Catherine Cavendish

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Catherine Cavendish

Catherine Cavendish first started writing when someone thrust a pencil into her hand. Unfortunately, as she could neither read nor write properly at the time, none of her stories actually made much sense. At nine years old, she sold her toys to buy her first typewriter and hasn’t stopped bashing away since, although her keyboard of choice now belongs to her laptop.

After a varied career in sales, advertising and career guidance, Cat is now the full-time author of a number of ghostly, haunted house and Gothic horror novels and novellas.

She lives in Southport with her long-suffering husband and black cat (who remembers that her species used to be worshipped in ancient Egypt and sees no reason why that practice shouldn’t continue).

For relaxation, Cat enjoys rambling around stately homes and travelling to favourite haunts such as Vienna and Scotland.

Interviewed 11 April 2020

Ten words to sum up your working life to date ...

Confused
Rewarding
Frustrating
Diverse
Knackering
Stimulating
What the…?
Getting somewhere

Nine things you can see from where you're sitting ...

A globe
A Siamese cat lounging on a fence (actually it’s a ceramic tile)
Overflowing bookcases
Printer
A rather fetching antique oil lamp (it works too!)
My lovely comfy leather reading chair
A sleepy black cat (a real one this time)
A small stepladder (to reach those unreachable books on the top shelf)
A church steeple

Eight minutes to prepare a meal. What's it going to be ?

Well it has to be melted cheese on toast with added Worcestershire Sauce. Now see what’s happened? I’m hungry…and I just found out I’ve run out of cheese. Disaster!

Seven people you'd like to go for a drink with ...

Stephen Fry
Sandi Toksvig
Stephen King
Don D’Auria
Mary Beard
Michelle Obama
Jϋrgen Klopp

Six things you can't live without ...

Cats Books Good red wine Horror movies
A good laugh
Bookshops

Five favourite words ...

Threnody
Schmetterling (it’s German for butterfly and I love the way it rolls off the tongue – the word I mean, not the butterfly)
Madrigal
Serendipity
Cantankerous (describes me perfectly – especially when I am woken up too early)

Four places you'd run away to ...

Vienna
Scotland (the further north the better)
Claridge’s
My bed

Three books you've bought recently ...

And Cannot Come Again – Simon Bestwick
The Companion and other Phantasmagorical Stories – Ramsey Campbell
We are at War – Simon Garfield (I’m doing some research for my next novel)

Two things that make you rant ...

Politicians
Inconsiderate driving/cycling

One thing you'd tell your teenage self ...

For goodness sake, stop stressing about everything and just get on with it!