From Australia, to Connecticut, US – and now up to Wales,
UK! Yes, these chats are global, and we never know where we’ll end up next!
This is the third instalment in my series of chats titled ‘A
Day in the life of...' and my previous guests – Louise Forster from Australia,
and Sharon Struth from the US - have
both been most gracious in opening the privacy of their writing space, and
their writing day, to us.
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| Bilinudgel, NSW to Connecticut, USA to Wales, UK |
I find it most inspiring to hear the stories of other
authors. Sometimes, it feels like I’m all alone, sitting in here at my laptop
with my dogs and cats. But thanks to today’s technology, I’ve made friends and
colleagues all around the world.
Wales – home of celebrated authors Dylan Thomas, Roald Dahl
and Ken Follett – has long been a country of interest to me. My forebears came
to Australia from England, Ireland, and Wales, and I’ve visited my Welsh
cousins, who are strewn from Wrexham in the north, to Newtown in the south, and
across to the ancient city of Caernarfon on the west coast. I remember visiting
the magnificent ruins of the castle on the shore, looking down onto market day
in the village square below.
And so, today I’m thrilled to have celebrated author,
Catherine Cavendish, visit today and chat with us about a typical writing day
in her life.
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| Catherine Cavendish |
Catherine Cavendish is a prolific and successful author with
seven novellas and short stories published in the paranormal horror genre. Now,
most regular visitors to my blog will know that paranormal horror is probably
not my usual genre of choice, but when I first read the blurb for ‘The Second
Wife’, I just had to own it.
So, I’m wondering what motivates a woman from Wales, who has
a slightly eccentric and autocratic tortoiseshell cat – and a Mr Cavendish – to
write horror stories? And more to the point, where does she do this?
Catherine, a warm welcome from usually sunny Brisbane
(although today it’s raining), to beautiful Wales. Croeso – welcome to my
blog.
Diolch (thank you), Noelle. It’s great to be here.
I’m ashamed to say you know far more about Wales than I know about Brisbane and
Australia generally. Although I have some distant relatives and a couple of
friends now living there (albeit in Melbourne and Sydney), I’m afraid I’ve
never visited (hangs head). Ah well, never say never!
Noelle: Catherine, you are a prolific author – how long have
you been writing?
Many, many years – off and on though. I first started as a
child and my first real story was about a girl called Marceline, who was an
aristocrat caught in the midst of the French Revolution. It was probably
rubbish, but I was only nine years old (or possibly eight? I can never remember
exactly). I was the sort of weird child who loved nothing more than writing the
essays my friends groaned about. To me, it wasn’t homework, it was pleasure.
Noelle: Have you always been interested in the paranormal,
in horror, and – y’know, spooky stuff?
I blame ‘The Monkey’s Paw’ a chilling short story by W.W. Jacobs. I blogged
about this recently http://www.catherinecavendish.com/2013/05/the-man-behind-monkeys-paw.html
. We read it at school (again I was eight or nine) and I found it deliciously
frightening. I wanted more, so this inevitably led me to Dennis Wheatley
(Stephen King was still at school then too!). Over the years, my interest has
never waned and has developed into an enthusiasm for real unexplained
paranormal occurrences.
Noelle: Looking at your other books, you seem to like dead
people. Um, do you ‘see’ dead people?
That’s an interesting question, Noelle. Strictly speaking,
no, I don’t. Oh, I’ve seen movements out of the corner of my eye – less so as
I’ve grown older. I did see, what I will always believe was, a ghost once. But
this was an animal, not a human. My husband, on the other hand, has seen
something in our flat here. We live in a very old building, dating from around
1760 and things do happen here from time to time for which we have no
explanation. We have both heard someone, but my husband seems to experience
more auditory phenomena from her than I do. In another part of the building
(not our flat), things have been caught on CCTV for which no one has had a rational
explanation.
Noelle: I’m wondering if you have to share your desire to
write with other commitments, such as a day job? Do you have a routine for
writing – a schedule?
I do have other commitments and we do split our week between
two locations but recently, I have been fortunate enough to be able to give up
the day job, thanks to my husband who is very supportive of my writerly
ambitions. I’m very lucky. Routine varies, depending on our location, but I do
try and write every day.
Noelle: I have a rule that when I’m sitting at my laptop in
my office, I’m ‘working’, but if it’s a nice day and I feel like getting a bit
of sun, I take my laptop outside to the terrace and sit there. Where do you
write? What do you surround yourself with?
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| Catherine's very neat (compared to mine) Workstation |
I am making a concerted effort this year to make the most of
the infrequent warm and sunny days in this unpredictable British summer of
ours. So, yes I do work outside when I can.
In the photo though,
you’ll see my workstation in Wales. It’s in the corner of our large kitchen and
you can see my screen and keyboard. Behind it is a pinboard for the essential
notes, reminders, loose ends, helpful hints and other detritus (I mean, necessary
accessories) us writers pick up along the way. There are no windows, to
encourage no distractions. I like to work in peace and quiet, so I can drift
into my world, let my characters take over – and scare myself half to death.
If I’m scared, I know I’m onto
something. It is not unusual for my husband to come in (the entrance is behind
me), suddenly speak and be rewarded with a terrified shriek from me.
My cat, Mimi, who will be 18 in August, often sits right
under my chair – until she feels it necessary to remind me it’s teatime. At
that time, she will jump up onto the printer table beside me and attempt to
rewrite my manuscript.
Noelle: Is there a particular view, or maybe some music,
that inspires you on one of those days when the muse seems to be elsewhere?
Not really. Very often, if I’m having one of my slow writing
days, I’ll do something else, such as the ‘business’ of writing, or compose my
next blog to get me into the writing frame of mind again. I find that, while that
day may not add much to my WIP, I’m usually back on form the next. I think it
may be my brain saying ‘give it a rest for a day, will you?’
Noelle: My elder sister married a widower, and I remember
how she gradually, and tactfully, removed the many mementoes of the former wife
from their home. Talk about walking on eggshells. Can you tell us what
motivated you to write ‘The Second Wife’?
Er – yes. It’s going to sound bizarre, but it involves a
chair. It belonged to my husband’s late partner and I can’t sit in it.
Illogical I know, but I really can’t. And I have tried. Its double appears in
‘The Second Wife’.
Noelle: I think many women would relate to that certain
uncomfortable feeling of being ‘the second wife’. Have you had a lot of readers
tell you how the story resonates with them?
A few have certainly.
Noelle: Are you able to share with us what you are working
on now?
Yes, I’m happy to, Noelle. It’s a novel called ‘Saving Grace
Devine’ and I’m at the first draft stage, but it’s coming on well. I hit a
sticky patch, where I pretty much painted myself into a corner but then, all of
a sudden, the solution presented itself to me and I’m off and running again..
This often happens, owing to the way I write. But I never let it worry me,
because however impossible the resolution seems, there’s always a light at the
end of the tunnel somewhere (and it isn’t always a train coming in the opposite
direction!)
The story involves a timeslip and a picture with some highly
disturbing properties (but nothing like Emily’s portrait in ‘The Second Wife’).
Poor Grace was drowned and died with a curse on her lips. For her to pass over,
Caroline must free her, but the price could be the cost of her own soul..
As with my other books, this is not gory, visceral horror.
I’m known for chilling, Gothic, ghost and paranormal horror stories, and this
is one of them!
Noelle: Where
can readers find out more about you, and how can they buy your books.
I’m very easy
to find. Here are some of the most obvious:
The pleasure has been all mine, Catherine. Thankyou!
