| Interview with Kate Cann |
First off, thanks so much for joining us for an up-close and personal interview for TeensReadToo.com! My
name is Jen, and I’ll be your server toda…oh, wait, wrong job! Anyway, thanks so much for taking time out of
your writing schedule—which I’m sure is busy!—and answering a few questions for your readers and fans.
Let’s get some of the typical interview questions out of the way first. When did you first know that you wanted
to be a writer?
I always loved writing but I didn’t think of it as a job. When I was young I wanted to be a) a witch b) a
policewoman c) a journalist. I fell into being an author. I was working as a copy editor on various teenage
books, and I hated the way they dealt with sex – it was either seen as some kind of awful abuse, or it was
frothy unrealistic candyfloss. It gave me the idea to write a book about a first sexual relationship that saw it
as a positive event, and that explored its power and complexity. That was Diving In.
Can you tell us a little bit about your road to getting published?
I photocopied my manuscript ten times, sent it off to ten likely publishers, and sat back and chewed my nails.
Then I was given an offer – if I’d cut the scene from the end where the couple sleep together for the first
time, they’d publish it. I hated doing it as it felt dishonest, but I had no choice if I wanted my manuscript to
become a book! Diving In did well, so they let me go ahead and write the sequel. This was In the Deep End.
The first thing I did was rescue the sex scene, of course!
Tell us a little bit about either your latest or upcoming release. If you could only tell your readers one thing
about the story that had to convince us to buy the book, what would it be?
My latest book is Mediterranean Holiday. It’s about bad love and good love, and having the courage to
change; it’s about an exquisite island and a ghastly ex-friend and a gorgeous boy. OK, that’s six things, but
it’s all in one sentence.
What, or who, has been the greatest inspiration for your stories?
Teenagers in general. Teenagers make fantastically exciting characters. They’re so passionate and
changeable and dramatic. Such a lot goes on in those years between 12 and 20.
Let’s hear about your family, who I’m sure are thrilled to have a published author among them!
My kids have just left their teens, so I can’t eavesdrop on them any more for ideas – it’s quite upsetting. My
daughter is a fashionista – she’s done her degree and got a great first job in fashion administration. My son
is very sporty – he’s set to be a personal trainer. They are both utterly brilliant - but I would say that,
wouldn’t I? The old man isn’t bad, either. We’ve been together for an absurd number of years, going on for
30, and we’re very happy. I love his company. It’s amazing to know and love someone that deeply.
Now for some fun facts. What’s your greatest comfort food?
Anything I can lay my hands on, when I really need comforting. Does a good chilled white wine count as
food?
What are the first three things you do when you wake up in the morning?
Drink tea (hey, I’m English!) Go for a run with the dog. Eat an enormous breakfast. (And wash and so on, of
course – but that’s too obvious to list.)
If I came to your house and looked in your closet/attic/basement, what’s the one thing that would surprise
me the most?
How unbelievably tidy they are. I wish.
Everyone asks the question about “if you could be a tree, which tree would you be?” so I want to know: If
you could be a color, which color would it be, and why?
A lovely terracotta colour. Vibrant, glowing, and of the earth. (No one’s ever asked me which tree I’d like to
be! I’d like to be an oak tree, please. They endure.)
Who is your favorite cartoon character? Which cartoon character is most like you?
Oh dear. Everyone thinks I’m like Lucy in Peanuts. And I like Snoopy because he’s so gorgeous and he gets
the better of her! What would a shrink make of that …?
If you could beam yourself to anywhere in the world (“Beam me up, Scotty!”), during any time in history,
where and when would it be—and why?
What a fabulous thought. I’d go back when the world was empty and dark, when the forests were full of
animals … then I’d rush back to the 21st century before I got eaten. Or I’d go back to the Renaissance.
What a vibrant time that must have been.
So what’s your favorite type of music to listen to? Favorite musical artists? Do you listen to music while
you’re writing?
I’m quite eclectic – all and everything. I love Irish music, and jazz - I love John Lee Hooker. But I need silence
when I write. I think I need to organize things to make music a bigger part of my life. People keep chucking
my CDs around and I can never find them.
Do you have any favorite T.V. shows? Movies you watch over and over again? What was the last movie you
saw at the theater?
I’m not a great TV fan. Favourite movies – Ordinary People, Last of the Mohicans, Rebecca, American
Werewolf in London, Excalibur. The last film I saw at a cinema was Notes on a Scandal. Utterly chilling and
brilliant.
You have the chance to give one piece of advice to your teen readers. What would it be?
Be yourself. Find out who that is and then – be yourself.
One last question. What stories can we look forward to from you in the future?
I’m really getting into the Gothic, after Leaving Poppy. I love tales that are rooted in reality and with rounded
characters but that draw on the supernatural too. I’m working on another Gothic one right now, about a
manipulative boyfriend and a sinister cult and a dark, ancient mansion house …
Again, thanks so much for joining us at TeensReadToo.com!
No – thank YOU! xxxx
name is Jen, and I’ll be your server toda…oh, wait, wrong job! Anyway, thanks so much for taking time out of
your writing schedule—which I’m sure is busy!—and answering a few questions for your readers and fans.
Let’s get some of the typical interview questions out of the way first. When did you first know that you wanted
to be a writer?
I always loved writing but I didn’t think of it as a job. When I was young I wanted to be a) a witch b) a
policewoman c) a journalist. I fell into being an author. I was working as a copy editor on various teenage
books, and I hated the way they dealt with sex – it was either seen as some kind of awful abuse, or it was
frothy unrealistic candyfloss. It gave me the idea to write a book about a first sexual relationship that saw it
as a positive event, and that explored its power and complexity. That was Diving In.
Can you tell us a little bit about your road to getting published?
I photocopied my manuscript ten times, sent it off to ten likely publishers, and sat back and chewed my nails.
Then I was given an offer – if I’d cut the scene from the end where the couple sleep together for the first
time, they’d publish it. I hated doing it as it felt dishonest, but I had no choice if I wanted my manuscript to
become a book! Diving In did well, so they let me go ahead and write the sequel. This was In the Deep End.
The first thing I did was rescue the sex scene, of course!
Tell us a little bit about either your latest or upcoming release. If you could only tell your readers one thing
about the story that had to convince us to buy the book, what would it be?
My latest book is Mediterranean Holiday. It’s about bad love and good love, and having the courage to
change; it’s about an exquisite island and a ghastly ex-friend and a gorgeous boy. OK, that’s six things, but
it’s all in one sentence.
What, or who, has been the greatest inspiration for your stories?
Teenagers in general. Teenagers make fantastically exciting characters. They’re so passionate and
changeable and dramatic. Such a lot goes on in those years between 12 and 20.
Let’s hear about your family, who I’m sure are thrilled to have a published author among them!
My kids have just left their teens, so I can’t eavesdrop on them any more for ideas – it’s quite upsetting. My
daughter is a fashionista – she’s done her degree and got a great first job in fashion administration. My son
is very sporty – he’s set to be a personal trainer. They are both utterly brilliant - but I would say that,
wouldn’t I? The old man isn’t bad, either. We’ve been together for an absurd number of years, going on for
30, and we’re very happy. I love his company. It’s amazing to know and love someone that deeply.
Now for some fun facts. What’s your greatest comfort food?
Anything I can lay my hands on, when I really need comforting. Does a good chilled white wine count as
food?
What are the first three things you do when you wake up in the morning?
Drink tea (hey, I’m English!) Go for a run with the dog. Eat an enormous breakfast. (And wash and so on, of
course – but that’s too obvious to list.)
If I came to your house and looked in your closet/attic/basement, what’s the one thing that would surprise
me the most?
How unbelievably tidy they are. I wish.
Everyone asks the question about “if you could be a tree, which tree would you be?” so I want to know: If
you could be a color, which color would it be, and why?
A lovely terracotta colour. Vibrant, glowing, and of the earth. (No one’s ever asked me which tree I’d like to
be! I’d like to be an oak tree, please. They endure.)
Who is your favorite cartoon character? Which cartoon character is most like you?
Oh dear. Everyone thinks I’m like Lucy in Peanuts. And I like Snoopy because he’s so gorgeous and he gets
the better of her! What would a shrink make of that …?
If you could beam yourself to anywhere in the world (“Beam me up, Scotty!”), during any time in history,
where and when would it be—and why?
What a fabulous thought. I’d go back when the world was empty and dark, when the forests were full of
animals … then I’d rush back to the 21st century before I got eaten. Or I’d go back to the Renaissance.
What a vibrant time that must have been.
So what’s your favorite type of music to listen to? Favorite musical artists? Do you listen to music while
you’re writing?
I’m quite eclectic – all and everything. I love Irish music, and jazz - I love John Lee Hooker. But I need silence
when I write. I think I need to organize things to make music a bigger part of my life. People keep chucking
my CDs around and I can never find them.
Do you have any favorite T.V. shows? Movies you watch over and over again? What was the last movie you
saw at the theater?
I’m not a great TV fan. Favourite movies – Ordinary People, Last of the Mohicans, Rebecca, American
Werewolf in London, Excalibur. The last film I saw at a cinema was Notes on a Scandal. Utterly chilling and
brilliant.
You have the chance to give one piece of advice to your teen readers. What would it be?
Be yourself. Find out who that is and then – be yourself.
One last question. What stories can we look forward to from you in the future?
I’m really getting into the Gothic, after Leaving Poppy. I love tales that are rooted in reality and with rounded
characters but that draw on the supernatural too. I’m working on another Gothic one right now, about a
manipulative boyfriend and a sinister cult and a dark, ancient mansion house …
Again, thanks so much for joining us at TeensReadToo.com!
No – thank YOU! xxxx
