We chat with author Tanya Guerrero about Cat’s People, which follows a stray cat who brings together five strangers over the course of one fateful summer in this heartwarming novel about love, found family, and the power of connection.
Hi, Tanya! Can you tell our readers a bit about yourself?
Hello! Or perhaps I should say, “Meow, meow!” in honor of Cat’s People. Ha ha ha. But seriously, as you can probably guess, I am most definitely a cat person. I am a Filipino and Spanish author, currently based in the suburbs of Manila, where I live in a shipping container house with my husband, teenage daughter and menagerie of rescued cats and dogs. If you must know, I’ve got eighteen cats as of the last count, and two dogs. Most of the cats live in their own shipping container suite by the garden, but I also have some garage cats, and three indoor cats. Besides writing, reading and cats, I love to cook, travel and strength train. Cat’s People is my adult fiction debut, and prior to this, I have written three middle-grade books.
When did you first discover your love for writing and stories?
When I first moved to the New York City at eight-years-old, I discovered public libraries. I became addicted to checking out books and devouring them. I also had some really great teachers at the public school I attended who fostered my love of reading by assigning me extracurricular books, many of which were adult books such as The Pearl by John Steinbeck. Reading books beyond my age level, inspired me even more, and I started keeping journals where I would write story ideas and short stories.
Quick lightning round! Tell us:
- The first book you ever remember reading: I would say that Where the Red Fern Grows really stuck in my mind as one of the books I remember reading early on because I was so affected by the death of both dogs in the story.
- The one that made you want to become an author: As a kid, I was totally addicted to The Clan of the Cave Bear series. I was amazed how the author, Jean M. Auel, could so vividly imagine what life was like in prehistoric times, and that inspired me to write.
- The one that you can’t stop thinking about: The Guncle by Steven Rowley is a comfort read for me, so I would have to go with it, even though I have many favorite books.
Your adult debut novel, Cat’s People, is out now! If you could only describe it in five words, what would they be?
Heartwarming, cozy, fun, emotional, satisfying.
What can readers expect?
Reviewers have described Cat’s People as a warm hug of a book, and I think that perfectly describes how readers should expect to feel. Of course, cat lovers will find the plot and Cat’s character wholly satisfying, while those who are indifferent to cats of cat curious, may learn to view felines through a different lens.
Where did the inspiration for Cat’s People come from?
I’ve been a lifelong cat lover, and the one thing I can say about cat lovers, is they have this way of somehow finding each other, no matter what the situation, or no matter the place. In my travels, I’ve found it so easy to connect with other cat people, in spite of language or cultural barriers, diffences in age, gender and beliefs. It’s almost as if the universal love of cats just brings people together, and I wanted to highlight that, and the somewhat sneaky ways that cats can worm their ways into people’s hearts no matter what they are going through in life.
Okay, a serious and important question. Tell us about your kitty cats!
Ha ha ha. Well, do you have a couple of hours? I have so many rescued cats, each with their own distict personalities. At this point, I think I could write multiple novels about cats! But for now, I’ll tell you about Nimona, who we call Nimmy, since she shares the spotlight in my photo. My sister found her as a small kitten wandering around the warehouse compound where she works. Nimmy was clearly a runt, and quite sickly, so I agreed to take her in since the warehouse wasn’t the safest of environments. After recuperating from a viral infection and flea infestation, she came home with me to live as one of my indoor cats. She might be small, but she has a very plucky personality, loves bossing the other cats around and demanding treats with very loud meows.
Were there any moments or characters you really enjoyed writing or exploring?
I would say there is a little of me in every character in this book, but writing Cat’s POV brought me a lot of joy, especially in trying to put myself into a cat’s train of thought.
Did you face any challenges whilst writing? How did you overcome them?
Reverting back to the previous question, as much as I enjoyed putting myself into Cat’s brain, it was also extremely challenging trying to create an authentically feline POV. I mean, of course, there’s no way for us to know what cats are really thinking, so I spent many hours observing my cats and imagining what their reactions would be to particular situations. I very much hope people will love Cat’s chapters since I put so much thought into them!
What’s next for you?
I’m currently working on my next book, but I don’t want to reveal too much since it is very much still a work-in-progress. What I can say, is that it is based on a real-life, very well known dog in history, and that the story will have time travel elements, birthday fairies, romance, and quite a bit of raunchy humor and heartwarming moments. I can’t wait to talk more about it soon!
Lastly, what books are you looking forward to picking up this year?
Admittedly, I am super behind on my TBR. But I plan to put a serious dent in it this coming summer. Books I am really looking forward to reading are, Broken Country by Clare Leslie Hall, Margo’s Got Money Troubles by Rufi Thorpe, My Friends by Fredrik Bachman, Say You’ll Remember Me by Abby Jimenez, King of Ashes by S.A. Cosby, and Water Moon by fellow Filipino author, Samantha Sotto Yambao.
