Interview with Catherine Jones Payne
How would you describe your spiritual and/or religious beliefs, and how would you say they influence your writing?
I’m an Anglican Christian, and I take that faith very seriously. Anglicanism is a tradition rich in liturgy, beauty, and symbolism. My books don’t usually have an explicit Christian angle, but you’ll find that I often wrestle with intrinsically spiritual questions in them. Breakwater, for example, examines questions of justice and violence. I try to approach those deeper themes with humility (I don’t have all the answers, and my characters certainly don’t) and honesty, because I believe that genuine faith doesn’t have to shut itself away from hard issues or fear the light of truth.
Why do you think you became a writer, and why speculative fiction?
I’ve been writing since I was small. In one of my earliest memories, I’m writing a story on my parents’ old DOS computer, wearing a tiara and probably my Cinderella “glass slippers.” And fantasy has always had a special place in …
I’m an Anglican Christian, and I take that faith very seriously. Anglicanism is a tradition rich in liturgy, beauty, and symbolism. My books don’t usually have an explicit Christian angle, but you’ll find that I often wrestle with intrinsically spiritual questions in them. Breakwater, for example, examines questions of justice and violence. I try to approach those deeper themes with humility (I don’t have all the answers, and my characters certainly don’t) and honesty, because I believe that genuine faith doesn’t have to shut itself away from hard issues or fear the light of truth.
Why do you think you became a writer, and why speculative fiction?
I’ve been writing since I was small. In one of my earliest memories, I’m writing a story on my parents’ old DOS computer, wearing a tiara and probably my Cinderella “glass slippers.” And fantasy has always had a special place in …
