Catriona McPherson - 5 questions

Terri Bischoff

Hi all! Today I asked Catriona McPherson five questions. I knew Catriona would be game. If you aren't familiar with Catriona, she is Scot living in California, one of my most favorite humans on this planet, and a multiple award winning author. The Reek of Red Herrings (A Dandy Gilver mystery published by St. Martin's Press) recently won the Lefty for best historical and is nominated in the same category for the Agatha's. Quiet Neighbors (published by Midnight Ink) is a finalist for the Mary Higgins Clark award and the Agatha award for Best Novel.

 

And without further delay, here are the random questions and Catriona's awesome answers.

Is your desk messy or clean?

Very organised, but not exactly tidy. I've got piles of things that need to be dealt with, with post-it notes on top telling me the date they need to be dealt with by, and they're backed up by notes on a whiteboard. And I've got a "The Bairn from The Broons" (Google it) bag where I put receipts to enter into my tax-preparation folder. And then there's a wire basket of stuff I'm going to need to refer to in some way but an email will alert me (so it doesn't need to be a pile with a post-it note). On a separate desk is everything to do with the work-in-progress and it does get a bit lively towards the end of a draft.

Have you mastered gluten free baking? 

I haven't really mastered anything-free anything, or tried. Fat, dairy, gluten, meat, sugar . . . I kind of love all those things best.  I am making leavening-free vegetables for a Passover Seder at fellow writer Eileen Rendahl's house on Saturday and I can do vegetarian and vegan food for guests. BUT! I once made a hasty vegetarian meal for a pal's boyfriend who mentioned it for the first time when he saw my lovely roast chicken hitting the table. I  found out ten minutes later he ate fish, from a chippy (in Britain) that fries in beef dripping. He shrugged as if he was being adorable. They broke up.

You just won $1,000 in the lottery. What do you do with it?  (follow up) You just won $1M. What do you do with that?!

$1K would sink into the maw of this house without hitting the sides. We need new doors and windows, an exterior paint job and one day should really move the dumpster-dived bath out of the garage into the master-bathroom. And then there are the things I'd like to do: refloor, put a deck and pergola along the front. I live in the Ugliest House in California and it would look a lot better with a heavy veil.

$1M. See above plus a pool. I think Neil and I would make great lottery winners. We would both keep at our same jobs (writer and biology professor) and we'd stay in the same house. I wouldn't change my car but I'd worry less if it made funny noises. I think that's my answer - I'd worry less. 

If you could travel anywhere in the world right at this moment, where would you go?

Back to Hawaii! I went there for the first time for Left Coast Crime this spring and fell in love. I'd like to be there again (with the $1M from above) and have time to explore instead of being at panels. Or, as ever, Edinburgh, to surprise my Mum and Dad. I've never been anywhere in Africa. Hawaii-Africa-Mums's would keep me out the way of the builders doing my floor and pool, right?

If you were a baseball player, what song would you choose for your walk to the plate?

Baseball question, eh? I got the baseball question right at the pub quiz in Davis on Monday night.  Let me explain. I wasn't listening, and Eileen (her again) leaned forward and said "Catriona: name a baseball player." I said "Alive or dead?" She said "Alive" I said "Madison Baumgartner", which was the right answer. Dead would have been Babe Ruth. Those are my two baseball answers. A song? Hmmmmmm. How about J.J. Cale's "A Thing Going On" - which there wouldn't be.

 

Thanks for joining me today! Next week I will torture some other poor soul. Have a great week. :)

 

Comments

[Ruth Nixon]

Great blog and even better answers. Catriona is very to love.

[catriona mcpherson]

D'awwwww. Thanks, Ruth.

[Eileen]

You are one of the few people (including my actual siblings!) that I can count on to make leavening and gluten-free vegetarian vegetables for any meal, but the potatoes are especially appreciated at Passover!

Also, I really wanted you to be able to gloat to Neil that you got the baseball question right at Pub Quiz. Now if any of us had actually known anything about basketball or Rhianna, we'd have been in the winner's circle!

P.S. Love the pic of us!

[Aimee]

Madison Baumgartner is my go-to answer for anything from now on.

[Kathy Reel]

Terri and Catriona. You know it will be interesting, and you know you will laugh. xo

[Ann Mason.]

Great fun! I never put leavening in vegetables. And mine always rise to the occasion. 'Splain?

[catriona mcpherson]

Well, yes. Eileen has some loved ones who make very fancy side dishes and the vegetables aren't always vegetarian. Once, the Passover vegetables had bacon in them. Seriously.

[Eileen]

You might (or might not) be shocked at the number of times that's worked for her.

[Ritter Ames]

Terrific fun post!

[Cynthia Kuhn]

Love this post! (Favorite answer: "I'd worry less.")