 My name is Elaine Gallant, and I am your host of Books, Books, Books on Think Tech Hawaii. This is a show where we talk about reading books, writing books, and everything in between and beyond. Today's show is titled On Knowing Author Catherine Norr. And our guest, of course, is Catherine Norr. Aloha Catherine, and welcome to Books, Books, Books. Aloha Elaine, it's great to be here. Super. Now, you and I first met about five or six years ago at the Kawaii Writers Conference. And I was thoroughly mesmerized by the amount of your energy, your positivity, your movement, and how you were going from one thing to another. So it doesn't surprise me. You are as accomplished as you are. So I want to talk about all of that. Can we do that? All right, super. First off, you're an author. You have five books, four of which are fiction, and one is not. Would you like to talk about those? Sure. My first book is Managing Risk in Sport and Recreation. That's a nonfiction book. And that was published in 2009. And then that one essentially is a textbook about sports and law and risk management. And I voted myself the least likely to finish a novel. I was involved in a writer's group that got together after the Maui Writers Conference was very popular. And I went to that for many years. And it was amazing with all these famous authors. And now the Kauai Writers Conference is kind of similar. But what was really interesting is after the Maui Writers Conference stopped, they tried to do it on Oahu. And I went and I met these wonderful people and we had a writers group. And I was really intimidated by them. I thought, oh, these are really good writers. And we all started writing a novel. And I thought there's no way I'm going to be the one that never publishes a novel. And they're all going to publish novels. And it took me quite a long time to write that first novel. But I was the first of our group to publish. And I ended up writing three pretty much before anyone else published a novel. And so I've actually written four in that series, the Triangle series. And it all started from that writers group where we wrote 10 pages a month. And I actually often wrote my pages while I watched TV. Writers groups are amazing. They really are the catalyst for a lot of authors that give them the impetus to finish their novels. Because you have to read to the group. You get critiqued by the group. You make contacts. You learn the industry. And you go from there. Now, we should mention that you're an attorney by trade. You're a former per diem judge. And you have your own show. And the title of it is, go ahead and say it, because I'm the full title. The Wide World of Esports. Wide World of Esports, which is an up and coming trend in entertainment and competition. So let's talk about your Triangle series first. When you wrote those three novels, and now you say you have a fourth one, so now you have five books total. So that's great. Why don't you talk about those? I read Landsharks. I did not have the pleasure of reading Freewheel or VO2 Max. So why don't you tell us about those? OK, so the first in the series was Landsharks. And let's bring up the Landshark. OK, so actually, Landsharks is really what I know. And I thought it would be easier to write about what I know rather than do research. And it essentially is about an attorney working for a firm. And she's a triathlete. And she, you know, kind of, there's some mystery. There's some romance in there. And the firm that she worked for is loosely based on the firm that I worked at. And when attorneys from that firm read it, they really laugh. Because even though my characters are not any individual people, they might be composites or there might be a little element that they recognize. But sometimes people don't. So, you know, what's kind of funny about it is, you know, most law books, law fiction, there's some big trial. And that's, you know, the kind of the finale. And you kind of expect that. Well, I didn't want to do that because it's completely unrealistic. I wanted to write about civil litigation as it really is. And civil litigation is basically depositions and motions. And then kind of the negotiations to try to settle a case and the interactions between the people at the firm and the people and your interactions with opposing counsel. So that's really what I put in there. And Zayna West, the protagonist, she is a triathlete. She's young and I tried to make her as much not like me as possible. So I make her really tall with black hair. And but so anyway, she has this love interest and everything. And it's really fun. And it starts out with a accident that happens during the Olympic trials and where a car drives onto the race course and kills one athlete and renders another one paralyzed. And the paralyzed one files a lawsuit. And, you know, we kind of just try to discover whether it's fraud or not. And then there's free will is the set. But before you go into free will, I want to say that I read Landshark. And I think that that was a very good first novel. You covered a lot of bases that try the triathlete's life. What can go wrong? So it brings in your lawyer skills as far as risk and sports goes, I think. I found it quite a fun read. And I just want you to know that. And I think a lot of people have. So I just want to point that out. Everybody should read Landsharks and then go on from there. Sure. Yeah. And then free will, let's bring up the CN Tower. Free will kind of has some elements like like a Lance Armstrong type character who gets kicked out of pro cycling and does triathlons. And he starts a charity called Free Will. And we have and he his love interest is claims adjuster who who works with with Zana West in her litigation. And there's, you know, it's kind of more more, you know, kind of mystery and and relationships and how it's kind of, you know, similar, but it has kind of a different mystery. And it's it's good fun. And then and then the third one, Vio to Max. Vio to Max is a rags to riches story. And it answers the question of what what would happen if pro actually triathlon was monetized where pro pro triathletes made money like golfers or tennis players. And the picture that you just saw was I was actually in Tokyo and some, you know, people with a TV show came up to me and said, do you want to do this game show? And so I did this, they filmed this game show and I was a contestant or something like that on the street. That's fun. You had some fun promoting your books. I must say we're going to talk about that as well. But let's talk about Zana West. Is that your fourth in this Triangles series? Or is there one that we don't know about yet on your website? OK, so Zana West Diary and you can pull up the museum shot. Zana West Diary is the prequel to the series. And it basically is Zana's childhood. And Zana had a really tough childhood. She was homeless. She her her mom died of a heart attack when she crossed the finish line of a marathon for her dad. He became a heroin addict. And Zana went from foster home to foster home. And she had really a challenge. And and Zana West Diary is it's a YA book. If people don't know what that means to young adult book. However, a lot of adults read it. In fact, I think that more adults have read it than kids. And I actually, in one of my writers groups, one of the gals, she said that her granddaughter read it and said it was her favorite book of all time. But it it actually what it is, it's really interesting. I wanted to do this diary story. And but it was so boring, you know, to read someone's diary. So what I did is I. Pardon me. Bless your and Frank. Yeah, exactly. So what I did is I got another story and I intertwined it with her. So I have another girl who found the diaries in a car that her parents gave her and they were in the trunk. And so she was reading them and they were impacting her life. So it's going. It goes back and forth between a story. Her name is story, Sanchez. And it goes back and forth between her life and Zana's. Yes, I've read that one, too. And I like the dual storyline. I'm wondering this is a Yaw book, for sure, I have to say. And if I could use that term for sure, it makes me sound young, even though not. But what is your target audience for the other three for the Triangle series? Who was your target audience? You know, I think anyone can read those who just likes to read and is interested in in kind of contemporary fiction. And, you know, it appeals to people who like to read legal mysteries. It appeals to people who want to learn something, because a lot of people tell me that they learned about triathlon from reading my books. I didn't know what that was about, and they learned from that. And I've had a lot of people who just have nothing to do with law or nothing to do with triathlon or insurance and they read them and they're entertained. So if you want to be entertained, I think that that would work. And how many triathlons have you done? I've done a lot, but I quit doing triathlons in 2003. So it's been quite a while. But you're still active in sports. I know that you do a lot of exercise, jazzercise and all that. I wanted to ask you, let's let's talk about some of the famous people who have held your book, read your book, posed with your book. Let's pull up Christy Yamaguchi. Yes, and the Royals. Yes, and pro triathletes. Oh, gosh. Yes, yeah, Lego man. Oh, yeah, actually, the donkey picture is kind of fun because I was in Hydra in the Greek Isles. And I had the idea that that the donkey that had to bring our luggage up to the room had to call my book. It gives a whole new definition to book tour. There's another famous person, Christine Linders as well. She actually, if you also show the one with me at we were at Grand Central Station posing with with with my books. And that was good fun. That is fun. Now I happen to know that you are a world traveler as am I. And we have found ourselves in locations at the same time and actually gotten together, which is very fun. You give speeches, you talk about risk management in sports. Do you want to talk about that part of your of your well, it's not your writing, but of your profession, because it does tap into your writing. It's in a lot, you know, in a great degree. So would you like to talk about that? Yeah, actually, you know, it does tie in with writing because my partner in North Sports Risk Management and I wrote a chapter for a textbook on crisis communication and sport. And we are our chapter is on using wearables for crisis communication in big events that cover a large area like the Boston Marathon, for example. And, you know, and we address this issue of how to use high tech, like robotics, drones, wearables for crisis communication in those. And we're actually, you know, so that chapter is is we just completed it. We just submitted our final draft for the book about a week ago. And we are actually speaking at a conference in Doha, Cutter, the site of the World Cup that's going on right now. That's in March. And we have five presentations that we're going to be making. I've never made that many at a conference, but it should be it should be fun. Yes. And if you go to Catherine's website, if we can show that as well, it gives her her tour schedule. If anybody would like to meet Catherine in person, talk to her about her books or or her at a tourney side of her life. I mean, you also do workers comp claims, I mean, not claims, but what else do you do with that? You do workers comp and you do you do other things as well. You do other locations. I'm an insurance defense attorney and I handle litigation matters anywhere from auto to coverage to property. And then I've recently taken on work comp defense. I don't I represent the employers. Yes, I understand. OK. Now, so where are you off to next? It's Doha and Dubai. We're going to Dubai. Yeah, but, you know, you mentioned are are running into each other. It's like how how crazy is it that the only times I've ever seen you is in travel situations and like in London and in Athens, Greece. And not, you know, in crazy things where walking walking through Athens and running into you. Even though I had seen each other earlier, but then we're just like walking, you know, we're I'm in a store and you and you and your sister come in to the store and and run into me. So that's kind of you know, it's crazy. And we're from this little tiny island called Maui, right? Well, I'm Maui, you're Oahu, but we come from this little tiny state and we end up in the craziest places at the same time. So that is quite fun. Let's talk about your eSports. You have a show, Wide World of eSports. How's that working out for you? And tell us, what is eSports? Because people, I mean, I don't know what it is. I know it's an up and coming trend in recreation. Yeah, eSports is competitive gaming and is competitive video gaming. And the interesting things is video gaming is the broader entertainment segment. And eSports is the competitive video gaming where it's particular titles like League of Legends, Valorant, G.S. Go. I mean, just it's very particular thing. And I've done my show has been going on since July of 2020. And I've had over 100 shows and it was weekly until more recently. And it's been a great way to meet people all over the world. Yes, it's also been one of the more popular shows, right? Even in, you know, first position, second position for shows. It just goes to show you that the world is accepting eSports and is curious about it if they're not already directly involved. And besides the fact that you're just a charming person anyway. So I would I would like to just. You know, the crazy thing is I moderated a panel on powerful women in eSports this morning on LinkedIn Live. So this is my second show for the day. Wow. And who's the important women in the eSports? Do we know any of them? One of them is Stephie Bow, who's interesting because she was a professional motorcycle racer. And then she got into eSports. And and, you know, it's just kind of an amazing story. But yeah, I mean, there's a lot of a lot of interesting people to meet. So you can watch my show and and, you know, meet lots of people in the eSports world. OK, let's go back to books. That's what the show is all about of your all your books. Which is your favorite? Which is the most which is your favorite? Which is the most popular? And are you making money? You can live on it. OK, I can't make any money on. But I can tell you that probably the most popular is Landsharks. Probably. I mean, I think probably the best is Zana West Diary. Yeah, and I think that one of my favorite. I think I have to admit that Free Will and VO2 Max have places in my heart that are, you know, that are important. Like, you know, VO2 Max is like the rags to riches story. I always wanted to write a rags to riches story. And that that's inspirational. And the message that is in Free Will is to me, I can't even believe that no one no one is talking about Free Will because Free Will, you know, I kind of imagine this incredible charity, the Free Will organization, which to me should have should be happening in real life. And I, you know, it's just too bad. People haven't really read Free Will much. So I encourage people to read Free Will if they have an interest in learning about a nonprofit that would be kind of cool. It's basically this concept of having, you know, how how we put our time and our money and our efforts into people that we don't even know. But it's instead putting putting that effort into your own this circle of the your own circle. Like it's like creating the circle of of influence in terms of providing help to people. It's amazing how what we do in life can affect our imagination, what we want in life. Right. And as of our own work, we get to we get to devise and divine this these concepts. So what is it about writing that you like the most? I mean, you're a very busy woman. I know that you are. How do you find time to write? I just don't understand it. Well, you know, when I was writing those novels, I tried to spend some time every day writing. And usually I had, you know, a goal to finish that particular book. I love the creativity and creating those worlds. And and, you know, it's just it becomes very exciting. I have a number of manuscripts that I haven't finished or that I have finished and I haven't published. And they usually they're usually born out of some idea. And sometimes they start a book and I never even get into it. I just get some crazy idea and it's really fun. And sometimes those are good for short stories. Are you doing any short stories? Do you do any anthologies? Are you in any? Yeah, we just published Island Fever, which is an anthology with that we actually had a show a couple of weeks ago on Community Matters where I hosted and we had three of the authors. Island Fever is a Hawaii book and it has a theme of fever like COVID or Dengue fever or love fever. And we all wrote, wrote chapters. My chapter or my story is called Honeymoon. And I love that story. I'd never written a short story before, but I really love that story, Honeymoon. And the crazy thing about that story is I had COVID at the time that I wrote it. Oh, that's funny. Now, I like short stories myself. My first novel, the fifth C, a CAA novel, came out of a short story called Coastal Smurty. And if anybody speaks Russian, they'll understand what that means. Coastal Smurty. But it became the basis for my novel. So, yes, we can create full fictions from short stories and vice versa. And I hope that you will. I hope you continue to write. I hope you continue to entertain us. You're a lovely writer. I wish you great success. I don't know what else to tell you. I'm happy to know you. I'm happy to be interviewing you. So thank you for being on the show. I would also like to thank I would also like to thank the underwriters, the technicians, Jay Fadal, everyone on the staff of Think Tech Hawaii. You are a fabulous group of people doing a wonderful job of promoting everything and anything of interest to everyone. Congratulations. All right. Thank you so much, Elaine. You're welcome, Kathy. Thank you. Aloha, everyone. Thank you so much for watching Think Tech Hawaii. If you like what we do, please like us and click the subscribe button on YouTube and the follow button on Vimeo. You can also follow us on Facebook, Instagram and LinkedIn and donate to us at thinktechhawaii.com. Mahalo.