Last fall, I introduced you to the members in my writing club. Most of them agreed to an interview at that time. But Cathy Thomas is BUSY!!! She teaches band at a local school and finally with summer break she had time to answer my questions.

Cathy Thomas is a member of the Enid Writers Club. Her piece in our anthology, Prose Colored Glasses, Amazon.com : prose colored glasses book enid writers club is wonderful reading. Check it out. But first, here’s a little bit about Cathy, the person.

1. What drives you to write? I got tired of holding conversations with myself in my head, so I decided to write them down as characters in a story. Additionally, I’ve been writing since I was in high school. I wrote a column for our weekly county paper in Pennsylvania about our local high school happenings. Every morning at school I was the student who read the announcements over the loudspeaker, and so I pretty much know what was going on at the school. That was when I got hooked on writing. I also found that I write the way I think I talk. 

2. What genre do you write, and why? That’s a tough one. I write all kinds of things. My consistent writing is non-fiction magazine, technical writing, and newsletter articles. I have a monthly byline in a local magazine, and for the last couple of months have been the writer and editor of a weekly newsletter for a summer reading camp. I write about gardening, so I do lots of research. I like learning new information about subjects that I like – such as gardening, biology, ecology and sciences in general.

3. Do you prefer fiction or nonfiction? For reading I prefer fiction, usually political murder mystery, cozy mysteries, or sci-fi – but not fantasy. I don’t care for unicorns, elves or vampires. I also like a good novel with no mystery. One of my favorite series was the novels by Jean Auel – Clan of the Cave Bear and others. Recently, I really enjoyed reading the historical novels about the pack mule librarians of Kentucky. For writing I like the thrill of sci-fi – using viruses, or historical settings, some time travel, or just plain novels of everyday historical life in America- usually the northeast, where I’m from. (ugh, terrible grammar)

4. What’s your writing schedule? Do you write every day? I don’t write every day. I SHOULD write every day, but I don’t. Writing is still a whimsy for me, even writing my articles. If I have to schedule it, I would say my schedule is “Oh shoot! I have an article due tomorrow!” schedule, so at least twice a month. Knowing that I have articles due or that I am working on “the next great chapter” I spend more time doing research and editing than I do writing.

5. What is your favorite song and why? Unfair question. I’m a music teacher and so that is a loaded one, for me. I prefer listening to classical music – whether orchestral or classical guitar or Gregorian chant, I like most music. More contemporary songs I’d say I have 2 favorite. I am a very spiritual person, with great faith. Not necessarily religious, although I do attend a church fairly regularly. “Precious Lord” is a favorite hymn as it reminds me that I’m not always in control, but at the same time, I am never totally alone. My other favorite is “Longer Than” by Dan Fogelberg. Not only is it romantic, which I am a hopeless romantic, but it also shows that love is timeless. It is not necessarily romantic love but can also be the love of a parent for a child. I used to sing these to both my girls when they were little and occasionally they still ask me to sing to them.

6. If you could hang out with any literary character from any book penned at any timeline, who would it be, why, and what would you do together? Ayla from the Clan of the Cavebear series. She was such a strong character and quick to learn. She was a creative problem solver. She had a knack of seeing both striking and subtle beauty. I love that even when situations were difficult, she always had time to help and heal others. She made it through difficult times in her life and came out stronger for it. One of her talents in the stories was weaving baskets. I would like to sit and make reed baskets and just listen to her stories. 

Cathy Thomas is a classical musician who plays the bassoon, teaches band and fine art at a local high school. She has been writing for newspapers, magazines and children’s books since high school. Writing is still more a hobby than an income as she enjoys writing to educate and entertain her readers. Along with music and art, Cathy is a third-generation puppeteer. Her grandfather was a part of the WPA as a schoolteacher and was charged with keeping puppetry alive as a form of public theatre. This historical antecedent is why one of her favorite genres to write is historical fiction. She loves doing research into different historical periods of time in American history. Cathy’s attitude of feet on the ground and head in the clouds developed growing up as the youngest of three girls of a college art professor father and home economics teacher mother. Creativity, education, individuality and happiness are core values taught to her from a young age which have spanned her life.

You can find her here: https://www.facebook.com/puppeteerms?mibextid=ZbWKwL
Email – CeEsTaCreativeArts@gmail.com 

What are you reading/writing this week?