"The Beginning" Guest Post by Katie Gallagher, Author of 'Catching You'

The Beginning

By

Katie Gallagher

I began writing my novel, Catching You, in November 2008 for NaNowrimo, a month long competition to write a 50k novel. My husband was in the Army at the time and we were living in Junction City, K. He was stationed at Fort Riley. 

 

I spent most of my day cleaning the house, watching TV, and of course, writing. I wrote in our guest room that only had an air mattress and a desk with our computer on it. It was a far cry from my dream office, but it did the job. I would begin writing in the morning after my husband left for the day and stop about 3’oclock in the afternoon right before he came home. I’d take a break for lunch, but even while I was downstairs, my notebook wasn’t far away just in case the muse spoke to me. 

 

I had the Winamp cued up with a playlist of songs that ranged anywhere from Taylor Swift to Nickelback and even Evanescence. Since I’m what you would call a caffeine addict, I usually had a Mountain Dew or Pepsi with me on the desk while being careful not to spill it on the keyboard. Not all of that time was spent writing though. I’d also surf the internet, i.e.: Facebook, and other writing websites. At first, I just wanted to win NaNowrimo, but pretty soon I began really enjoying myself. 

 

I began to see it as movie scenes and it became easier and easier to write. First it was I Know What You did Last Summer and finally it melted into something along the lines of an episode of Pretty Little Liars. Who killed Ryan Carmichael? 

 

I sent it off to a few agents, but didn’t get any responses. Finally, at the urging of my friend and fellow author, Breanne Rowe, now Breanne Best, writing under the pseudonym J. S, Chancellor, I sat down and began to edit it again. That’s when I figured out that I couldn’t do it by myself. Breanne knew someone who would edit it for cheap and I sent them an email.

That was August 2011 and a month later she had it done. After I finished those edits, I felt like it still wasn’t finished. So, I sent it off to my friend Megan to look over. We emailed back and forth for a few months, meeting every once in a while for coffee to talk. I had a personal goal to finish it in February, but I didn’t make it. Finally, this past June, I decided that it was finally good enough to send to a publisher. So, I sent it off to three different publishers on a whim and just waited. I got the good news that I was part of the Lazy Day team three weeks later.

Author Bio

 

Katie Gallagher lives in Pennsylvania where she spends her time writing young adult fiction, and avoiding housework at any cost. She loves coffee, watching reality TV, and flip flops. She lives with her husband, who graciously tolerates her inability to resist teenage drama on TV and her complete lack of cooking skills, and two very spoiled cats.

Website
Twitter - @Katie_Gallgher

Suspense/Thriller

Title: Catching You

Author: Katie Gallagher

Date Published:11/5/12

Synopsis: 

This was supposed to be the best summer of Lauren’s life. It turns out to be the worst.

After Lauren wakes up in the hospital and learns that her boyfriend Ryan has died, her life slowly begins to unravel. She soon begins receiving mysterious text messages that make her wonder if his death was even an accident like everyone is saying. She finds herself leaning on Nick, her boyfriend’s best friend, for support. He tells her tidbits about Ryan’s life that make her wonder if she even knew her own boyfriend at all. Now, she’s even more determined to learn the truth about Ryan’s death and she wonders who she’s able to trust. She starts confiding in her best friend, Bryn, until she remembers something about the accident that makes her wonder if she’s trusted the wrong person the entire time. She’s determined to get justice for Ryan, but can she do it without losing her best friends?

Read an excerpt:

“Go away!” I yelled. The knock came again. Whoever it was wasn’t listening. The door opened and Elisabeth stood in the doorway. She was wearing pink sweatpants with Aero on the butt, a white, short sleeved t-shirt that said “This one time at band camp…” and pink flip flops. She had her dark brown hair thrown in a messy ponytail and it looked like it hadn’t been washed since yesterday.

“Oh hey, how’d you get in here? Visiting hours aren’t until 11:00 am, it’s only 9:30,” I said, glancing up at the clock.

“I told the nurse I was your sister,” she replied.

“That’s priceless.” I smiled. She didn’t smile back. She looked down at her nails and began picking at her manicure.  

“You can come closer. I’m not contagious,” I said, trying to lighten the mood.

            She began bouncing from one foot to another. “I’m sorry to hear about Ryan.”

            “Thanks.” I glanced over at Elisabeth; she’d moved further into the room, but was still keeping her distance.

            “That’s better,” I said. She smiled sadly.

            “So, what’s going on?”  I asked.

            “Nothing. I heard about the accident and wanted to come visit you. I had to make sure you were all right. After hearing that Ryan died, I was scared. They told me that you were okay, but I had to see for myself.”

“Thanks. Physically I’m all right, except the ribs, but mentally may take a while. I can tell that something else is wrong, now spill it,” I joked.

“Um, Ryan told me he broke up with you. Is it true?”               

“Yeah, he did.” I frowned. “How did you know that? It just happened yesterday after graduation.”

            Elisabeth was quiet for a moment. “That’s what we were talking about afterwards. I saw you looking over at us. I’m the reason, Lauren”

I stuttered, “Wha…What do you mean you’re the reason?”

            “I’m the reason you two broke up. Ryan and I were seeing each other. We have been for a while now.. I told him I wasn’t going to continue sneaking around behind your back.” She paused. “It was either you or me. He couldn’t have both anymore.”

            She continued talking, but I stopped listening. I couldn’t take this right now. I felt sick to my stomach. I leaned down, grabbed the basin the nurse left earlier and took a deep breath waiting for the nausea to pass. It didn’t. 

            A few minutes later, I threw up everything that I’d eaten the day before and my chest felt like it was on fire. Elisabeth came over, “Are you okay? Do you want me to get the doctor?” she asked quietly.

I shook my head. “ No. I just want you to leave.”

            “Lauren, about what I said…” Her words trail off.

 “Get out!”  I yelled. Elisabeth just stood there. “I said get out!” I repeated.

            “I’m sorry,” she said.

            “Yeah, I am, too,” I said voice muffled into my pillow. I turned away hoping she’d get the hint.  I waited until I heard retreating footsteps to look and see if she was gone.

I couldn’t believe I heard her right… she and Ryan had been “seeing” each other behind my back. My best friend, my boyfriend.  I thought he loved me.

Buy link: http://amzn.to/T4E4Bd