Kathy’s Blog
“Porch Music” Tidbit: Betty Mae Tiger Jumper
Let's continue to celebrate Native American Heritage month. If you have read "Porch Music" you know that the story tells of a Seminole doll named Bettie. Betty is my mom's name, and the book is dedicated to her, but here is another reason I chose to name the native...
“Porch Music” – About Maggie
Creating a fictional antagonist can be a lot of fun, a bad man or woman who terrorizes others in the story. In real life as well as novels, villains are often “hurt people” who hurt other people. Because PORCH MUSIC has so many women characters, I wanted one of the...
November is Native American Heritage Month
It's Tidbit Tuesday and the first day of Native American Heritage Month. Although Porch Music is fiction, it contains some of my mother's memories through the eyes of Janie. Our family's Native American heritage and preserving my own memories of "old Florida" spurred...
“Porch Music” Book Signing – Thank you!
How does one know when a book-signing is successful? When she forgets to take pictures. Yesterday at the park, I had the opportunity to visit with lifelong friends, new friends, and family members I haven't seen in quite a while. People drove from central Florida and...
“Porch Music” Tidbit: Porch Music is International
Porch music happens all over the world, even in the Swiss Alps, atop Mount Pilatus. Have you seen this musical instrument before? Yes, on television if not in person. What comes to mind?
“Porch Music” Tidbit: Porch Guest
If you could sit on the porch with anyone today, whom would you choose? For now, I will sit with Ma. You can meet her in the pages of Porch Music.
“Porch Music” Tidbit: Broken Carted Mule
How about I share a "song" I wrote for Porch Music? The prologue sets the stage for the rural setting, the early 1950s, and the music that was popular at the time. We learn quite a bit from the narrator, Janie, about her family and the way she sees the world. While...
“Porch Music” Tidbit: Praise for “Porch Music”
"An unforgettable cast of characters with distinct southern voices drive this multigenerational tale that seeps into your soul like the lyrics of a song you can’t get out of your head. In Kathy Maresca’s debut novel, Porch Music, the beguiling power and pull of...
“Porch Music” Tidbit: Judging a Book By its Cover
Do you judge a book by its cover? The metaphor became an adage long ago, reminding people to look beneath a surface, to consider a hidden story. But when I shop for books, the cover is what grabs my attention. I am grateful for compliments on Porch Music's cover, and...
“Porch Music” Tidbit: Outdoor Time
What about you? Outdoors, porches, coffee, and books. What did I forget?
“Porch Music” Tidbit: The Truth Behind Those Blue Clapboard Walls
Let's talk about what is and isn't true behind the colonial blue clapboard walls of Junior's Dance Hall. No spoilers here, just some history. Porch Music contains some of my mother's memories. I used them to create a fictional story, wrapping it around my family's...
“Porch Music” Tidbit: Put Your Feet Up
Put your feet up. Drink some bellywash. And read Porch Music.
“Porch Music” Tidbit: Buster and Janie
Want to read a little more of "Porch Music?" In the novel, cousins Janie and Buster are best friends. They're thirteen, and in Janie's eyes, the gender divide becomes more apparent. She narrates this passage. Do you agree with Janie in the excerpt below? “Let’s go,”...
“Porch Music” Tidbit: Ebbing Family Tree
Porch Music friends: how would you like to see Ma-Ki Ebbing's family tree?
“Porch Music” Tidbit: Man’s Best Friend
Hope this gives you a smile. Maybe he's reading Porch Music?
“Porch Music” Tidbit: Chapter 22
Hey ya'll. Buster wants you to read chapter 22 of Porch Music really carefully. It contains something important and easy to overlook. More on this later, in a sequel.
Trigeminal Nueralgia Awareness Day, 2022
Twenty years ago, reading challenged me. So did speaking. Brushing my teeth. Sitting under a ceiling fan or being outside in a breeze. Chewing. Reading? Yes. One branch of the trigeminal nerve lies behind the eye. Another branch goes through the cheek. The third...
How to help others experiencing pain, even when you are suffering
Do you believe that your suffering might help someone else? I did, back when I was really ill with trigeminal neuralgia, I was convinced that my experience with pain would help others. I was right about that, but I was wrong to think I had to get well to be of...
Mother’s Day for ladies who have trigeminal neuralgia
Years ago, I was in terrible pain with trigeminal neuralgia, so my daughter and her husband came to my home. Because they were willing to make the trip, I could relax and didn't have to concern myself with facing the world, about applying cosmetics, or accomplishing...
By faith, we wait
We wait. It is a part of life that can be terribly unpleasant. A popular theme, fiction, non-fiction, and plays have wait in their titles. Tom Petty, whose band Mudcrutch played at my high school dances and events, sings about how “The Waiting is the Hardest Part.”...