Zibby Mag

Book jacket biographies don’t tell us nearly enough about the authors we love. That’s why Zibby Mag launched the Author Snapshot, giving readers an inside look at the lives and work of our favorite writers.

This week we are featuring Cat Shook, whose debut novel If We’re Being Honest releases April 18th!

What inspired you to write about the Williams family in If We’re Being Honest? Did any of your own family experiences find their way into the book?

This is going to make it sound like I should be institutionalized, but it felt like the Williams family just announced themselves in my brain one day. I could hear them talking, and wondered who they were and what they were talking about, and I started writing the book from there. None of my own family experiences are in the book; my family can be chaotic, but not quite at this level!

What did your journey to becoming an author look like? How long have you been working on If We’re Being Honest?

I’ve wanted to be an author all my life, but wasn’t sure I had the skill set or talent to do it. So I worked at a literary agency, thinking maybe as long as I could be close to the publication process, that might be enough. Then, when we all got sent home to isolate in March 2020, I knew if there were ever a time to really take a swing at writing a novel, it was then. A year later, I had a draft I felt comfortable sharing with my colleague at the agency, and she’s now my agent!

What are you most excited about in launching your debut novel?

I’d love to say something poetic and heartfelt about putting my work out in the world, but the truth is I’m most excited to just walk into a bookstore and see my book in the wild. The odds I pass out from overwhelming joy are pretty high.

What are some other family stories that you would recommend reading after someone finishes If We’re Being Honest?

Pachinko by Min Jin Lee

All Adults Here by Emma Straub

Crossroads by Jonathan Franzen

What’s Mine and Yours by Naima Coster

What are you working on right now? Do you have another book underway?

I do—it’ll be out next year! It’s called Humor Me. It’s not a sequel, but a member of the Williams family may or may not appear in a scene…