Author Spotlight - Excerpt from Catch of the Day

Thank you so much for supporting Petie during her week in the spotlight. Leave a comment about the excerpt today, Saturday and Sunday along with your email so we can get in touch with you and we'll pick one lucky winner on Monday to receive a PDF or Epub of Petie's novel, "Catch of the Day."

Enjoy the excerpt!
Smiles
Moderator Steph

**********
Holy cow!

Gage looked over Lila's head and saw Cody stomping toward the dock, a big Igloo cooler in her arms, fire in her eyes, and steam escaping from her ears. He swallowed hard and tried to pry free, but Lila would have none of that.

"Now you just hold still, cutie patootie," she drawled, "and let little ole Lila give you your good luck hug." She crushed her barely-covered breasts against his abdomen, the neckline on her tank top drooping almost to her navel.

Cody reached the dock and stomped so hard he could feel the vibration in the boards. Her glare could singe the fins off an alligator gar, and he had Lila stuck to him like a tick. He was a sitting duck.

Cody looked even madder now than when she left to get the rest of her gear, which could only mean...

She was jealous.
Of Lila.

Cody's glare deepened upon final approach.

He grinned for real.

Zeke Tumson, my ass. She likes me.

He stopped trying to struggle free of Lila and waited for Cody to get to the boat and the fireworks to begin. Lila felt his struggle cease and snuggled in closer, rubbing every inch of her front against him and laying her cheek on his chest. A week ago, Lila's antics would have elicited a very pronounced and noticeable reaction. Today -- he glanced down to check -- nothing. His gaze shot to Cody steaming down the dock. Had she done this to him?

"Mmmm," Lila cooed and squiggled her body again, "good luuuuck."

Cody marched mere steps away. When Lila purred, Cody hesitated for the span of a second, made a sharp left, stepped down into the johnboat, and proceeded to hook up her livewell. He waited a five-count. Cody kept her head down and fooled with the tubing attached to the cooler. He had to move. If he didn't, Lila would be in his shorts any second.

Maybe he should let...

Nope, bad idea. Cody would push him overboard later and drive off and leave him. Heck, she may already be planning to do just that.

He cleared his throat to be sure Cody heard. "Thanks for seeing us off, Lila," he said politely.

No reaction from Cody.

"I didn't come to see her off," Lila said in a snit. "Just yooou," she cooed and rubbed her breasts against him again.

Cody missed it. She never looked up.

"All right, you get on back to your registration table, and let me get to my fishing." He took her shoulders and physically set her back.

Cody finished with the livewell and picked up a fishing rod.

Lila batted her eyelashes. "I'll be waiting when you get back, sugar. What say we have dinner tonight?"

No way was he answering that question. He smiled and stuck a foot out to step down in the johnboat. Lila chose that instant to hook her finger into his belt loop to tug him back.

Too late, Gage saw the butt end of Cody's rod push off on the dock cleat, and the johnboat shot back the full three feet of loose bow and stern line.

His sneaker stepped out into thin air, and he dropped like a rock.

He hit the water at an angle, and Lila followed him in, her index finger still hooked in his belt loop. The water wasn't nearly cold enough to chill his white-hot temper, and he broke the surface with an indignant roar. Lila climbed him like a dock piling, and he struggled for a moment to keep his head above water until he gained control and pulled her toward the dock.

Cody leaned over the side of the boat, eyes wide with innocence. "I'm so sorry," she said.

He didn't buy it for a second. She climbed out onto the dock and extended a hand to help them out. Two anglers appeared on either side of her and nudged her out of the way to pull Lila from the water. Both men were rightfully compensated, judging by their gapes. Lila's white sundress stuck to her like a second skin and looked far more transparent wet than it had dry. Lila hadn't stopped squawking since she came up for air the first time, but the appreciative stares of the two anglers slowed her down considerably. One of the anglers pulled Gage out, while the other stared at Lila.

When Gage climbed up on the dock, he rounded on Cody. "What the hell was that for?" he thundered.

Hard to believe, but her blue eyes grew even wider. "What do you mean?" she said, so calm and innocent he fought the urge to turn her over his knee.

"You did that on purpose."
"What?"

He almost bought the innocent routine. Almost.

"You did, you little bitch!" Lila hissed and took a step toward her.

Cody didn't back down. She turned to face Lila, and the innocence left her eyes as her cheeks pinked with anger. "Don't blame me if you're clumsy."

"Clumsy!" Lila shrieked. "Why you misbegotten--" Her hand reared back, and Gage deftly snagged her backswing.

"Enough," he ordered. "You need to go change clothes, Lila, and so do I." Damned if he would spend the morning in wet clothes. He kept hold of Lila's hand and marched her down the dock and across the grass past more gaping anglers.

Cody called after them, "Gage, you better be back by our flight time or--"

He spun around. "Or what?" he thundered.

Back came the wide-eyed look and innocent smile. She shrugged. "Or I'll just have to wait for you."

*********
My buy link is: http://www.amazon.com/Catch-of-the-Day-ebook/dp/B00AAQCDF4/ref=sr_1_16?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1354240396&sr=1-16&keywords=desert+breeze+publishing

Find me on the web at: http://www.petiemccarty.com

Review:

"4 Stars...CATCH OF THE DAY is Ms. McCarty’s second release and like the first one, EVERGLADES, presents the reader with likeable characters, a mini suspense, and an engaging storyline with an environmental edge. Great story and I am looking forward to more by this author." -- The Romance Readers Connection

Author Spotlight - Character Interview with Lila Tumson from Catch of the Day

Bentonville Daily Chronicle Sports Editor Jeffrey Waller interviews Lila Tumson, supporting cast from Catch of the Day

Waller: "Excuse me, are you Lila Tumson?"

Lila: "Why yes, I sure am. And who might you be?"

Waller: "I'm Jeffrey Waller of the Bentonville Daily Chronicle, and I'm doing a series this week on the Loon Lake Tournament."

Lila: "Oh wonderful!"

Waller: "I'm pleased to meet you, ma'am. I understand you handle the registration for the tournament."

Lila: "That's right. The registration and all sorts of things for my daddy, Mayor Billy Tumson. Daddy runs this tournament."

Waller: "I see. Anything exciting happen at the registration this year, Miss Tumson?"

Lila: "Oh please, call me Lila."

Waller: Did she just bat her eyelashes at me? "All right, Lila. Anything exciting you care to share?"

Lila: "Why all the anglers are excitin'. I get to meet every cutie patootie in the tournament right over there at my registration desk."

Waller: "Every…cutie patootie?"

Lila: "Well, not every single one. I just met you this every instant."

Waller: "Um…Miss Tumson…your finger's caught on my shirt pocket."

Lila: "Oh, so it is."

Waller: "I guess what I really wanted to ask about was your very first female angler, Cody Ryan."

Lila: "What do you want to know about her for?"

Waller: "Well, because she's special -- being the first female angler and all."

Lila: "There's nothing special about her."

Waller: "All the Loon women I've interviewed think Cody Ryan is special."

Lila: "Yeah, but the Loon men sure don't. They want a gal to be feminine and helpless like li'l ole me."

Waller: "Somehow I don't see you as helpless, Lila."

Lila: "You don't?"

Waller: "Um…that's my belt loop you've got your finger hooked in…"

My buy link is: http://www.amazon.com/Catch-of-the-Day-ebook/dp/B00AAQCDF4/ref=sr_1_16?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1354240396&sr=1-16&keywords=desert+breeze+publishing

Find me on the web at: http://www.petiemccarty.com

Review:

"4 Stars...CATCH OF THE DAY is Ms. McCarty’s second release and like the first one, EVERGLADES, presents the reader with likeable characters, a mini suspense, and an engaging storyline with an environmental edge. Great story and I am looking forward to more by this author." -- The Romance Readers Connection

Author Spotlight - Petie McCarty talks about personal words

All authors are a tad eccentric. If someone accused us of that, we assuredly would cry "foul!" But honestly, think about it. How many people do you know who hole up for hours at a time and are often heard talking to themselves. Actually we are probably testing dialogue, but does the person on the other side of the door realize that? Of course not, only another author would. So it stands to reason, most folks would find us a tad eccentric.

This is not a bad thing, and the label gives us leeway to be creative -- or odd, as others might claim -- in new and innovative arenas. Take for example, new words -- personal words -- our own created words used only by us to juice up our writing. Or more importantly, to create voice.

Authors will take two common words, stick them together, and hyphenate them as a new adjective. We'll take two verbs and run them together to create an altogether new verb. Or we'll just pull a brand-new spectacular word out of our…thin air, like a magician, and call it our own. All of which drives our content editors to distraction for they want to pigeon-hole our grammar and word choice into acceptable guidelines, which is really a good thing in the grand scheme of safe and purchasable publishing. Yet some words just scream for their own time and their own stage. And we all have them.

Take for example, perseverate -- my old boss's favorite word, and he was a PhD in Environmental Engineering. A good definition might be "to persevere to concentrate" or in other words, you won't let the issue go and you stick with it like a dog with a piece of meat. You perseverate on the issue. Authors are adept at perseverating, especially if someone is editing their manuscript. Twenty years ago when the Doc came up with this, I couldn't find the word anywhere in Merriam-Webster, and it only appeared in recent years. Did my old boss coin the term as a personal word? Who knows? Anything's possible.

How about frinklesnatcher? What in the world is that? Well, it's a Petie-ism. [Actually now, my entire family and everyone in my office uses it.] The term started out as a descriptive word for the accoutrements found clinging to the grill at the bottom of the refrigerator. Little pieces of "I don't know what" that blew in and out with the air movements under the appliance. A good definition would be "that which no one recognizes and no one wants to touch or especially not to pick up." But frinklesnatchers do exist, and they did need a name, a name as unique as the whatever you don't want to touch. Thus frinklesntacher. Works in a myriad of situations. "Yuck! Look at that frinklesnatcher." Or "Ewww, pick that frinklesnatcher off my shirt." The word can also work for anything that requires a name and doesn't yet have one. I suspect as I get older and more forgetful, I will find more frinklesnatchers in this world.

And my segue back to this week's blog about Catch of the Day -- I do have a couple personalized words in my story, and my content editor was kind enough to leave them. I don't care what anyone says…pokety-outy is an absolutely perfect adjective when used properly.

My buy link is: http://www.amazon.com/Catch-of-the-Day-ebook/dp/B00AAQCDF4/ref=sr_1_16?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1354240396&sr=1-16&keywords=desert+breeze+publishing

Find me on the web at: http://www.petiemccarty.com

Review:

"4 Stars...CATCH OF THE DAY is Ms. McCarty’s second release and like the first one, EVERGLADES, presents the reader with likeable characters, a mini suspense, and an engaging storyline with an environmental edge. Great story and I am looking forward to more by this author." -- The Romance Readers Connection

Author Spotlight - Researching Catch of the Day

Catch of the Day was a fun book to plot and write with the zany assemblage of townsfolk from Loon, Alabama that came along for the ride. But before I started writing out my story scenes for Catch of the Day, I spent quite a bit of time online doing research to get a flavor for the types of lakes one would find in Alabama as well as the type of fish habitat one would encounter in those lakes. I needed a just-right type of atmosphere, a little wild and a little crazy, for the Loon tournament.

First, I had to get the lake and the environmental conditions right. It wouldn't do to go to all that trouble with rods and reels and lures, only to have an Alabama reader email and say, "Hey, Loon Lake doesn't resemble any lake I ever saw in Alabama." I had to get close on water quality -- clear versus slightly turbid or even tannic -- and habitat, as in actual aquatic vegetation and the proper indigenous species. Or is the habitat supposed to be just boulders, tree trunks, and branches because the lake is an old reservoir?

Then I had to be sure I had the right fish species for both the habitat and for the tournament use [even though I may only mention fish species three times in the entire story, I had better get them right]. Plus, I had to tackle the tackle, so to speak. Find the appropriate lures, get the terminology, and make sure I applied those lures to the correct species of fish. No, our scaly friends are not all alike and each has food and habitat preferences, so the lures must correctly match up with the chosen fish and hiding spot.

And the biggest hurdle was to provide all that without making the story seem like it was bogged down with a lot of details. And even though I did all that research before I started writing, the more my survey partner talked about his professional tournaments, the more I knew I needed his help. So I started asking dozens of questions, and he, in turn, provided the technical background I required, teaching me basic tournament rules and procedures and eventually editing my final draft for fishing faux pas. I wanted plenty of fun and humor for my story and didn't want to bog down the plot and pacing with details. With my partner's helpful editing, we were able to keep our tournament details accurate -- but yet at a minimum -- which allowed the story to totally concentrate on the people and the plot and the romance.

The wildest part of the research came after the story was completely finished! I had a nice chase scene for a climax, but it didn't make me hold my breath as I wrote it, so I was a tad disappointed. Shortly after finishing the story and before my personal first round of edits, my survey partner returned from a tournament raving over the winning angler and how the man managed to jump a beaver dam in one of the coves with his bass boat to get to the prime fishing habitat on the other side. When my partner finished his wild tale, he stared at me for a minute and said, "What are your eyes all lit up for?" And I told him with a mile-wide grin, "You just helped me rewrite my chase scene," and I already knew I'd be holding my breath when I wrote it.

Hopefully when my readers reach the story's end, they will realize they learned tidbits of tournament fishing knowledge along the way -- and more importantly, laughed all along the way.



My buy link is: http://www.amazon.com/Catch-of-the-Day-ebook/dp/B00AAQCDF4/ref=sr_1_16?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1354240396&sr=1-16&keywords=desert+breeze+publishing

Find me on the web at: http://www.petiemccarty.com

Review:

"4 Stars...CATCH OF THE DAY is Ms. McCarty’s second release and like the first one, EVERGLADES, presents the reader with likeable characters, a mini suspense, and an engaging storyline with an environmental edge. Great story and I am looking forward to more by this author." -- The Romance Readers Connection

Author Spotlight - Q&A with Petie McCarty

STEPH: I don't know much about "Catch of the Day." What's it about?

PETIE: In Catch of the Day, I hope to make readers laugh out loud one minute and grip the edge of their seat in the next. They will tag along with a red-headed spitfire named Cody Ryan and her tournament partner, Special Ops Coast Guard Captain Gage Connor, as the partners compete in a wild and crazy fishing tournament in the Doc-Hollywood-esque town of Loon, Alabama, accompanied by an assemblage of townsfolk as zany as the name.

The mayor of Loon makes up his own rules for the private town tournament, his lunkhead son plans to cheat to win the event, and his daughter just plans to cheat to win Gage Connor.

There's plenty of excitement for everyone when inept drug smugglers come looking for their uncut diamonds inadvertently stashed in the Coast Guard captain's borrowed bass boat as the exchange point for their smuggled drugs. The Colombians are playing for keeps and will stop at nothing to retrieve their stash, even if it means kidnapping Gage's girlfriend.

STEPH: How long did it take you to write?

PETIE: Catch of the Day took about nine months to finish. It would have been much shorter if I didn't have that "day job" to report to every day. But without the day job, there would have been no Catch of the Day. *grin*

I wrote a large part of the story before I had the technical assistance from a professional angler, so I eventually received a detailed editing from him that followed my own full-scale edits. Then after the manuscript was completely finished and I had let out my huge end-of-the-story sigh of relief, I ended up rewriting my story's big climactic scene. See "Researching Catch of the Day" on tomorrow's blog. *Sly grin*

STEPH: Where did you get your inspiration for Catch of the Day?

PETIE: This is an easy question, and it goes back to my day job. I routinely survey lakes for aquatic vegetation, and my survey partner is a professional angler with the National Bassmaster Southern Opens series. [The national fishing organization, B.A.S.S., has a membership more than half a million strong and is the focal point of a multibillion-dollar fishing industry.] He would always come back from his three-day tournaments around the southeastern United States with plenty of fishing stories, and then one day, the movie popped into my head. What would happen if a girl entered an all-guy tournament? And what if I staged it in the Doc-Hollywood-esque town of Loon, Alabama with plenty of quirky residents?


STEPH: How much research did you have to do?

PETIE: I did quite a bit of research online [Alabama state parks, Alabama Dept. of Conservation and Natural Resources, Bassmaster.com, Bass Pro Shop to "shop" for tackle] before I eventually turned to my survey partner for help. Research can get away from you if you let it, but in this case there was more research needed than just angler skills and fishing tackle.

In fact, I rewrote my entire finale after my partner brought back a whopper of a tale -- albeit true -- from one of his fishing tournaments. You'll have to read about Researching Catch of the Day on tomorrow's blog to see how I worked that in. ☺

STEPH: How does the cover reflect the story within?

PETIE: The cover displays one of the physical focal points of the story -- Cody Ryan's crummy little johnboat on Loon Lake as the sun comes up. Cody, the heroine, is paired up with the hero Coast Guard captain for the tournament, but if both partners bring a boat, the pair has to use each boat for one day in the tournament. Thus, the feminine little johnboat causes quite a bit of ruckus amongst the sleek, thoroughbred -- and very male -- bass boats. If that isn't disturbance enough, her homemade livewell, made out of an igloo cooler, has the competition in an uproar.

STEPH: Cody Ryan is the heroine. What are her strengths? Weakness?

PETIE: Cody enters the Loon Lake tournament because her father had fished in it every year, and when he passed away, she thought she'd feel closer to him and maybe not miss him so much if she fishes the tournament, too. Meanwhile, the women of Loon decide to adopt her as their personal mascot, and before Cody knows it, she's competing for women's fishing rights in Loon. So her obvious strengths are her willingness to face challenges head on and her attention to detail. She's also an accountant with a soft heart and ends up checking the books for half of Loon.
Her real strengths come out in the tournament, however, and are obvious to everyone but Cody -- her patience, her endurance, and her courage.

Cody really only has one major weakness -- a definite lack of trust in others. Her mother died and left Cody while she was very young, and her father turned to his job and buried himself in his work, so he was never there for Cody. Consequently, she not only fears others will let her down -- she expects it.

STEPH: What does Gage Connor find appealing about her?

PETIE: Cody's tournament partner, Special Ops Coast Guard captain Gage Connor comes to Loon to resolve an old family dispute and to search for the girl who was his very first love. Meeting Cody throws a wrench into his well-laid plans.

Gage is enthralled by Cody's courage in entering and competing in the Loon Lake tournament -- the sole female angler in the male-dominated touranment. She suffers jeers and taunts with her chin up and her shoulders back. And standing behind her are all the women of Loon, watching the fun.

STEPH: What is the theme of the novel?

PETIE: Your heart will always recognize your one true love, even if your eyes, at first, are blind.

STEPH: Do you have an ebook reader? If so, which one?

PETIE: I was given a Nook for my birthday this year, and I didn't really want one, loving the feel and yes, even the smell of books. But my darling husband reminded me that if I didn't have a Nook I'd never get to read my own books. So on my release date at Thanksgiving, I joyfully put my second book in my Nook, so I could look at my book wherever I took ….oh well, Seuss I am not…

STEPH: Fun question: Do you have a favorite Christmas recipe you like to bake up during this time?

PETIE: I am without a doubt the world's lousiest cook! I knew how to make 10 things when I got married, and now I know how to make 12 things. When my husband told his mother in the Christmas season of our second year of marriage that I made Tollhouse cookies for Christmas cookies [which was a fib since I had never made ANY Christmas cookies], she sent me twelve cookie recipes. After reading them over, I thought I could only accomplish one -- a sugar cookie recipe that I decided to be brave and try. Grandma McCarty had the ingredients and the procedure on an index card, but it didn't say how many cookies each batch made, so I made SEVERAL batches. *sigh* And I kept rolling out dough and rolling out dough and rolling out dough…

Everyone we knew got cookies that year and so did the mailman, the garbage man, the toll plaza change-maker man… well, you get the idea. I made 22 dozen sprinkle-coated sugar cookies in the shape of St. Nick, bells, reindeer and stockings and never made Christmas cookies again.

My buy link is: http://www.amazon.com/Catch-of-the-Day-ebook/dp/B00AAQCDF4/ref=sr_1_16?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1354240396&sr=1-16&keywords=desert+breeze+publishing

Find me on the web at: http://www.petiemccarty.com

REVIEW:

"4 Stars...CATCH OF THE DAY is Ms. McCarty’s second release and like the first one, EVERGLADES, presents the reader with likeable characters, a mini suspense, and an engaging storyline with an environmental edge. Great story and I am looking forward to more by this author." -- The Romance Readers Connection