We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Catherine Matthews. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Catherine below.

Catherine, appreciate you joining us today. If you could go back in time do you wish you had started your creative career sooner or later?

Some might say starting a career in writing fiction at the age of fifty-eight is a bit late, foolish even, particularly if you are leaving a successful thirty-three-year career in public education to do it. I would say it is the perfect time. The journey that led me to become a published author has unfolded at exactly the right pace. In my twenties, I studied science and helped high school students to understand their world. In my thirties, I led schools. In my forties, I analyzed data and systems. In my fifties, I explored my inner and outer worlds. At the time, each pursuit fit exactly the person I was. They were, in part, also the experiences that fueled who I was becoming next. I say in part because throughout those decades, I also married, had a child, experienced the loss of parents, earned three degrees, and dealt with the usual physical, social, and emotional challenges life throws at humans. Collectively, each of these seasons of my life formed the roadmap to becoming a storyteller. Not just any storyteller, but one who tells the stories of strong women who face the storm and find the courage to live their dreams.

At each juncture, I felt a push or pull toward the next phase. Whatever I was doing would begin to feel as though it no longer fit me. Sometimes it would be a shift in aspiration. For example, when I wanted to make a difference in students’ lives beyond my own classroom, I became a principal. Sometimes a series of disconnected events funneled me to an entirely new place. That was the case with becoming a writer. What happened? My daughter took up rowing. My father had a stroke. I failed to master website design. When my father became ill, intense feelings bubbled up in my highly objective, science-major mind and heart. Those feelings sparked memories from my childhood that begged to be shared. In the meantime, my love of photography was rekindled over the hours I spent by a lake, waiting for my daughter to race. My wonderment of nature and my awe of athletes in competition led to incredible shots. When one made it into a magazine, I started to see myself as an artist for the first time. I created a website to sell my photographs. Unfortunately, I lacked the skills needed to remove the premade blog landing page. When I surrendered, that page became the home for the stories of my childhood, parenting, and life lessons. My blog sparked a passion that grew to writing novels.

I don’t think that I would have been the same writer had I set off on that path earlier in life. Everything to this point feeds the words I write. They are rich because of the things I have experienced in my life. I know it is the right time because I have something to say and the need to say it.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

I am a Pacific Northwest author of Women’s fiction. Women’s fiction is characterized by layered stories in which the plot is driven by the main character’s emotional journey. Through my novels, I tell stories of strong women finding the courage to face the storm and live their dreams—usually in the company of a faithful hound. My debut novel, Releasing the Reins, was published in 2024. This novel explores our search for a place where we can truly belong as our authentic self, especially when that does not conform to familial or societal expectations for being a woman. What are we willing to do to find that place and what would we do to prevent losing it?

Currently, I am putting the finishing touches on my second novel, Roadside Sisters (working title), which examines sister relationships and the impact of childhood family secrets on those relationships into adulthood. What does it mean to be sisters beyond sharing parents? Can we forgive and release old hurts caused by our child-selves or by others and reclaim that sisterhood?

Through my blog, Life Through My Lens, I share the stories of my youth, and my adventures in parenting, teaching, and leading schools, and the life lessons I’ve learned. Committed to strengthening community among writers, I serve as a board member and the Vice President of Technology for the Women’s Fiction Writers Association.

Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?

I began writing Releasing the Reins in the summer of 2018. I was working full time in a professional position, so I wrote the novel every morning (every morning) from 5 am to 6 am and every weekend from 5 am to 11 am. I followed the usual process with the intention of finding an agent and a traditional publisher. I wrote the first draft, analyzed it with critique partners, collected feedback from beta readers, revised and edited it several times, and queried agents. Over the course of two years, I had a handful of agents who requested the full manuscript. The manuscript was rejected each time. The feedback I received from agents was that there was not a ready market for the book.

Though I had a significant amount of positive feedback, predictably, doubt was setting in. I was beginning to think that this novel was never going to be read in print. Not only had I made an enormous investment in time and effort, but the story was very close to my heart. I was devastated at the thought it might never be published. Even though I wrote another novel and plotted a third novel while querying, I lost faith. Then, one of my critique partners, an established traditionally-published author, encouraged me to independently publish the book. This is an immense undertaking. I could not imagine doing it while working full time. However, a few weeks later, I met a woman who had independently published several novels. She, too, encouraged me to take the risk, and she pointed out that I already had the technical and project management skills needed to get the job done. So, I created a publishing company. Through classes, writing associations, and networking, I learned all the aspects of the publishing business and created a project plan from drafting to marketing. I hired a cover designer, editor, and formatter, learned how to distribute books in all formats with multiple vendors, and developed a marketing plan. In addition to writing each day, I produced a high quality, professional novel in nine months, which is now distributed all over the world. After the ebook and paperback were released, I learned how to produce an audiobook, hired a professional narrator, and published on the major audio platforms. Releasing the Reins has garnered excellent ratings and reviews. I could have put my novel in a drawer, hoping that someday someone else would love it enough to publish it. I am so glad I found the courage to do it myself. Books are meant to be read.

For you, what’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative?

The most rewarding aspect of being an author is hearing from a reader that something I wrote touched them. Perhaps it resonated with an experience they felt no one else could understand. It might have made them think about something in a new or different way. It could just be a sentence they found to be beautifully written. I want people to feel my writing. The reward is knowing my words have a positive impact on someone.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://catherinematthewsauthor.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/catherinematthewsauthor/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/CatherineMatthewsAuthor/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/catherine-matthews-221945303/
• Other: GoodReads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/17079575.Catherine_MatthewsBookBub: https://www.bookbub.com/authors/catherine-matthews