Kitty Pilgrim

Kitty Pilgrim worked as a CNN correspondent and news anchor for 24 years. As a New York-based reporter her normal beat included politics and economics but her assignments also have taken her around the world – Russia, China, Venezuela, Cuba, the Middle East, Korea and South Africa. Pilgrim anchored her own CNN morning show, Early Edition in 1998-1999 and was anchor for prime time broadcasts at CNN from 2001-2010. Pilgrim is the recipient of an Overseas Press Club Award, a Peabody Award, an Emmy, and New York Society of Black Journalists Award. She is a member of the prestigious Council on Foreign Relations and the Explorer’s Club of New York.

The Stolen Chalice is Pilgrim's latest novel featuring archaeologist John Sinclair.

From her Q & A at Debs Carr at Novelicious:

When you are writing, do you use any celebrities or people you know as inspiration?

My heroes are scientists and explorers, so I use them as models for some of my characters. In The Explorer’s Code, the character of Cordelia is based on a real marine scientist who works at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution. When I wrote the book, I consulted with her on how a marine scientist would think and act. I frequently stop by at Woods Hole to meet her and talk to the other scientists. Another character in The Explorer’s Code is Thaddeus Frost, a botanist (who is also a spy). I took a course on botany at the New York Botanical Garden’s graduate school to gain insight into this kind of expert. In writing The Stolen Chalice I met someone who is an Egyptologist at The Brooklyn Museum who inspired my character Carter Wallace. I don’t copy these people in great detail, but they inspire me to create my own characters.

What is your favourite Women’s Fiction book of all time and why?

I must say Out of Africa by Isak Dinesen is my favourite women’s fiction book. A narrative by a strong woman, it creates all the romance and mystery of the early years of the colonization of Africa, with deep sensitivity to the indigenous culture. I also love...[read on]

Learn more about the book and author at Kitty Pilgrim's website.

My Book, The Movie: The Stolen Chalice.

The Page 69 Test: The Stolen Chalice.

Writers Read: Kitty Pilgrim.

--Marshal Zeringue