About Cathy

Animal Writes - copyright Rod Tame 2009
Cathy (centre) with Dominic Berry at
an Animal Writes workshop
Photo © Rod Tame 2009
Some years ago, my best friend made it his New Year's Resolution to persuade me to submit some work to publishers; he claimed that if I didn't, then his entire year would be a failure and it would be my fault, the cunning devil. Anyway, it worked, and to my surprise various bits were accepted; shortly after joining a poetry workshop (Dominic Berry's Animal Writes) I was asked to perform my poems, and I'm now a performance veteran.

I love that exciting atmosphere, and the feeling you get when an audience laughs out loud (when they're supposed to!) or applauds enthisiastically. Since those first forays I've been very lucky - I've won over twenty writing awards, and had two poetry collections, a novel and a nonfiction book published.

I'm in my forties (which I'm really enjoying) and I live in Cheshire (which I love). My hobbies are making greetings cards from recycled/found/re-used/altered objects, bookcrossing and veganism. My name's Cathy and I'm a book addict. Predictably, I love cats.

Oh, and as you might have noticed, I'm also addicted to inappropriate commas, and to semi-colons; if anyone is aware of a cure, stay away. Some addictions are fun.