If you’ve ever had the misfortune of talking to me about genre fiction or sex in literature you know that I like to start a lot of sentences with “Well, in my sex writing class. . . ” Then I spout off something I learned in my sex writing class or that I’m trying to pretend like I learned there. It gives me more credibility, right? In case you’re curious, I took that class at The Loft. It’s called Inflagranti Delicto: Writing Good Sex Scenes. You can take it too. It’s only a day, and you’ll learn a ton and laugh a lot (by the way nobody paid me or even asked me to talk about the class. I did it because the class (and The Loft by extension) is that good).
Why am I telling you all that? Because Catherine Lundoff, who is answering our six questions this week, teaches that class! How awesome is that? Besides teaching at The Loft, Catherine is the award-winning author of two short story collections, Crave: Tales of Lust, Love and Longing and Night’s Kiss. She is also the editor of the fantasy and horror anthology Haunted Hearths and Sapphic Shades: Lesbian Ghost Stories and co-editor, with JoSelle Vanderhooft, of the forthcoming anthology Hellebore and Rue: Tales of Queer Women and Magic.
Also, Catherine’s doing two readings in the next month or so. First she’ll be reading at 7 p.m. Thursday, April 28, at Hamline University (Kay Fredericks Ballroom of the Klas Center), 1535 Taylor Avenue, St. Paul. Then she’ll be taking part in the multi-author erotica reading on May 26th at the Form+Content Gallery, 210 N 2nd St. Minneapolis as part of the Love Never Dies exhibit.
What book(s) are you currently reading?
I'm currently reading Booklife: Strategies and Survival Tips for the 21st Century Writer by Jeff VanderMeer, Heat of Fusion and Other Stories by John M. Ford, and Slow River by Nicola Griffith. I'm finding Booklife pretty fascinating ? VanderMeer writes with so much energy that I keep getting exciting about the business of writing. The other two are going a bit slower but are providing a lot of contrasting reading pleasure.
Have you ever had a crush on a fictional character? Who?
Jamethial from P.C. Hodgell's Godstalker fantasy series. Or at least I can get it down to her or Elizabeth Bennett. Jame is an utterly fascinating character: thief, warrior, possibly a fallen goddess or perhaps just the rightful queen.
If your favorite author came to Minnesota, who would it be and what bar would you take him/her to?
I'll pick Jane Austen but the bar part's a bit harder since I don't think she was much of a bar kind of gal. Maybe Grumpy's downtown, because who doesn't love killer tater tots and yummy guacamole? It would seem pretty tasty in comparison with most Regency cuisine.
What was your first favorite book?
Alice in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll. My mom started reading it to me when I was four or so. I didn't think she was going fast enough, so I started reading it myself so I could find out what happened next.
Let’s say Fahrenheit 451 comes to life, which book would you become in order to save it from annihilation?
The Grass Dancer by Susan Power. This is one of my favorite novels ? an amazing, multi-layered magical realist tale set in a Dakota Sioux community. There's so much going on here that I'd be happy to attempt to memorize it.
What is one book you haven’t read but want to read before you die?
I actually have a list of every book that I've read since I was about ten years old so I can verify what I've already read, scary as that may seem. I'm still trying to get into Wide Sargasso Sea by Jean Rhys, which seems like a book that I might find fascinating if I could only begin. Well, that and maybe anything by Anthony Trollope, only because I keep being told that I'll eventually like him if I keep trying.