Hi, glad to meet you.
I’m a workaholic German-born novelist and artist who lives in Key West where enjoying life is pretty easy: I can work, work, work and then ride my rusty bike to the Green Parrot, groove to some live music and enjoy a tequila on the rocks. I like to be efficient—this along with a certain (ahem) doggedness—has allowed me to collaborate on, write, and publish many books. However… I’m aware that slowing down and paying attention makes life much richer.
Each month, I share some of what fuels my creative life.
With this newsletter, I seek to inspire others to do their best “work,” and I also love sharing ideas and creating a community in which we seek to help and learn from one another. It makes writing way more fun and less lonely.
There’s a section dedicated specifically to writing called “Anatomy of a Novel,” to which you’ll automatically be subscribed. Follow along each week as I write, or try to write, drafts of novel #4, and learn about process, strategy and overcoming doubts.
“Writing is like driving at night in the fog. You can only see as far as your headlights, but you can make the whole trip that way,” said E. L. Doctorow.
If you’re not interested in this deep dive into fiction writing, you can stay subscribed to “The Curious Kat” and opt out of “Anatomy of a Novel.” No offense taken!
What’s my story?
My family moved to Brooklyn from Freiburg, Germany when I was two years old, and then to London when I was eleven. By the time I was five I’d discovered a love of writing, and I dreamed of becoming a teacher (like my mother). I went from being a minority in my public school classroom in NY to attending an elite girls’ school in the UK—in both places I was most definitely an outsider and I quickly learned to study human behavior.
I worked as a talk show researcher at NPR, spent a decade collaborating on and writing nonfiction books, slogged away at my fiction, and now work part time at a small literary nonprofit running their workshop and scholarship programs (I get to hobnob with some amazing writers). Oh, and I was on Today on NBC twice!
A few years ago I published my first novel, The Forgotten Hours (a Washington Post and Amazon charts bestseller that’s been optioned for development). This Terrible Beauty came after that, and I recently finished another novel, Madame B., set in 1965 Ibiza. Now I’m working on my latest (which I’m writing about in the section of this Substack called Anatomy of a Novel).
During Covid, I launched #firstfivepages, in which I gave free critiques to writers of the opening pages of their books. It not only saved my sanity but I learned that I can see strengths and weaknesses of the entire arc and premise by diving into just five pages! I still do that work. I also teach writing in Key West, through GrubStreet, and who knows, you might find me talking on panels at conferences like Writers Digest or The Muse.
Will you join me?
My goal is to bring you interesting (and brief) stories, beautiful images and out-of-the-box recommendations once a month that will inspire you. You’ll get some behind the scenes tidbits about publishing (hold your hats… some rough seas out there). I’ll offer recommendations and writing tips, and I hope we’ll get to talk through the comments section.
In my “Anatomy of a Novel” section of the newsletter (if you choose to continue subscribing to it), you’ll get real-time, behind-the-scenes details on how I shape drafts of my fiction.
