What is Catharine Riggs reading?

Featured at Writers Read: Catharine Riggs, author of What She Gave Away.

Her entry begins:

I tend not to read my contemporaries while I’m in in the midst of writing and/or editing a novel and I’m doing both at the moment. I steer away as I’m concerned the author’s voice might bleed into my head. I write voice before plot so I must be careful to keep the demarcation clear. For whatever reason, I don’t have that concern with the classics. If they can improve my writing, game on. Right now, I’m rereading Eleven, a collection of Patricia Highsmith’s short stories written between 1945 and 1970 and first published as a collection in 1980. She is a master of the craft. Who else can write a story about death by snails that leaves you trembling on the edge of your seat?

Even the introduction catches my attention, written by another grandmaster, Graham Greene. He doesn’t categorize her writing as...[read on]

About What She Gave Away, from the publisher:

Revenge is anything but sweet in this twisty thriller about two women with very different lives locked in the same deadly game.

Imagining the best way to destroy a person’s happiness is Crystal Love’s favorite game. Devious and unpolished, the plus-sized loan analyst couldn’t be more out of place in her new town of Santa Barbara, where the beautifully manicured women never age and the ocean views stretch farther than the million-dollar lawns. And yet her eye for the power dynamics at play in this tony community is dead accurate.

Kathi Wright, on the other hand, has made it her life’s work to fit in with the plastic people who surround her. But when her husband—a wealthy bank president—dies suddenly, she’s left with nothing. Then the FBI shows up, asking questions she can’t answer and freezing assets she once took for granted.

While Kathi struggles to outrun the mess caused by her husband’s mysterious death, Crystal seems focused on her game. But why? And who are her targets?

Spanning two years and told in Crystal’s and Kathi’s alternating voices, this tautly plotted novel reveals the power of choice and the price of revenge.

Visit Catharine Riggs's website.

My Book, The Movie: What She Gave Away.

The Page 69 Test: What She Gave Away.

Writers Read: Catharine Riggs.

--Marshal Zeringue