Five Minutes with Catherine Rull #LoveAusAuthors

Catherine Rull writes humour into all of her books, regardless of the genre: women’s fiction, contemporary romantic comedies, paranormal romance and young adult. She says she has always enjoyed clever banter, and appreciated imperfect characters.

‘I love writing series, because I love following the lives of my characters beyond one book.’

Catherine reads for fun, to escape, so she prefer books with a happy ending.

‘I don’t want to feel stressed or sad at the end. This is why I only write books with a happily ever after or happily for now ending. My characters go through a range of emotions and challenges in the process but I like to end my books with hope and happiness.’

She enjoys setting her books in Brisbane and creating Australian characters, because she wants to share stories about people’s lives in the cities and suburbs of Australia, which she feels aren’t represented often enough in popular fiction. She also enjoys writing about characters who live and/or who are from other countries.

‘I love travelling and have lived in several places so some of my books are set in those places – like the UK, Japan and the US.’

Five Things About Catherine’s History

1. I grew up in Brisbane and consider myself Australian, but I’ve lived in four countries – the Philippines, Australia, Japan and England.
2. I started writing when I was 15 and finished four manuscripts in three years—three of them before graduating high school. I started several stories afterwards, but couldn’t complete any of them. University made me doubt my work and I didn’t complete another manuscript until 12 years later.
3. I’ve been to 31 countries. This is part of my life as a writer. I believe it’s important to experience life, so we can write about it.
4. My writing life changed when I became a finalist in the 2012 Golden Heart®, which is the national writing competition run by the Romance Writers of America. It resulted in meeting many other writers and getting replies to my submissions from agents and publishers. Before then, I didn’t know as much about the industry.
5. My day job is teaching English to international adult students.

Five Things About Catherine’s Work

1. I finished 12 manuscripts in five years, which are all part of various series. I’m now busy polishing up each one, ready for publication.
2. I have six different series and the first book in each series has been a finalist and/or a winner in writing competitions in the US, Canada and the UK.
3. So far, I’ve released eight books, with a ninth book due out later this year. I’m currently working on Guardian: Reassign, the sequel to my paranormal romance about guardian angels and fallen angels.
4. The four main characters of The Fat Chicks’ Club Series are loosely based on me and my best friends in high school.
5. Last year, The Fat Chicks’ Club won Best Mainstream Fiction in the Maggie Contest, a writing competition in the US. This year, Mr. Write was a finalist in the HOLT Medallion for Honouring Outstanding Literary Talent.

Five Things That Help Catherine Keep Writing

1. I love writing – I would do it regardless of getting published or selling books.
2. I have a lot of stories in my head. Getting them down on the page is cathartic.
3. I enjoy being involved in the cover designs and holding my books in my hands; it’s like holding your baby for the first time, after just seeing the ultrasound.
4. I like the idea of leaving my mark in the world. My books are all registered with National Libraries Australia, so they are there forever.
5. Experiencing new things leads to new ideas for my books. For example, I came up with the idea for Mr. Write while having breakfast at a writing conference in New York City. I like to try new things and visit new places—which inspires me to write more.

In the future, Catherine would love to be an official New York Times Bestseller and to have some of her books to be turned into a TV show or movie.

‘I have discovered some new-to-me writers by seeing their books on screen first, and it would be a dream come true to reach millions of readers/viewers and see my characters on the screen. I’m a big TV and movie buff! And if I was on the NYT Bestseller list, it would make me feel like I’ve made it.’

She dreams of going on book tours all over the world, meeting her readers and talking about her books. She would like the stigma against writing romantic work to go away.

‘I think lovers of literary fiction can be quite snobby about genre fiction, but there’s room in the world for both!’

She says she hopes her books continue to be read and appreciated for hundreds of years, like the works of the Bronte sisters, William Shakespeare, and Jane Austen, saying that, ‘the latter two were not considered literary fiction writers in their time, but now they are loved and regarded highly.’

Find out more about Catherine and her books at her website

Helen