This week’s author interview spotlights Cate Masters. A very talented author, Cate writes both erotic and mainstream romance. Her chick lit romance Liberation Via Pen released May 2009 from Wild Child Publishing.

WCP: What was the inspiration for Liberation Via Pen?

Cate: Mainly applying the old “what if” to a writer’s situation. Beginning writers are told to “write what you know,” advice I disagree with. If everyone only wrote what they knew, they’d find themselves limited in a hurry. No one would write sci-fi or fantasy or speculative. That’s what research and imagination are for. But I digress (as usual!). The story came about by asking, what if a girl wrote about her experiences with her boyfriend and it came back to haunt her?

WCP: Did you draw on any past experiences to write this short story?

Cate: Most authors, I think, draw on life experiences for their stories. Jennie Crusie calls them something like the “Girls in the Basement” who surface sometimes without being summoned. So yes, in a tangential way, but never directly, or in an identifiable way. And no one can prove otherwise.

WCP: What is your favorite trait in Krista?

Cate: She’s a quirky character, which I love. Also a little goofy, but hopefully in an endearing way. Her character arc brings her from a girl too willing to put up with living in her boyfriend’s shadow to someone who comes fully into her own self, discovering her true talents and finally able to be in a relationship as an equal—a trait I hope women will find inspiring.

Liberation Via Pen by Cate Masters

WCP: Do you know anyone like Ethan, Todd, and Krista?

Cate: I never base my characters on actual people, though if someone I know has an interesting trait, that might appear in a story. As I’m writing a story, I build a Spec Sheet detailing the characters’ information: personal history, physical description, a list of their family and coworkers, etc., so they generally take shape there.

WCP: Will we see any of the characters from this book in any others?

Cate: Hmm, I hadn’t planned on it, but you never know!

WCP: Who is your favorite character?

Cate: Of all time? I couldn’t possibly pick. I have a phobia about committing to any sort of favorites—a terrible flaw, I know. Whatever story I’m writing at the time, I’m always in love with those characters.

WCP: Do you have anything else in the works?

Cate: Always! I have a backlog of story ideas. I have a few novels I’m revising after sending them out for critique, and about ten other stories in various stages of undress. I’m also excited that Wild Child’s sister site, Freya’s Bower, will release Wilderness Girl, my erotic romance novella, on Sept. 8. Freya’s also contracted my historical romance novel, and that should be out possibly later this year or early next. Titled Angels, Sinners and Madmen, it’s set in 1850s Key West – which had the original slogan, What happens in Key West stays in Key West. Of course, they didn’t need marketing back in those days because ships would wreck on their reefs, stranding visitors there.

WCP: What about writing life/being an author took you by surprise?

Cate: The amount of time required for promotion surprised me. I’m ever tweaking my time management skills. If I could just figure out how not to sleep, I’d be in good shape.

The support of other authors was also a pleasant surprise. We’re all competing against each other, but we’re also a tightly knit community, which I love.

Now for some fun questions:

WCP: If you could travel to any planet, besides earth, and live there (if that were possible), which one would it be? And what do you think it would be like?

Cate: I say why limit it to one? Give me a spaceship to commandeer, and a lifetime supply of dilithium crystals, and I’m good!

WCP: If you could be any man, living or dead, who would you want to be? Why?

Cate: I actually wouldn’t want to be anyone else. Certainly no one dead! Ha ha. My writing’s finally a priority in my life, so it’s at a good point. Ask me again next year!

WCP: Cat, dog, iguana, or shark? Which animal do you share the most characteristics with? What characteristics do you share with that animal?

Cate: An iguana. They’re so versatile and resilient, not the prettiest things on the planet but lots of fun. And they look kinda cute dressed up, actually.

WCP: Any last words? Um, for the interview, that is. (grin)

Cate: Thanks for having me here today, Marci! I’m glad to be part of the Wild Child family!

WCP: It’s a pleasure to have you here.

To find out more about Cate Masters, you can visit her website.

Wild Child books by Cate Masters:

Liberation Via Pen by Cate Masters

This entry was posted on Tuesday, August 18th, 2009 at 3:20 pm and is filed under Interviews. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.