ROCKING THE HOLIDAYS - Cat Porter
Rocking Around the Holidays with RockStarLit.com Authors
Hi everyone – welcome to our very first Rocking Around the Holidays. From now until December 23rd, we’re giving you the inside scoop and behind the scenes info on Rock Star Authors.
AND…
To celebrate the holiday season there’s a HUGE contest to go along with it – which includes 2 iPad Minis, signed books by all of the authors, gift cards galore and much, much more!
Cat Porter’s Writing Space
I write at our casual dining table, where my kids do their homework after school and draw and color and have a light snack. During the day when everyone is out of the house and late at night, it’s all mine! From there I have a good view of what is going on in the house so if the kids are home and are usually bopping around, I’m a bit more aware of what’s going on than not.
It all begins when I fire up my Nespresso machine in the mini kitchen off the table (or my coffee bar, as I fancy it) and just the loud drone of the coffee maker and the roasted aroma signals “cozy me time” to my inner spirit, but also “time to focus!” as well. I always have my notebook at my side, the notebook that has all my notes pertaining to my particular WIP, along with my chrome Lamy fountain pen, preferably loaded with violet ink. I have a thing for all shades of purple and pink. Cell phone and house phone are within reach just in case I must answer, but preferably not. Also a glass of water, because I hate getting up if I’m on a roll. A hair clip is a must to keep my long hair out of my way, otherwise I distract myself by playing with it. Ear buds are important too, so if I need the inspiration or need to drown out exterior noise, I can plug into my story and character playlists.
Nearby there are a couple of green plants (the good vibes of feng shui!) a yucca and a bamboo. Also there is at least one fragrant candle for night time writing, and a dish filled with small stones my kids and I collect at the beach nearby our house. These smooth grey and black stones are great for rubbing like worry beads (very soothing!) when I’m thinking aloud and talking to myself to work out a plot point or a moment in the story. There’s also a glass evil eye charm I bought as a souvenir from a Greek island to ward off the “bad spirits.” I suppose I’ve created my own Mediterranean Zen in my little spot.
Yep, time to work!
Cat Porter’s Christmas Memories from Childhood
Christmas has always been an extra special holiday for me because I was born on Christmas Eve and being an only child, my parents always made it a special time for just the three of us. Living in New York City, we would always spend Christmas Eve walking around the town going from fantastically decorated store window to store window- Macy’s, Lord & Taylor, Saks, Tiffany’s, etc, and of course pass by Rockefeller Center. When I was very young we would go to see the Christmas Show at Radio City Music Hall which of course included the fabulous Rockettes. A highlight for me was going to the elegant Plaza Hotel for lunch at the Palm Court. We’d then head over to the one and only F.A.O. Schwartz toy store which back then was in another, smaller location next door. (This was before the days of Toys R Us on every corner!) It was chock full of those huge stuffed animals, super expensive dolls and perfect, old world doll houses- there was a magical, fairy tale feeling about the place, not the flashy mega store it is now.
All the stores are so beautifully decorated all over town that I you just wanted to enter the special world each one had to offer. One time my dad and I stepped into Cartier, the lavish jeweler’s and pretended we were shopping for very pricey watches for me, which was fun but made me kind of nervous. Years later on my 16th birthday my parents gave me a Seiko watch that was just like the classic Cartier tank watch I had coveted back then, and I still have it.
Being devoted bibliophiles, my dad and I would always stop at Scribner’s Bookstore on Fifth Avenue, a classic old time New York landmark bookshop trimmed with antique banisters and staircases leading to balconies full of books. It truly embodied what I imagined to be that old world bookshop feeling. Every year from Scribner’s I would choose one beautifully illustrated children’s book as a gift for myself.
We would then head uptown to the Metropolitan Museum of Art, a place to which I was a frequent visitor as a child. To experience this magnificent museum so beautifully decorated (that huge Christmas tree adorned with antique angels in the Medieval Hall) and the whole space dramatically lit for the holidays, no matter how crowded, was always very special.
Eventually we’d head home in time to attend evening services at our church, then rush back home to have a treat-filled dinner and birthday cake with family and friends. Afterwards, once we were on our own again after midnight, we would get into our jammies and open our Christmas presents. There would always be old Hollywood films on television late at night on Christmas Eve. My favorites were “The Red Shoes” (one of my favorite films ever!) and Daphne Du Maurier’s “Rebecca” with Laurence Olivier, and “Wuthering Heights” also with Olivier. Ah, see, I was always a gothic romance enthusiast, wasn’t I?
Follow Along with Rocking the Holidays tomorrow, December 14th where author Rachel Blaufield will be featured on the sites listed below, plus there will be ways to enter the contest daily!
About Cat Porter
Cat Porter was born and raised in New York City, but also spent a few years in Europe and Texas along the way. As an introverted, only child, she had very big, but very secret dreams for herself. She graduated from Vassar College, was a struggling actress, an art gallery girl, special events planner, freelance writer and had all sorts of other crazy jobs all hours of the day and night to help make her dreams come true. She has two children’s books traditionally published under her maiden name. She now lives in Athens, Greece with her husband and three children, and freaks out regularly and still daydreams way too much. She is addicted to the History Channel, her iPad, her husband’s homemade red wine, really dark chocolate, and her Nespresso coffee machine. Writing keeps her somewhat sane, extremely happy, and a productive member of society.
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