Author Interview: Cathy Elliott

Cathy Elliott works in a Community College Library in beautiful Northern California. She enjoys antiquing, quilting, and playing her guitar, but writing is her passion. Cathy is a contributing author to Stories for the Teen’s Heart: Book 3, A Cup of Comfort for Grandparents (2006), and The Upper Room. Her articles and book reviews have been published in The Christian Library Journal and she has written eleven children’s books for classroom use, published by an educational company. Her first novel is coming out summer, 2006!

Plug time. What book or project is coming out or has come out that you’d like to tell us about?

I still can’t believe I have something to plug! My first book, a cozy mystery titled, A Vase of Mistaken Identity, will be released in the Summer of 2006 by Kregel Publishing. It is full of things I love – like cats and quilts and antiques and family. All stitched together and interwoven with mystery, of course.

How long had you been writing seriously before you got “the call” that you were going to be published? Tell us how you heard and what went through your head.

I started writing for real in May of 2000, beginning this particular project the following year. So I wrote and rewrote the proposal for three years before the call. During that time, I also built my clip file, publishing smaller but valuable things that would help an editor or agent take my work more seriously. I attended numerous writing conferences and read a lot of books on writing. Then, one September Sunday in 2004, I arrived home after a weekend away to a message on the answering machine. It was my agent with good news.

“Cathy, we’ve got a sale!”

Unbelievable. My time had come. God had granted my heart’s desire. I was filled with excitement and gratitude and fear, all at the same time. I still have the excitement and gratitude. The fear checks back in every so often but I try not to let it nestle in my heart.

We’ve all heard a new author can’t sell on a partial manuscript, but you did. Tell us about your experience.

CBA may indeed be heading that way, especially for a first time author. I hear things, too. However, in all the times I pitched the idea at conferences, no editor ever asked if the book was finished, unless it was at an ABA conference. Once I signed with an agent, it gave my proposal extra clout – perhaps that made the difference.

During my years of polishing said proposal, I was given conflicting advice. “Finish the book. You’ll be so glad you aren’t on deadline.” “No need to finish the book. You don’t want to put all that time into writing something that has no market.” Back and forth. Both seemed right to me. But in the end, I decided to wait until I got a contract to complete the book. It worked out fine. Boy, did I ever learn a lot as I crafted that tricky middle and end. I learned how to write a book.

My experience says it is still possible for a new author to sell a book on a proposal. I encountered no problems. But having an agent may be the key.

Do you still experience self-doubts regarding your work?

Oh, yes. Each phase brings challenges, delights, and doubts. After completing the cozy, I was full of fear about whether or not the publishing house would like it. Now I’m hoping the newly written last chapter will continue the spirit of the book, wind it up in a winsome way. Once I get past that, there is the whole question of whether my book can claim a readership that will allow me to write the second in the series. I long for it to do well, so that I can repay those folks who have invested in me, believed in my ability. But will it? Will folks like it? Buy it? Only God knows. If anything, I have learned that the writer life is froth with doubt all along the way. I’ve also learned that I cannot allow it to stop me in my writer journey.

What’s the best advice you’ve heard on writing/publication?

There is so much. But I will choose some advice I heard from writer/editor extraordinaire, Karen Ball, at the Mount Herman Writer’s Conference. A group of us sat at her table for dinner, waiting to be discovered. She listened to all our pitches and responded to each of us. Then she said that truly, she’d be interested in anything well-written and advised us to read the Browne & King book titled, Self-Editing for Fiction Writers. After our session ended, I hurried over to the bookstore and bought the last copy. I read it from cover to cover, highlighting pertinent parts. It changed my writing.

What’s the worst piece of writing advice you’ve ever heard?

Nothing damaging enough to remember.

What’s something you wish you’d known earlier on that might have saved you some time/frustration in the publishing business?

If one is going to try and sell the book on the merit of the proposal, as I did, be prepared to send more chapters at a moment’s notice. Three times, my book proposal went to committee. Two of those times, they wanted to see more – another three chapters – probably to assure them that a new author with an uncompleted book can keep the story flowing. The first time I was asked, I only had one chapter edited, ready for someone to see. I sent what I had, but they did not buy the book. The next time an editor requested more, I was ready with three subsequent chapters in good order to send. It turned out to be a sale.

Do you have a scripture or quote that has been speaking to you lately?

“Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest.” Galatians 6:9

Is there a particularly difficult set back that you’ve gone through in your writing career you are willing to share?

I faced a sudden, sad season when my elderly father took a terrible fall and ended up in long-term care, changing all of our lives. It seemed as if writing would just have to wait. But that was as it should be – my folks were the priority.

As it turned out, God sent a situation to encourage me in the writing arena. Through it, I learned that not only would He provide the time I needed to write, He would use the craft to help me heal. Writing has actually been a light in my life these several, difficult years. I am so grateful.

What are a few of your favorite books? (Not written by you.)

Just a few? I have loved Pride & Prejudice by Jane Austen since I was fifteen. The Making of a Marchioness by Frances Hodgson Burnett. House of Mirth by Edith Wharton. Daughter of Time by Josephine Tey. Pavillion of Women by Pearl Buck. And more recently, The Wedding Song by Jan Karon and Peace Like a River by Leif Enger.

I’m hard to pidgeon-hole. Tom Clancy. John Grisham. Any title by Dick Francis. Cozy mysteries by fave authors: Earlene Fowler, M.C. Beaton, Carolyn Hart, Elizabeth Peters, Agatha Christie, and…oh, my. I guess I couldn’t stop at just a few. And there are so many more I could name. I work in a Library and it is a constant bountiful buffet of books. Lately, from the CBA market, I read Louise Gouge’s Ahab’s Bride. It was excellent. Next on my plate? Firestorm by Jeanette Windle.

What piece of writing have you done that you’re particularly proud of and why?

It would have to be my cozy mystery, A Vase of Mistaken Identity. I am so pleased that, although it didn’t place with a publishing house right away, I kept rewriting, improving it. I put all my best stuff in there and ended up with a publishable manuscript that hung together. I accomplished what seemed like an unattainable goal, with some supernatural help, of course.

Do you have a pet peeve having to do with this biz?

Maybe it is that folks constantly comment that I must be rich now that I have a book contract. Will I be quitting my day job? If they only knew.

Can you give us a view into a typical day of your writing life?

On a good writing day, I’ll zip home, arriving about 5:30 or 6:00 pm, grab a bite, unwind, then cozy up to my computer by about 7 ish. I may write until 11:30 pm with no trouble at all. I have to fight with myself to go to bed, usually losing the fight and staying up even later. Once I get going, I hate to stop. Then, tomorrow happens and my night owl habits catch up with me when the morning alarm sounds.

Some days when I don’t actually put finger to keyboard, are still writing days for me. That’s because I think about writing all the time. I might be absorbing a situation going on at work, or making a mental description of an interesting patron for a future character. When I’m not writing, I’m thinking about it. It’s always near, wooing my heart.

If you could choose to have one strength of another writer, what would it be and from whom?

What I most need is beautifully embodied in Roxanne Henke who writes the Back to Brewster series (After Anne, etc.) for Harvest House. Roxy is an exceptionally disciplined writer. She seems to do all that is needed to support her writing career without letting anything else drop. Plus, Roxy writes page-turning women’s fiction.

Do you have a dream for the future of your writing, something you would love to accomplish?

Perhaps my goals are what most writers want…to write well and to write something that will touch another’s heart, something that will last. My book is a cozy mystery and I often put that down as not so important as the sweeping historicals others write, or the books with deep, inspirational messages. Then I am reminded that God Himself gave me my story and has enabled me to write it. The result is up to Him.

I think about the master of cozy mysteries, Agatha Christie. And also Dorothy Sayers. They are way out of my league, of course. But it shows me that even a cozy mystery can be a classic read one day, can last over time.

That’s a very big dream – to write with such excellence. Whoa. Maybe I better reread my Self-Editing for Fiction Writers book again! (And again.)

Was there ever a time in your writing career you thought of quitting?

Hey, I’m just getting started here. (Giggle.)

Quitting? No, I only thought of stepping back for a season when the family concerns I mentioned earlier became the priority. But God didn’t require it of me. I expect to write until the roll is called up yonder. Then, of course, I’ll be there.

What is your favorite and least favorite part of being a writer?

I love all of it. The writing, critiquing, being critiqued, editing, rewriting, research, networking, promotion, and on and on. Maybe I am still so new to the game that I have not experienced those parts that tarnish the brightness of the journey yet. It is all joy. Ask me in about five years.

Parting words?

New writers, a word of advice from someone who still considers herself a rookie. If you can, find a mentor. Someone who is successful – who has already trekked the trail you are longing to walk. Then do what he does. Follow his advice. And if you find someone so generous, remember to guard his time to write. Do what you can do for yourself, then ask for help.

Gina, thanks very much for inviting me to answer your great questions. I have enjoyed remembering my path t