Ask the Author: Catrin Collier
Answered Questions (9)
Catrin Collier
It was given to me by the CEO of Tanabi films, Euros Jones Evans. A passionate Welsh patriot and film maker I met him when he optioned one of my crime books "By Any Name" and directed it in 2017 (now showing on Amazon Prime worldwide). We discussed his ambition to film the life of Owain Glyndwr. I offered to carry out some preliminary research. The rest is history. It is very much an ongoing project.
Catrin Collier
Most of my Katherine John crime books have come from a single
image. The idea for Without Trace came when we driving back from France along a motorway in the early hours of the morning and I imagined being flagged down by a clown who climbed into car. But when the car drove away there was only figure inside it. By Any Name was the result of an appeal on an American crime show for anyone who could identify a man of obvious military background suffering from amnesia who had been found severely dehydrated and close to death in the Arizona desert. I didn't know anything about Arizona so I moved the plot to the Brecon Beacons. The Hearts of Gold series of books are rooted in my Welsh grandmother's life (she worked as a nurse in Pontypridd workhouse - she died when I was 3, but my father adored her and often spoke of her. One Last Summer owes a great deal to the diaries my Prussian born grandmother and mother kept during the wars. There is more but I have penned over 55 books,
image. The idea for Without Trace came when we driving back from France along a motorway in the early hours of the morning and I imagined being flagged down by a clown who climbed into car. But when the car drove away there was only figure inside it. By Any Name was the result of an appeal on an American crime show for anyone who could identify a man of obvious military background suffering from amnesia who had been found severely dehydrated and close to death in the Arizona desert. I didn't know anything about Arizona so I moved the plot to the Brecon Beacons. The Hearts of Gold series of books are rooted in my Welsh grandmother's life (she worked as a nurse in Pontypridd workhouse - she died when I was 3, but my father adored her and often spoke of her. One Last Summer owes a great deal to the diaries my Prussian born grandmother and mother kept during the wars. There is more but I have penned over 55 books,
Catrin Collier
The second book in my series about Owain Glyndwr. A giant of a man (physically as well as charismatically). I confess I am totally in love with him. A seductive lover (he had scores of illegitimate children he recognised as his offspring) a devoted husband (when he wasn't away from his wife, attending the inns of court or fighting the English king's wars), a loving father, a military genius and powerful warrior, statesman, lawyer, fair, generous and beloved ruler. It is a pleasure and privilege to spend every day in my study with him.
Catrin Collier
Live first, then write about something you feel totally passionate about. Wise experience writers told me to write about what I knew. It took me years of rejection slips to finally accept and follow their advice.
Catrin Collier
Slipping into another world, meeting characters who behave unexpectedly and never follow the easy route out of a dilemma or predicament.
Catrin Collier
Write - anything and everything, random thoughts, absolute rubbish. Sooner or later it flows again. Every book I have ever written has a larger dump file than final completed manuscript.
Catrin Collier
I left my bed, showered, rank coffee, drove to work, parked my car, walked into my office and said, "Good morning." People stared. No one one knew me.
Catrin Collier
So many to chose from. The dying days of the music hall depicted in Priestley's Lost Empires would be wonderful, as would the the Halcyon sunset of pre first world war society depicted in Saki's Chronicles of Clovis. The Ancient Egypt of Mika Waltori's The Egyptian, Frank Yerby's Ancient Greece depicted in Goat Song, or the Cuban revolution he depicted in Floodtide. The Tsarist Russia of War and Peace. The eighteenth century England of Henry Fielding's Tom Jones (not Jane Austen) . . .
Catrin Collier
Thank you so much for asking. For the last 2 - 3 years this October I have been studying translations of medieval manuscripts that mention Owain Glyndwr, or Oweyn Glendourdy or one of his other many names. I have learned so much about the rich Welsh History that was not taught when I was in school. I also suspect that much of Glyndwr's history was rewritten by monks on the orders of the English kings after his disappearance. Glyndwr and his allies Mortimer and Northumberland came close to overthrowing Henry IV. Had they succeeded they would have redrawn the map of Britain. As I am now only halfway through the third draft of the second book in my Trilogy of Glyndwr - Glorious Shall Their Dragon Be (soon to be a quartet, I have plans for Glyndwr 3 My Child's Child To Weep and Glyndwr 4 When Warriors Go To Die) of Glyndwr, I feel that I will be doing will be a great deal more reading on the subject.
About Goodreads Q&A
Ask and answer questions about books!
You can pose questions to the Goodreads community with Reader Q&A, or ask your favorite author a question with Ask the Author.
See Featured Authors Answering Questions
Learn more