Ask the Author: Catherine Ryan Howard
Answered Questions (8)
Catherine Ryan Howard
Yes - we're talking about two different countries and two different police forces.
Catherine Ryan Howard
This answer contains spoilers…
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Catherine Ryan Howard
In November 2011 the Guardian newspaper in the UK/Ireland had a cover story in their 'Weekend' magazine about a British woman who had disappeared from a Disney cruise ship. My mother had read it and saved it for me because I used to work in Walt Disney World in Orlando and she thought the Disney connection would interest me. The story was tragic and unsettling - but what really struck me about the piece was that it mentioned something called the International Cruise Victims organisation, a U.S.-based lobby group. I'd never been on a cruise at that stage, but I had what I think are typical ideas about cruise holidays: sun, fun and endless buffets at sea. So what was this group about? Victims of what? And why were there so many of them that this group (clearly) needed to exist? I started researching cruise ship disappearances and maritime law, and what I discovered shocked me. Another part of my brain, the wannabe-crime-writer part of my brain, also thought, 'A cruise ship is the perfect place to get away with murder.' That's how the idea for DISTRESS SIGNALS was born.
Catherine Ryan Howard
I get out my calendar and I count how many days I've left until my deadline. Then I count how many words I've left to write to make a whole book and I divide the second number by the first. That usually does the job!
Catherine Ryan Howard
My second book: a standalone thriller that's due for publication in August 2017. This one is set on dry land, but water does feature!
Catherine Ryan Howard
Write the book you want to read and get it finished. Do that first, and only that. Worry about everything else later. I spent/wasted a decade of my life reading 'How To Get An Agent, A 6-Figure Book Deal and a Mansion with an Attic Writing Space' style books and daydreaming about what I'd wear to my book launch. But I never actually did much writing. Whenever I did, I worked on projects I thought would get me published. Finally, I got a clue and started work on DISTRESS SIGNALS - which is what I should've been doing all along, because there's nothing I love more in the world than curling up with a killer thriller. Ten weeks after I finished the first draft, I had an agent. Five days after she sent it out on submission, I had a 2-book deal. So don't worry about anything except writing the book you want to read - and finish it, quick!
Catherine Ryan Howard
Getting to do the job you've dreamed of since you were a child. Also, being able to work in your PJs, having an excuse to 'invest' in a fancy coffee machine and not having to go outside if it's raining.
Catherine Ryan Howard
I want until the stress, guilt and shame of not having written overtakes my overwhelming desire to rewatch something on Netflix I've already seen before.
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