Ask the Author: Rachel Cathan
Answered Questions (3)
Rachel Cathan
I change the scenery. It doesn't seem to matter where I go; a busy city can be just as inspiring as a tropical island (just as well, since it's a lot cheaper to visit a busy city). The important thing for me is to change my perspective; to step back from my own life and take in the bigger picture for a while.
I also choose a soundtrack to accompany whatever I'm writing. This sounds like a great way to procrastinate (and it probably is!) but, when you juggle writing with other commitments, you have to learn to transport yourself quickly into the world you're creating, and I find that an atmospheric soundtrack is the fastest way to get yourself there.
I also choose a soundtrack to accompany whatever I'm writing. This sounds like a great way to procrastinate (and it probably is!) but, when you juggle writing with other commitments, you have to learn to transport yourself quickly into the world you're creating, and I find that an atmospheric soundtrack is the fastest way to get yourself there.
Rachel Cathan
My first book, 336 Hours, is a fictional diary, inspired by my and my husband's real life experiences of infertility and IVF. I wrote this story to shine a light on the secret world of suffering that all those with infertility try so hard to hide from the world. I also wanted to create some sense of camaraderie with every other woman (and man) who has found themselves in the desperate pursuit of something (whether a pregnancy or something entirely different) that is forever slipping further from their reach.
Infertility causes you to re-evaluate everything in life that once felt so certain, and it's this enforced reflection on life and soul-searching that I wanted to explore through the story. Alongside the seriousness of the subject matter, I have tried to include a healthy dose of humour. If you have an appreciation for the darker side of life, then there is certainly a great deal of humour to be found in the insanity of fertility treatment. And if there's one thing that every IVF patient needs (aside from a positive pregnancy test, that is), it's the opportunity to stand still for a moment and laugh at what something like infertility will undoubtedly do to the human condition.
Infertility causes you to re-evaluate everything in life that once felt so certain, and it's this enforced reflection on life and soul-searching that I wanted to explore through the story. Alongside the seriousness of the subject matter, I have tried to include a healthy dose of humour. If you have an appreciation for the darker side of life, then there is certainly a great deal of humour to be found in the insanity of fertility treatment. And if there's one thing that every IVF patient needs (aside from a positive pregnancy test, that is), it's the opportunity to stand still for a moment and laugh at what something like infertility will undoubtedly do to the human condition.
Rachel Cathan
Write. Write whenever the moods takes you and, importantly, when it doesn't. Write when you have the golden opportunity to do so, and write when time will only allow for the jotting down of a few half-formed ideas. Make sure that, whatever is happening in your life, writing is something that you always just do; you never know what might develop from the fifteen minutes you grabbed when you felt sure you were not in the right frame of mind to produce anything worthwhile.
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