Catherine Bybee Interview

March 14, 2020
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Author Interview with RJ, Spotlight

Interview with Catherine Bybee, author of MY WAY TO YOU.

In MY WAY TO YOU, when a wildfire nearly destroys Parker Sinclair’s family home, it’s just one more disaster to add to her mountain of stress. For the past two years, she has shouldered the responsibility of raising her younger brother and sister after their parents’ untimely deaths. Forced to leave college for a crappy job that barely pays the bills, Parker manages her family property, which consumes every aspect of her life. Now winter is coming and the forecast isn’t spreading sunshine on the dark cloud over her head. The last thing Parker needs is a mudslide destroying everything she has worked so hard to maintain.

Q & A

Interview with Catherine Bybee

As your newest book My Way To You, begins, your heroine gets a devastating blow—her parents have unexpectedly died. How does this one event inform the course of her life?

This tragedy has Parker returning home to care for her teenage siblings. Their shared loss brings them closer. I find in life, that trauma either rips people apart or brings them together. And since I knew what was in store for Parker, I wanted her to have a strong relationship with her brother and sister.

Just one day changes her life again when a fire sweeps through the canyon she lives with her family. The story follows her journey through the next few months. Tell us about her character arc.

It’s through the course of the book, and all the other players, that Parker learns to open herself up to live a full life. I think she also learns to be a big sister again and not the parental figure she took on.

The story is based on both sacrifice and loss, however, it is not sad. Instead it has feelings of hope and renewal. How did you craft this tone?

How? Geeze, I don’t know really. I think we see more tragedy in the news, on social media etc that we forget about the good people out there. We follow puppy videos because they make you smile. I never want my books to feel depressing. I want my readers to know that while this is fiction, it mimicked life. Real life! And you can overcome, you just need to make an effort.

Parker is not only restoring her physical space, but she is also working on her personal relationships—starting with a new man in her life. Talk about this relationship.

Parker has somewhat lost her identity when this book opens. I would say she is a very typical college student who is going through the motions of going to school without a steadfast concrete goal in mind. When all of that falls apart and she’s forced to take on the role of parent and guardian of her two younger siblings she turns into anything but carefree. Everything is a weight and responsibility. So when in the center of her chaos a man comes into her life she doesn’t trust it. And she certainly isn’t going to lean on him for anything. It’s only through time that relinquishes some of her control to Colin.

In the same breath, Colin is used to doing for others and is quite frustrated that Parker wont ask him for help.

But there is one thing that truly binds this couple together and I would say it’s mutual respect. Colin delivers every single time he says he will. And it’s that repeated showing of character that punches holes in Parker’s life that can only be filled by Colin.

Title: My Way To You

Author: Catherine Bybee

Release Date: March 10, 2020

Publisher: Montlake

When a wildfire nearly destroys Parker Sinclair’s family home, it’s just one more disaster to add to her mountain of stress. For the past two years, she has shouldered the responsibility of raising her younger brother and sister after their parents’ untimely deaths. Forced to leave college for a crappy job that barely pays the bills, Parker manages her family property, which consumes every aspect of her life. Now winter is coming and the forecast isn’t spreading sunshine on the dark cloud over her head. The last thing Parker needs is a mudslide destroying everything she has worked so hard to maintain.

Colin Hudson’s job as a public works supervisor is to protect Parker’s property and neighborhood from further damage. But it’s a little hard when the owner of the land is a control freak who tries to do everything herself. The hardworking, attractive young woman is far from the “hot mess” she claims to be. In fact, her tight grip of control is one of the things that attract him the most. It’s also the hardest to crack. Now Colin’s working overtime to help Parker open up her heart, trust him, and let him in.

As Parker and Colin work together to keep her home and neighborhood safe, they may be in for another disaster. Or they may just realize that sometimes it takes destruction to create something new.

New York Times, Wall Street Journal, and USA Today bestselling author Catherine Bybee has written thirty-four books that have collectively sold more than seven million copies and have been translated into more than eighteen languages. Raised in Washington State, Bybee moved to Southern California in the hope of becoming a movie star. After growing bored with waiting tables, she returned to school and became a registered nurse, spending most of her career in urban emergency rooms. She now writes full-time and has penned the Not Quite series, the Weekday Brides series, the Most Likely To series, and the First Wives series. For more information on the author, visit www.catherinebybee.com.