Trying Something New

In the years that I’ve been writing, I’ve become one of those authors who can’t seem to pick one project to work on. I am constantly bouncing between manuscripts depending on which story seems to be the brightest in my mind at that moment.

With my husband home with me on parental leave and a newborn baby that sleeps surprisingly well during the day, I’ve had more time than anticipated to write. At the moment, there are four manuscripts that I’m rotating through. Three of them share a common theme: they all push my boundaries as a writer. This year, I’ve found myself trying things I’ve never done before. It feels kind of amazing, but a bit terrifying at the same time.

The book that’s closest to being finished is as-yet untitled. I’m co-writing this one with J.H. Knight. It’s a romantic suspense novel set in the south and it’s got far more angst than anything I’ve written before. I’ve always struggled with angst in my books, even when reading. I’m the girl who reads as fast as she can to get to the resolution because I hate seeing characters in pain. So when it comes to inflicting the pain myself, I have a hard time with it. This time, I have a writing partner who routinely sends me chapters that have me in tears. It’s pushing me and as such it’s been difficult, but also amazing. I think it’s going to be a pretty fantastic book once we’re done with it.

The second book is also untitled, but is part of a series. I can’t give away too many details on it yet, but I am partnering up on this one as well. Each of the books are standalones, with completely different characters and completely different settings, but each will related to a central theme. My book is coming out first, followed by one by Sandra Walsh, and finally J.H. Knight’s.

We are writing them as part of Camp NaNo and so I got a few days in and realized one of the side characters had shoved his way right into the middle. I had two options. I could give him his own story, or I could let him join the other two as main characters. In the end, I decided he fit too well with the other guys and he belonged in this book. It means, for the first time, I’m writing something other than a monogamously-paired duo. Ménage is something totally different for me and quite honestly it wasn’t something I ever saw myself writing, but for this story, for these characters, it fits.

Look for them sometime in June!

And finally, I have the second book in the fairy tale series I’m writing with Nico Jaye. The first book, His Fairy Godfather, was a modern play on Cinderella with a twist. The story we’re working on now is our interpretation of Beauty and the Beast, again, with a twist. We started playing around with different ideas for plotting and characters, and realized that we had the potential for two separate romances, but rather than separate them into two volumes, we decided to intertwine the storylines. It’s making things a bit more complicated logistically, but I think it makes things more interesting, too!

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Cate discovered her love for books of all kinds early on, but romance is where her heart truly lies. She is addicted to the happily ever afters and the journey the characters take to get there. Currently residing in White Rock, B.C, Cate loves living just a stone’s throw from the ocean. When she’s not writing, she can be found consuming coffee at an alarming rate while wrangling her children, her husband, and their two cats.