Kia ora,

Welcome to the 2024 series of Author Interrogations. If you’ve been around as long as me, you might recall I used to run these on Blogger. I think Killerbyte had just come out. So that was 2009 and I was new to this publishing gig, at the time my publisher was a South African firm called: Rebel ePublishers. (Now, I’m well-seasoned and slightly jaded.)

Let’s get into those questions. I’m quite nosy so make a cuppa, come back, and buckle in to learn about a long time author friend of mine: Catherine Lea. 

Who are you? 
I’m Catherine Lea, author of The Water’s Dead: A DI Nyree Bradshaw Novel and the soon-to-be released sequel, Better Left Dead both published by Bateman Books. The third in the series is finish and with the editor. I’m 20% of the way through the fourth. I began writing in the 1990s and started publishing my bestselling thrillers on Amazon in the 2010s when I was told no one reads Kiwi authors.
I’m a 4^th generation Kiwi born in Auckland and moved to Kerikeri in the Far North after the death of my disabled daughter.
These days I live, breathe and write everything Far North.
There are numerous good good reasons for doing so.

Favourite genre/s to read or write? 
I read quite widely but my lifelong love is crime. My DI Nyree Bradshaw series is set in the Far North of New Zealand in fictional towns so hopefully no one comes after me thinking I’ve written them into my books. I never do that. All my characters are imaginary players in my head.

Please tell us about your latest work: 
BETTER LEFT DEAD is the second in the DI Nyree Bradshaw series. This is the blurb on the back cover: 
DI Nyree Bradshaw and her team have their work cut out for them once again.
Local woman Lizzy Bean has been found dead, garrotted with a piece of wire.
Lizzy’s property, a 1950s beach house overlooking a pristine Northland Bay, is overflowing with rubbish. Inside, the house is even worse.
As Nyree and her team delve into the case, clues begin to reveal an intricate web of connections involving a local crime syndicate, a kidnapped woman, and a group of ex-foster children haunted by the past.
Meanwhile, Nyree’s own past is catching up with her.
Forever racked by guilt that she has failed her son who is currently in prison for murder. Nyree might finally get a chance to redeem herself in his eyes … but it comes at a steep cost. 

Do you like chocolate fish? 
Are you nuts? Who doesn’t like chocolate fish?

What’s your main character like? 

• Would you go to the pub with them?
• Absolutely. But the rest of Nyree’s team would probably have to come, too.
• Would you have them over for dinner?
• I very much doubt she’d come. Her work and her dysfunctional family come first.
• What music do they listen to?
• Nyree would listen to 80s rock if she ever let her hair down.
• What type of car do they drive?
• A black police issue Škoda Superb. Actually, she’s not fussed. As long as it gets her to the crime scene and back.
• Are they a series character?
• The fourth in Nyree’s series is on the way, along with her faithful team, and a dog she never knew she’d get. (See Better Left Dead for explanation)

What piece of advice would you give a new writer?
If you give up, you’ll never get there.

What part of writing do you find the hardest? 
To be honest, now that I’m traditionally published it’s the loss of complete control (I’m a control freak) and the time it takes between books.

Have you ever had lolly cake?
Pfft! I’m a fourth gen Kiwi. What do you think?

Pantser or outliner? And why?
Pantser. I have to have the surprises along with the reader. That sometimes means character and setting changes. Hell, sometimes it means changes to the crime setup. I ended up writing three endings for The Water’s Dead. But it was worth it.

Do you write in silence? If you don’t write in silence do you prefer music and what type of music? 
I write in silence. If I listened to music I’d end up singing and the neighbours would complain.

Do you like to listen to audio books? (I can’t, my brain wanders away to do other things.)
My books are being published as audiobooks but I simply can’t listen to someone else reading for me. The speech is too slow and some of the accents are dreadful!

Have you ever visited New Zealand? (If you’re not a Kiwi.) 
I live here; remember above—fourth gen Kiwi?

Dogs, cats, guinea pigs, or some other type of pet?
I used to have a toy fox terrier who ruled the house. When he became too old to sleep on my bed, I made a bed for him in the corner of the room. The following day I went into the garage to discover he’d pee’d in my shoes. Pic of Bon the dog attached.

Where do you write? 
I write in a Laziboy chair in my living room. Yes, I should be active and work at a standing desk, but that would put me off. And besides, every now and then I need a wee nap to stir the brain cells. 😉

A big thank you to Catherine for playing. You can find more about Catherine and her books:
Website