Interview Katherine Pym

by

Douglas Ponton

1)      Do you write better early in the morning or late at night?

I do better in the morning unless I’m impassioned or on a deadline.

2)    Can you tell me a little about your life outside writing?

I’m married to a wonderful man.  We were childhood sweethearts and reconnected after several years, finding we traveled like paths all those years apart.  We also have a puppy dog, and I enjoy singing opera.  I’ve been in many theatre productions, always singing.

3)      Is this your first book? If not, how does it compare with your other work?

This is my third book.  My other works--also historical fiction--deal with 1660’s London.  The First Apostle is historical fiction, but of the French Revolution. 

4)      Where did you get the idea for it?

As I began to study the era, I found a picture of Camille Desmoulins. Camille was a journalist and pampleteer, whose story also reads like a romance.  I scoured libraries, borrowing books from all over the USA, then when I could not find what I wanted, I sold everything, and took my children to England for a year, finding what I needed there.

5)      What are your sources of inspiration as a writer?

History, folklore, people, gossip, real actions and reactions, and I’m constantly amazed how we never change, no matter how the world changes. 

6)    Which part of the book gave you the most satisfaction/trouble?

Building the character of Camille was difficult because he was so flawed, but as I learned more about him, I fell in love with him, too.  Historians don’t paint a very nice picture of Camille.  If you look at the history, all of his counterparts are called by their last names, i.e., Danton or Robespierre.  No one ever called my character Desmoulins, or if they did, it was rare. 

7)    Do you think you have it in you to write a better novel?

I don’t know.  The undertaking to write The First Apostle changed my life and those of my children, when we re-established in a different environment across the pond.  Writing of Camille’s life and the way it ended took its toll.  Something astonishing will have to happen for me to poor so much passion into another novel as The First Apostle.

8)     Would you prefer to be remembered for something you wrote or something you did?

I would prefer to be remembered by something I wrote.

9)    What would you like readers to take away from your book?

That life is complicated, and people, even with flaws and no matter the outcome, generally strive to do what they think is right.

10)   What’s your favourite part of your favourite novel?

The favorite part of all my novels are the character developments.  I love the way characters have a way of popping out of the pages, as if I had nothing to do with it.  I’ll write something and think, That’s different.  I wasn’t expecting this.