Today we’re pleased to welcome Catherine Haustein to the 20QS spotlight. 

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1. Can you tell us a bit about yourself?

I’m a writer and an analytical chemist who graduated from the University of Iowa. I teach at Central College in Pella, Iowa, and am the mother of three and grandmother of five. My writing features female scientists. Natural Attraction is my first novel, and this fall I’ll have a short story in the anthology The Female Complaint (Shade Mountain Press).

2. Please tell us about your most recent release, when it was published, and what it’s about?

Natural Attraction was released May 11 by Penner Publishing. Natural Attraction is an adventure told by Clementine, a young Dutch American scientist in 1871 who must pose as a man to further her career as a naturalist. With the help of a mysterious tonic, she transforms into a man, discovers new species of animals, and falls in love with a preacher.

3. What else have you published?

I’ve only published short stories before this.

4. Have you always written in the romance genre? If not, what else have you written?

I have written romance and sci-fi, but the sci-fi almost always includes a romance, too.

5. What or who inspired you to be a writer?

I think I got my start telling my mom stories about what happened in school. Not much happened to me, but I watched other kids getting in trouble and told about it as if it was me. She was afraid to go to the parent-teacher conferences and was shocked to find I really hadn’t spent all day in the office. I also admit that when I heard the Beatles’ song Paperback Writer, I longed to be one. I really got my start in college, though, after taking Short Story Writing.

6. Where in the world are you?

In Pella, Iowa, USA. A quiet town of about 10,000 people.

7. What do you love best about being a writer?

Living a whole different life and entertaining others while doing so.

8. What’s the biggest challenge being a writer?

Finding the time and daring to do something so personal that will someday become public.

9. What’s your favorite romance trope?

Opposites attract.

10. What’s your typical writing day like?

I write in the morning when I get up, then go to work, then come home and write after dinner.