Welcome, Cathy!
Please tell us a little about your new novel, Pride & Regicide.
It's a light-hearted crime thriller set in the world of
Pride & Prejudice, three years after the events of Jane Austen's novel. Mary
Bennet, together with her best friend Cassandra Lucas, finds herself in the
middle of a murder mystery.
What inspired you to write this particular story?
I was looking for my
copy of P+P one day and said to myself, "That's funny, I can't find Pride
and Regicide. Wait, what?!" It was a simple slip of the tongue and it
might have stopped there, except that I remembered one of the minor characters
from P+P: Miss King. She was engaged to Mr Wickham and we never did find out
why the match was broken off...
This is your first novel, but I know that you’re no stranger
to writing. Can you tell us a bit more
about your other work?
I've been lucky enough to have about 200 poems and short
stories printed in various magazines and anthologies, and three books
published. Two have been published by Puppywolf: Contains Strong Language and
Scenes of a Sexual Nature (my first poetry collection), and How to Win Writing
Competitions (and make money), where I explain what I did to win 19 writing
competitions and literary awards, and how the reader can do it too. My second
poetry collection was Look at All the Women, published by Mother's Milk
Books, which got some lovely reviews. I write everything, from horror to
nonfiction articles.
Wow - that sounds pretty impressive. Where can readers by these books?
Click here!
As a fellow Crooked Cat author, I’m sure you will agree that
Crooked Cat is a wonderful publisher.
How did you first hear about them, and what made you decide to submit to
them?
It was by an odd circle of events, really. I have a website
designed to help other writers: Cathy's Comps and Calls, in which I list calls
for submission and writing competitions that don't require any fees and can be
entered, or submitted to, electronically. I listed Crooked Cat on there when
they had an open submission window. It so happened that two of my favourite
writers (including one Sue Barnard, who wrote a terrific book called The
Ghostly Father, you really should read it) had novels published by them, and I
was very impressed by the quality of both books and publisher. So when the next
submission window came around, I made sure to submit! I am so thrilled that
such a prestigious publisher has accepted my novel and they've been a delight
to work with.
Please tell us a little about the real Cathy Bryant:
What do you like to do when you aren’t writing?
When not writing I'm generally reading, sleeping, eating,
cuddling cats or my other half, or chatting to friends in person and online.
I'm not the physically adventurous sort - if I want to travel somewhere
exciting, I open a book. I do love to perform, though, and there's little I
enjoy more than making a roomful of people howl with laughter.
What is your favourite tipple?
I rarely drink alcohol - probably about four units a year -
as with all my painkillers (I have arthritis and a number of other conditions)
booze tends to send me to sleep. I like the occasional Amaretto or a good
brandy or port. The best wine I ever had was a Beerenauslese 1976, but that was
a long time ago. It tasted like liquid sunshine.
So I down a lot of decaf coffee and tea, and a hot
chocolate/cocoa hybrid of my own devising. I drink various types of water, too
(gosh, Im thrilling, aren't I?!) and I suppose the most exotic thing I
sometimes drink is a really good tea - a single estate Darjeeling or a Russian
Caravan or Assam. At our Occasional Austen meetings (I am a member of a Janeite
group who meet up in Regency dress and talk about Austen-related things (and
anything else we like)) I get to sit in my gown and drink good tea while
fanning myself. It's rather blissful.
Is there anything which, with hindsight, you would have done
differently?
In life, or the novel?!
Both!
In life - gosh yes! I'd have stopped
trying to be sensible about either a career or marriage, and let myself be a
writer twenty years earlier; and I'd have spent less time listening to bad
1980s music, I should think.
In the novel - hmmm....I probably should have killed another
person, and also involved the servants more - I read Longbourn by Jo Baker and
it demonstrated how invisible the servant class was in the novels and society
of the time. I have a plan to involve a servant in Northanger Alibi, the sequel
to Pride and Regicide. He or she will play a vital part in the uncovering of
information.
Tell us three things about you which you think will surprise
us!
1. I was struck by lightning and bitten by a poisonous
spider on the same day, at a wedding in Tennessee. The bride and groom are
still together, fourteen years later, so it wasn't an omen.
2. I was born on Friday 13th, which means that all
superstitions are reversed for me. Apparently I'd also make a good witch.
3. My first names are Catherine, Jane and Elizabeth, which
have all been used as the names of characters in works by Jane Austen and those
of the Brontës (Catherine Morland, Jane Fairfax/Bennet, Elizabeth Bennet; Catherine
Earnshaw, Jane Eyre, Elizabeth Hastings).
4. (I am a rebel...)
Although I love to perform and I appear quite extroverted, it's an
uncharacteristic aspect of me - I'm really terribly shy, and I've only been
able to come out of my shell because people have been so encouraging and kind
to me. I get very nervous in company, even (or especially) when I really like
the people. Many thanks to all those reading this who are among those who have
helped me and supported me. I'd still be quivering unhappily and not daring to
try anything without you.
Thank you for being my guest today, Cathy! Please come again!
