I have chatted with Cathy T, on and off, since we were both
fledgling authoressess. Therefore, it has been fascinating to watch her grow as a writer.
Her very first story is ‘Signed, Sealed and Delivered’. This is a multipart
sci-fi, body suit, mind altered, alien technology story. All of which is cool for those of
us that grew up watching ‘star trek’. Cathy does a wonderful job of weaving an
interesting story for the first eight chapters. Chapter 9 wraps up the story very quickly.
Cathy wrote a note at the end that she was not sure where to go with the story, so she let
it end itself. I am very much tempted to ask her to go back and start writing from the end
of chapter eight! Now that she has written more stories and is more comfortable with her
writing, I believe that she could make the ending more consistent with the rest of the
story. From strictly a reader viewpoint, I thought the story could go for another eight to
ten chapters before it was finished. Questions I was asking when it ended? Just who is
this Dr. Kulwicki and his transplant technology? What do the Arkanians look like? What
about this DNA altering drug? Will the body suit ‘age’ with the wearer? Is
‘Link’ REALLY our friend? Cathy T please answers these questions!
The second story is ‘Luck be a Lady’. This is a multipart sci-fi story
involving an Alien crash and strange technology. The operator of the equipment can modify
their looks and change their body shape. However, in this case, the only forms available
are female. There are currently eight parts posted to this story and we are getting to the
point where you do not want to stop reading! Cathy spends a lot of time writing
descriptions of emotion in the characters. It has helped give the reader a better view of
the person being talked about. In some cases, she makes the paragraph a sentence. This
makes it a little tough to read. I found almost too much information trying to be given in
a single burst. Otherwise, I look forward to the next chapter of this flight from the MIB.
‘First Kiss’ is an autobiographical tale on Cathy’s experience in
Germany. She was in the Air Force and attended a costume themed celebration. After
extensive shopping and a salon visit, she was ready. You need to read this one! It is
truly funny and written very lightheartedly.
"Halloween 2000’ is another true life story. In this, one Mike gets to become
Cathy for an entire day at work! It is for a Halloween party for the residents of a care
center. Cathy does not disappoint anyone. She goes all out to portray the normal working
lady. To say she was successful? You will have to read the story!
"A Day at Work dressed" is the last story I read. It is the third ‘True
to Life’ story that Cathy wrote. This time she is working as a security person for a
department store. An idea is hatched to ‘masquerade’ as a female and shoplift as
much as possible. A test for the employees, so to speak. Cathy gets the approval and she
and a friend are very successful at what they do. To find out what happened to the
store’s employees, you will have to read the story.
What I noticed about Cathy-T’s writing, is that the true to life stories, are
written in a very relaxed, easy format. The two sci-fi stories appear to have been harder
to write. It feels like she is trying to be all things to all her readers. It is this
reviewer’s opinion, that if Cathy would write, like she did for the true stories, her
work would flow in great quantity. If she did this, poor Crystal would have a hard time
keeping up with all of the posting!
