IT IS OUR PLEASURE TO WELCOME TO MY BOOK ADDICTION AND MORE,CATHERINE ASTOLFO TODAY!!
(From the author)
Catherine’s Biography
Catherine Astolfo
Catherine has always been a writer (she can recall writing fantasy stories for her classmates in Grade Three). Much later, her short stories and poems were published in a number of small Canadian presses. The day after her retirement from education became official, she started finishing her books.
The Emily Taylor Mystery series centres around an elementary school principal who becomes a reluctant sleuth through various circumstances. She has a dark past, the details of which are not revealed until Book Four.
In 2005, Book One, The Bridgeman, was published by Moe Publications, of Sisbro & Co. Inc. (a film production company of which Catherine is a co-owner). The novel was honoured with a Brampton Arts Award. Books Two to Four followed from 2006 to 2010, to rave reviews.
Don Graves said this about the series and Catherine’s writing: “When I reviewed your novel, Victim (An Emily Taylor mystery) I told my readers that I had discovered an exciting writer with a poignant capacity to tell a story full of energy and passion. Description, dialogue, plotting, all developed with the skill of a seasoned mystery writer. Victim made my top 10 books for 2007. I recently read Legacy. It solidified my feeling that you are a writer in for the long haul and should mature into a mystery author of the top rank in Canada.”
In 2011, Catherine signed a four-book contract with Imajin Books for the ebook versions of the Emily Taylor series (www.imajinbooks.com).
Catherine is a Past President of Crime Writers of Canada and is a member of Sisters in Crime (Toronto). She is co-owner of Scribes Digest, an ezine for “lovers of the written word” (www.scribesdigest.com).
Website: www.catherineastolfo.com
Blog: www.katywords.blogspot.com
Email: cathy@catherineastolfo.com
MBA: How hard is it to write a crime fiction?
CATHERINE: It’s actually more difficult than it might appear. Only highly intelligent people can do it. Keeping all the clues straight requires an entire box of cue cards. Or a night’s worth of napkins from the pub. Or an arm’s worth of notes written in washable marker. (That was washable, right?) Not to mention quelling the temptation to reveal too much. Just enough to keep the reader guessing; not so little that they’re completely in the dark. And then there’s the research. Do NOT get me started on that!
MBA: What made you decide to write the Emily Taylor Mysteries?
CATHERINE: I had a few narratives and ideas that lived inside my computer or appeared in small magazine. Once I retired, I wanted to work some of them into novels. At first, Emily Taylor was the “vehicle” that simply drove the plots around, but in the end, Emily became the centre of the story.
MBA: Why the mystery/crime thriller genre? What drew you to it?
CATHERINE: I love that a mystery has, at its heart, a problem or a puzzle. And the problem is always solved and the puzzle is always completed. I also like the fact that, most of the time, the truly evil people get their just punishments.
MBA: When you begin to write your books, do you know how it ends or is it decided by the actual process of writing?
CATHERINE: I have experienced both. Sometimes I think I know how it’s going to end, then it takes a turn toward something entirely different. I guess the sub-conscious takes over at a certain point in the process and you suddenly realize that another direction will work much better.
MBA: What is your favorite thing about writing?
CATHERINE: The rush that comes when you are on a roll and the words just spill out. Sometimes I sit back and go, wow, that is actually really good and I feel wonderful.
MBA: What is your least favorite thing about writing?
CATHERINE: Well, I don’t know if this is the writing part – it’s really the aftermath. The selling, marketing, tooting my horn, whatever you want to call it. I find that really difficult. I hate bugging people, yet I think they’ll love my books, so it’s a whole yin-yang thing. When somebody buys ones, and raves, I get that rush all over again.
This year, the marketing has been almost fun: I’ve been guided by Cheryl Tardif, of Imajin Books, who awarded me a four-book contract to e-publish my series. Her gift for promotion is unparalleled and I have learned so much my head is about to explode. Check out their website for the deals they are offering for Christmas! If you sign up for their Imajin Books Inner Circle, you’ll get emails announcing all the specials. www.imajinbooks.com
THE BRIDGEMAN
CATHERINE ASTOLFO
Publisher:Imajin Books (October 23, 2011)
ASIN: B005Z5IM28
Product Description(From Amazon)
Principal Emily Taylor feels safe in the friendly little town of Burchill—until she finds a body in her school. The murder of caretaker Nathaniel Ryeburn brings back memories she’d rather forget and plunges Emily into a mystery that involves a secret diary, an illegal puppy mill and a murderer innocently disguised as an ordinary citizen.
As fear rips through the traumatized town, Emily’s investigation inadvertently leads the police to her door, and to her husband Langford, who is hiding a secret of his own. It becomes clear to Emily that many of Burchill’s residents are merely wearing masks. And it’s time for those masks to be ripped away…and for a killer’s identity to be revealed.
VICTIM (AN EMILY TAYLOR MYSTERY)
CATHERINE ASTOLFO
Publisher:Imajin Books (November 17, 2011)
ASIN: B0069CJJC8
Product Description(From Amazon)
**Please check http://mybookaddictionreviews.wordpress.com/ in a few days for our thoughts on “The Bridgeman” by Catherine Astolfo***
Thanks for visiting with us today.
AprilR
Sounds really good would love to read it.
Thank you for stopping by today. I noticed that THE BRIDGEMAN is available at the Barnes and Noble site – will your other books be available there?
Oh, I love find new-to-me mystery authors! These sound really good…
Another new to me…I love books in all genres and I like mystery/ who done its and that this is a series is a bonus.
Zina