A Conversation with Cathy Ace

The familiar musty scent of books fills the air, the room is softly lit, the walls lined with deep rich mahogany shelves filled with wonderful books waiting to whisk you away to a wonderful land called Imagi-Nation. Looking around you notice there is one empty seat just waiting for you. A low murmur of amiable voices gently greets your ears and immediately you sense you are among friends. Someone hands you a steaming cup of coffee and you sink down into the supple leather of one of the most comfortable chairs ever created, an Eames chair, with its cushions and arm rests luxuriously padded and its perfectly pitched, firm back. It really is as comfy as it looks.

A hush falls over the room as a well modulated baritone voice begins, “Welcome, once again, to the Reading Room, my friends. I see lots of familiar faces and some new ones. We’re glad you could join our conversation.

Our guest today won the 2015 Bony Blithe Award for Best Canadian Light Mystery (for The Corpse with the Platinum Hair), was shortlisted again in 2017 (for The Corpse with the Garnet Face) and again in 2018 (for her WISE Enquiries Agency Mystery The Case of the Unsuitable Suitor). “Steve’s Story”, which appears in The Whole She Bang 3, published by Sisters in Crime Toronto, was shortlisted for Best Short Story in the 2017 Arthur Ellis Awards for Excellence in Canadian Crime Writing. Her first novel of psychological suspense, The Wrong Boy, became an Amazon #1 bestseller shortly after its launch, won the IPPY AWARD Bronze Medal for Best Regional E-Book (All Fiction) in the 2018/2019 competition and was a finalist in the International Book Awards (IBA AWARDS) 2019 in the Suspense/Mystery category.

She was Chair of Crime Writers of Canada from 2016-2018, and a member of Sisters in Crime, the Crime Writers Association (UK), Mystery Writers of America, International Thriller Writers and Crime Cymru.

Born and raised in Swansea, South Wales and like her heroine, Cait Morgan, is now a Canadian citizen. Please help me welcome, our friend, Welsh Canadian, Cathy Ace, author of Cait Morgan Mysteries, which includes The Corpse with the Silver Tongue, and Wise Enquiries Agency Mysteries.

Good morning Cathy and welcome to The Reading Room where you’re always among friends. We’re very glad you joined our conversation, for the love of books.

James: When did you first realize you wanted to be a writer?

Cathy: It’s easy to say “I always wanted to be a writer”, but, in all honestly, while I thought it would be a wonderful thing to do, it never occurred to me that I could make a life or a living as a novelist. Every novelist I’d heard of came from at least a middle-class background. They weren’t like me, a working-class girl. I knew that Dylan Thomas, also from Swansea, had been hugely successful, and that made me see writing for a living as a possibility, but still not for me, because he was a man. That said, I did end up earning my living from writing for the whole of my pre-novelist career – working in marketing, public relations, advertising, and training.

James: It appears that you have chosen to traditionally publish, why?

Cathy: I started off self-publishing a collection of short stories, then a collection of novel; I used these two volumes to attract a traditional publisher (tiny Canadian publisher), and they published the first eight Cait Morgan Mysteries. To be honest, I – like many people, I suppose – believed that being traditionally published was the ultimate goal for an author. I then gained another publisher, in the UK, for a second series of books…but (and it’s a big but) I have now moved back to self-publishing. One traditional publisher dumped me, the other offered a contract I wasn’t prepared to sign – so now I have incorporated a company to publish my own books. I work with freelance editors, and design and create my own covers. I am a happy camper!

James: Wow! I’m gobsmacked. Well done you. I went through a similar deliberation process when I thought about becoming a writer in my early teens. It wasn’t until I retired from a career in the international financial industry that I wrote my first book. I have now self-published six books.

What was the hardest part of writing your author bio?

Cathy: Knowing where to focus: different people want to use biographical notes in different ways, and many want quite specific word counts, so I have three different versions for folks to choose from on my website, as well as more fulsome “background notes”.

James: What behind-the-scenes tidbit in your life would probably surprise your readers the most?

Cathy: Maybe that, despite the fact I’m a full-time author, pretty much all my writing is still done at night, when everyone’s in bed and no one expects me to respond to any emails. I love writing at night, what can I say?

James: I’d be face down on my computer keyboard in no time if I tried that, Cathy.

If you could have a cuppa with any author, dead or alive, who would you choose and what is the first question you would ask him or her?

Cathy: I’d better name a dead one, because how could I pick just one of my living author-chums? So I’ll pick Agatha Christie, without a doubt. I’d like to know how she kept herself focused and writing so well for so very many years.

James: Agatha Christie would most definitely be a fascinating author and person to enjoy a cuppa with.

Can you name one good writing habit you’ve established, Cathy? How has it helped your writing?

Cathy: I’ve known ever since I was young that I have a linear thinking preference, so I’m a natural plotter, and yet I had to learn that I also have to outline, and write chapter summaries, too. I’m a little OCD about this; I’m a complete control freak – which explains a lot.

James: You’re better than I am Gunga Din. I have tried creating an outline and track to write on but always end up letting my characters lead the way.

Words cannot change reality, but they can change how people perceive reality. Proverbs 15:4 “Gentle words bring life and health; a deceitful tongue crushes the spirit.”

What was an early experience where you learned that language had power?

Cathy: Defusing a fight at school – music might have charms to calm the savage breast, but words calmed a few that day!

James: In your opinion as a writer, Cathy, what is the secret of writing well?

Cathy: I feel under qualified to answer this, because – although I write as well as I am able – I’ve never yet read an entire book I’ve written without wanting to change something to make it better. Thus, all I can say is that I think the secret to writing as well as one can is to polish, polish, and polish some more…without defacing what you had to begin with, which is the voice that is uniquely your own.

James: I couldn’t agree more, Cathy.

How do you select the names of your characters?

Cathy: Ah – it’s a long process. Main characters are sorted first; then supplementary characters work around them. Usually I need characters to be of a specific heritage or nationality so I’ll delve into appropriate family names first, then hunt down first names that work well with the family name. I try to make sure no two family names or first names are so similar that they might confuse the reader – though sometimes I like to play with that a bit. When I have the names I like, I Google them all to make sure they aren’t real people who might sue me!

James: How very methodical. I try to think of funny character names based their personality or occupation such as: Dr. Hugh Merus, family physician.

Do you hide any secrets in your books that only a few people will find?

Cathy: Not that I’m aware of.

James: "Memoir isn’t the summary of a life; it’s a window into a life, very much like a photograph in its selective composition. It may look like a casual and even random calling up of bygone events. It’s not; it’s a deliberate construction." (William Zinsser) If it’s not too personal, Cathy, would you please describe one memorable moment in your life that would make a good memoir?

Cathy: As a psychologist I understand how telling my choice will be, so respectfully decline to answer with an example from my personal life. But, from my writing life, there’s this: I almost burst with pride when I won the Bony Blithe Award for my Cait Morgan Mystery #4, The Corpse with the Platinum Hair, in 2015. The award was presented at a small dinner in the back room of a restaurant in Toronto (I was in the city for the Crime Writers of Canada’s AGM – I was Vice Chair at the time). I went back to my tiny hotel room, phoned my husband in Vancouver, and was anxious to phone my Mum in Wales when it was 4am EST, so didn’t sleep very much at all! I flew back to Vancouver early the next morning. I was carrying the precious cargo of the framed award on one of those moving walkway things that deliver you to your departure gate (remember them!)...I was distracted, the guy in front of me dropped his wheelie bag, I fell over it and wrenched my knee. By the time I got back to Vancouver my knee was huge – I’d sprained my cruciate ligament, and, no, it’ll never be 100% again. So, it’s true…pride really does come before a fall.

James: Although I’m sorry to hear about your damaged cruciate ligament that sounded like a scene from the sitcom The Dick Vandyke Show.

What, in your opinion, are six reasons writers need each other?

Cathy: Every writer I know is an avid reader, so we all need other writers to write; every writer I know enjoys sitting with someone, talking about anything other than writing, knowing the person they’re with absolutely understands everything that goes into being a writer…and only another writer knows that; some writers can teach other writers how to develop their skills – I don’t possess that ability, but I know they are needed, and their contribution is valued; even writers who don’t/can’t teach others how to write can share stories about how they do it – thus, writers can help each other understand that there is no one “right” way to write…and we all need to understand that what works for us is absolutely acceptable; all writers need one good writer-friend to whom they can say anything – about themselves, writing, their problems, or about anyone else in the business – without judgement…knowing they’ll have a sympathetic hearing, and that what they’ve said will never go any further; writers need a writing idol they can meet, and discover that they, too, are merely mortal, facing the same problems.

James: Very wise and well articulated assessment, Cathy.

What question do you wish that someone would ask about your book, but nobody has? What is your response to that question?

Cathy: If you’re referring to my last book, The Corpse with the Crystal Skull, no one has asked me why – when it’s set in Jamaica, and features fellow Welshman Henry Morgan quite prominently – Cait doesn’t drink rum in it…at all. And the reason is quite simple – I always eat and drink everything Cait does in every book, and I hate rum. I know it’s an incredibly important product to the island, so didn’t want to speak ill of it, so I thought it best she didn’t drink it at all.

James: Interesting.

I believe you have a new book coming out in June, could you please tell us your inspiration for The Corpse with the Iron Will and perhaps an excerpt or even the opening sentence?

Cathy: The pandemic – how to tackle it? It’s a question every author is facing at the moment. I’ve decided to completely ignore it – it’s not mentioned at all in this book, nor shall I ever mention it. Why not? Well, I’ve learned that people find my books years after they’ve been published, and I have no idea what will have happened between now and then, so don’t want to saddle a book with something as “current” as everyone wearing masks and not touching each other. However, I did want to take the chance to examine what “home” and “community” mean, because those are two concepts we’ve all had to reassess during the past year. Thus, I placed Bud and Cait at home, in British Columbia (every Cait Morgan Mystery is set in a different country), and have forced them to reassess their feelings about “home” and “community” as they realize a killer has acted – almost literally – on their doorstep.

Here’s the blurb – which always helps, I think:

Welsh criminal psychologist and globetrotting sleuth, Cait Morgan, and her retired-cop husband Bud Anderson, are enjoying some well-deserved peace and quiet at home, in moody, mountainous British Columbia. The sudden death of a neighbor is a significant loss for them both, so Cait’s honored when Gordy Krantz’s “unusual” will requests that she eulogize him at his memorial. However, delving into the dead man’s background becomes a pressing priority when a puzzling theft, and some surprising discoveries, put our favourite sleuths on high alert. Might someone living in their seemingly tight-knit – and certainly off-beat – rural community have wanted their neighbor dead? And if so, are more people they know at risk? The tenth Cait Morgan Mystery from Bony Blithe Award-winning author Cathy Ace, The Corpse with the Iron Will, forces Cait and Bud to use the skills they’ve honed tackling cases around the world to unmask a killer who’s too close to home for comfort!

Here’s the opening:

Chapter 1 – Be It Ever So Humble

I like Saturday mornings at home; there’s something about the prospect of the whole weekend stretching ahead of me that makes a Saturday morning sparkle with promise, and glint with possibilities. This particular Saturday morning followed a bit of a late Friday night; late for Bud and me, anyway. We’d been binge-watching a Scandi-Noir television series and had decided to watch the last two episodes of the season, rather than go to bed. Now I had a telly-hangover – I was a bit bleary-eyed and worn out…from all that being stretched out on the couch nibbling salty snacks, no doubt.

As I looked out of our bathroom window my spirits lifted. The light as September becomes October is magical here in our little part of beautiful British Columbia; long shadows were reaching across the glittering grass toward the gold-green trees that glowed through the dazzling mist, and I could hear a loon calling in the distance – such a mocking, yet mournful, sound. It certainly conjured Keats’s season of mellow fruitfulness, but a Canadian version.

My phone rang in my dressing gown pocket. Marty – our ever-helpful black Lab – barked to alert me to the fact, just in case I hadn’t heard it. I answered as I petted his head.

“Cait, are you up yet?” Bud’s voice sounded strange – guttural.

“Bathroom. Teeth. Just a minute.” I rinsed my foamy mouth, tied my robe around my ample midsection, and headed to the kitchen, praising Marty along the way. He stayed close beside me, just in case I was unexpectedly set-upon by stealthy marauders.

“You okay?” I hoped for a reassuring response from my husband, but the silence that followed made my tummy clench. “What’s wrong?”

Bud’s tone was grave. “I’m sorry, Cait. I would have preferred to not have to tell you this on the phone, but I’ve got no choice. It’s Gordy. He’s dead. I can’t leave his property until the authorities get here.”

The news hit me like a physical blow. “What? How? When?” I could feel tears snag the back of my throat.

“I don’t know, exactly. He didn’t answer when I phoned him this morning, so I popped next door to see if he was okay. I found him on the floor beside his bed about fifteen minutes ago. Cold to the touch. No pulse. I’ve made the necessary calls. I’ll have to make statements. Not sure how long it’ll take, and I didn’t want you to wonder what was going on. Sorry it has to be this way, Wife. You okay?”

I wasn’t.

James: I'm curious, Cathy, do you prefer the American spelling of words or the British/Canadian?

Cathy: I prefer the Brit/Can form, but might have used USA forms because that's what is used for my books and I am editing at the moment so that's where my head is. Both my Canadian and UK publishers insisted upon it, so that's now my norm.

James: I used British spelling in my first four books of the International League of Paladins series. They are set in Cornwall, England and Scotland.

“Sorry it has to be this way, Wife.” Please don’t take this as a criticism but did you intend to write that sentence that way?

Cathy: Yes...they call each other Wife and Husband, capitalized.

James: Thank you, Cathy. It has been an interesting and insightful pleasure talking with you. Mwynha dy ddiwrnod!

Cathy: Diolch!

James: Thank you all for coming. I encourage you to submit your cordial and germane comments and questions in the space provided below.

Mind how you go everyone and stay safe.

Pre-order your copies of Cathy’s latest Cait Morgan Mystery, book 10 in the series, The Corpse with the Iron Will due out June 3rd, TODAY!

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Books by James D. A. Terry & Solomon Knight