AUTHORS INTERVIEWING THEIR CHARACTERS: Catharine Riggs
A Difficult Woman Interviews Her Difficult Women
Catharine Riggs
Crystal Love is a former loan analyst at a fictional community bank based in Santa Barbara, California. Single with no children, she recently switched careers and works as an adventure guide in Taormina, Italy, where she resides with her mother, romance author Kathi Wright. Crystal is the protagonist of the psychological suspense thriller What She Gave Away.
Ruth Mosby is the executive director of an exclusive, fictional retirement community located in Santa Barbara, California. A divorced mother of two, she is currently awaiting the arrival of her first grandchild. Ruth is the protagonist of the second thriller in the Santa Barbara Suspense series, What She Never Said.
Catharine: Quite a few readers have labeled you as difficult women. Would you care to respond?
Crystal: I call bullshit on that. I mean, what exactly is a difficult woman? A woman who runs rings around a man? Because the only people who ever called me “difficult” were the incompetent men I worked with who were threatened by my skills. And then there was the ex-boss who dinged me on my annual reviews because I refused to make coffee or fix the copy machine. Total jerk.
Catharine: Interesting. How about you, Ruth?
Ruth: I can relate to Crystal’s frustrations, but I think at my age I’ve gained perspective. Counseling has helped a lot. I admit to being a difficult woman, especially at work. In fact, primarily at work because for so many years I had no personal life, per se. In my case, I went through a terrible time in my late twenties and dealt with my problems by demanding perfection from myself and everyone else. No one could live up to my expectations. I’m much more accepting now.
Catharine: How about in your personal life, Crystal? Did the “difficult” label follow you there?
Crystal: Let’s be honest. I had a shitty upbringing. The kind of upbringing that destroys most kids. My birth parents chucked me and my adoptive parents didn’t want me. I started a fire that nearly killed my grandma and got me sent to juvie. When you’ve had a childhood like that, you can either sink or swim. I decided to swim and if that meant I got into people’s faces, well, that’s just too damn bad. No one was going to look out for me. I had to look out for myself.
Catharine: How about you, Ruth? Idyllic childhood or catastrophe?
Ruth: Somewhere in-between. It’s true my parents were alcoholics and on the cold side but our family life wasn’t that bad. I had a roof over my head and received a decent education so I have them to thank for that.
Catharine: Do your children consider you difficult?
Ruth: (laughing) God, yes. I was difficult and I guess I still am. During the years I strove for perfection, I wanted children who would impress. All-star athletes with stellar grades who rack up hundreds of volunteer hours and secure near-perfect SATs. The ones who get into the most prestigious colleges and are the envy of every parent in town. What I got were two very independent children who had their own hopes and dreams. It took me years to learn I couldn’t bask in their reflections. I’m finally okay with that.
Catharine: I’d like to get your reactions to a couple of reader reviews. Crystal, let’s start with you. “She was awful. I hated her and I couldn’t stop reading. She had no empathy. She was a sociopath willing to manipulate anything to get her way. It was terrifying. She really didn’t care about anyone.”
Crystal: Well, at least your reader found me interesting enough to finish your book. I mean, if I was a mealy-mouthed wimp, would she have wanted to follow along?
Catharine: Probably not. But do you find her description offensive?
Crystal: Honestly, I don’t give a damn what she thinks and as my creator, neither should you. I mean, it’s true in my twenties I was one angry bitch. I came to Santa Barbara to take revenge on a family and things got out of hand. But I’m happier now. I have a boyfriend, my own business and I live with my birth mom in one of the most beautiful places in the world. I’m not saying I’m perfect, but I think I’m better. I’m definitely not so angry anymore.
Catharine: I’m glad to hear that. Ruth, here’s a snippet from your review. “Ruth is the single most unlikeable rule stickler annoying bitchy tattle tale I have ever read.”
Ruth: Ouch. That hurts.
Catharine: Is there any truth to the reader’s words?
Ruth: In the context of your book, I’d say yes. Your story takes place during one of the most challenging periods in my life. For years I’d lived with a horrible secret which was about to be revealed. Exposing that secret was devastating but it was also the best thing that could’ve happened to me.
Catharine: How so?
It forced me to see the truth and accept my shortcomings. To become less rigid and judgmental. I’m so much happier these days.
Catharine: I’m pleased to hear the two of you have evolved in a healthy direction. As authors, we never stop worrying about our characters after we release them into the world.
Ruth: Can we turn the tables for a moment? The title of this article is A Difficult Woman Interviews Her Difficult Women. Do you consider yourself “difficult”?
Catharine: (Laughing) Well if I don’t, others surely do. My mother thought I was difficult because I wouldn’t conform to her version of a girl; the nuns because my goals were other than marriage; a handful of former supervisors and coworkers because I refused to play secretary or tow the corporate line. So yes, I suppose you can say I’m difficult but I wouldn’t have it any other way. You?
Ruth: No.
Crystal: Hell no.
Catharine: That’s good to hear. Thank you for taking time out of your busy schedules. I wish you the best in your future lives.
Catharine Riggs lives and writes on California’s central coast. Before her dive into thrillers, Riggs worked as a business banker, adjunct college instructor, and a nonprofit executive. What She Never Said is the second novel in her Santa Barbara Suspense series. The first, What She Gave Away, was published by Thomas & Mercer in September of 2018. Visit the author online at www.catharineriggs.com.
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WHAT SHE NEVER SAID, Catharine Riggs
People are dying at a luxury retirement community . . . and not from natural causes.
Ruth Mosby is the VP of operations at Serenity Acres, where the privileged elite go to die. For a hefty fee, wealthy retirees can live the good life in this posh Santa Barbara community—even after they outlive their money. Ruth thinks this is a fine arrangement, but the savvy new boss has a new rule: if you can’t pay, you can’t stay.
Ruth is deeply disturbed when destitute residents start dying at an alarming rate, as if on cue. Even more troubling, a macabre note accompanies each departed guest. Surviving guests whisper about an “Angel” who assists with suicides. Ruth has another word for it: murder.
Ruth enlists her neighbor, an ex-detective named Zach, to discover the Angel’s secret identity. However, the two have a painful history, and Ruth has dark secrets all her own. To solve the mystery, Ruth must descend from her golden tower—but can she bear the consequences of revealing her own sinister truths?
“In [the] clever second suspense novel set in Santa Barbara, Calif.…Riggs keeps the tension high to the dramatic climax. Readers will look forward to the next installment.” —Publishers Weekly
“Real-life problems, intriguing characters, greed, passion, and dark secrets are all neatly packed into Catharine Riggs’ newest thriller What She Never Said, a compelling read that will keep you awake well into the night.” —T.R. Ragan, New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of the Lizzy Gardner Series
“Often tense, always page turning, and with well-judged touches of dark humour.” —Ashley Dyer, award-winning author of Splinter in the Blood
“Riggs again delivers a compulsive, unreliable and chilling narrative decades in the making. Beneath the weight of metastasizing secrets, idyllic veneers buckle to reveal shocking truths that will haunt readers long after the final page.” —P. J. Vernon, author of the debut thriller When You Find Me
BUY THE BOOK HERE
Category: Interviews
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Had so much fun reading this fictional interview. Crystal is the kind of women every woman should grow up to be, the one who knows how to have her own back. The one who’s not afraid of this world. Love her character.