Tag Archive for: So About the Money

Power Heels

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By Cathy Perkins

Aloha from Kauai, where none of us have worn shoes this week other than
swim fins! 😊

This month on the blog we’re celebrating friends, fellow authors, and a fun new logo—a red stiletto high heel. We’ve considered themes from fashion, to
movie tie-ins and dancing, with numerous steps in between. Scroll through the
posts if you’ve missed one.

I’ve thought about heels a lot over the past few weeks while I
considered what they represent to me. While many images came to mind, my first
impression is the suits and high heels that were part of my professional
personae for so long. A west coast transfer changed the heels requirement—telecommuting
tends more to fuzzy slippers and flip-flops. The professionalism expectation,
however, never wavered.

I think that professionalism is one of the things that drew me
to this blog. Each member of The Stiletto Gang approaches her stories in a
different way, reflecting our personality and experiences, as well as how we
want to tell a story. All of us are committed to bringing the best possible
experience to our readers.

Holly Price, the protagonist in my amateur sleuth
series, knows her heels and suits are excessive in her hometown, but to her they represent
professionalism and commitment to clients—and to her family. (She’s saving
the family business.) We’ll leave political discussions of powerful women for another day. Of course, part of me just loves the red high heels on the cover of
So About the Money, book one in the series.

To celebrate the newest book in the series—In It For The Money—book
one (So About the Money) is on sale this weekend!

Enjoy!

So About the Money romps through eastern Washington with its rivers,
wineries, Native American casinos, and assorted farm animals. Add in some
wicked fun chemistry between the CPA amateur sleuth & a local detective and
Holly Price better solve the case before the next dead body found beside the
river is hers.

 Amazon   Nook   Kobo   iBooks   

Prizes!

We’re celebrating our new logo with a giveaway!
Readers who comment on one of the Red Shoes blogs in September and October are
entered to win either an Amazon or Starbucks $10 gift card. Join in
the fun! The winner will be announced on our November Clicking Our Heels
blog.

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 The Body in the Beaver Pond, which was recently presented with the Claymore Award. 

Series and Standalones

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Series or Standalone? 
By Cathy Perkins

Hitting
today’s Frustration Meter – getting to the end of what you thought was a really
great standalone novel and stumbling onto the words “END OF BOOK
ONE.”  

(Yes, First World Problem.)


Worse yet – ugh – a serial novel.

Or the flip side – you reach the end of a story, and the ending is so
perfect… 


…or
you’re like a food addict and someone just took away your cake. 

“How am I
supposed to live without these characters? What
happens next? How could the author be so cruel?“



Which begs the questions: Series or Standalone?



Probably the single biggest advantage to a series is if you like the characters, you can get more of their
story. After a while it becomes comfortable, like hanging out with friends.  I know
these people! I like them – what’s happening?
Over
the course of the series, the characters can change, hopefully improving for
the better, over a more realistic, longer period. As a reader, it’s easier to commit
time and money if the book in a series. If you like the first one, you figure
you’ll like the next one in the series, rather than chancing another random book, even
another book by the same author.
The down side is, if each book in the series doesn’t have a
complete and satisfying story arc of its own, you may feel you’re left hanging
while waiting for the next book. Books aren’t like TV shows. You
don’t get the next episode a week later. Also, depending
on the overall story arc of the series, there may be significant threads left
unresolved. This can bother a reader who has to wait for the next book.
Writing a series means every installment has
to be as good as or better than the last. No rehashing of a theme. No cookie
cutter plots. No formulas. Readers deserve to feel their appetite for the adventure was satisfied, and they can’t wait for the next in the series.
Another challenge is
backstory. Can the reader pick up a book in the middle of the series and get
enough backstory for it to make sense? Or do they have to start with book one?
How much backstory does the author include in subsequent books without boring
the dedicated series fan or confusing the mid-series pick-up reader?
Finally, what if a series goes too long?
What if the protagonist keeps falling into the same old danger time after time?
This can result in the B word: boring. You don’t want to go there.
The advantage of writing a standalone is
trying new ideas or themes without the confines of your established setting and
characters. Your readers can discover a new side of your talent. A standalone
for a series author is like an experimental science lab. Just don’t blow up the
place and go so far over the line that your fans don’t recognize you.
What do you think? 
Do you prefer reading
or writing a series or standalones?

Cathy Perkins
After
publishing three standalone novels, I’m easing into the series idea. DOUBLE
DOWN (presale available here) features several of the characters from So About the Money (JC speaks! He
finally gets a point of view!) with events right after “book one”
ends. 
I’m working away on Book Two, so hopefully readers will jump on board
with this new story and series.

Keep in touch at my website or sign up for my newsletter.

Grateful – With or Without (Horrors!) Wine

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We’ve been talking (off and on) about gratitude this month.
I poked around to some of the sites I routinely follow and have loved all the
recognition this month that as individuals, as a community, (and totally avoiding politics
here, but I’m gonna say it anyway) and as a nation, there’s a lot to celebrate.
There’s so much good going on, but it’s easy to focus on the Not So Good (or
the absolutely abysmal).
Tonight as I sip a glass of wine (always grateful to the
people who make wine), I keep thinking about a challenge I read. The challenge
is to focusing on the good things. Okay, admit it. Do you beat
yourself up over the fumbles, the thing you might could’ve done better, and
bring yourself down in the process? (Yeah, I might’ve done that.) Or do you
quietly (or loudly if that’s your style 😉 ) give thanks for the good things in
your life?
I’m choosing to focus on the good. That we can reach out to
each other within the writing community — and beyond it to our local town or
whatever sphere you can touch — and make things better.
I’ll save talk about community service for another post. Tonight,
rather than wallow in the Not So Good, I’m celebrating the Good Things.
This week I’m savoring that after a year and a half in a
tiny apartment (which was also my day job office), we moved into our new house!
I walk through the rooms and revel in the space. (I have a dining table again.
A place to have friends over where they can actually sit down.) And art that’s been in storage for
too long is slowly finding a new place in our home.  
I’m grateful for family. My daughter asked if she and her
fiancé could have their engagement pictures taken at our house. I’m so happy
for the two of them, that they found each other and that they want to include us
as they forge a life together.
I’m grateful for friends on so many levels. Old friends who
are helping me out professionally and new friends who are easing the transition
into a new home and new options for the future.
What are you savoring
this week? What are you grateful for?

And because it’s So
About The Money’s book birthday, I’m putting together a present for my
readers, because I’m always grateful when people choose to spend their time
with my characters. 

Watch my Facebook page for details or sign up for the newsletter that I swear I’m finally going to send out. 





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

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.

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.

The Newbie and the Mud Flood

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Hi – Newbie to the Stiletto Gang here!
Joining a busy, successful blog is a bit like stepping into
a cocktail party that’s going full blast. Bubbling conversations, inside jokes,
and shared history. What do you do? You paste a smile on your face and dive
right in!
I’d planned to carry that analogy through this post, but I
took a left turn at abnormal this morning and waded through a ton of mud and
downed trees to make sure the beaver dam hadn’t ruptured.

Hmm, that’s a different story.
Perhaps I should back up a bit. I live in the Cascade
Mountains, up above Seattle. Before we moved to the mountains, we transferred
to Washington (well, actually we transferred to a small town in eastern
Washington) from South Carolina.

When people heard about our
planned move, everyone said, “I love
Seattle.”

Because clearly Seattle is the only thing in Washington,
right?
Bookwalter Winery ~ http://innovatewashington.org/
We love Seattle too. But there’s the whole rest of the state.  Eastern Washington is the complete opposite
to Seattle. It’s conservative, sunny and dry, and home to fabulous vineyards
and wineries.  There’s access to tons of
outdoor recreation…and a dearth of restaurants.
As an author, I often see conversations, characters (oops, I mean interesting people I encounter), and
settings in terms of story potential. And I knew there was potential here.

Once we settled into eastern Washington, I had to write a story set here. A story about a woman who came
home, not as a failure with nowhere else to go, but as a woman who loved her
nutty parents and put her ambitions on hold to bail out the family and their business. 

Then because I write mysteries, there had to be a dead body and a puzzle for my amatuer sleuth to solve!
Besides, I could have fun with the wineries, Native American casinos…and assorted farm animals.
So – ever been to Washington? Ever had a flood tear up your
property?
My latest book released last week. So About the Money romps through eastern Washington. Or as Patty Smiley, author of the Cool Cache series said, “CPA Holly Price juggles dodgy clients, flakey parents, ex-lovers and a murdered friend before she gets to the bottom line in this fast and fun read.”



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.

Visit with Cathy at her website http://cperkinswrites.com