About the Author:
Member of Leicester Writers’ Club, Just Write workshop, Life President of
Lutterworth Writers’ Group, Member NAWG, Member Romantic Novelist Association
and past president of Riverside Speakers club.
Cathy
is an experienced writer of romantic fiction. Her early work was competition
short stories and articles published in national magazines. She was Editor in
Chief of the Leicestershire Anthology, ‘Taking Off’, a book promoted and
supported by Arts Council UK.
In
recent times, Cathy has turned to writing full-length novels that are set in
Ireland/England. Her debut book Shadow Across the Liffey was published on 7th
February 2013 by Tirgearr Publishing.
She was a recent contestant on the TV show Food Glorious Food to be
broadcast on 27th February 2013
Welcome, Cathy, and thanks for taking the time to answer my quesitons!
1. At
any given time do you work on only one story at a time and maybe plot out the
next one or are there many ideas racing around your head?
No. I’m not
that clever. I have to work on one story
at a time. Sometimes, when
I am three quarters way through the book an idea for
another one will come. I let it bubble until I have finished what I’m doing.
2. Is
there a genre you haven't written in but would like to? Or wish you could write
in?
Sure,
I would love to be able to write a science fiction story. I’m fascinated by
stories that are set in imaginary worlds. I often wonder how an author
researches for this kind of genre. I would also love to write a book in the
first person, and make it believable.
3.
Say you have unlimited funds: What kind of writing office/cottage would you
create for yourself?
Great question: I’d buy a cottage somewhere in the
West of Ireland and have one of the rooms converted into a study overlooking
fields, a stream and mountains. This
would definitely inspire me. Oh, but it’s only a dream. A holiday somewhere like that would be
lovely.
4. If you could turn your novel into a TV show, which novel or
series would you do? Where would it be
set? Network TV (ABC, NBC, CBS), Cable (AMC, BBC, Lifetime) or Premium Cable
(HBO, Showtime, Starz)?
Shadow Across the Liffey would lend
itself nicely to a TV drama/film. Set in
1960s Ireland where the story is set with the likes of Julia Roberts and Colin
Firth as the main characters. and Irish actors to play the minor parts. It would be such fun. BBC have done great drams recently. We need more. Who wouldn’t love to see their
novel turned into a movie.
6. Finally, tell us about your latest release!
I’m very excited about my latest
release, Her Father’s Daughter, out with Tirgearr Publishing on June 6th.
This is a mystery suspense. A gripping
story of one woman’s search for the truth.
BLURB
HER FATHER’S DAUGHTER
Set in the 1950s Ireland, twenty-year-old Sarah Nolan leaves her
home in Dublin after
a series of arguments. She has taken a job in Cork city with the
Gazette, a move her parents’
strongly oppose. With her limited budget, she is forced to take
unsavoury lodgings where the property owner can’t be trusted. Soon after she settles in, Sarah befriends
sixteen-year-old Lucy, who has been left abandoned and pregnant.
Dan Madden is a charming and flirtatious journalist who wins Sarah’s
heart. He promises to end his
relationship with Ruth, but can Sarah trust him to keep his word?
It is when her editor asks to see her birth certificate that she
discovers some long-hidden secrets. Her
parents’ behaviour continues to baffle her and her problems with Dan and Lucy
multiply.
Will Dan stand by Sarah in her time of need? Will Sarah be able to help Lucy keep her
baby? Or, will the secrets destroy Sarah and everything she dreams of for her
future.
Cathy will award a $10 Amazon gift card to one random commenter at the
end of the tour and two $5 Amazon gift cards to random commenters during the course of the tour.
Shadow Across the Liffey:
Blurb:
A gripping story of how family secrets can
wreak havoc on the present.
In 60’s
Ireland life is hard for widow, Oona Quinn, grief-stricken by the tragic deaths of her husband and five-year-old
daughter. Struggling to survive, she meets charismatic Jack Walsh at the
Shipping Office.
Vinnie
Kelly, her son's biological father, just out of jail, sets out to destroy Oona and all she holds dear. Haunted by her past, she has to fight
for her future and the safety of her son, Sean. But Vinnie has revenge on his mind . ..
Excerpt:
Oona and her sister laughed as they blew up
coloured balloons for Jacqueline’s fifth birthday party, placing them prettily around
the room.
‘This is hard work.’ Sighing, Oona hooked her long
dark hair behind her ears. ‘I wish I’d asked Eamon to do all this and gone to
fetch the birthday cake myself.’
‘Oh, yes. Can you see our men making fairy cakes
and arranging a table as pretty as this one?’ Connie was perched at the top of
the stepladder, tying pink balloons around the lampshade above the party table.
‘Give over!’ Oona handed her another balloon.
‘Eamon wouldn’t have a clue how to bake a cake.’
Oona Quinn was twenty-six, two years younger than
her sister, and as dark as Connie was fair. A petite five feet two inches, with
dark brown eyes and small slender hands, she worked part-time in a shipping
office. Her husband had wanted her to be a stay-at-home mum, but she had won
him round by telling him that it gave her a sense of importance to be
contributing to the family income.
‘Have you tried Mam’s new teacake recipe yet?’
Connie asked.
‘Is it good?’
‘Well, Dessie loves it. You soak the fruit
overnight in cold tea. I’ll bring you some over next time I bake one.’
‘All this talk of food’s making me hungry.’ Oona
clutched her stomach. ‘Let’s have a cup of tea and then we can finish blowing
up the rest of the balloons.’
Buy
links:
One month on the job--that was all Detective Jules
Marshall had with the LAPD but already she knew two things: 1. Her move from
San Francisco was the best move she’d ever made. 2. Sleeping with her sexy as
hell boss would be a big mistake. That didn’t stop her from wanting him or from
acknowledging the same spark of need in his eyes. And Captain Callum Archer had
eyes that devoured her.
