About Us

Our Team

Meet the team behind Write in France!
Stephanie and Laurence Patterson are the owners of Crooked Cat Books, an independent publishing house, and its new ’dark’ imprint, Darkstroke.
With extensive experience in guiding authors through various stages of publication and beyond, we are well-equipped to share our knowledge.
For the last four years, Stephanie has been teaching creative writing in a small town not far from Carcassonne.
In addition to offering our courses in the sunny south of France, we have now also set up online workshops featuring aspects of writing (to include genres, structure, point of view, etc), writing historical fiction and romance, author branding, and marketing.
After having lived in Edinburgh, Scotland, for many years, we are now happy residents of beautiful and mysterious Carcassonne.

Writer, editor & publisher

Stephanie Patterson has been writing – on and off – for over thirty years.
She is a senior editor and novel-writing tutor, and holds a certificate in Creative Writing from Lancaster University and a BA Hons in Modern Languages from the Open University.
She has published Amazon-bestselling historical adventures, Scottish historical romance novels, an award-winning dual-timeline novel, and a Gothic novella under her pen name, Cathie Dunn. She has also written short stories which were included in anthologies by Darkstroke, Ocelot Press, and her creative writing group, VEEM writers, in the south of France.
Steph is a keen hobby-historian, with a focus on early and high medieval western European history. But her interest covers various eras.

Laurence Patterson

Publisher, lecturer & photographer

Laurence Patterson is a former university lecturer. He is also a publisher, editor, and independent cover designer.
Laurence published academic papers during his time at two universities in the UK, and he gained a Masters in Education.
A keen designer and photographer, Laurence has created many beautiful book covers, not only for Crooked Cat / Darkstroke, but also for independent authors.
His experience in digital education has led to an interest in utilising social media on a professional basis.
Laurence is actively involved in Darkstroke, and also teaches English online.