Author Interview
Welcome to Jersey Girl Book Reviews, Caitlin!
Happy Publication Day for your latest novel, HOOKED!
1) How long have you been a writer?
There are so many ways to define this. I started writing stories for my college newspaper, The Daily Californian at UC Berkeley, in 1984, so 42 years. But I started writing fiction even before that.
2) Do you have a day job, or is being an author your career?
I’ve been a full-time author since I quit the newspaper business in 2006, but very few authors can make a living from books alone. For over a decade after I quit my full-time newspaper job (and gave up health benefits and a 401K), I taught writing classes and workshops for additional income. Other writing-related jobs include crime commentator on TV, radio, and podcasts, public speaker, and many other time-consuming tasks such as promotions/marketing (including blogging, Substack, and website design), event-planning, and IT.
3) What inspired you to become a writer? Describe your journey as a writer.
I’ve been writing stories as long as I can remember, but it all started with reading books—a LOT of books—when I was growing up, which continued until I felt inspired to tell my own stories.
4) Please give a brief description/storyline about HOOKED.
HOOKED is the first in the new “Katrina & Goode” thriller series.
Here’s the marketing blurb:
In this suspenseful thriller by Caitlin Rother, a journalist and cop fight a sexual attraction as they join forces to expose a layered scheme of dark and dangerous secrets.
When investigative reporter Katrina Chopin and surfing homicide detective Ken Goode lock eyes, there’s an immediate attraction. Sparks fly as they bond over cocktails, sharing their common experiences of being orphans and losing loved ones to suicide.
But the next time they meet, it’s from opposing sides of a high-profile case. Two biotech execs, whose company is developing a groundbreaking sexual enhancement drug, turn up dead in the wealthy seaside enclave of La Jolla Farms, where Goode can readily see that the forensic evidence doesn’t add up.
As they work their own angles, sometimes together and sometimes at odds, their growing attraction threatens to cost them their jobs—and their lives. As Katrina and Goode pursue answers behind these mysterious events, a secret stalker taunts Katrina with details of her tragic past, which takes her to the brink of death. But once the duo rips the mask away from this beautiful paradise, the corrupt underbelly behind all that glitters is revealed.
5) What was the inspiration for this story?
Back in the 1990s, I was working as a reporter in Northampton Massachusetts, where it was cold, and I was far away from the ocean. I was homesick for Windansea, which, at the time, was my favorite beach in my hometown of La Jolla. So, I started writing a novel featuring a surfing homicide detective, titled NAKED ADDICTION. After 17 years of trying to get it published, it was finally released in 2007. That book is the prequel to HOOKED, and to this series.
6) How did it feel to have your first book published?
Indescribably awesome. Amazing. I felt very accomplished, but publication is only the first step to becoming a successful author. Promotions and marketing have a long and ever evolving learning curve. I was very fortunate that my first book, a true crime titled POISONED LOVE, about the Kristin Rossum murder case, was such a big hit. It is still my best-selling book to date.
7) Do you write books for a specific genre?
I started in true crime. My New York Times best-selling book is a memoir (about someone else). I would say NAKED ADDICTION is more of a mystery novel, and HOOKED is a thriller.
8) What genres are your favorite(s)? What are some of your favorite books that you have read and why?
After reading a lot of the classics in college, my go-to category of books was literary fiction, which is not considered a genre, like true crime or thrillers. To be a good writer, you need to read a lot of good writing. And to learn genre-writing you need to read the authors who are critically acclaimed and sell a lot of books in that genre. So, when I decided I wanted to write crime fiction, I was reading a lot of Patricia Cornwell and Michael Connelly. When I decided to write a true crime book, I sat down in the bookstore and flipped through a bunch of books to learn their narrative structure and flow. I don’t often read true crime for pleasure; I generally prefer to read fiction. One of my favorite books is THE POET by Michael Connelly, maybe because it features a reporter along with detectives.
9) Do you have a special spot/area where you like to do your writing?
I generally write in my home office. Before COVID, I also worked at Starbucks or a local bagel place. But writing thrillers requires a lot of thinking and plotting, which I seem to do best while I’m walking around my neighborhood or driving in the car.
10) How do you come up with the ideas that become the storyline for your books?
My many years of experience and gathering knowledge as an investigative reporter and true crime author have generated plenty of ideas for my fiction. This saves me a lot of time because the research has already been done and is woven into the layers of my brain. I also get ideas from reading/watching the news, TV— mostly limited series and movies—and the world around me. There are stories everywhere you look. You just need to know how to find the good ones and when to use them.
11) When you write, do you adhere to a strict work schedule, or do you work whenever the inspiration strikes?
For many years, I was able to work very long days and rarely took a day off, but that work schedule burned out both my brain and my body. Sitting at a computer and typing for many hours has caused me chronic injuries, because overuse causes pain. For example, I am dictating this using voice-activated software, which I have used to write entire books in the past when my arms, neck, and back have had enough. So, I have to listen to my body, and I also have to feel inspired. Sometimes, when I can’t work because my body needs rest, I get frustrated, but luckily, I’m able to write many thousands of words in a day once I come back to work. Thrillers also require a lot of plotting and thinking, so sometimes I want to sit down at the computer and write, but I have a plot dilemma that I need to work through first. So, work may take many forms and doesn’t always involve me sitting in a chair at my desk. Sometimes I get an idea for a scene in the middle of the night, which is very inconvenient when I’m trying to sleep.
12) What aspects of storytelling do you like the best, and what aspects do you struggle with the most?
Whether I’m writing true crime, crime fiction or memoir, I’m using fiction storytelling techniques. With true crime, I must do a significant amount of deep research before I can write a word of the story, but thankfully I really enjoy doing the research. I also enjoy the process of trying to evoke the same level of emotion, surprise, or outrage from readers that I felt when I discovered certain information myself. However, sometimes writing true crime is a struggle, as is the trauma and darkness of writing and researching books in that genre. But now that I’m writing crime fiction, I am no longer feeling or experiencing those struggles, which take an emotional toll. I don’t have to approach grieving surviving family members or busy lawyers or detectives for interviews anymore. I can just write the story, mostly from what is in my brain, and when I do ask experts for interviews, most of them gladly oblige. I’m enjoying writing fiction much more these days, for the sheer freedom of it, especially when I know (or my characters know) exactly where the story is going next and it just flows from my fingers. Sometimes what ends up on the page surprises even me.
13) What are your favorite things to do when you are not writing?
I sing and play piano in a jazzy bluesy trio with my partner, which I really enjoy. I swim or walk every day, which is actually necessary to stay strong enough for me to keep writing. My partner and I also enjoy going out to our favorite restaurants. At night, I love to get sucked into a limited series on TV, and if I find a good one, I am so sad when it’s over.
14) What is/was the best piece of writing advice that you have received?
Leave out the “information” parts that the reader will skim or skip over; also know the ending of the book before you start writing it.
15) What is the most gratifying thing you feel or get as a writer?
To finish writing a book produces a great feeling of accomplishment, but the validation of selling it to a publisher is important and necessary to make a living. But I have to say that positive feedback from readers (and healthy sales figures) are probably the most rewarding.
16) How do you usually communicate with your readers/fans?
I used to get a lot of emails from readers, but these days we communicate more on social media or at live in-person events.
17) Is there anything in your book based on real life experiences or are they purely all from your imagination?
My book is based on and inspired by a lifetime of experiences that I’ve lived and covered as a working journalist and author.
18) What authors have been your inspiration or influenced you to become a writer?
I would say Michael Connelly has been the most important influence, but reading other thriller writers such as Harlan Coben, Michael Crichton, and Michael Palmer has taught me a lot as well.
19) What is your definition of success as a writer?
I’ve learned that it’s not how much money I make, because wealthy authors are definitely the exception. I’ve come to define success as enjoying the respect and admiration of readers and my fellow authors, as well as enjoying the process of doing what I do. Writing books is really the only thing that I want to do, and I’m grateful that I sell enough books to continue doing it. When people tell me I’m famous, I just laugh. It’s all so relative.
20) Are you currently writing a new book? If yes, would you care to share a bit of it with us?
I am writing a new book with a female detective character who gets sucked into investigating a charismatic cult leader, whose flock consists of wealthy unfulfilled women. But “Katrina & Goode” is a series, and I’ve got several more books already written that have yet to come out. STAGED, book 2, comes out on June 16, and books 3 and 4 are under submission with my editor.
Thank you, Caitlin, for spending time at Jersey Girl Book Reviews, and letting the readers get to know you!
