Cathy Rueter

Why I Started Writing:

I can’t remember a time when I wasn’t doing some kind of writing. Funny little poems in elementary school, then journaling in middle school, and essays with a few local newspaper articles thrown in during high school and college. When I became a wife and mom, I tried my hand at fiction but found I had an aptitude for nonfiction, community journalism, as well as editing for nonfiction, fiction, and business translations. I eventually made my way back to my own fiction writing to create space for all the words and ideas whirling around in my head.

Authors Who Have Influenced Me:

In my early teens, my mom would read her Ellery Queen Magazine and mystery books first, to make sure they were appropriate for her story-hungry daughter, then she would share them with me. Mysteries and thrillers are still my favorites, but I am a very eclectic reader. Although I’m branching out to more contemporary writers now days, some earlier influences included Agatha Christie, Taylor Caldwell, Mary Higgins Clark, Diane Mott Davidson, Debbie Macomber, Janet Evanovich, Dick Francis, and Nora Roberts.

Books I Have Written:

My first full-length novel in the Games We Play Mysteries, Murder May I (MMI), was published by Elk Lake Publishing, Inc. in May 2025. An introduction to some of the characters in the series can be found in my Christmas novelette, It’s Beginning to Look a Llama Like Christmas, and the prequel novelette to MMI, Scaring Miss Muffet Away.

What I'm Working On Now:

My Work in Progress (WIP) includes Book Two in the Games We Play mystery series for ELPI, picking up where that last paragraph cliffhanger ended. Additionally, I am working on another Christmas novelette for the series, plus short stories for two anthologies where my work will be included – new characters and a new setting!