In other words, I had just discovered another great author.

The newsletter RBLs asked me to do a Ketchup interview, so I tried to pretend I was a bona-fide Romantic Times jounalist ... *g*

I hope you'll forgive us, but we're a curious bunch (well, I am anyway), and we like to know as much about our favorite authors as they're comfortable revealing. So we'd love to know how you and your family are doing. How's life on Cinnamon Ridge?

Catherine: Life on Cinnamon Ridge has been crazy lately. Our parish priest is going through chemo, and he is like a member of our family, a frequent guest in our home and our younger son's best friend. We're very worried about him and occasionally very busy, taking him for treatments, etc. And we've just been through Christmas. Our older son, his wife, and our new baby grandson, Liam, came for almost three weeks, and our younger son and his six-year-old boy were here as well. And after everything settled down, I caught the flu! I'm happy to report that I'm feeling almost human today.

Cinnamon Ridge is a winter wonderland right now, with snow heavy on the boughs of the Ponderosa pines and snow-capped peaks in the distance. The squirrels are hibernating, but we see occasional sign of elk on our property. It's quiet and peaceful, the perfect place for me to write. When we don't have a houseful of company, that is.

Kelly: I read on your Website about your grandson, Liam Ross. Would you be willing to share a picture and tell us how he's been doing?

Catherine: Liam is absolutely darling and perfectly wonderful, our very own little miracle because he had such a rough start. He is now five months old, and while he was here visiting, he was trying very hard to talk, making his first deliberate sounds and giggling with delight when he succeeded. I was trying to teach him to say Nana and came very close to succeeding before he left. As for sharing a picture, I am reluctant to publish photos of our little ones on the Net. Call me paranoid, but for us, it's safety at all costs.

Kelly: Of course! I think I may speak for all of us when I say we understand.

In January, your latest contemporary novel featuring the Kendrick/Coulter family was released. Could you tell us what MY SUNSHINE is about?

Catherine: My stepmother had a mild stroke, which left her afflicted with a condition called aphasia. Aphasia is due to brain injury. It does not affect a person's intelligence. Millions of people in the U.S. are affected, and the condition victimizes people of all ages. A child on a skateboard can fall and wake up with aphasia. It affects language, making it difficult for people to say the right word or do math. In some instances, the condition is so severe that people are trapped in their bodies, unable to communicate at all. My stepmother is such a courageous lady, and she has fought a valiant battle to become self-proficient again. She may never completely recover, but she has come a long way. Watching her battle her way back to a normal life was truly inspiring. She is the bravest person I know!

Anyway, I just had to write a story about a woman with aphasia - thus the creation of Laura Townsend, a highly intelligent environmental scientist who dives off a rock into the river, hits her head, and awakens to find her life destroyed. No more grand career, no more pilot's license, no more independence, and good-bye friends. In the beginning, she couldn't even talk. But over the course of five years, she has struggled to reclaim her life, and when the book opens, she is happily independent, drawing a small disability pension, living in a darling little apartment that she has transformed with garage-sale finds, and supplementing her income with odd jobs. She is still brilliant. The aphasia has merely made it difficult for her to express herself in brilliant ways. She speaks simply, avoiding three-syllable words because they make her stammer. She pays her bills by money order because she can no longer add and subtract. But she is nevertheless making lemonade with the lemons that fate has thrown at her, content with her life and resigned to the fact that she will probably never marry or have kids. She has turned her passions and nurturing to animals.

Enter Isaiah Coulter, a handsome veterinarian, and his meddling mother, who calls in a marker and demands that Isaiah hire Laura Townsend as his kennel keeper. How can Isaiah fall in love with a woman who reads at a third grade level? He wants to go far in his profession, and he needs a brilliant, well-spoken mate at his side to realize his dreams. Isaiah is the veterinarian equivalent of the absent-minded professor, so totally focused on his patients that he often forgets to eat and always looks rumpled. Deliciously rumpled, of course, because he's drop-dead gorgeous. His life is sterile and empty, and he needs someone exactly like Laura to be his sunshine. Only it's so impossible! Laura can't even write out a grocery list.

Some situations are doomed and simply can't ever be - unless love comes along to make things happen.

Kelly: Sounds great, huh RBLs?? I know I�m only waiting for the postman to FINALLY deliver it - what�s your excuse for not having read it yet? *eg*

Do you have plans for Isaiah's twin, Tucker, or will this be the end of the Coulters?

Catherine: I have thousands of readers who are pleading for Tucker's story and more to follow, the hope being that he will marry a woman with brothers or sisters so the Kendrick/Coulter series can continue. I want to please my readers, and so does my publisher, so I think it's a very good bet that you will see more Kendrick/Coulter books!

Kelly: When I wrote you a few months ago, you told me you were working on a contemporary short story and that you would be writing a new historical next.

First of all, can you tell us a bit about the anthology?

Catherine: The anthology is historical, not contemporary. Sorry about the confusion. I probably did a typo.

(Kelly: Um, no you didn�t. *blush* The mistake was all mine � so sorry ...)

It will be offered by NAL (New American Library) and will be a really fun collection of stories. The overall theme is about a magical wedding dress that was hand-sewn by a Scottish sorceress for her spoiled and unlikable mistress. In the prologue, the sorceress casts a spell upon the gown so that it will work magic for any young woman who possesses or wears it. (This is understandable when you read the prologue, for the sorceress is in love with her mistress's groom. She casts the spell to ensure his happiness, not that of the spoiled mistress.) The stories that follow are about young women in different walks of life and circumstances who find happiness because of the dress. My novella features Patrick O'Shannessy, the brother of the heroine in KEEGAN'S LADY. It will refresh in my readers' minds the story of Ace Keegan and Caitlin O'Shannessy, and it will be published a mere month before the full-length sequel arrives in stores in December 2005.

Kelly: Hear that, Ace lovers?? *big grin*

KEEGAN'S LADY is one of my favorite western historicals ever (along with ANNIE'S SONG and CHEYENNE AMBER), so I'm absolutely thrilled you're writing Joseph Paxton's story next. Are you willing to share something about it (please please PLEASE)?

Catherine: If you remember Joseph Paxton, you know how tough and no-nonsense he is. And Joseph is a confirmed bachelor, absolutely convinced that he'll never be dumb enough to lock down with one woman. That being the case, my readers are bound to have fun watching Joseph literally brought to his knees to peer at his lady love through a peephole. (Jeez, that sounds a little kinky.) There's a perfectly reasonable explanation, I promise. But you'll have to read the book to discover what it is. Just know that poor wonderful Joseph is going to be put through his paces to win the heart of his one true love.

Kelly: If I remember correctly, Ace Keegan and Joseph had another brother - will you be writing his book as well? You mentioned that you will be switching back and forth between historicals and contemps - is that still the plan and do you have more ideas for upcoming books?

Catherine: I hope to alternate between contemporaries and historicals, but that will depend entirely upon reader popular vote, which is tallied at cash registers. If my new historical is as well-received as my contemporaries, I will probably be able to write more historicals. If not - well, you get the picture. If the reception of Joseph Paxton's book is wonderful, there's every chance that other sequels will be written. (He had two brothers and a sister. Lots of material to work with there!)

It's up to all of you, my readers!

Kelly: I�m probably not supposed to comment here, but since I�m hardly objective I would just like to point out that this seems to be THE opportunity to prove we meant it when we were lamenting the lack of new American historicals! I say come November and December we all show our worth, suit action to words, and put those books in our shopping baskets!

What made you go back to writing historicals? Do you have a preference for either genre?

Catherine: I love romance, be it historical or contemporary. I do have a great fondness for writing historicals, I confess, but I also really love doing contemporaries. Being allowed to do both would be fabulous because I believe it would keep my perspective fresh, a lovely change of pace with each book.

Kelly: I'm about two thirds through your backlist now, and what strikes me most is that you seem to be turning the usual romance concept around. Instead of a traumatized and tormented hero, your books usually feature women who are healed by strong, caring men. Why is that - is this a conscious decision?

Catherine: I can't really say it's a conscious decision, but then it would be absurd to deny it as well. Plotting a story unconsciously? *Big grin* I think it would be more accurate to say that I am fascinated by the human condition and unflagging spirit, and certain situations tap on my heart and demand entrance. In SIMPLY LOVE, Luke Taggart was the injured party, and he was healed by Cassandra. My plots are character driven. That means that I begin with a social situation or a plot hook, and then I create my main characters who in turn drive the plot. In future, I will be just as likely to do a traumatized hero - or a book that has nothing to do with trauma. It all depends on which little cupid takes a shot at my writer's heart the next time around.

Kelly: Some of the things your heroines had to go through are absolutely horrifying. Isn't it exhausting, writing these highly emotional books? How do you do it?

Catherine: I'll tell you what exhausts me: writing books about people who hem and haw about falling in love simply because life is so good that they hate to rock the boat. I need something to challenge me as a writer. Without a problem to solve, I grow bored and freeze up at my keyboard. I once decided that I was taking it all too seriously and decided to write a funny book with a comical mystery to drive the plot. I was really excited about doing it, had it all plotted out, and sat down to write. Before I knew it, I was demolishing the heroine's happy childhood to give her a horrible father and tons of bad memories, and I was giving the hero a grief-riddled past. Big sigh. I just can't help myself. Boy-meets-girl stories just don't turn my crank. I adore reading them, but I can't seem to write them. (I never wrote the book because that isn't how I work, tossing in problems as I go. I always start with the problem and let my characters develop the plot from that point. The story couldn't be salvaged for that reason.)

Kelly: What was the hardest book for you to write, and which one are you proudest of?

Catherine: My books are like my children; I love each and every one of them, or I never would have written them. But it's easy for me to tell you which was the hardest to write. Hands down, it was ANNIE'S SONG. The heroine was deaf. Writers use the five senses exhaustively to impart emotion, and Annie was deprived of her hearing. I never realized until I was well into the story just how difficult it would be to write!

Kelly: You�ve been a successful author for years now. Do you feel there are still things you want to achieve - a specific book you want to write, another endeavor you mean to pursue, a special goal you have?

Catherine: Gosh. I'm successful? Just a minute while I go post a note to myself on the wall. What is success? Money, fame? I earn a very good living, and with BLUE SKIES and MY SUNSHINE, I finally hit in the top fifteen on the New York Times bestseller lists. But it's all pie in the sky, a bubble to be burst, a dream that never quite measures up to expectations. Over the years, I've learned that it has to be about the writing, not about the achievements, because the glow of success quickly fades. Material possessions and monetary rewards can never make us happy. The things that truly matter in my life are the same now as they were when I published my first book - my God and my family and my friends. Yes, I would love to hit higher on the bestseller lists, and making more money would be nice. And it would be a real kick to have my name become a household word. But as a writer, I attempt to keep my focus on the really important facets of my life and try not to obsess on goals. If good things happen, I will have all those who love me to celebrate with me. If bad things come my way, they'll be there to give me a hug.

Kelly: I don�t suppose you have any regrets about deciding not to become an accountant after all ... Do you ever think about what life might have been like if you had? Did everything turn out the way you secretly hoped?

Catherine: When I was a child, I dreamed of becoming a published writer, and I often promised my mother that I was going to grow up and write a book that became a New York Times bestseller. If I had become an accountant, I would be eyebrow deep in taxes right now, and I never would have realized that dream. I am blessed with a wonderful, supportive husband and supportive kids, so I didn't trade in my heart's desire for second best. In short, no, I will never regret that I kissed accounting good-bye and turned my efforts toward writing. I was born to write books. Doing so makes me feel complete. If given a choice, I wouldn't go back in time and continue my education to become an accountant.

Before I end this interview, I want to thank all of you, my readers, for your unfailing support. Without you, I might have failed as a writer and ended up returning to college to become an accountant and do an entirely different kind of books. Hugs to each and every one of you. You are My Sunshine!

Thank you as well, Kelly, for giving me the opportunity to communicate with my readers. I would love to see a bunch of you over at my Web site. Click on Bulletin Board, go to the main board, and take a moment to leave a message, or click on the subject titled "Fresh Link to My Chat Room," and use the enclosed link to chat live with my readers - and me as well, if I happen to be in there. You can also visit the polls and vote to let me know what kind of books you'd like to see me write next.

Hugs!

Kelly: Thank you very much, Catherine!