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 Miss Literati:

MISS LITERATI: When was the first time you realized you wanted to become a writer?

KITTY PILGRIM: I never wanted to be a “writer” per se. From early childhood I always wrote as a pastime: stories and poems, plays and riddles. No one ever suggested I become a writer. So I sort of stumbled into journalism and loved it. Even then I didn’t think of the career as being a writer, even though I wrote my reports and broadcast scripts every day. Suddenly now with my novels I have become a genuine recognized “writer” and it feels wonderful. But now I realize I have been a writer all along.

MISS LITERATI: How has your journalism career helped you become the person and writer you are today?

KITTY PILGRIM: The job of broadcast journalist consists of experiencing events and narrating them to others. I went to many places all over the world and was able to see and experience different viewpoints and cultures. That breadth of experience helps me construct internationally based thrillers like THE EXPLORER’S CODE and THE STOLEN CHALICE. When I write scenes for the book, I first “report” the location by traveling there and learning all about the place. Then when I sit down to write a scene in Egypt or Scotland or the Norwegian Arctic I can recall vividly all the details. My goal in writing these novels is to inform as well as to entertain. So my journalistic discipline of researching every detail had served me well in writing fiction. I try very hard to have all my information...[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