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| photo: Robert Galbraith | |
Catherine McKenzie practices law in Montreal, where she was born and raised. She is an an avid skier and runner, and a regular contributor to the Huffington Post. Her previous novels are Spin, Arranged, Forgotten and Hidden. Her fifth novel, Smoke, was recently published by Lake Union Press.
On your nightstand now:
There are too many books to name on my nightstand right now! I guess I need to get on that. But my next read will be The Sisters of Shiloh by Kathy Hepinstall and Becky Hepinstall Hilliker--two sisters who wrote the book together about two sisters who pretend to be men to fight in the civil war. I'm already fascinated.
Favorite book when you were a child:
It's a tie between the Anne of Green Gables books and the Little House books. I've read each of them so many times (I'm talking the whole series here) that I've had to buy new sets.
Your top five authors:
Such a tough question, but if I have to name just five I would name:
- Jane Austen
- Nick Hornby
- John Green
- Agatha Christie
- J.K. Rowling
Book you've faked reading:
The last two Donna Tartt novels. (Sorry, Donna! At least I bought them in hardcover!) I loved, loved, loved The Secret History, but was unable to finish either The Goldfinch or The Little Friend.
Book you're an evangelist for:
The Banks of Certain Rivers by Jon Harrison. You must read this book! It's the story of a track coach who is (falsely?) accused of hitting a student, and so much more than that. It made me laugh, cry and want to be a better writer.
Book you've bought for the cover:
Wonder by R.J. Palacio, but the inside was fantastic! One of the best books I've read in the last couple of years.
Book that changed your life:
I have to mention three here: A Million Little Pieces by James Frey (I read it when I was writing my first novel and it fueled my desire to write), The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger (a masterpiece to aspire to as a contemporary novelist) and The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern (a masterpiece of the imagination that I fear I'll never achieve).
Favorite line from a book:
"I fell in love the way you fall asleep: slowly, and then all at once." --from The Fault in Our Stars by John Green
Which character you most relate to:
Anne Shirley in Anne of Green Gables. We look like one another, and I talked, talked, talked, talked the way she did as a kid. And perhaps still do.
Book you most want to read again for the first time:
All of the above? ;-)
How you have time to be a writer and still practice law:
J.K. Rowling gave me a Time-Turner.