extras
Here's all the extra stuff that...basically, didn't fit into any other page of the site! There are even more bonus features on my Yahoo newsletter group: things like pictures of characters, deleted scenes from my books, and bonus excerpts not available anywhere else.
Interviews
Articles Movie
Reviews Newsletter
FAQ Glossary Maps
Cat has been interviewed a time or two about the general fabulousness of her life. She also occasionally writes articles as part of her ongoing philanthropy campaign, and occasionally pens a review. How can one person be so nice, and so talented, all at the same time?
Don't forget to check out the current issue of Cat's newsletter, containing author interviews, book reviews and a whole load of crazy crap. Older issues are archived in the Yahoo group.
Interviews
Authors Advising Authors, March 2009
Just Erotic Romance Reviews, July 2007
Reese Witherfork Interviews Trashy Novelists, March 2006
The Romance Studio Blue, February 2006
Just Erotic Romance Reviews, February 2006
If you'd like to interview Cat on your blog or website, ask nicely.
Articles
If You're Going To Sing, There'd Better Be A Damn Good Reason: more things I've learned from Joss Whedon, August 2008
The Brilliance of Buffy: things we can learn from Joss Whedon, March 2006
Mad, Bad, and Dangerous to know: Introducing the Omega Male (or the Sociopath Anti-Hero), December 2005
Movie Reviews
Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest
Trivia
Stuff that doesn't even fit in the other categories on this page of miscellany.
If you're a member of my newsletter group, you can access even more bonus features (just like on a DVD!), like pictures of characters, excerpts from unpublished books, and even deleted scenes. It's free and easy to join, and it's a low-volume newsletter group.
Q&A with Aura, heroine of Baby Sham Faery Love
Laura Kincaid: the meme (heroine of Naked Eyes)
Paranormal Mates Society from the 2006 Changeling Valentines series. Yes, there really is a PMS website!
Glossary of the Realms (Almost Human 'verse)
Which Sundown character are you?
FAQ
Have a question for Cat that's not answered here? Email, and maybe she'll put it on the site!
When will your titles be going into print?
Good news! I can
tell you that Sundown,
Inc.
I also have
novellas and short stories in two multi-author series from Changeling
Press: Room Service in ESCAPE!
What about Kindle?
Little by little,
my books are becoming available on Kindle! Unfortunately it's not
something I have control over, or they'd all be there immediately. To
see what's available, check
here
How many of the places you mention in your books are real?
Most of them. The
Sundown books are mostly based in real places, like the offices in
Marylebone, London, or Central Park in New York. I made up the village
of Blackchapel for What Wizards Want,
but
I
based
it
on
seaside
villages on the east coast that I've been to
a lot. The same goes for Turnbury, although most English seaside
villages don't have such a high murder rate!
Of course, this is excluding the Spaceport world which came from the collective brains of the Changeling authors involved, and Almost Human, where I clearly made up the Realms! But even then I based them at least partly on real countries, cities, or sometimes even continents. There's a glossary of them here.
Why did you start calling the fifth through eighth books in the Sundown series Sundown International? The others were pretty international too. Why did the name change again for the ninth through twelfth?
Changeling Press likes to put books of four novellas together as a collection. It stops the series going on and rambling, and also means that you've got 80-100k words to put in a paperback. So, the first four were linked as Sundown, Inc., then Sundown International for the next four, and then Sundown Investigations.
Will there be any more Sundown books?
I don't have any plans for them at the moment, but I'd never say never.
How come the characters in your fantasy universe talk like modern people?
When I first started writing fantasy I used to get rejection letters that told me fantasy books should have a different tone, and mine was far too modern. This still puzzles me, because I'm not sure those publishers really understood the word 'fantasy' in all its meanings. I figure that since I've invented the whole universe, my characters can talk how the hell they like.
Did you and Amelia Elias really come up with the Naked Series while drunk on a plane?
Yes. Yes, we did.
Why did the Naked Series get cancelled?
Possibly because it's an idea we came up with while drunk on a plane. In all seriousness, we actually planned out the series to at least half a dozen books, and had long-running plot threads (the villains were going to be great), but despite some really nice reviews and a lot of promotional work, hardly anyone bought Naked Eyes. By the way, thanks to the people who did: I hope you both enjoyed it. As a result, we decided not to write any more and focus on books people might actually buy. No one's sorrier than me: I was going to write about invisible people and everything!
Other authors sometimes mention soundtracking their books: do you ever do this?
Only all the time! Some of my books have a single theme tune, some have character themes, some have songs soundtracking different scenes. A quick sampling would be:
She Who Dares: Honeycomb Child, Natalie Imbruglia. A very haunting, eerie song that I used especially when writing the dream scene.
What Wizards Want: I Was Only Dreamin', Bryan Adams. Another dream sequence song. Huh--well, I likes me dreams.
Baby Sham Faery Love: No song in particular, but the bonkers, high energy Love Angel Music Baby album from Gwen Stefani sets the mood for me. Lent me a title, too.
Almost Human: The Chain, Fleetwood Mac. The first part, not the famous Formula One part. Although that's cool, too.
Duty and the Beast: Fill My Little World, The Feeling. Quite a sweet little song from a rather adorable band. Cheers me up no end, rather like Finn.
Unholy Trinity: Secretly, Skunk Anansie. It's dark, it's despairing, it's angry--and it's sexy, too. Quite the perfect fit for the middle scenes with Jamie.
East Side Story: East Side Story, Bryan Adams. Okay, and a little bit of the West Side Story soundtrack, too. I do love me some Bernstein!
Empire: After The Fall:
Time Is Running Out, Muse. Dark, sexy and kind of
disturbing, which is pretty much the feel I was going for with Empire.
Hardest
of
Hearts: Pretty much the entire Lungs
album by Florence & The Machine, but especially Howl, which is fast
and mad and sexy and dark and scary.
How long did it take you to get published? Do you have any advice for aspiring authors?
How long? Well, I figured out I wanted to write when I was about 16, and got published when I was 23, so that's seven years. I probably sent off my first submissions when I was about 19 or 20, spent a couple of years being repeatedly rejected and alternately working crummy part time jobs and being very broke, and very nearly gave up several times to get a proper job where I wasn't putting my heart and soul out into the world and getting crushed all the time. I had a back catalogue of about fifty finished and part-written books by the time I sold my first novella.
My advice if you want to write is just this: be really sure you want to, and then just do it. Writing for a living is not done by sane people. Don't for a second get swayed by all those overnight success stories, and don't expect to live off your writing--most authors I know still have day jobs or a family to support them financially while they frantically try to squeeze in 100,000 words a year in between family and work obligations (because while Margaret Mitchell may have taken 10 years to write her masterpiece, a modern publisher is going to want a book a year from you, or more).
Writing is damn easy if you have the talent for it: words just pour onto the page and you can't imagine what it's like to not have the voices in your head. But getting published, that's the hard part. It takes a long time, you'll get knocked down repeatedly and with varying degrees of severity. But if you give up, you'll never get published. Persist, try, and mentally compose fantastic award acceptance speeches where you laugh at all the editors silly enough to have turned you down.
Oops, I may have put you off. If you really want to write and you've accepted that the path to publication isn't easy, then good luck, and I sincerely wish you the very best. Tell me when you sell your first book, and we'll compare rejection piles together! (unless you don't have one, in which case go away.)
If you're interested in writing for any of my publishers, their submission guidelines are here: Changeling Press (erotic novellas) Ellora's Cave (Romantica™ of all lengths) Samhain Publishing (all genres of romance). Unfortunately I don't have the time to read submissions, but I'd highly recommend joining an author support group like the RWA or RNA and looking for a critique partner or group.
Glossary of the Realms in Almost Human
The Wall Separates the Realms. A shining violet curtain that can’t be penetrated, apart from by faeries, or by humans under heavy enchantment, and then only at a weak place known as a Bridge
Realm of Euskara
Galatea Romantic, aristocratic country where the Association is based
Paseilles Capital of Galatea
Severeges Galatean coastal town
Iberia Hot, sensual country to the west of Galatea
Colacochea Iberian town at the foot of the mountains
Basque Kelfish tribe living in the Iberian/Galatean mountains
Dacia Northern country
Realm of Peneggan
Port Jaret Southern port; city closest to Koskwim
Koskwim Island by the Wall on the south coast, home of the Order. Believed by most of the population to be inhabited only by dangerous dragons. Site of the Second Bridge
Peneggan City Capital of Peneggan
Elvyrn Second city, famously genteel
Srheged Northern city
Second Bridge to Asiatica
Third Bridge to Euskara
Fourth Bridge to Angeland
Sixth Bridge to Zemlya
Realm of Zemlya
Vaznafjörður River port closest to the Sixth Bridge
Tir na nÓg Castle fortress; home of the Empress
Saoirsefjord Capital city; near to the Fifth Bridge
Fifth Bridge to Angeland
Sixth Bridge to Peneggan
Realm of Angeland
Lorekdell City on the River Lorek
Fifth Bridge to Zemlya
Fourth Bridge to Peneggan
Glossary of peoples
Kelfs Small, elf-like people with brightly coloured skin, who live in tribes in the wild, or as servants in all Realms except Peneggan
Nasc Twin-natured people who have a human form and an animal form, and can be either in two separate forms or one combined
Faeries Tiny winged beings. Only creatures able to cross the Wall. Can be controlled by stealing their amulets
Organisations
The Order Based on the island of Koskwim, Peneggan, the secretive Order takes in orphans and young volunteers and trains them as Knights– a military elite. Standard rank is the Dragon, advanced rank is the Phoenix
The Association A collective of highly desirable women, known as Associées, for hire as male companions. Trainees begin as Fillies and can rise to the rank of a Lady. Based in Paseilles, Galatea, in the Realm of Euskara
The
Federacion Mysterious rival for the Order. Based in Iberia,
Euskara
Map of the Realm
of Peneggan, from the Realms series. Click to enlarge.
E-book
Dreaming of
You
Awards
