Interview with DRC

 I have been honoured to be allowed to intervew the infamous cat lady... oops talented writer, DRC, AKA Dawn Cartwright. I have been given a fascinating insight into the world, and fridge of the writer of

Which can be found Here and Here

So, without further ado... I give you.... DR Cartwright (not to be confused with JR Hartley)


* What would I find if I looked in your fridge?

Erm…I’ll be honest, not a lot.  Always milk, butter, eggs, maybe some cheese and few random bits and pieces.  My husband is a lorry driver and away during the week.  At the weekends we eat like kings (and queens) but during the week I don’t eat that much.  I don’t see the point in cooking for one.  You can call me lazy if you want.  Sometimes I’ll cook a big meal, like stew, and freeze some so that I can finish it off during the week.  Because of this life style there’s never really much food in the fridge, and then my husband comes home on Friday night and complains because he’s hungry and there’s nothing.  Then we go out on our weekly shop…

* Is your house clear or cluttered? If clear, where has all the clutter gone? If cluttered, what clutters the most… toys, books, DVD’s…?

Hmm…clear or cluttered?  As I sit here and look around I realize that it’s somewhere in between.  I prefer it clear but life sometimes gets in the way.  We live a two bedroom bungalow that’s over three-hundred years old.  There’s not that much storage space to be honest, but we do our best.  My thousands of CDs and DVDs are tucked nicely away in cabinets and so are my books.  I think one thing that doesn’t help is the fact that I’m employed but work from home, so everything you’d expect to see at an office desk is sitting right here in my front room which makes it look cluttered.  I do like a tidy desk though.

* What’s your most treasured possession?

My Persian cat, Daisy-Mae.  I am a crazy cat lady after all… 

* If your house was burning down, what 5 things (other than your most prized possession) would you take and why?

So apart from my cat?  She would obviously be the first thing I’d make sure was out.  The next would be my memory stick.  I don’t trust computers a hundred percent when it comes to storing files and am always paranoid that I’m going to loose my work.  I have back-up copies everywhere but my main memory stick is what I usually work from.  It also contains all my notes and research for my current WIP, AND it means that no matter where I am, if there’s a computer I can work.

The next would be my other memory stick.  This holds a copy of everything I’ve written via computer.  My earlier works were handwritten.  That pile would be the third thing I’d grab.

Does my husband count?  He’ll be fourth.  Everything else in the house in immaterial in truth.  Yes, they’re treasured.  They make my house a home, but as long as I have these few possessions with me I’m happy, and things can always be replaced.  If I have to choose a fifth though, I’d grab my Enchantica model collection.  I’m a sucker for Enchantica dragons, wizards and witches.  Some pieces are worth a couple of hundred pounds, and some I’ve dreamed of owning since I was a kid.  Now I have them it’ll be difficult to watch them burn.  

* What’s your earliest childhood memory?

Being pushed down the shops by my mum in a pushchair with a plastic rain cover over it.  I was warm and cosy and the sound of the rain on the plastic cover used to send me to sleep.  Even to this day I love the sound of rain and running water.  I find it so tranquil and relaxing. 

* What achievement are you most proud of?

I started my first novel when I was ten and finished it just before my twelfth birthday.  I had the story I wanted to write for years and I always remember picking up a pen determined to start it, but being seven or eight years old there were a hundred and one other things to preoccupy myself with.  I tried five or six times to start it but it never went anywhere.  Then when I was ten I tried again, picked up my pen, started writing and never stopped.  If I hadn’t started that day I often wonder if I’d be writing today.  My first novel – 76 handwritten pages and fully illustrated too – is my proudest achievement, and I still cherish it to this day.   

* What are you least proud of?

Backing out from a move from Hertfordshire to Devon with my parents at the last minute.  I was nineteen (I think) and all set to go with them.  I didn’t go to college and at the time I had nothing to really keep me here but then while my parents were house hunting, I joined a local amateur theatre and fell in love with it.  My parents were devastated when I said I didn’t want to go and I know I really hurt them.  But they got over it; I visit when ever I can (free holiday as they live right on the coast) and now with the joys of skype, I talk to them nearly everyday.  If I could go back though, I’d like to handle the situation differently.

* Tell me one thing that no one else knows about you

I’m crazier than the crazy cat lady.  I can’t help it.  If I had my way I’d have a big house out in the sticks somewhere where I could run a sanctuary for Persian cats – but don’t tell my husband this…lol

* Tell me one thing that you really wouldn’t want anyone to know about you.

Erm…I could quite easily become a recluse.  Being agoraphobic comes to mind, but on the odd occasion I do enjoy going out.  I enjoy my own company, and now that I work from home it means I don’t have to go anywhere.  I suppose this is why my marriage is a happy one.  My husband is a born and bred lorry driver, and if he was in a job where he came home every night, he’d get bored and unhappy.  Him being away most of week works out quite nicely for both of us.  Of course, I also love it when he comes home. 

* What is your greatest hope for the future?

Apart from my Persian cat sanctuary???  To see my book/s on a shelf in Waterstones.  It’s always been a dream of mine, which is probably why I’m a bit of a traditionalist when it comes to publishing.  It’s what I’m aiming for, and when (yes, WHEN) that time comes I would have achieved my ultimate goal.

* Now that we know all about you, is there anything you would like to tell us about your work, what you are working on, what you have out there for us to rush out and buy, how much you love/hate your publisher. Anything at all you want us to know.

I am, according to my heart, a fantasy/horror writer.  I’ve dabbled with other genres but I feel more content writing this.  It’s who I am, and I feel that’s important when writing.  If you’re writing something that you’re not hundred percent into or enjoying, then it often shows in the quality.  Writing becomes a chore instead of a passion and it’s a shame when it gets to that point. 

At the moment I’m working on a fantasy series.  My series is a collection of stand-alone stories that are set in one world.  This allows me to explore different storylines without being attached to the same characters.  It also allows me to explore the world I’ve created in full.  It’s full of dark legends and steeped in history.  Each location could make a novel in itself.  At the moment I’m writing the fourth installment, Lady of the Seas, which is based in a seafaring city and on galleon ships, and there are three other novels in the series planned for a later date.  No doubt more will come.  I’m hoping to one day find a publishing agent for these.

In the meantime I dabble with other genres and have a psychological thriller published and available for Amazon Kindle.  It’s published under Starfish PC, which is a something our writers’ circle put together to publish our own work.  It’s called ‘Son of Jack’ and, in a society shadowed by a dark serial killer, explores how the same fear and paranoia affects the lives of four strangers.  I do plan, at some point in the future, to publish other works under the same publisher, but that won’t be for a while yet.         

Starfish Publication
DRC's awesome blog WTF. Writing Thrilling Fiction

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