Talkshow Thursday: Sit down with Catherine Castle
Linda: Thanks for joining me today. You recently
published a new book that is a romantic comedy. Can you tell us a bit about it?
Catherine: A
Groom for Mama is a romantic comedy
with a touch of drama. The premise of the book is based on a radio play my
husband and I wrote in 2003 as a contest entry for a local radio station that
was looking for radio plays. The play finaled in the contest, but didn’t win.
We set it aside, considering it an exercise in playwriting.
Later, I asked my husband if I could use the premise to
write a romantic comedy. He agreed. I tweaked the title and the character, the
main character was originally a male, and added a bunch more stuff because the
play was only 20 minutes long, and A Groom for Mama was born. Here’s
the book blurb.
Beverly
Walters is dying, and before she goes she has one wish—to find a groom for her
daughter. To get the deed done, Mama enlists the dating service of Jack
Somerset, Allison’s former boyfriend.
The
last thing corporate-climbing Allison wants is a husband. Furious with Mama’s
meddling, and a bit more interested in Jack than she wants to admit, Allison
agrees to the scheme as long as Mama promises to search for a cure for her
terminal illness.
A
cross-country trip from Nevada to Ohio ensues, with a string of disastrous
dates along the way, as the trio hunts for treatment and A Groom For Mama.
LM: You write
books, poetry, and plays. Which of those is your favorite?
Catherine: That’s
a hard choice, Linda. Each one has its own rewards. Poetry was my first writing
love. I’ve done that since I was a teen. With books, there’s a great
satisfaction in coming up with a story line and getting to the place where you
write those all-important word: THE END. And nothing beats the thrill of seeing
your words acted out on the stage. It’s impossible to say which is THE FAVORITE,
because I love doing them all.
LM: You have
co-authored books with your husband. How do you share the writing process?
Catherine: We
plot heavily and talk a book or play to death. He’s more the idea guy who can
braid multiple story lines together. I’m the first draft writer who follows
what we’ve laid out, but not always to the letter. He edits each day’s work. Sometimes
the characters do things I don’t expect, and I have to go to hubby and say,
‘Oops. This didn’t go where we thought.” If he doesn’t like the direction the
characters took me, then we hash it out and I start over. When the first draft
is done, we retreat to his office and begin the editing process, making sure
all the plot lines mesh, there are no holes, and all the other fun editing
stuff writers have to do when the first draft is done.
LM: What do you
do to prepare yourself for writing? For example do you listen to music or set
up in a specific place?
Catherine: Other
than thinking about a project constantly when I’m working on it, I don’t do any
ritualistic prep. I have a dedicated, very messy office where I write.
Sometimes we’ll do a lake retreat and write.
LM: If money were
no object, what is your idea of the ultimate vacation?
Catherine: My own waterfront house in a seaside
village, or maybe on Lake Michigan, with caretakers to mow the lawns keep the
beautiful gardens and clean the house. I think I’d snowbird there. A house on
the water is so relaxing.
LM: What is the
quirkiest thing you’ve ever done?
Catherine: I
don’t have much quirkiness or dare devil in me. I did ride a rollercoaster
backward once.
LM: Yikes! That
was brave of you. So, what is your next project?
Catherine: I’m
working on a Christmas story and plotting a new book with my husband.
LM: Sounds
intriguing. I can’t wait to hear more about them. Where can folks find you on
the web?
Catherine: I’m on several social media sites, but my most active one is
my blog. I also post on Stitches Thru Time and the SMP authors blog site,
listed below:
The Lorac books feature “London Scot” Detective
Inspector Robert MacDonald, a bachelor with a penchant for long walks in the English
countryside. The Carnac books feature three different protagonists: Inspector
Ryvet, Chief Inspector Julian Rivers, and Rivers’ assistant Inspector Lansing. 
Many of her books were set in London, about which she
was quite familiar, having grown up there and being part of a family that had
lived there for generations (with a short jaunt to Australia for her father’s
health). After WWII, most of her books were set in the rural, north country of
England. Never marrying, she passed away at a relatively young age (64).
Speculation says, that if she had lived longer, she might have published well
over one hundred books.
Very involved in the art community, Clutton-Blake
wrote a biography of William Blake in 1933 and later became trustee of the
National Gallery. Widowed in 1936 after his wife died in a car accident, he
married Barbara Foy Mitchell the following year. Reports indicate he was friends
with T. S. Eliot and George Orwell. Is that why he wrote and published his one
and only novel, a mystery, Murder at
Liberty Hall?
Amber: I open my faithful laptop Qwerty, plug in
my headphones and turn on a soundtrack playlist. These are about my only
rituals since I have to write in a lot of places. In the car on road trips, in
hotel rooms, on airplanes, in a ranch in the Ozarks, and in our home in
Colorado. 