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I'm delighted to be part of the For Love or Money Blog Tour
and to have to opportunity to interview Cathy Perkins.
What they say:
When Holly Price trips over a friend’s dead body while hiking, her life takes a nosedive into a world of intrigue and danger. The verdict is murder—and Holly is the prime suspect.
Of course, the fact that the infinitely sexy—and very pissed off—cop threatening to arrest her is JC Dimitrak, who just happens to be Holly’s jilted ex-fiancé, doesn’t help matters.
To protect her future, her business...and her heart...the intrepid forensic accountant must use all her considerable investigative skills to follow the money through an intricate web of shadow companies, while staying one step ahead of her ex-fiancé. She better solve the case before the real killer decides CPA stands for Certified Pain in the Ass...and the next dead body found beside the river is Holly’s.
Book Information
Title: For Love or Money
Author: Cathy Perkins
Genre: Romantic Suspense
Length: 367 pages
Release Date: May 2013
Ebook
ISBN: 978-1-62266-097-1
Imprint: Suspense
Tour-wide Giveaway:
Kindle Paperwhite Giveaway
Cathy Perkins is offering a Kindle Paperwhite to one lucky winner as part of the For Love of Money Blog Tour celebration! Simply fill out the rafflecopter form provided below for your chance to be entered.
About Cathy: Cathy Perkins is a member of the Sisters in Crime, Romance Writers of America and International Thriller Writers. She writes predominantly financial-based mysteries but enjoys exploring the relationship aspect of her characters' lives. Her suspense writing lurks behind a financial day-job, where she learned firsthand the camouflaged, hide in plain sight, skills employed by her villains.
She lives in the Pacific Northwest, the setting of FOR LOVE OR MONEY, with her work-a-holic husband, a 75-pound Lab who thinks she’s still a lap-puppy and a Wirehair puppy’s who’s intent on digging her way to China.
You can learn more about Cathy on her website http://cperkinswrites.com
Author interview:
Cathy Perkins: Good morning Zili. Thanks for inviting me to
visit with you today.
Zili: Hi Cathy, when did you decide you wanted
to be a writer?
CP: I’ve
had a life-long love affair with reading, but I didn’t start writing until
about five years ago. This probably isn’t how most people start, but I had a
lengthy consulting job in a city about 90 miles away. I’d listen to music and
daydream during the commute. Pretty soon the day dream had dialogue and I
thought, hmm, this is turning into a good story. That particular book lives in
a box under the bed, but I was hooked on
writing, creating worlds and characters.
Z: Is there anyone in particular who
influenced your decision to become a writer?
CP: Every author of every book I’ve read
(and that’s in the thousands) probably isn’t a good answer. Three people who’ve
had a direct impact on my writing career are:
Renee
Rearden–fantastic urban fantasy author and the world’s best critique partner
Steve
Vassey–South Carolina Writer’s Workshop local chapter head and the guy who
encouraged me when I first inched out and showed someone my first story.
Jenny
Crusie–Fabulous author and teacher at my first Lowcountry Masterclass. I
learned so much, I think my head nearly exploded that week!
Z: Where did you get the idea behind For Love or Money?
CP: My
stories grow out of day dreams, the snippet of an idea, a what-if. My
husband and I were hiking along the Snake River
in a game management area called Big Flats (which happens to feature in For
Love or Money) and had to push
through some tangled foliage at the shoreline. Being a mystery writer whose
mind can go all kinds of strange places, I glanced over my shoulder and said,
“Wouldn't this be a great place to find a body?”
That germ of an idea kept growing. Why
would the heroine be out at Big Flats to stumble over the body? How did the
body end up beside the river in the first place?
Z: Do you have a favourite character from For Love or Money?
CP: Oh, isn't that like asking who's your
favorite child? I spent the most time with Holly, so I feel “closest” to her. Holly
is smart and ambitious, but like many women, she’s struggling to find not just
balance in her life, but also to define her definition
of success.
Over the course of the story, she has a few “No
sh*t, Sherlock; you're just figuring that out?” moments (Hmm, are we allowed to
say things like that…) as she learns what really matters to her. Of course, she
has these fraud and murder investigations to resolve before the killer puts a
bullet into her, but that’s a different issue.
Z: Who, if anybody is Holly based on?
CP: I know a number of talented,
hard-working women Holly's age and a few with her off-beat sense of humor, but
she's just a character who evolved as the story came together. Once I had the
(requisitely hideous) first draft on the page, I knew she'd be curious and
tenacious, as well as want to do the right thing for her friend.
Z: Is JC based on anybody you know?
CP: JC is also a fictional mashup of guys
I've met over the years. While he would be good at his job (and the sexual
chemistry between Holly and JC was so fun to write), I wanted him to be very
human, with his own baggage to carry. Clearly they still have obstacles to
overcome which will show up in “Book 2” of the series.
Z: Is Alex’s mother based on anybody you
know?
CP: Now that I think about it, the minor
characters are more likely to be based on someone I've met. Dickerman, aka The
Shrimp, is based on a patrol officer I had to deal with in a volunteer position
– and his name is drawn from a person who annoyed me for years. Word of warning
– authors do stuff like that :)
Alex's mother is an exaggeration of the
headache known as a friend's mother-in-law.
Z: Does the ‘pigging’ really happen in
real life?
CP: Yes, it did.
Visitors today will have to read the
book to figure out what we're referring to!
A big thank you to Cathy for taking the time to answer my questions - I think I'd run the other way from Alex's mother... shudder! ICYMI you can see my review of For Love or Money here!
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