
To celebrate
International Beaver Day, here are seven facts about these industrious rodents provided
by globalanimal.org:
1.
Beavers can stay underwater for 15 minutes without coming up for air.

2.
The beaver is Canada’s biggest rodent and the second-largest on the planet.

3.
Beavers’ transparent eyelids work like goggles, by protecting their eyeballs as
they swim underwater.

4.
The beaver has been Canada’s national symbol for more than 300 years.

5.
Beavers’ ear openings and nostrils have valves that can be closed when
underwater.

6.
The world’s largest beaver dam is 850 meters long and located in Wood Buffalo
National Park.

7.
Beavers sharpen their incisors (teeth) by grinding them against one another.


Ever see a beaver where you live? 



An award-winning author of financial mysteries, Cathy Perkins writes twisting dark suspense and light amateur sleuth stories.  When not writing, she battles with the beavers over the pond height or heads out on another travel adventure. She lives in Washington with her husband, children, several dogs and the resident deer herd.  Visit her at http://cperkinswrites.com or on Facebook 

Sign up for her new release announcement newsletter in either place.

She’s hard at work on sequel to The Body in the Beaver Pond, which was recently presented with the Claymore Award. 

Copy Cut Paste

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By Cathy Perkins




Have you heard about the latest scandal rocking RomanceLandia?
A woman has been caught lifting sentences, paragraphs, pages from multiple (up
to 20 and counting) authors and stringing them together into a new book.

Copy. Cut. Paste. 


Plagiarism. 


I thought about this while I walked the dogs and see the following spectrum from the benign to the terrible.



The Same, But Different



How many times have we seen that phrase as to what an
agent/publisher wants? It’s why tropes are so popular in RomanceLandia: friends
to lovers; secret baby. The mystery world has its own familiar plots. The
protagonist who races to save the world before the villain takes over/destroys it.
The serial killer; can the hero stop him before he kills again? The small-town
heroine who a body and must investigate to remove herself from the prime
suspect position.
Shoot, I’m part of a Common Elements Project where we’re all
given the same five required elements, and then told Go!
What makes all of these “work” is each author will tell the
story in a different way, with their unique voice. 
So, the same…but different.



The Inadvertent



This may be every author’s secret fear. Or maybe it’s just
mine.
I read. A lot.
There’s always the concern a story’s clever phrase has
tucked away in a memory cell and will reappear in a similar fashion on my page.
I can’t point to a particular phrase—if I recognized it, I’d change it—but I fear
it could happen. I remember reading—somewhere—that this is more common than
expected. Or maybe the point of the article was it happens a lot more than we
realize. 
But, again, I stress it’s inadvertent.



And the Ugly



Stealing. Deliberately.
Plagiarism hurts authors at a deeper level than the whack-a-mole,
steal-a-book in a “free” download sites. Those sites and the people who use
them are stealing from authors financially. 
Plagiarism takes an author’s soul.
Words we’ve sweated over, melded into scenes to convey action, character and
theme are casually stolen with no thought to the crafting that underlies them.
And worse, it’s done with full knowledge of the theft.
One of the authors impacted by Serruya is a friend—Courtney
Milan. She’s written a post about her experience and her reaction. Because the
hurt is so personal, I won’t presume to tell you about it. Instead, I urge you
to read her words.

Authors – Have you worried about the inadvertent? Found your
work ripped off?
Readers – Have you read something you felt was a little too close
to something else you’ve read?




On a completely different note, I put DOUBLE DOWN on sale this
week because it’s my birthday and I like to share (legally). 


DOUBLE DOWN is the
second book in the Holly Price series, written because readers wanted to see
events from Detective JC Dimitrak’s perspective.Murder
isn’t supposed to be in the cards for blackjack dealer Maddie Larsson. Busted takes on a new meaning when her favorite customer, a
former Poker World Tour champion, is murdered. His family claims—loudly and
often—Maddie is the gold-digging murderer. She better prove she’s on the level
before the real killer cashes in her chips. 


If the victim’s body had been dumped five hundred yards up
the road, Franklin County Sheriff’s Detective JC Dimitrak wouldn’t have been
assigned to the Tom Tom Casino murder case. Instead, he’s hunting for suspects
and evidence while dealing with a nemesis from the past and trying to preserve
his own future. He better play his hand correctly and find the killer before an
innocent woman takes the ultimate hit.

Find it here from your favorite store. books2read.com/DoubleDown 


And because I forgot to put it on my calendar, HONOR CODE is
also on sale this weekend, with a group promo.



In a small southern town
where everyone normally knows each other’s business, veteran detective Larry
Robbins must solve the disappearance of eighty-year-old widower,
African-American George Beason.


When evidence arises that Beason may have left town on his
own, it would be easy for Robbins to close the case, but his gut instinct tells
him more’s at stake. As he uncovers clues about Beason’s deceased wife and his
estranged daughter, Robbins must untangle conflicting motives and hidden
agendas to bring Beason home alive.

HONOR CODE hit #1 in its category at release and the most
recent fraud alert says another 5000 people downloaded it off a steal-a-book site
this month. You can pick up a copy here or here. 



Happy Reading! 

Top Ten Writing Tips

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Top Ten Writing Tips

By Cathy Perkins
I can’t believe it’s already the middle of
January! How are you coming with your New Year’s Resolutions?
One of my resolutions was to transfer the
organization I always implemented in my day job to my writing life. Since my
writing space and habits were a bit (cough, a lot) disorganized, I got together
with some author friends. What quickly evolved was a set of writing tips. Many
of these I’ve done without conscious thought. I’m attempting to be more mindful,
however, and plan to use this structure as additional motivation to, as one
friend puts it, finish the damn book.

So, without further fanfare – the writing
tips:

Ten – Make lists. Every day I make a list of the things I
want to accomplish that day. (I’m not sure what it says about me that I love
drawing a line through an item when it’s done.)
The first line (every day but Sunday) is always, Write. Long-term-goals are listed
on my white board: things I want to be sure I don’t forget, but I don’t have to
do today.

Nine – Sprint.  A group of us grabs our first, or next,
cup of coffee and checks in, then we all ignore each other, turn off the
internet and the phone, and work steadily for an hour. It’s a writing club, a
mutual support group, and a fabulous technique for working without
interruption. I write until I meet my word count goal for the day. (Thank
Steven King for this one.)

Eight – Work on one series at a
time. I try my best to immerse myself
in one setting, one set of characters, one story, whether I’m working on a
first draft or revising a draft. Avoiding the “new shiny” keeps me
focused.

Seven – Finish what’s due
first. Except #8 blows up sometimes.
I’ll be in first draft mode on Pony Ring and edits will come in from Beaver
Pond. I operate on the First Due principle. I knock out the edits, because they’re
due in a week or two, then get back to the longer work. The problem with doing
that, of course, is getting back up to speed with the work-in-process, so I can
re-immerse myself in that world.

Six – Take time away from the
desk. By the end of a writing session,
my creative brain is mush. I usually go for what I call my plotting walk,
especially if I’m writing a first draft. There’s something about the rhythm of
walking that brings the next scene or a plot problem into focus. It makes the dogs
happy to get out of the house, too.


Five – Separate creative time
from admin time. I’m
most creative in the early morning, so I do my writing then. A corollary is,
Keep creative time sacred. I don’t schedule anything else for mornings. I try
to keep writing blog posts, scheduling author events, record-keeping, and all
the other business stuff for the evenings.

Four – Work ahead. Know what you want to accomplish – I’ve written
my goals for the year and set up a time table to implement them. That means I
work now on upcoming items instead of
waiting and scrambling at the last minute.

Three – Outsource what I can’t
do. While I tinker with art and
photo-editing, I know my limits with graphic design. I hire a wonderful cover
artist. I like formatting my books, but it’s something I can do in the evening
while my husband watches TV. The key point is identifying what I’m good at and
enjoy, versus what I can outsource. Why waste time on things it would take me
forever to do and rob me of the hours I need to do what I’m good at – writing
stories?

Two – Stay healthy. I always have a full flask of water on my desk.
Fluids in, fluids out. It makes me get up and move around every hour or so. And
if I forget, my Fitbit buzzes at me with a reminder. I try to eat lean fresh
foods, and I get regular exercise even if it isn’t always a sweaty gym workout.
And the exercise doubles as creative time – see #6!

One – Butt in the chair, fingers
on the keyboard. This is
really the most important one. If I get distracted, schedule other things, or
simply don’t do the writing, then…I’m not doing the writing. And that’s my
job. Of all the varied jobs I’ve held, I’m lucky and blessed to have this one I
love.

What tips
can you add?


An award-winning author of financial mysteries, Cathy Perkins writes twisting dark suspense and light amateur sleuth stories.  When not writing, she battles with the beavers over the pond height or heads out on another travel adventure. She lives in Washington with her husband, children, several dogs and the resident deer herd.  Visit her at http://cperkinswrites.com or on Facebook 

Sign up for her new release announcement newsletter in either place.

She’s hard at work on sequel to The Body in the Beaver Pond, which was recently presented with the Claymore Award. 

Nostalgic

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In this week’s hustle and flurry of last minute gifts, mailing
and cooking, I find that I’m as nostalgic as I am busy. Since I suspect you’re
putting the final touches on your holidays—winding up Hanukkah, prepping for
Christmas, or simply happy the Solstice is tomorrow—I’ll keep this post short. 😉

I don’t miss the “good
ol’ days” as much as I do making new nightgowns for the girls (and for their American
Girl dolls 😊 ).
Nights of “some assembly required” and staging Santa’s
cookies.  
Full body hugs.
So where are you? 
Minimizing the trappings? Frantically
finishing? Happy with the whole process?





An award-winning author of financial mysteries, Cathy Perkins
writes twisting dark suspense and light amateur sleuth stories.  When not
writing, she battles with the beavers over the pond height or heads out on
another travel adventure. She lives in Washington with her husband, children,
several dogs and the resident deer herd.  Visit her at http://cperkinswrites.com or on Facebook 

Sign up for her new release announcement newsletter in either place.

She’s hard at work on sequel to The Body in the Beaver Pond,
which was recently presented with the Claymore Award.