[Interview] Author Cat Connor
Cat's quick rundown:
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Welcome Cat! It's a pleasure to have you.
Please tell us a little bit about yourself, including the quirkiest thing about you as a person.
Son-the-younger introduces me as, “This is my mum Cat Connor – she writes awesome thrillers – go buy her books.” It’s cute especially when he has an arm draped around my shoulder and a few drinks under his belt. From that you can glean, I have at least two children, one who is very astute, old enough to drink, younger than his brother and taller than me.
I live in New Zealand. (For those who are scratching their heads and looking confused … it’s an island nation in the South Pacific. We’re part of the Commonwealth. About 4 mil people live in NZ. We can kick most countries' asses in rugby, and apparently, we’re not too bad at soccer either!)
Quirkiest thing about me as a person – crikey, where to start? For the last few years, in fact since the Lost Highway album came out, I listen only to Bon Jovi music while working. Other times I’ll listen to anything, I have seriously eclectic musical tastes. But when I’m working it's Bon Jovi and only Bon Jovi. I’m not entirely sure why, but it sure doesn’t hurt the writing process!
Is having a chicken in every novel quirky?
You've recently come out with a new novel! Can you tell us about the series and the second installment?
I’m looking for a series name at the moment – I refer to the books as the Conway series, but that doesn’t really work for me at all. The series is first person, written from the point of view of Special Agent Ellie Conway. You’re right there with her, seeing what she sees as cases unfold, relationships develop, her world changes, and madness edges ever closer.
It started with KILLERBYTE (which is now a finalist in the 2010 EPIC awards!! Oh my!!).
KILLERBYTE came out on April 10th 2009 and introduced the world to my main character Ellie Conway. In a nutshell, KILLERBYTE is about a poetic psychopath who hunts and kills patrons of a chat room. It gets very messy. Dismembered bodies are left for Ellie (rather like the way a cat will leave dead mice for its owner). Unluckily for the Unsub Ellie is an FBI Agent with an unusual imagination and the guts to listen to her intuition. Even so, finding herself embroiled in his twisted plan takes her to the brink of insanity and seriously challenges her sense of humor.
My newest novel is TERRORBYTE, and it hit the online book stores on Nov 10th 2009 – so it’s very new and shiny. (This is a tricky novel to describe without accidentally tossing spoilers into the mix.) TERRORBYTE sees Ellie Conway return: wisecracking, kicking ass and using her psycho-prophetic talents to grapple with a murderer with ulterior motives, secreted behind a series of grotesque crimes.
Now you’ve probably noticed the names of the novels: KILLERBYTE, TERRORBYTE … next are EXACABYTE, SATELLITE and ETHERNET. Full on geeky plays on the computer terms. Willing to listen to suggestions for an appropriately ‘computer geeky’ series name – don’t be shy: leave a comment or twitter me your suggestions for a series name @catconnor.
When did you decide to be a writer?
I didn’t. It was never on my ‘to do’ list. It’s not as if I decided to write a novel before I was 30 or anything. Many people do aspire to become novelists but not me… It just happened one night. I was sitting with my dogs and I picked up a pen and began to write. It took a few years and three novels before I found my voice and wrote KILLERBYTE.
I didn’t. It was never on my ‘to do’ list. It’s not as if I decided to write a novel before I was 30 or anything. Many people do aspire to become novelists but not me… It just happened one night. I was sitting with my dogs and I picked up a pen and began to write. It took a few years and three novels before I found my voice and wrote KILLERBYTE.
How has your publication process looked like thus far?
It kinda looked like a twisted sick making roller coaster until January this year.
I don’t have an agent – that was something I gave up on a while ago. It’s simply not feasible from New Zealand, especially when so many agents still require the author to send printed manuscripts.
While I was deciding what I wanted to do, and how to approach the publishing business I set out to get some publishing credits in the form of published short stories, which I quite enjoyed writing and had no trouble placing with magazines and ezines. It was a way of proving to me that I was marketable.
KILLERBYTE first sold in 2005 but the publisher declared bankruptcy seven days before its release – turns out that was a hugely lucky escape for me! Even so, it took months to get my rights back!
I spent the next year concentrating on writing. Tried a few agents again, got the same unhelpful responses I’d gathered before and lost a lot of money on postage. Admittedly, I was feeling a tad jaded. Okay, I was close to throwing in the towel and quitting once and for all.
A friend in Australia stepped in and sent the first three chapters of KILLERBYTE to a friend of his at Penguin Australia, it then landed at Penguin NZ. The commissioning editor asked to read the first three books in the killerbyte series. She loved them but they weren’t kiwi enough for her to sell to the board! (So close and yet...)
She suggested going the eBook route and that I try the United States.
I grumbled and grumbled about the eBook thing until– eventually I met someone on Barry Eisler’s forum, turned out she was a publisher – I queried her at Rebel e Publishers (how very cheeky, but I really liked the company philosophy) and she LOVED killerbyte. The rest, well, it’s been a dream. I couldn’t ask for more helpful and caring publishers. Rebel has an awesome editor, Jayne Southern, and works with an amazing design company, Stenvert.co.za. They’ve since signed a friend of mine from Backspace. (After he and I discussed the merits of eBooks and smaller publishing houses.)
What about the FBI fascinates you? And what about your main character, Ellie Conway?
I don’t know that the FBI fascinates me, as such, law enforcement in general interests me. I’ve read a lot about the history of women in law enforcement, and I truly admire the spirit and guts those women have.
Traditionally, law enforcement has been a ‘boys club’ of sorts, and women have fought hard to prove they can do the job and do it well. (Not just in the FBI but in all forms of law enforcement – even the NZ police force.)
My main character is one of those women who knew she could do it and did it. When Ellie knocked on my door (figuratively), I knew she was an FBI agent and it didn’t take me long to realize she was my next main character. She’s gutsy, smart, intuitive, mentally tough (but she doesn’t think so), and very capable but she tempers all of that with a wicked sense of humor and the ability to laugh at herself and she isn’t afraid to vomit when needs must!
Do you have a writing schedule of any sort?
Not really – at the moment, I’m doing NaNoWriMo so every second I can grab is spent writing. Makes for one cranky mummy when I get the string of interruptions that go with having an almost 4-yr-old-truly-adorable-child in the house! I don’t write at night, I used too but have found with Breezy (almost 4) I’m too damn tired to do that and churn out anything decent. All my writing is squeezed in between 7am and about 8pm, and slotted around kids and household demands!
What has been the toughest part of maintaining a writers' life?
I’m not entirely sure what a writers’ life is. I’m very lucky in that I can be home with my kids and write. One of the hardest things is having people ask me about my work. I’m very conscious on spoilers, so I don’t say too much about my published works that will ruin the fun for readers!
I don’t talk about my works in progress. I may as well be a spy! It even drives me crazy sometimes. I have a writer friend who comes by for coffee once a week and I know it drives him mad because he wants to discuss scenes etc and I cannot do it. If I do talk about it I find my writing doesn’t flow, and worse… if I figure out how it all ends I can’t see the point of writing it. (Maybe that’s quirky, huh?)
Do you have any advice for beginning writers?
New writers – you have to write. You can’t learn to write without writing.
Grow a thick skin. Seriously, it helps, and you’ll find out why soon enough.
I don’t advise showing your work to anyone until you have a first draft and even then choose whom you want to show it too wisely. Be prepared to hear wonderful things from your family and friends. Then go find people you trust to be objective and solicit their opinion, what you need now is a critique partner but not one that will leave you a sobbing wreck!
Don’t be afraid to start again. It’s not a waste of time to drop a manuscript in your bottom draw and start over, it’s how we learn.
It can’t hurt to get some writing credits under your belt either, before you start shopping your novel. If you’re writing fiction – try writing some short stories and get those placed in magazines or ezines. (Always cool to be able to put a publishing history in your query letter to an agent or publisher.)
Finally, remember to breath, smile, and laugh. (Life’s just not that serious)
If writing were illegal would you still do it?
(The question was suggested by Karen Schindler at Miscellaneous Yammering.)
I would, bugger being told I couldn’t write. It’s not like I’m taking illegal drugs. (Although I have likened NaNoWriMo to Crystal Meth.) If writing were illegal I would still write, they might as well ban breathing. I suspect secret clubs would pop up, where writers would gather to share work with readers. (People didn’t stop drinking during prohibition, they just took it underground.)
On that note I would like to thank you for having me on your blog! I had a great time answering your questions, Weronika.
No, thank YOU, Cat!
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If you can think of someone who would be a good interviewee,
or if you would like to join the ranks, please shoot me an email.
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2 musing(s) shared:
Great interview; very informative! Thanks, Weronika. Cat, good luck with your series! I hope you have continued great success.
Jen
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