Chit Chatting With Catherine C. Hall

 Chit Chatting With Catherine C. Hall 

Interviewed by: Jill Sheets

J: Tell us about yourself?  How did you get your start writing? 

C: My start in writing came when I majored in Broadcast Journalism, learning all those great tips for newswriting and commercial writing. After I graduated, I worked in a small country music station where I was a Girl Friday to the News Director. Eventually, I became the News Director, then moved to a Top 40 radio station and handled public service announcements and local commercial copy. I much preferred writing commercials; they were a lot more fun! It was probably twenty years or so before I started writing again when I volunteered to write for my church’s newspaper. (And wouldn’t you know it? I got stuck writing the boring stuff!)

J: Tell us about your book Secrets Laid to Rest.

C: It’s a funny thing about this book. I was teaching and wanted to do something different for the next fifteen or twenty years. Creative writing was in the back of my mind, so when the principal asked what I had planned, I told her I was going to write a mystery. I actually did have a loose plot and a character or two in mind. But it took years of writing to work up to a book. After the world re-opened, I had an idea—Golden Girls meets the Ghostbusters—and one character, a widow named Ree. Even so, writing Secrets Laid to Rest was probably the easiest manuscript I’ve ever written, and the most fun, too. Honestly, it’s a simple mystery in a small Southern town; it’s the Ladies of SPI that gave the book all its character! Ha!

J: Can you tell us anything about Secrets of Cole House?

C: This is the second book in the Ladies of SPI Mysteries and I’m about a third of the way in, but I can tell you it takes up where Secrets Laid to Rest ends. It’s a new mystery for our sixty-something sleuths when a young woman moves back into her family home and encounters “things that go bump in the night.” I see lots of spirits, secrets, and of course, pie, in the Ladies of SPI's future!

J: Where can people get your books?

C: Both the print and ebook of Secrets Laid to Rest are available on Amazon. I may make it available on other platforms after I catch up, so check my website for the latest news!

J: You have a miniature dachshund.  Tell us about her.

C: Oh, that’s Libby! She is the cutest—and also the most maddening—little pup! Like Ree’s dog, Mina, in Secrets Laid to Rest, Libs was a gift to my husband and she’s getting up in years. That’s how I justify spoiling her rotten!

J: Are you on any social networking sites?  If so, which ones are you on?  Do you have any official website? 

C: I have a Facebook page for Catherine C. Hall, Cozy Mystery Writer, and I hope y’all will join me there. And my website is Catherine-c-hall.com. Lots of good stuff there, too!

J: Is there anything else you would like to add?

C: Just one! If you want to get in on the secret giveaways and other spirited fun, sign up for my newsletter over at Catherine-c-hall.com. And thanks for having me, Jill. I hope you and your readers enjoy the Spirits, Secrets, and Pie in Secrets Laid to Rest!

J: Thank you for the interview.