Guest Post by Cathy Perkins: Falling For…

I am excited to welcome author Cathy Perkins to NOT EVEN JOKING today. Her post really got me thinking about my writing, my characters, my current WIP. She poses some wonderful (and for me, very timely) questions that will get you thinking too!

A fall road. Photo courtesy of Cathy Perkins.

Falling for…

What’s the first thing that comes to mind when you hear “fall”?  This time of year, I still automatically go with a Currier & Ives image of a perfect New England foliage explosion. Out here in the Pacific Northwest, fall is quieter. In town, yard trees are selected for spring flowers, summer shade, and fall color. Our mountain place leans toward towering evergreens, although we can do sepia tones quite nicely. (Le sigh – I keep planting Aspen and the deer keep eating them.)

“Fall” can conjure other images: People fall up and down the stairs, in and out of love. We choose to free-fall on carnival rides or in any number of outdoor sports. We enjoy the beauty of waterfalls and falling leaves.

Emotional falls can be beautiful, romantic, sad, painful, and exciting—or “d” all the above. Those emotional triggers seem fraught with so much more peril. A broken bone heals, but is a broken heart ever truly mended? What’s a writer to do? Remember the phrase going around for a while? Want to write? Open a vein and bleed onto the page. That’s emotional vulnerability.

Where are you with your next manuscript? You know, the one AFTER you sell your debut, where all of a sudden the pressures and expectations are different? Are you falling down or is everything falling into place?

I find with each novel I write that I’m stretching and growing as an author. In my current WIP, I’m struggling to knock my protagonist down emotionally. I’m taking bigger risks, digging deeper into the character. And in digging deeper, I’m risking revealing more of myself as I tap into my own emotional reserves.

In order to entice my readers to fall in love with my character, to follow her along and through her internal and external journeys, my character has to not just face down challenges, she has to fail—and fail big, falling flat on her face. She has to hit rock bottom and leave the reader wondering if she can get back up. As I push myself as a writer, I’m pushing this character to peel back layers, figure out what she really wants, and go for it, even if at times she’s hanging by her fingertips over a chasm that will kill her if she falls.

What about you? Fall/falling–love it or hate it? Are you taking risks—as an author or personally?

In my latest release, SO ABOUT THE MONEY, in order to uncover who killed her friend—and why—Holly Price has to risk being vulnerable with a man who hurt her emotionally in the past, but who’ll risk his life to save hers.

SO ABOUT THE MONEY by Cathy Perkins

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.

An award-winning author, Cathy Perkins works in the financial industry, where she’s observed the hide-in-plain-sight skills employed by her villains. She writes predominantly financial-based mysteries but enjoys exploring the relationship aspect of her characters’ lives. A member of Sisters in Crime, Romance Writers of America (Kiss of Death chapter) and International Thriller Writers, she is a contributing editor for The Big Thrill, and handles the blog and social media for the ITW Debut Authors.

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, the setting for CYPHER, HONOR CODE and THE PROFESSOR, she now lives in Washington with her husband, children, several dogs and the resident deer herd.

Connect with Cathy on her Website, on Facebook and on Twitter.