Literary Spotlight: Catherine Coulter

Catherine Coulter

Catherine Coulter is a New York Times bestselling author whose success spans three decades. She writes in the historical romance and contemporary FBI suspense thriller genres.

Q: What are some of the challenges you face when you switch from writing historical romance to the contemporary thriller genre?

A: I wouldn’t call them challenges; in fact, I find it energizing to switch genres for the simple reason that I’m not writing in the same sort of format again and again.

Q: Which do you find the most demanding: Creating the concept, the first draft, revising or editing? Why?

A: It’s all simply part of the whole or the process. Since I don’t work with an outline, I simply begin. As for editing, that happens every single day when I’m reworking what I wrote the previous day. I do a full-book edit when the book is done. It’s all demanding and it’s all fun, and if you pull your hair out one day, you’ll be humming and fluffing your hair the next. The writer’s brain is never quiet.

Q: How do you cope with the pressure of having your books on the New York Times best seller list?

A: It is always very exciting to get the call on Wednesday, the week after publication of a new book, and hear that the book has made the Times and it’s at a high position. There’s always self-pressure for a book to perform well, but once it’s out of my hands there is simply nothing I can do about it.

Carlotta Holton is the author of Salem Pact and Touching The Dead, and is a member of the National Federation of Press Women and an affiliate member of the Horror Writers Association.

Carlotta Holton has just received her second award for Touching the Dead from the National Federation of Press Women Communications Contest. Click here to purchase the book.