About the Authors

It all started with someone else's mistake - an error of sending an email when the person thought they were in a chat room. The email went to every member of the RWA (Romance Writer's of Australia) no one knowing that out of that mistake, two women with identical names would meet online, a fast friendship would be born and a series of books would be written.

 ‘My grandmother was a wonderful story teller and I count myself fortunate to have been able to spend time with her and my great uncles and aunts, who loved nothing more than a good pot of tea with added lashings of gossip. It is their legacy that fuelled my genealogical addiction as I strove to identify fact from fiction and then record the information for posterity. From this sprouted my love of history, the urge to research and write and, eventually, to develop my own stories.

At the suggestion of Anna Jacobs, another highly successful and talented Australian novelist, I joined Romance Writers Australia. One keystroke error placed me on a chat loop where I met my namesake, Cathy T. After making a crass remark concerning my rather plain name, our friendship was born. We began to regularly email one another, offering words of encouragement (the publishing world is a tough place for the uninitiated —believe me,) when Cathy T came upon the idea to create a novel along the lines of our real-time friendship. Hence, Lions and Lilies was born.’

Catherine was born in London, England, but has lived in Australia since the early 1970's, growing up in and around the leafy suburbs of Eastwood, Epping and Dundas. Without a particular path in mind she simply took the first job she was offered, which happened to be the position of Layout Artist for a well known map publisher, but changed course and selected a career in nursing. She later enlisted in the Royal Australian Air Force, before resigning to a quiet life at home.

She lives in the Blue Mountains, west of Sydney, with her husband and two beautiful children, several Jack Russells, a large flock of flighty chickens, goldfish and budgies. When not writing (which is not often) she likes to garden, read books, shop, read books, drink copious cups of strong coffee with friends and read plenty of books.

‘My first lasting love? Hmm, I was fourteen when a friend handed me a book about a heroine in France during the 15th Century, and I fell in love with everything medieval. But maybe it didn’t start there. Come to think of it, when I was younger I devoured Alan Garner’s tales of sleeping knights in The Weirdstone of Brisingamen, progressing to King Arthur and Ivanhoe, but somehow that French heroine always stayed with me.’

Catherine was born in Burnley, England, but moved to Australia when she was eleven months old. She grew up in Elizabeth, South Australia, relocating to Queensland when she was fourteen. She worked in communications, before finally deciding to fulfil her dream as a writer. The raw draft of her first novel, a Viking romance, won an encouragement award of $1,000 from six hundred entries, in a popular women’s magazine competition. She visited Europe in 2006 to witness the annual re-enactment of ʻThe Battle of Agincourt,ʼ and then travelled extensively throughout Britain and France, researching material for Lions and Lilies.

In 2016, she returned to Europe for further research in Morocco, Spain, Portugal and France. Her visit to Chartres cathedral to ‘walk the labyrinth’ and then stroll through the medieval old town during its summer light show was an experience she’ll never forget. And the second visit to Bellegarde remains among her most treasured memories.

Then in 2019, Cathy T returned to Paris and London accompanied by Cathy A, on a research trip of a lifetime. Together, they retraced as many paths of their characters as they could, taking them to Vincennes outside Paris, palaces in both Paris and London, Templar establishments, and cathedrals.

Catherine T lives on a small bushland property, on a mountain range west of Brisbane and yes, you need only walk into her house to see her first love. Pictures of maidens on horseback grace the walls, and every corner and mantel is filled with knights, battle axes, and even a Templar sword from Toledo while  the bookshelves overflow with tales of chivalry.

(Catherine T’s photo courtesy of Shani White -White Light Photographics)

The Lily and the Lion was published in 2012. It won Chanticleer’s Chatelaine Award for ‘Best Historical Romance of the year 2013’ in the USA. (Awarded in 2014)

 The Order of the Lily was published in 2013. It won Chanticleer’s Chatelaine Award for ‘Best Historical Romance of the year 2014’ in the USA. (Awarded in 2015)

The Gilded Crown was published in 2015. It was a finalist in Chanticleer’s Chatelaine Award for ‘Best Historical Romance of the year 2015’ and won Chanticleer’s Chaucer Award for ‘Best Historical Fiction of the year 2016’ in the USA. (Awarded in 2017)

 The Traitor’s Noose was published in 2017. It won Chanticleer’s Chaucer Award for ‘Best Historical Fiction of the year’ in 2017. It also won the Grand Prize Chaucer Award’ for 2017. (Awarded in 2018)