Cathie Pelletier

Early Life

Cathie Pelletier is an award-winning novelist who was born and raised in Allagash, a rural town in northern Maine. Pelletier displayed exceptional aptitude as a student and, consequentially, was advanced two grades, graduating high school at sixteen years. Apart from her obvious intellectual aptitude, Pelletier also distinguished herself by wearing brash clothes that she claimed were "an outlet for her creativity." She was only 17 when she was expelled from the University of Maine at Fort Kent for breaking curfew and pulling a fire alarm, [http://www.people.com/people/archive/article/0,,20094913,00.html] after which she began to hitchhike across America. Eventually she returned to her Alma Mater long enough to graduate with a baccalaureate before departing to Nashville in pursuit of a career as a songwriter.

Career

In Tennessee, Pelletier rented an apartment from an undertaker until she met country music star Jim Glaser and moved in with him. The two cohabited for years. It was during this period that she wrote her first novel, "The Funeral Makers." The semi-autobiographical fiction was very well-received in the literary community. Since then, Pelletier has penned a number of works with great success, some of which were published under her pseudonym, K.C. McKinnon. In 1988, she made international news when she received a million-dollar advance from Doubleday for her novel "Candles on Bay Street," a work that was translated into ten languages and recently made into a film. [http://www.kcmckinnon.com/] Most notably, she has won the New England Book Award for Fiction and the 2006 Paterson Prize. Her books include "Once Upon a Time on the Banks," "The Weight of Winter," "Beaming Sonny Home," "Running the Bulls," "The Bubble Reputation," "Dancing at the Harvest Moon" and "A Marriage Made at Woodstock." She also co-authored "The Christmas Note" with Skeeter Davis and "The Ragin' Cajun" with fiddler Doug Kershaw. In addition to her literary triumphs, she has had songs recorded by David Byrne, Texas Tornadoes, Glaser Brothers, and has acted as the literary agent for several published books. [http://maineliteraryfestival.com/cathie-pelletier.htm]

Cathie Pelletier currently resides in Quebec with her husband, Tom Viorikic.

References

[http://www.people.com/people/archive/article/0,,20094913,00.html] [http://www.kcmckinnon.com/] [http://maineliteraryfestival.com/cathie-pelletier.htm]