Cathy MacKenzie of MacKenzie
Publishing:
Publisher of the 42 Stories
Anthology
Biography
Cathy has written two novels,
Wolves Don’t Knock and Mister Wolfe, along with poetry and
short story collections. She writes all genres but invariably veers toward the
dark—so much so, her late mother asked, “Can’t you write anything happy?” (She
can!)
Cathy
is honoured to be editing and publishing Bertram’s project, the 42 Stories Anthology Presents: Book of 42². Publication is scheduled
for November 2024. It’s an amazing, massive 8x10 book at 550 pages. Watch for
it on Amazon and other retailers.
BAM:
Nice bio. Where are you located, Cathy?
Cathy: West Porters Lake (Halifax), Nova Scotia,
Canada
BAM: As someone who has read Wolves Don't Knock, I take
it Nova Scotia is freezing. Where’s your writer space? Hopefully, somewhere
warm.
Cathy: Home office desk.
BAM: What’s your writer drink of choice, coffee
or tea or something else?
Cathy: Diet Coke at breakfast and white wine at
four o’clock. (Always four o’clock somewhere, right?). Water in between.
BAM: How do you relax?
Cathy: Relaxation, for me, is sitting at the
computer with a glass(es) of wine in the afternoons/evenings while I write. I
hope I’m not turning into one of those now-famous alcoholic writers who dies an
early death, ha! Though, I’d be happy to have their world-wide fame!
BAM: The secret is to put into the world what you want.
Writers such as Rhonda Byrne say you’ll get what you tell yourself and believe inside, good or bad. Anyway,
it’s fine to indulge sometimes. I, too, have my vice, which is a stout. Any, unless it’s Guinness. Actually, I liked that one when I was in Liverpool. The ones
made in Japan are awful. Sorry, huge segue. Speaking of, I probably know your
answer, considering that you’ve told me his name. Tell me, though, for readers,
as an icebreaker, what’s/who's the best animal on earth?
Cathy: The best animal on earth is Moses, the
Maltipoo. He’s the sweetest dog ever—and I don’t even like dogs! He was two on August 24, 2024, and we've had him since he was two months old. My first and last dog. I have a book in the works titled Moses and Me about my experiences with
him.
BAM: What a great sounding story. Please remember to
send me the book to beta-read when it’s done. On your writing, what got
you into the craft?
Cathy: I
wrote a lot of poetry and short fiction in my teen years (doesn’t everyone?).
In fact, one of my teachers told me I should keep it up and be a writer; the
career aptitude test in high school suggested a career as a librarian. When I
married and started a family, writing went by the wayside until my first two
granddaughters, Taylor and Abby, were born three weeks apart in 2007. Then, despairing of ever being a grandmother, I was so overwhelmed by their births
(and the later births of my other three grandchildren) that I wrote each of
them a long poem that I framed and gave to their parents. After that, I
continued to write poetry and delved back into short fiction with a vengeance.
The rest, as they say (such a cliché), is history!
BAM: So it’s been an on and off again passion for you to tell stories,
but it took a while for you to get the words down due to life obligations.
Makes sense. Is anyone in your family a writer?
Cathy: No one in my family is a writer. In fact, I
don’t believe any of my relatives take me seriously as a writer, nor do they
read any of my books. Granddaughter Taylor started my first novel, as did my
daughter and daughter-in-law (even my husband!), but I don’t believe any of
them finished it. That must say how boring the book is, ha ha, though (not to
sound egotistical) I’m pretty proud of that accomplishment, along with writing
a second novel.
BAM: The thing is that it’s family members who are the
ones usually egotistical. I won’t say who it is, but one of my family members
made a comment that they were afraid to read my writing because I probably made
them into a villain. "Actually," I told them, "I model heroes of my stories after them," because
this person has inspired me throughout my life. Since finding this out, they now read every work of mine they can
get their hands on. Shows what they knew before, right? My meaning, Cathy, is
people are in their heads. And besides, some individuals just don’t read. That’s why audiobooks are a wonderful resource if you can’t get a film version
of your book made. Considering that stories were originally spoken, including one of the greatest stories of all time, Beowulf, it’s fantastic that people are returning to their ancestral roots and
listening to stories again. That reminds me, while we’re on the topic, let’s get
an audio version of the anthology going, and your novels while we’re at it.
Before we do that, let’s continue with the next question. Could you tell me about
your story outline process?
Cathy: I don’t outline. I “write into the dark,”
without a plot in mind, not knowing what my characters are going to do or how
the story will end. I’m what they call a “panster,” which makes me think of the
word “prankster,” which in turn, weirdly makes me feel as if I’m a fraud as it
pertains to my writing and publishing endeavours. I don’t always feel validated
as a writer.
BAM: Earlier I alluded to the book, The Secret, but really think you might benefit from reading it if you haven’t already. Before you go out and get it, let’s talk
about your early works. You had mentioned writing when you were younger. What
was the first story you ever wrote about, and
was it
published?
Cathy: The
first story I wrote as an adult was published in Woman magazine, a Canadian magazine, in spring 2000. (I don’t
believe the magazine is in existence any longer.) I remember at the time
thinking it was a brand new magazine, but now that I look at the issue (yes, I
still have it!), I see it’s a “relaunch issue with a new design and format.”
Even the editor writes, “No, this is not a brand new magazine, although to some
of you it likely is.” The magazine was around for three and a half years at
that time.
BAM: Yeah? I also got my start from a magazine
called Chill after a blog of mine hit over 10,000 readers on myspace.com back
in the early 2000s. The magazine only launched 6 or 7 issues. Didn’t know we had that in
common. Tell me more about the publication.
Cathy: I wrote an article about a friend who had
started a small home business in graphic design. This was when I was living on
Prince Edward Island, Canada’s smallest province. I had only submitted the
article to this magazine, so when it was accepted, I was beyond happy (thought
I was destined to win the Nobel Prize in Literature!). Alas, no pay for this
acceptance. I’m still waiting for fame, along with the accompanying “fortune.”
BAM: Yeah?
Cathy: Now that I think back, I had started an
online writing course around that time, which I guess, spurred me on to write
and submit that story. Course cost me around $700; regretfully, I did not
complete it, and it’s another regret that it took me seven years to get back
into writing.
BAM: There's still time to try again. Also, the book I mentioned is probably
available to listen to for free on YouTube. Self-help books have the power to create amazing changes for their readers. Enough about someone else’s book, please
tell your readers where they can find you on social media.
Cathy:
Email, Blog/website, Facebook , Facebook “Writing Wicket” author page, “Granny MacKenzie’s Children’s Books”
Facebook page. Amazon.com Author Page
Twitter/X @GrannyMacKenzie, LinkedIn
