GREETINGS, BOOKWORMS! I’m Aisha Kandisha, Head Librarian at Kandisha Press. Join me in the dusty stacks of the library I will never leave again as I chat with some of my favorite Women in Horror. Today we feature author Catherine McCarthy!
Catherine McCarthy weaves dark tales on an ancient loom from her farmhouse in West Wales. Her published novellas and novels include Immortelle, Mosaic, A Moonlit Path of Madness, The Wolf and the Favour and her most recent, The House at the End of Lacelean Street. Her short fiction has been published in various anthologies and magazines, including those by Black Spot Books, Nosetouch Press, and Dark Matter Ink.
In 2020 she won the Aberystwyth University Prize for her short fiction.
Time away from the loom is spent hiking the Welsh coast path or huddled in an ancient graveyard reading Dylan Thomas or Poe.
What made you want to become an author? Did you have an “Aha!” moment when you knew you were born to write? Or perhaps a beloved book inspired you?
I cannot remember a life before books, really. As a child I was blessed with a wealth of books and comics. But more than that, I had a mother who was an incredibly talented story-teller. As a working class parent, one who hailed from a family of eleven children, she had known hardship growing up, so her main aim when she became a parent was to ensure my brother and I had access to a good education. She believed (somewhat naively, perhaps) that a good education would ensure the greatest chance of rising above poverty, and therefore provide greater opportunities for what she considered ‘a better life.’ So, when the school book club catalogue came round money for that was prioritized above other things. I guess that encouragement is where it all stemmed from.
By the age of four, I was an avid book sniffer, and I’ve never looked back. But a reader is not necessarily a writer, right? True, to a large degree, but I’m of the mind that if you love something so much you must also yearn to do it yourself rather than simply spectate. I mean, if you love watching football, surely you’d want to play? Therefore, the writing developed as a natural progression from reading from a young age. My mother is no longer with us, but I hope she knows how grateful I am for that early start in life.
What do you believe are your strengths in writing? And when you feel you need to improve on a particular writing skill, how do you go about it?
I think my greatest strength is my unique voice. Although I’ve experimented with a range of sub genres, from folk horror to cosmic, Gothic to modern, Readers tell me they can identify my work effortlessly.
Another strength is my ability to bring place and atmosphere to life without being unnecessarily verbose. It’s all about choosing when and where to add those adjectives, metaphors, or descriptive passages for best effect and rein them in when they do nothing to enhance the story or reader’s experience.
I also know my weaknesses, one of them being the ability to sustain believable dialogue. Another aspect I struggle with at times is overcoming the dreaded ‘middle drag’ when writing longer works. There’s no magical way to overcome such weaknesses apart from perseverance, studying what other writers do, and sheer bloody-minded tenacity.
What are your thoughts on the book industry today, or more importantly, about the book community? Do you feel it is getting harder or easier to make it as an independent author these days?
There is not a scrap of doubt in my mind that things are getting tougher for writers. The so called book community is not the place it was three or four years ago, not by a long stretch. Competition is greater, and, unfortunately, so is a self-serving attitude by a minority who make it more difficult (and annoying) for others. I’m a HUGE advocate for fairness. It’s my life’s motto. Whether this is to do with my many years of teaching experience I don’t know, but fairness is imperative as far as I’m concerned. I believe everyone should be judged on merit and not by their connections. Yes, nepotism has always existed and it always will, but it’s getting worse. Of course this is just my opinion, but I stand by it.
That said, without my author friends (Jill Girardi included) I would not be where I am today. I have many peers who mean the world to me, and that’s the best thing about the business.
Tell us about your work. What story are you most proud of?
In 2023 I published three long works (a novella and two novels) as well as several short stories, so it was a very busy year. Of course I didn’t write all three in a year, in fact I had been working on one of the novels since around 2018, but it just so happened that they got accepted for publication all in the same year and by three different presses. Never again though, it was a crazy time and it made for difficult marketing. We live and learn.
As far as the story I’m most proud of goes it’s difficult to say as they’re all very different. Mosaic, my novella published through Dark Matter Ink, had a personal element running through it, so in some ways it was cathartic to write.
The Wolf and the Favour, published by Brigids Gate Press, was a real ‘heart’ story in that it was inspired by a boy I taught during my first year of teaching, a boy who had Down Syndrome. I wanted to tell the story of a neurodivergent character but make them the hero, as it’s something I see all too rarely in fiction. Yes, we’re good at shouting about the need to celebrate neurodivergency, but how often do those stories get written? How often do neurodivergent characters make it as far as the page or the screen in a positive way? All too seldom in my experience, so yes, I’m proud of this one for that very reason.
The third book published last year was a Gothic novel titled A Moonlit Path of Madness. Out of the three, this was the most challenging to write as it involved a lot of research, especially around the issues associated with attitudes towards women’s mental health in the early part of the 20th century. If I’m writing from an historical point of view, I like to get the fact straight, or at least do them justice. I love writing Gothic fiction. It’s where a big piece of my heart lies, so I hope I did it justice.
What are your upcoming works and plans for the future?
In 2024 I have a few anthology/magazine pieces lined up for publication as well as a very exciting podcast story, which I’m not allowed to name just yet.
I also have a second novella coming out with Dark Matter Ink called The House at the End of Lacelean Street. It’s a strange one, this, and it was an absolute joy to write, so much so that the words simply spilled onto the paper. A rare occurrence for me, as I tend to get stuck at the midway point. It’s a difficult story to slot into a specific genre. It’s horror, for sure, with cosmic elements and body horror elements. Overall though, it’s a psychological horror story. Here’s the blurb to pique your interest…
It’s midnight and in the midst of an ice storm when Claudia Dance boards the bright yellow bus to Lacelean Street, a destination she has never heard of. She has no coat, no luggage, and no clue as to why she left home. In fact, she has no memory of her past whatsoever, and yet she feels compelled to make the trip. She will come to realize that salvation lies within the red-brick house at the end of Lacelean Street, a salvation granted by the strange power that dwells within. Sanity will be questioned, limits tested, and answers revealed… but at what price?
And here’s the Goodreads link if you’d like to add it to your TBR…
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/81263019-the-house-at-the-end-of-lacelean-street
Pre-orders are available via the Dark Mater Ink website:
My plans for the future?
I have a novella currently out on sub and I’m in the middle of writing a novel, so busy as usual.
For updates I’d love you to subscribe to my newsletter at https://substack.com/@cmccarthywriter
My thanks to Jill Girardi for not only featuring me here today but giving me one of my first breaks in publishing through Kandisha Press anthologies. You will always be appreciated, Jill. (I love you too, Cath!)
KANDISHA PRESS 