Just Call Me Night-Owl...with Cat Grant

Please give a warm Tracy's Place welcome to Riptide Publishing author, Cat Grant!

I find it difficult to write during the day, even on weekends. Errands, housework, all this other stuff keeps vying for my attention. I wish I were better at multi-tasking, but my writing brain just won’t focus until I have everything else out of the way.

Most of my books were written between 10 PM and 2 or 3 in the morning. I’ll sit on my couch with my cat curled up next to me and let it rip. It’s so nice and quiet at that time of night – no phones ringing, nothing to distract me from the story at hand.

It sounds funny – even a bit schizo – to admit that my characters talk to me, but they do. In fact, when the story’s flowing, I feel more like a transcriber than an author. I’ve been known to carry on conversations with them too, so it’s no doubt a good thing that I don’t haul my laptop down to Starbucks to write!

Wish I could write faster, but about a thousand words a day – two thousand if I’m really rolling – is about all I can manage. I’m one of those pesky word nerds who’ll sit there staring at the page until I find the precise right way to phrase something. I also tend to edit as I go, which saves time later, but slows down the initial drafting process.

Wish I could outline too, but actually writing down my plot ahead of time sucks all the magic out of it for me. However, that’s not to say I don’t plan out my stories. In fact, I do TONS of brainstorming with a couple of my best writer-buddies before I get started. We work well together, filling in for each other’s weak points. Then, once I’m so excited about the story my fingers are literally tingling, I know it’s time to get to work.

For good or ill, this is my process. It’s done well by me for the past 13 books, so I really can’t complain. :)

Cat Grant
Riptide Publishing