Tag Archive for: Cathy Perkins

“Use Your Imagination”

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Like many authors, I have a day job that keeps me far too
busy. Right now, I’m scrambling to handle everything that was deferred due to a
giant deadline. (Said deadline meant 12+ hour days for weeks and weeks – ack!)
One of those deferred items is making sure all the slides
for my teaching assignments (next week’s adventure) were appropriately timed, logged, approved, and all
the jazz that goes with having your class qualify for Continuing
Professional Education.
And because clearly I don’t have enough to do, I was assigned
a presentation about another service line (to present, fortunately, to just our
group rather than all partners and managers). I say ‘fortunately’ because the
partner who assigned this task made the mistake of saying, “Be creative! Think
outside the box! Use your imagination!”

Those clichés should give you a clue – tossing out phrases like that is throwing down the gauntlet for an author.

So instead of developing a wonderful blog post for you, I spent the afternoon on The Extremely Unlikely [Service Line Redacted]
Case – a Murder Mystery. 

There’s a dead accountant.
And cops.


Lots of cops. 

   
Suspects.


Several suspects. 

And the boring stuff about the Service Line.
Tune in next month to see if I still have a job. 
Have you ever done anything completely silly or off-the-wall
for your day job? Please share!!

Cathy Perkins
started writing when recurring characters and dialogue populated her day job commuting
daydreams. Fortunately, that first novel lives under the bed, but she was
hooked on the joy of creating stories. When not writing, she can be found doing
battle with the beavers over the pond height or setting off on another travel
adventure. Born and raised in South Carolina, she now lives in Washington with
her husband, children, several dogs and the resident deer herd. 
Currently she’s employed in a financial day job. 

“Do you know what Dad did?”

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We’ve talked about transitions this month. Transitions in our writing careers. Transitions in manuscripts. A different kind of transition has been keeping me up at night–transitions in families. Perhaps it isn’t surprising. After all, “family” is a central theme in my stories for a reason. 


These days, my sleepless nights begin with a call from my brother: “Do you know what Dad did this time?” 


Aging is weird enough in this country. Didn’t the Baby Boomers firmly establish that they would never get old? Oh wait, that’s a different story. This one is called, Your Parents Are Getting Old.






Now we’ve all heard about the hip grandpa who programs his TV and house security with his smartphone. Mine routinely calls AOL (from his landline since he forgets to charge his cell) and asks them for his password. One of my neighbors (my husband and I want to be Holly when we grow up) not only plays a great game of golf, he took up roping calves at age 80. At 82, he competes on the rodeo circuit. Instead of tying cattle with ropes, my dad is tethered to an oxygen generator. 


Life is a roll of the dice, right? Genetics, life style, accidents, wrong place/wrong time. No way to know what we’ll be like when we reach our 80s. So my approach to the single remaining member of my personal “great generation” is hugs and love you’s. 


Those two expressions make us feel valued. They nurture our souls, offering emotional and physical well being for both the giver and the recipient. Think about how often you shared them with your children, your friends and your spouse. Unfortunately (hmm, another transition?) the frequency seems to lessen with age. While you may be thinking about a jerk of an ex right now, I remember after my mother-in-law died, how my father-in-law craved touch. A simple pat on the arm, a hug. I see you. You aren’t alone. 


This weekend, instead of heading to New Orleans for Bouchercon, the mystery/suspense conference, I’m bound for my hometown. I’ll sit with my father for what I suspect may be the last time. To give him a hug and say not just “I love you,” but also, “Tell Mama I still love and miss her, when you see her in heaven.”

***



Cathy Perkins started writing when recurring characters and
dialogue populated her day job commuting daydreams. Fortunately, that first
novel lives under the bed, but she was hooked on the joy of creating stories.
When not writing, she can be found doing battle with the beavers over the pond
height or setting off on another travel adventure. Born and raised in South
Carolina, she now lives in Washington with her husband, children, several dogs
and the resident deer herd.


Catch up with her on Facebook or Twitter.

Actions Speak Much, Much Louder Than Words

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I picked up a new craft book (aren’t all
authors addicted to improving their craft?) that has me excited about writing
again. Part of my funk over the winter had been that writing seemed yet another
job – with a long list of Must Do tasks – and like most of you, I had too many
balls in the air already.
I wanted to buckle down and just write the damn
book. I actually had people contact me and ask when the next in the Holly
Price/ So About series would release—which should make me feel happy rather
than pressured. Right?
Anyway, I stumbled over two books titled The
90-Day Novel. 
Okay then! 90-days! Score! (Is this where
I admit it takes me a year to write a novel?)
The first craft book was a disappointment. It
contained a very summarized rehash of things we’ve all heard a million times.
Set your turning points, make the index cards, park your butt and go.
Yawn. 
The other one, by Alan Watt, hit the note I
needed to hear. Step back and consider the possibilities, he recommended. What if…? 

What are you afraid of? Your heroine probably has the same fears. Can you work
with that? Lots (and lots) of 5 minute writing drills occurred during the first
week, but none of it needed to appear directly in the book. I was encouraged to
scribble images, scenes, scene-lets, ideas, whatever. No pressure, because
nobody was going to read or critique it. It was playing with words, which I
hadn’t done in ages. It was diving into what I was passionate about—and how
that drives my story. 
And through the process, the dilemma, which is
the root perception cause of the
problem (which is what your protag thinks
she’s trying to solve) evolves. I realized “trust” is the emotion I needed to
tap into and now, everything else is falling into place. The conflicts between
all my characters really come down to that one, very basic emotion. Trust is
crucial for a relationship. All relationships. Relationships between friends,
family, lovers.
Trust is what happens when actions speak much,
much louder than words. You can’t make
someone trust you. From Holly’s perspective, when others’ actions are
undermining her trust in them, going with what she believes is the right thing to
do will show others she’s trustworthy—and hopefully won’t get her killed. 
I started this craft book adventure in
connection with my own 100×100 challenge (a friend who’s 300 days in inspired
me). The 100×100 challenge is to write at least 100 words every day for 100
days. Three weeks into in, I’ve filled half a spiral notebook. And the scenes,
plot, and subplots are coming into focus. 
How’s
your writing going this summer?

Cathy
Perkins is currently working on Book Two in the Holly Price/So About series. So
About the Money was blessed by readers and booksellers with the Award of
Excellence – Best Novel with Strong Romantic Elements. 

A spin-off in that
series, Malbec Mayhem features one of the secondary characters and is available
now.

When the Malbec grapes go missing…there’s mayhem.

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Release day for an
author is worse than the first day at a new school. Will anyone like it? Review
it? Want to take it home for a play date?

I threw an extra dose of nervousness into the mix because my novella, Malbec Mayhem, really isn’t a mystery.

“Don’t confuse your readers—they expect a consistent brand.” Yeah, the conventional wisdom wasn’t droning in my ear when I wrote the novella. (Bites fingernails.)

“Don’t worry,” one beta reader said. “It’s a great story.”

“Is that blood pouring into the glass?” another asked about the cover.

Yikes! (Reaches for a glass of Malbec.)


Deep breath.

So, Visiting Reader: Pour yourself a virtual glass of wine and read along. Malbec may not be as well known as reds like cabernet, merlot or pinot noir, but that’s changing fast.

Here’s some backstory: Malbec originated in southwest France and served mainly as a blending grape to enhance other red wines’ flavor. (It’s one of the six grapes allowed in the blend of red Bordeaux wine.) Weather and insects nearly wiped it out in Europe when frost and root rot killed most of the vines. Fortunately for us, the grapes found a new home in Argentina. Most of the Malbec on the market today still originates there. Recently, vintners in Washington state have planted the grapes and found it thrives in eastern Washington’s higher elevations and dry climate. These vineyards have the hot days and cool nights necessary for the grapes to produce more acidity, which means great tasting wine.

A crowd-pleaser—easy to drink, with a ton of juicy fruit flavors—some people love to call Malbec a working man’s Merlot, since the wine has many of the characteristics that make Merlot easy to drink, with an added spice and acidity that makes it seem less polished.

I loved this line I found on a wine buying website: “Malbec is the guy who rides the Harley to Merlot’s guy that drives the Vespa.”


Have you tried Malbec? What’s your favorite red wine?


When the Malbec grapes go missing…there’s mayhem.


Successful restaurateur Alex Montoya’s charmed life has hit a snag. His trusted business partner turned out to be not exactly trustworthy, and Alex could be facing jail time over some of his partner’s shady financial deals. As if that weren’t bad enough, creditors are calling in loans he didn’t know he had and he’s desperate to prove his innocence before all his businesses are repossessed.

After a career-building stint in Napa Valley, Sofia Pincelli has returned home to eastern Washington to take over the family’s winery. Running the family business, however, means dealing with her ailing father’s continued micro-management—and his disapproval of Alex. Her father’s condemnation of Alex’s rumored involvement in his business partner’s schemes runs so deep, it threatens Alex and Sofia’s blossoming romance…along with the Pincelli family’s signature red wine. Sofia needs Alex’s crop of Malbec grapes to show her father she has what it takes to make award-winning wine—and save the reputation and finances of the Pincelli winery.

When the Malbec grapes go missing, Alex and Sofia must join forces to find the fruit before it spoils—or risk destroying both of their businesses and their hearts.


Special release week price!

Cathy Perkins started writing when recurring characters and dialogue populated her day job commuting daydreams. Fortunately, that first novel lives under the bed, but she was hooked on the joy of creating stories. When not writing, she can be found doing battle with the beavers over the pond height or setting off on another travel adventure. Born and raised in South Carolina, she now lives in Washington with her husband, children, several dogs and the resident deer herd.

You can also visit her online at the following places:
 Website | Facebook | Twitter| Goodreads


How Bad Do You Want It?

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By Cathy Perkins
We’ve been
chatting about fitness at The Stiletto Gang this month, which inevitably has
led to discussions about discipline. Or the lack of it. On my other group blog,
several people have debated whether they’ve lost their creative spark and burnt
out, or if they’ve simply lost their
discipline. Oh vey, my friend Toby
says. Discipline…

When I admired
what another friend had accomplished—her discipline in sticking to her schedule—she
bluntly upended that notion.

“It’s not that I’m disciplined, it’s that
I’m committed to having the result.”
You don’t
need discipline when you’re committed to the outcome, because the result tells
you what choices you need to make. If you want X, then you do A, B and C.
Period. End of sentence.
I mulled that
concept over for a few days, wondering if it was a yet another platitude or a
different—better—way to look at the question. The song, How Bad Do You Want It? kept cycling through my head. If you’re
committed to a goal—be it losing that ten pounds or finishing your first,
second or tenth novel, or eating the broccoli you finally remembered to
buy—then taking the actions to make it happen follow logically and naturally.
The next set
of questions churning in my head weren’t as nice. Basically, I had to rethink everything
I thought I was committed to. It made me question the goals I’m willing to do
the work for.
None of these
things make for sound sleep at 3AM by the way.
Who wants to admit—even
to themselves—that maybe they’re not as committed as they thought they were?
Then again,
maybe it’s a chance to reassess what you really want and break it down into the
little pieces and determine what you really care about and what you can die without
having accomplished and not be the least bit bothered by it.
If you want
to write your novel (or lose that blasted ten pounds), are you committed enough
to that result, that goal, that you’re doing the work day in and day out? The
harsh truth is, if you’re not, maybe you’re not as committed to that result as
you thought you were.
And that’s
what I’m wrestling with right now.
To have what
you want, you have to be committed.
If you’ve got
goals or dreams in your head that really truly aren’t your goals—maybe it’s something you think you ought to want, or you’ve been told you should want, but you don’t really care about it, or if you didn’t
make it happen you wouldn’t lose sleep, then give yourself permission to drop those
“goals”. Don’t waste time and energy or even think about them.
Instead, refocus
on what you do want to pursue.
That’s what
alignment—commitment—is about. It’s about knowing what you want deep down.
Knowing and being willing to let go of the other stuff.
My friend continued: You’re going to lose your
focus sometimes. You’re going to fall off the wagon and be unproductive. It
happens to all of us. Checking in with yourself on a daily basis is a great way
to stay aligned with what you want and where you’re going, and also to
pick yourself back up faster when you do lose focus.
So stop
forcing yourself into dreams and goals that have other people’s names on them.
If you know you
truly want something and wouldn’t be able to live with yourself if you didn’t
get it, maybe it’s time to focus and define that goal and then commit to it. No
discipline needed.
Challenge for
the week, the month, however long it takes: Dig deep and really question your
goals and dreams. If you’ve been after something for a while and you’re still
coming up short, maybe deep-down you don’t want to do it and it’s time to let
that goal go. Or, maybe you’ll find you want it more than anything and now it’s
time to step up your commitment to the result.
What’s
one result you’re so committed to you don’t need “discipline” to take
action? 

_________________________________________________________________________________

Cathy Perkins is questioning her commitment to releasing a new novella next month, Malbec Mayhem, a spinoff related to So About the Money. She has lists–lots of lists–and may survive the day to day activities needed to make it happen. 

The Unseen (Forget Unsung) Heroines

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I had this great post planned. J
 
Bethany inspired me so much with her “how I organize my
corner of the universe,” I intended to admit to uhm… less organization. And no
spreadsheets.

I’m more along the lines of J.M. Phillippe’s “winging it.”

I even took a photo of the messy pile of notes and ideas
stacked up on my desk (and the bedside table, the countertop, the…err…you get
the picture).  Really, all those snippets
do turn into a first draft. Then there’s the tri-fold board with color coded
Post-its (aren’t Post-it’s the best?), broken out by Act and Turning Point, for editing and organizing. (The color coding matches each Point of View character. See? Really. I can be organized.)
(Surely I have a picture of a story board somewhere…) 
Instead of writing about my writing process, every spare moment has been dedicated to the
Daphne. That’s the Daphne du Maurier Award
for Excellence in Mystery/Suspense contest, sponsored by the Kiss of
Death. Great contest. Wonderful
entries/contestants and judges.
I’m all for volunteering although clearly I had no idea what I’d
agreed to do. You see, coordinators are the unseen people behind the scenes who
make sure the entries meet the requirements and work with the judges to get the
score-sheets and manuscripts turned back in. They “unch” (that’s the polite word for politely pester) and hold people’s hands while figuring out technical troubles. They keep lots and lots of records
and cross check everything. Basically it’s a paper chase, or these days, an
electronic chase spread across four desktop screens.
But the best part of being a coordinator will come in a few
days when I have the privilege of calling the finalists. There’s nothing like
telling someone how much strangers enjoyed their stories and that their
manuscript was voted “best in the group.”
Bring on the coffee and the spreadsheets. I have entries to
manage.
Cathy Perkins loves writing twisting plots and relationship
chemistry. She  

especially loved hearing from the Award of
Excellence coordinator, who told her strangers liked her novel.

She wants to publicly thank the judges and
coordinator again for all the volunteer time and efforts they put into that
contest.

Walked Right Through That Restraining Order…

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Have you listened to the lyrics of “Redneck Crazy” by Tyler
Farr? It details the horrid stalking behavior the singer plans—and of course,
he blames the woman for his behavior, because she broke up with him.
http://friedl66b.deviantart.com/
I hate that song.
I lived it—right up to and including the truck on the lawn and the beer cans thrown at the window.
The Nation Center for Victims of Crime has
a section on stalking. It defines stalking as a pattern of behavior that makes
you feel afraid, nervous, harassed, or in danger. A stalker repeatedly contacts
you, follows you, sends you things, talks to you when you don’t want them to,
or threatens you.
Stalking behaviors can include:

  • Knowing
    your schedule.
  • Showing
    up at places you go.
  • Sending
    mail, e-mail, and pictures.
  • Calling
    or texting repeatedly.
  • Contacting
    you or posting about you on social networking sites (Facebook, Twitter,
    etc).
  • Writing
    letters.
  • Damaging
    your property.
  • Creating
    a Web site about you.
  • Sending
    gifts.
  • Any
    other actions to contact, harass, track, or frighten you.

It all sounds so benign, even the hundreds of daily calls
and texts, until you get to that last point—actions to harass, track and frighten you.
Stalking is obsession. It’s about power and control. It’s a
crime.
The problem is states are just now getting on board and
adding laws criminalizing stalking. Like far too many crimes against women,
it’s difficult for law enforcement and the prosecutor’s office to develop a
case they think they can take to court—and win. They prefer something less
nebulous—did the stalker break into your house? Hit you? Hurt you? Those are
tangible—yes or no. Forensic evidence supports it. Showing up everywhere you
go? Coincidence, the stalker claims.
The statistics on women who are killed by an intimate partner
are even more sobering. The victims reported stalking and abuse—to friends and
the police—who were often as helpless as the victim to do anything about it.
So what to do with these depressing statistics?
I decided to put a human face on them. As the layers of So About the Money are revealed, the
reader finds stalking in the backgrounds of both Marcy, the murder victim, and
Holly Price, the amateur sleuth heroine. Surviving the ordeal deepens the bond
between the women and drives Holly to find out not just who killed Marcy, but why
was she murdered?
That, to me, is the beauty of an amateur sleuth or cozy. The
author can build depth into the characters and plot without climbing onto a
soap box.
Now of course I would never recommend you poison your
obsessive, violent partner’s black-eyed peas, but I rather liked “Goodbye Earl”
by the Dixie Chicks (written by Dennis Lynde) as an alternative theme song.

So About the Money
When Holly Price trips over a friend’s dead body, her life
takes a nosedive into a world of intrigue and danger. With an infinitely sexy
cop—Holly’s pissed-off, jilted ex-fiancé—threatening to arrest her for the
murder, the intrepid accountant must protect her future, her business…and her
heart…by using her investigative skills to follow the money, before the
killer decides CPA stands for Certified Pain in the Ass…and
the next dead body is Holly’s.

Beyond Sun Worshipping

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By Cathy Perkins

Sun Dreaming….

Phoenix (and warm sunny weather) are on my schedule for next
week.
Left Coast Crime kicks off the Great Cactus Caper in Phoenix on
February 25 and runs through the weekend.  I’m really looking forward to it. 

I
have my panel assignment – Romance Under the Gun, Friday at 3 PM. Come join me!
– volunteer assignment, and books arranged for the store. 

Still have to pack…
Left Coast Crime is a reader/author event so the focus is on
books rather than sessions for craft,
marketing or business.  (I might’ve had a fan girl moment or two at past events.
😉 )  

It’s a great chance to meet and talk with readers and to catch up with
writing friends.  Since this year’s event is right around the corner, I shared a
few scenes from Monterey and Portland, host cities for the last two years.
Readers – Have you attended a reader oriented event? Likes?
Dislikes?

Authors – Same question, plus how to you think it compares
to strictly writing conference events?
An
award-winning author of financial mysteries, Cathy Perkins writes twisting dark
suspense and light amateur sleuth stories. A contributing editor for
International Thriller Writers’ The Big Thrill, she also coordinates the
prestigious Daphne du Maurier contest.

When not
writing, she does battle 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.

Rocking the Day Job

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By Cathy Perkins
Waving from warm, sunny Orlando today. Quite a change from
last month’s endless snow.

photo by Cathy PerkinsI wish I could say I’m on vacation. Instead, I’m rocking the
day job, teaching at my firm’s management school and taking a (shh! really
boring) mandatory class, made bearable by my peers (who also have to take it).
This week made me think about careers and balancing. I know
authors who have ditched their day job to write full time. Many others are like
me—working full time at a job that pays the bills and offers health insurance.
Since it’s the season to count your blessings and make plans for the new year,
I’ll start with gratitude I have an interesting job that sends me money twice a
month. J
Layer in writing, volunteers gigs, and the rest of my life,
however, and it’s a lot of balls to keep in the air. Over the past few weeks,
I’ve read a number of blog posts talking about time management and work/life
balance. While I try to implement some of the tips, consistently, the best advice I’ve received is “write every day.” Even
if it’s only a line or two, put those words on the page first thing in the
morning. Otherwise, the day’s demands can catch up (and overwhelm) leaving
you exhausted at the end of the day.  Creative energy? What’s that? As much as I hate to admit it, I find if I get
out of the “habit” of writing, days or weeks can slide past.
photo by Cathy Perkins
What about you? Are you rocking the day job? Writing full
time? Balancing other commitments? 

What’s your best advice for maintaining
balance or finding time to write?

Oh. And the deer came over to welcome me home to the snow.  

Stiletto Gang Black Friday Gift Guide

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by The Stiletto Gang

Want to avoid the crowds, but still get a little shopping done?  Sit back, peruse this list of 2015 Stiletto Gang Releases, and order the gift of the written word from the comfort of your own couch.

Sparkle Abbey

Downton Tabby (The Pampered Pets Series)

Amazon 5 Star Review: How would you like to find a dead body in a swimming pool, have two friends disappear, be followed by a black SUV and have your ex try to take away your clients? That’s what Laguna Beach’s animal therapist and sometime sleuth, Caro Lamont, faces in another page turning, suspense filled, and occasional humorous adventure as she tries to find a killer, disappearances of two friends, and dealing with a scurvy ex.

Need a treat today? Of course you do! Grab some snacks, your fav drink, and settle down in a comfy place and relish this latest mystery that’s pet friendly too!

Paula Gail Benson

Let It Snow: The Best of Bethlehem Writers Roundtable, Winter 2015 Collection

Discover tales, all as different as snowflakes, in “Let it Snow: The Best of Bethlehem Writers Roundtable Winter 2015 Collection.” The multiple award winning Bethlehem Writers Group, LLC brings you stories in a range of genres selected from their bi-monthly Writers Roundtable Journal. So, while the weather outside is frightful, curl up by the fire, read, and Let It Snow.

Fish or Cut Bait: A Guppy Anthology

Fish or Cut Bait, the latest installment in the Guppy Anthology Series, presents a collection of mystery stories by rising stars of the mystery and suspense field. Tales of revenge and retribution…police detectives…cozy characters…hardboiled P.I.s…there’s something here for every fan of crime and detection!

Killer Nashville Noir: Cold Blooded

Bestselling authors Jeffery Deaver and Anne Perry join rising stars like Dana Chamblee Carpenter and Paula Gail Benson in a collection that proves Music City is a deadly place to be when your song gets called.

Marjorie Brody

Twisted, a novel of psychological suspense

Amazon or Barnes & Noble

A gang assault at a high school dance forces a young teen to confront the secret she hid from everyone, including herself.

TAA Best Young Adult Fiction Book Award, Honorable Mention, Great Midwest Book Festival, Finalist Red City Book Awards, 2015 Best Reads-Middlesex County College Library

“6 Stars Out of 5!” TWISTED, a multi-award winning psychological suspense, addresses sensitive issues in a stay-up-late, page-turning way.

“Brutally honest,” yet “tasteful,” and “hopeful.”  NYT Bestseller Sharon Sala declares TWISTED “Unforgettable.”

Anthologies, featuring Marjorie Brody

Short Story America Anthology, Vol. I, II, III, and IV

Short Stories by Texas Authors, Vol. I

Lynn Cahoon

Killer Run (A Tourist Trap Mystery)

Jill Gardner—owner of Coffee, Books, and More—has somehow been talked into sponsoring a 5k race along the beautiful California coast. The race is a fundraiser for the local preservation society—but not everyone is feeling so charitable…

The day of the race, everyone hits the ground running…until a local business owner stumbles over a very stationary body. The deceased is the vicious wife of the husband-and-wife team hired to promote the event—and the husband turns to Jill for help in clearing his name. But did he do it? Jill will have to be very careful, because this killer is ready to put her out of the running…forever!

Dressed to Kill (A Tourist Trap Mystery)

Jill Gardner—owner of Coffee, Books, and More in the tucked-away town of South Cove, California—is not particularly thrilled to be portraying a twenties flapper for the dinner theater murder mystery. Though it is for charity…

Of course everyone is expecting a “dead” body at the dress rehearsal…but this one isn’t acting! It turns out the main suspect is the late actor’s conniving girlfriend Sherry…who also happens to be the ex-wife of Jill’s main squeeze. Sherry is definitely a master manipulator…but is she a killer? Jill may discover the truth only when the curtain comes up on the final act…and by then, it may be far too late.

The Bull Riders’s Collection

Saddle up and get ready to ride with three of the sexiest cowboys in spurs. These heroes aren’t afraid of danger or a challenge, and neither are the sassy, smart women in their world. Slip on your boots and get ready to crown these men champions of the heart with The Bull Rider’s Brother, The Bull Rider’s Manager, and The Bull Rider’s Keeper

The Salem Gathering (The Council Series)

A babe in jeopardy, a coven on the loose, and only one witch hunter team can save them.
Parris McCall knows her best friend’s life in in danger, but when Parris gets orders from The Council to track down Coven X, she has no choice but to follow orders.

Ty Wallace knows there’s more to The Council’s directive than meets the eye. Can he figure out what’s not being said before he loses Parris to her distant relatives or worse, forever?

Kay Kendall

Rainy Day Women

“5 Stars! Kendall delivers a spectacular mystery. The protagonist, Austin Starr, balances being a wife, a mother and an investigator with great skill. This is definitely a coming of age story, for women and for our country. A revolution occurred during the sixties, changing the roles for women, politics and war. She shows it all.

Bethany Maines

High-Caliber Concealer (A Carrie Mae Mystery)

All Carrie Mae’s top covert agent, Nikki Lanier, wants is a quiet vacation on her grandmother’s farm. But her visit is complicated by dangerous drug smugglers, the childhood sweetheart who broke her heart, and the sudden arrival of not only her mother (who is obviously hiding something) and her teammates, but also her current boyfriend – CIA Agent Z’ev Coralles. Now Nikki must choose between doing what’s right and revealing what she really does for a living, if she wants to keep all of them alive. Nikki may be a High-Caliber Concealer, but this time it might not be enough.

An Unseen Current

When Seattle native Tish Yearly finds herself fired and evicted all in one afternoon, she knows she’s in deep water. Unemployed and desperate, the 26 year old ex-actress heads for the home of her cantankerous ex-CIA agent grandfather, Tobias Yearly, in the San Juan Islands. But soon. Tish is thrown head-long into a mystery that pits her against a handsome but straight-laced Sheriff’s Deputy, a group of eccentric and clannish local residents, and a killer who knows the island far better than she does. Now Tish must swim against the current, depending on her nearly forgotten acting skills and her grandfather’s spy craft, to con a killer and keep them alive.

Marilyn Meredith / F.M. Meredith

Not as It Seems 

Tempe and Hutch travel to Morro Bay for son Blair’s wedding, but when the maid-of-honor disappears, Tempe tries to find her. The search is complicated by ghosts and Native spirits.

Violent Departures

College student, Veronica Randall, disappears from her car in her own driveway, everyone in the Rocky Bluff P.D. is looking for her. Detective Milligan and family move into a house that may be haunted. Officer Butler is assigned to train a new hire and faces several major challenges.

Julie Mulhern

The Deep End

Swimming into the lifeless body of her husband’s mistress tends to ruin a woman’s day, but becoming a murder suspect can ruin her whole life.

It’s 1974 and Ellison Russell’s life revolves around her daughter and her art. She’s long since stopped caring about her cheating husband, Henry, and the women with whom he entertains himself. That is, until she becomes a suspect in Madeline Harper’s death. The murder forces Ellison to confront her husband’s proclivities and his crimes—kinky sex, petty cruelties and blackmail.

As the body count approaches par on the seventh hole, Ellison knows she has to catch a killer. But with an interfering mother, an adoring father, a teenage daughter, and a cadre of well-meaning friends demanding her attention, can Ellison find the killer before he finds her?

Guaranteed to Bleed

With his dying breath, Bobby Lowell begs Ellison Russell, “Tell her I love her.”

Unable to refuse, Ellison struggles to find the girl the murdered boy loved. Too bad an epically bad blind date, a vindictive graffiti artist, and multiple trips to the emergency room keep getting in the way. Worse, a killer has Ellison in his sights, her newly rebellious daughter is missing, and there’s yet another body in her hostas. Mother won’t be pleased. Now Ellison must track down not one but two runaway teenagers, keep her promise to Bobby, and elude the killer—all before her next charity gala committee meeting.

Cathy Perkins

So About the Money

CPA Holly Price juggles dodgy clients, flakey parent, ex-lovers and a murdered friend before she gets to the bottom line in this fast and fun read. ~ Patricia Smiley, bestselling author of Cool Cache

When Holly Price trips over a friend’s dead body, her life takes a nosedive into a world of intrigue and danger. With an infinitely sexy cop—Holly’s pissed-off, jilted ex-fiancé—threatening to arrest her for the murder, the intrepid accountant must protect her future, her business…and her heart…by using her investigative skills to follow the money, before the killer decides CPA stands for Certified Pain in the Ass…and the next dead body is Holly’s.

Linda Rodriguez

Every Hidden Fear 
“This suspenseful and sensitive tale of small town secrets is captivating from page one. An absolute page-turner!” – Hank Phillippi Ryan, Agatha, Anthony and Mary Higgins Clark award winning author



“Engrossing” – Library Journal



“A peaceful college town goes berserk in Rodriguez’s solid third Skeet Bannion mystery.”– Publisher’s Weekly


“Cherokee heritage and the often very painful legacy of secrets have long been hallmarks of this excellent series. … Every Hidden Fear is another very good read from an award winning author and a book well worth your time.” – Kevin’s Corner: Book Reviews and More