Delightful Debutantes Revisited: Catching up with Cat Clarke!

Hi, Cat. It’s been a while since we last spoke on the blog (way back in 2010 to be exact – right around the release of your debut novel Entangled). Since then, you’ve written more great books! What’s been your best author or fan experience to date and how has your writing life changed since those early days?

What a great question! I think my best author experience was at the Salon du Livre de Jeunesse in Paris late last year. It’s this huge children’s book fair, filled with people who are crazy about books. I got to meet so many lovely fans and bloggers – it was kind of overwhelming. I was signing books for so long I got cramp in my wrist – that’s NEVER happened before! I think for the first time in my career I almost felt like a real author. (ALMOST!)

As for my writing life, well it hasn’t changed all that much. I’m faster at writing now, which is just as well, because deadlines are a big feature in my life! Oh, and I now have two dogs to distract me from my work. Weirdly, I’ve managed to be more productive since getting the dogs. All that walking in the park has turned out to be very valuable thinking time!

I recently read A Kiss in the Dark and my jaw literally dropped within chapters. You know how to surprise your readers, huh! And you know how to write a great plot twist. Undonetotally made me cry, by the way. Now I want to know what books have shocked you and made you cry (or maybe both!)

Thank you so much. I do like to try to surprise readers whenever I can! It’s quite rare for books to shock me, but one that did recently was The Fault in Our Stars. I can’t say why, but it also made me cry. A lot. That’s probably the most I’ve cried when reading a book. Another recent read that made me cry (and laugh out loud) was A Boy Called Hope by Lara Williamson. I seem to be reading a lot of tear-jerking books recently!

Cat Clarke writes great books!

Of all the characters you’ve written, do you have a particular favourite? Who can you imagine yourself hanging out with in real life? Are there any characters you would like to revisit in the future?

I have a bit of soft spot for Jack from Torn and Kai from Undone. I think they would both be fun to hang out with. They’d probably get on really well, actually! I quite like Alex from A Kiss in the Dark too. If I was looking for a drinking buddy, I’d probably give Grace from Entangled a call… which I might end up regretting.

As for revisiting a character, I get asked a lot about Sasha from Undone. A lot of people seem really keen to know how things turn out for her. I don’t think I’ll ever write her story though… but never say never!

Since we last talked UKYA has really grown in popularity. What are some of your favourite UKYA books? Also, if you’ve read any upcoming UKYA releases you think everyone needs to read, please share.

My absolute favourite UKYA novel has to be Looking for JJ, by Anne Cassidy. I loved it so much I’m almost too scared to read the sequel, Finding Jennifer Jones, which has just been released.

The UKYA book I’m most looking forward to this year is Say Her Name by James Dawson. I haven’t had a chance to read it yet, but it will be top of my TBR pile as soon as I can get my grubby little hands on a copy.

Finally, I hear your next book is a psychological thriller called Safe and Sound. It’s no secret that I love a good psychological thriller (and I bet this one will be all kinds of twisty!) Tell me more!

I’m finishing the first draft as we speak! I’m really excited about this book. I’ve been able to explore some things that really fascinate me, so I’ve really enjoyed writing it. Weirdly enough the writing of this book has been a lot less angsty than usual, even though there’s a fair bit of angst in the story!

Thank you so much for having me on your blog!

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Thanks for the great catch up, Cat! I can't wait to read Safe and Sound! 

Tweet why you want a signed competition copy of Cat Clarke’s A Kiss in the Dark between the 31^st March and 4pm on 4^th April. Make sure you @Cat_Clarke & include the #AKITD to be in with a chance of winning. The winner will be announced on Friday 4^th at 4:30pm. Good luck.