Today we’d like to introduce you to Catherine Butterfield
Hi Catherine, can you start by introducing yourself? We’d love to learn more about how you got to where you are today?
I was born in Manhattan, but grew up mainly in Minnesota and Massachusetts As a little girl I wrote plays that I would cast my brother and sisters in (there are five of us) and present to the neighborhood kids. Early on, my dream was to act, and after graduating from SMU with a degree in theatre I began my professional career, performing in regional theatres around the country and Off-Broadway. I soon became intrigued by the idea of writing my own plays, and the chance to act in one of my own plays at the Manhattan Theatre Club launched my career as a playwright. An opportunity to write a TV movie led me to Los Angeles, where I became a writer-producer for TV (Party of Five, FAME LA, The Ghost Whisperer, Grimm) and did uncredited but lucrative rewrites of film scripts. There are writers whose entire careers consist of rewriting other people’s work and never being recognized for it, but that wasn’t my path; I continue to write plays, shot 60 + short films during the pandemic, and a trip to an artists’ retreat in France inspired me to write my first novel, “The Serpent and the Rose.” It is, frankly, something I never thought I would be capable of doing, so I am delighted that it turned out as well as it did.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
Smooth? NO! It has been a history of rejection and disappointment, followed by glowing opportunities, followed by more rejection and disappointment. There is no snowball effect, where the ball gets bigger and gains speed as it rolls down the hill. It’s more like Sisyphus constantly pushing a boulder upward, and that hill is very steep indeed. Being a woman when I started out as a playwright in the ’90’s was difficult. My agent was always being told by theatres that they had chosen their “woman play” for the season, singular. Not that it’s a bed of roses for female playwrights now, but it is much better. As an actress — well, the stories of creepsters are true, but as I was mainly in classical theatre I think I escaped a lot of it. My years as a regional theater actress were among my happiest creatively. As a screenwriter, I’ve had a number of films that were on their way to getting made, but something always happened to scuttle the deal — the star would back out, or the producer would leave for another company, or we’d lose the director and the thing would go into turnaround, from which there is generally no return. As a TV writer, I had some luck as a writer/producer on other people’s shows, but creating my own has so far not come to pass I had a project with Candace Bushnell that made it all the way to the starting gate — but at the last minute the network changed their mind. It’s a frustrating business!
Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
For the early part of my life, I was known as an actress. Then I became recognized as a playwright, and now a novelist. I think I specialize in bringing life to sometimes thorny characters, making them relatable in spite of – or because of – their flaws. I attempt to give them psychological complexity while at the same time never losing the humor, even in the most deadly serious of subjects. As for what sets me apart, a few of my friends have said they consider me brave for going outside what they would consider the comfort zone. I went to Haiti to research a film, which was an unforgettable experience, but my greatest creative leap of faith was in attempting to write “The Serpent and the Rose” as a novel. All my life I have felt that writing a novel was beyond my abilities, but the book has been very well received and I am extremely proud of that accomplishment.
How do you think about happiness?
I’m happiest when I am fully immersed in a story that I am driven to tell, that occupies me fully and causes me to feel “in the zone.” The zone is a happy place to be. When I’m not “zoning,” I love to travel, to open myself up to new worlds. I sometimes travel with my husband, but the freedom that one feels traveling alone is unlike any other experience I know. It’s essential to me to have the time to be alone with my thoughts. I think every writer feels this way
Pricing:
- 19.99 – the price of “The Serpent and the Rose.”
- 5.99 — price of the ebook
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.catherinebutterfield.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/catherine.butterfield/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/butterfieldauthor
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCts7cG3EiUMgqJsLPgSuTLw
Image Credits
