A wee visit from Cat Connor.

Howdy folks, Cat Connor here!

Hope y’all having a fine whatever-day-it-is where you are. Before I launch into the inquisition of SSA Conway, I mean ask Ellie a few questions… would you all please join me in wishing our most fabulous Hagelrat a very very happy birthday!

She’s off celebrating today and has let me loose on her blog. Wise? We’ll see! If you can’t trust a fellow Sagittarian (or two) who can you trust? And Ellie is totally trust worthy, hello – badge and gun.

So there you have it. Cat Connor (that’s me) the kiwi author of killerbyte and terrorbyte, and SSA Ellie Conway the American main character of killerbyte and terrorbyte. We’re here to chat and maybe enlighten you some regarding our relationship.

I thought it would be fun if I asked Ellie a few questions. (I prepared some earlier –she has no clue –surprise!)

Q. Ellie, you’re the main character in both killerbyte and terrorbyte, and there are more adventures to come. What’s it like working with Cat?

A. It’s not bad. She’s quite easy to get along with –mostly she listens and writes it as I tell her. Sometimes she gets a bit ‘I’m the writer’ over scenes. That can get ugly real quick.

Q. In killerbyte, a killer preyed on your chat room friends. And in terrorbyte, the Unsub chooses victims from your Foundation forums. Does that make you want to keep off the internet?

A. Quite honestly it makes me want to curl up in a little ball and sob like a 3-yr-old whose sand castle was stomped on. I hate the idea that I’m providing hunting grounds for psychos. My screen name doesn’t pop up anywhere near as often as it used too, so yeah, a lower profile, which isn’t very easy. I don’t know if it will help. I seem to be a freak magnet and freaks are everywhere.

Q. Christmas is approaching fast. How do you celebrate?

A. My mother-in-law owns Christmas. I think she beat Santa with something akin to a vacuum cleaner pipe until he let her have Christmas. We are summoned to attend my in-laws by eight on Christmas morning. (My brother and father are included in the directive.) Mac’s brother, Eddie, starts drinking on Christmas Eve and doesn’t stop until he passes out sometime on the 26^th. Last year Eddie (the bother-in-law from hell) bailed me up in the kitchen and wanted me to run away with him – he got a little handsy for my liking. His ex-wife was propositioning Mac in the living room at the time. This year I’ll be wearing body armor, a side arm, and a stun gun. Perhaps I’ll adorn my vest with tinsel and maybe I’ll make Eddie wet his pants by zapping him as he staggers by. I know, it’s mean but damned if he doesn’t ruin Christmas every freaking year. Just quietly, making Eddie pee himself is more fun than a hot summer with six-pack and a bug zapper.

Q. When you look back over the adventures you’ve shared with us, so far. What one thing has had the greatest impact on you?

I don’t think I can narrow it down to one thing. Having my poetry splashed about crime scenes has had a huge impact on me. So much so that I have stopped writing. I haven’t written a poem since the whole Jack Griffin/Son of Shakespeare incident in killerbyte but that didn’t stop someone using one of my poems in terrorbyte. Having ones house explode is a life-changing thing. Discovering the dismembered bodies of friends –does leave an impression. There’s always a silver lining, you just have to look – sometimes really hard! The Butterfly Foundation is a positive aspect that was possible because of the hell we went through. It was our dream to provide support and help for kids of the mentally ill. That was a dream we achieved and an ongoing project, I’m quite proud of it. The other thing that has changed my life completely isn’t something I want to talk about. You’ll have to read terrorbyte; I believe the question answers itself.

Sorry, I’d like to leave it here. Just got a call into work. No rest for the wicked. Thanks Cat for springing this on me, and many happy returns Hagelrat!

Ellie x

And with that Ellie has ridden off into the sunset… and I shall now head off to bed. It’s nighttime here at the bottom of the world.

Thank you for having us. And go buy my books!!