Catherine Lea
Catherine Lea is the best selling author of the Elizabeth McClaine series and several standalone mystery thrillers. She’s sold satellite internet capacity, worked in IT recruitment, and run her own communications store.
When Catherine isn’t writing, she’s dog-wrangling, wrestling with technology, or going crazy trying to maintain control of the yard.
THE CANDIDATE’S DAUGHTER is her first published work, followed by the sequel in the Elizabeth McClaine series, CHILD OF THE STATE, and A STOLEN WOMAN.
Her latest book, THE WATER’S DEAD: A DI NYREE BRADSHAW NOVEL, is the first in a planned series set in the beautiful New Zealand Far North.
What authors did you dislike at first, but grew into?
I used to love John Grisham. Then, when he began writing books other than legal thrillers, I stopped reading him. I’ve recently picked up a couple and fallen back in love with him. He writes economically, and does a great story.
Do you try more to be original, or to deliver to readers what they want?
I try to do both. In being original, I write books set in the Far North of New Zealand, showing it as it really is and not just the tourist version.
How do you select the names of your characters?
They come to me. Sometimes, a name turns up and I think, Nope, that one doesn’t work, and I think up another.
What was the first book that made you cry?
Me Before You, by Jojo Moyes. Solid characters in a heartbreaking setting.
If you had to do something differently as a child or teenager to become a better writer as an adult, what would you do?
Live larger. I really should have been a criminal, but knowing what I know now, I’d have been caught.
Have you Googled yourself? Did you find out anything interesting?
I found nothing I didn’t already know. Which was disappointing.
Are there any secrets in your books that only a few people will find? Can you tell us one? Or give us any hints?
No, all secrets are ones my readers figure out.
Did you ever consider writing under a pseudonym? Why?
I’ve written under the names, CJ Lea with a serial killer book, The Contestant, and Cathy Lea with a humorous murder mystery, Dropping Dead in Delby Rish, which I might republish since a couple of people have read it, and loved it.
How did publishing your first book change your writing process?
It taught me that one book does not a long-term best selling author make. Readers read one, then expect more.
How many unpublished and half-finished books do you have?
I have a few. One Elizabeth McClaine I got halfway through and asked several readers to critique. That critique did not come back favorably. Often, I’ll begin writing something I love which goes astray. But I pick pieces I really loved out of it and put it into another book.
What’s the most difficult thing about writing characters of the opposite sex?
I find it quite easy to get the personalities right, but dressing them is a mission.
Do you read your book reviews? How do you deal with bad or good ones?
Yes, I read all reviews. It teaches me what I got right, what I got wrong, and whether that reader is one of my real readers.