Eve Devon
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Location, Location

21/6/2013

 
Please welcome my fellow fabulous Entangled Suspense author Cathy Perkins to the blog today. She's going to talk about the locations in her book For Love or Money.
Take it away Cathy...

Location, Location
I've always had a strong sense of place. Maybe it came from growing up in the South, or maybe it was all the historic sites my parents dragged us to. Either way, in spite of a number of career-related moves, I was deeply rooted in Southern soil.

That intimate familiarity with South Carolina showed up in my first two books, not just in what the characters saw (smelled, touched, heard...) but also how they reacted to their surroundings. More than one person told me the setting became another character in the story.

How does that happen?

Every story takes place somewhere, but how central the setting is to the tale depends primarily on the author's voice - the unique way the author tells a particular story. Some of my favorite authors excel at using setting in the plot. The Four Corners and Navaho culture are so central to Tony Hillerman's Joe Leaphorn series those books couldn't have occurred anywhere else. Long before we moved to Washington state, Ridley Pearson's Lou Boldt series made me familiar with Seattle.
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When my husband's job transplanted us to Washington, it was inevitable that I'd write stories set here. The split personality of the state intrigued me. In For Love or Money, I knew my heroine, Holly Price, would be a big city woman. Thriving on the high risk, high rewards aspect of corporate transactions, she doesn't mind the pressure or the long hours. This is the view from her downtown office, Seattle's iconic Space Needle.

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From Seattle's leafy neighborhoods to the sweeping grandeur of the surrounding mountains, Washington fully deserves its Green State designation. The towering Cascades wring moisture from the clouds that sweep in from the Pacific Ocean. The perpetual rain, however, plays into the insular nature of Seattlites - the classic look is head tilted downwards under a hooded jacket, cable snaking from earbuds to a hidden inner pocket, no eye contact even without an always present smartphone poised to keep the world at bay. Holly blamed her stunted social life on a lack of time and hesitation to become too intimate with anyone in her circle of acquaintances. They might be on the other side of the negotiating table on the next corporate transaction she worked. And they wouldn't think twice about using personal information in an attempt to manipulate her.

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Like many people in Seattle, Holly grew up in another part of Washington. Her high school years were spent in Richland, WA, a midsize city built by the government during World War II as part of the secret, Manhattan nuclear project. Just the fact that the feds choice this area should tell you something about the remote location! East of the Cascades, the terrain is high desert: sage brush, tumbleweeds, endless blue sky and bright sunshine.

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Richland sits at convergence of three rivers: the raging Snake (remember the Oregon Trail game? Don't float the Snake in your covered wagon.), mighty Columbia and meandering Yakima rivers. The stark black rocks lining the Snake and Columbia rivers contrast with all that water. My inspiration for the book came during a hike along the Snake. While pushing through the tangled foliage at the base of one of those cliffs, I glanced over my shoulder, grinned and being the suspense writer that I am, said "Wouldn't this make a great place to find a body?"

Once you're back in town, the setting becomes much tamer. Due to the magic of irrigation and a perfect growing season, the Eastside is home to orchards, vineyards and world-class wineries. Not what you think of as Washington state, right?
Both Holly and I seem to be settling into our new homes. Stay tuned for more of Holly's adventures in the wilds of the Eastside.
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Cathy Perkins is a member of Sisters in Crime, Romance Writers of America and International Thriller Writers. She writes predominantly financial-based mysteries but enjoys the relationship aspect of her characters' lives. Her suspense writing lurks behind a financial day-job, where she learned firsthand the camouflage, hide in plain sight, skills employed by her villains.
Born and raised in South Carolina, the setting for HONOR CODE and THE PROFESSOR, she now lives in Washington. FOR LOVE OF MONEY's setting, with her husband, children, several dogs and the resident deed herd.
Visit Cathy at her website:
www.cperkinswrites.com
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About For Love or Money:
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-fiance, 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-fiance. 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.

Available at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Kobo and other online retailers.
Amazon:
http://amzn.to/ZSlFLL
B & N: http://bit.ly/13GYc01
KOBO: http://bit.ly/11oh9rk
Entangled: http://www.entangledpublishing.com/for-love-or-money/

Sunday Snippet

16/6/2013

 
I love coming across online posted snippets and excerpts from books - a few moments of escape from what you were doing and a quick way to dive in and see if you want more. And in any book shop, at any given time, you can always see people turning to a random page in a book and having a quick read.

So by way of saying a huge THANK YOU to everyone who followed and participated in the blog tour  celebrating the release of THE WAITING GAME I thought I'd post a snippet. By the way, the winner of the giveaway competition for the hand-crafted notebook and giftcard will be announced very soon.

Sunday Snippet

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There was a grim twist to his mouth when he said, "All you need to know - all you need to believe - is that I'm going to do everything and anything to make sure Spinks doesn't get to you again. Do you understand?"

The conviction is his tone frightened her. Made it all seem so real. Too real. The ragged edge of panic descended again. She looked around the room, her vision swimming. This was supposed to be her safe haven. Her sanctuary.

As if he understood, Cam offered quietly, "When we leave, it'll be easier if you don't look back. I appreciate this is hard, but it's only a matter of time before Spinks works out a way of getting here. It's important to know when to stay, when to run, and when to hide. Right now, you hide. At least until I can verify his intentions. You ready?"

"Yes."

At the door, his hand shot out to stop her. "It's the dark blue rental parked on the corner. I don't have a driver. It's not like being on tour. It's going to be like the day you and I went to the beach on our own. Remember the drill?"

Dragging in a breath, she nodded.

This was it, then.

Life interrupted.

Again.

She couldn't look at him. She was too afraid that if she caught his expression, she wouldn't see him remembering that day at the beach when he'd relaxed his bodyguard attitude and kissed her, hot and deep and full of want. Afraid that instead of that warm memory, she'd see him remembering how he'd found her on day six of her disappearance.

In a damp, derelict boarding house.

Tied to a steel gurney.

Eve

Muse Fuel Likes the Pretty

2/6/2013

 
So my debut book launched 27th May. I know. Totes excite! Can't believe I haven't been taking every opportunity to tell people, oh, wait...

As part of my blog tour I wanted to give away a little something I had made as part of the prize at the end. Something that's personal to me and to the book.

In The Waiting Game, my heroine Brooke has a leather journal that she's been given to encourage her to return to her passion - writing music. She has some demons to face before she can write music again, but the notebook goes with her everywhere, nonetheless.

In the lead up to launching The Waiting Game I suddenly knew I wanted to make a leather notebook. But when your skillset is more internediate than artisan I knew I needed help.
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Introducing my Jedi Craft Master Rachel!

When Rachel and I aren't discussing the incredibly intelligent and thought-provoking BAFTA winning British TV show, Made In Chelsea ;-) we are usually discussing all things craft.
A quick convo with her later and she was showing me one she had made earlier (!) and was happy to pass on her skills and help.
Check out what she taught me to do:
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Made with my own fair hands - and a lot of help from my Jedi Craft Master Rachel.

And one lucky person will get to own this and an Amazon giftcard if they enter the giveaway on my blog tour.
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Click on the blog tour to find out where I'll be over the next two weeks and enter the giveaway.

Eve

p.s. Rachel and I are totally available for Made in Chelsea appearances - you know - if anyone from the production team happens to be reading!

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