Sofie Ryan

Do you have a family?

Yes. I’m married with one daughter. We live on the east coast less than two hours drive from the ocean. I like living somewhere with all four seasons, although there are times in the middle of January that living on a Caribbean island starts to sound like fun.

What’s your education? 


I have a degree in Biology as well as an Education degree.

Do you ever use that education in your writing?


All the time. I honed my research skills working on my Biology degree. My Statistics professor really emphasized asking lots of questions about any piece of information. And I had a Molecular Biology prof who believed we learn more from our mistakes than our successes—which was good because my lab partner had a habit of setting our experiments on fire.

What was your favorite subject in school?


My favorite subject was math, followed by science classes. I like the order and logic of math. I still read Scientific American just for fun.

Do you have any hobbies/interests? Do any of those hobbies inspire your writing?


I run. I don't really like the actual running part, but I love the feeling of having accomplished several kilometers before it's even 8AM. I also like setting a goal of running a certain distance in a certain amount of time. I’m not a graceful runner—or a fast one—but I am persistent. My main character in the Second Chance Cat mysteries, Sarah, is a runner.

I like to hike and take photos of things I see. More and more the photos are becoming mixed media art. I’ve been turning the images into collage with fabric and paper.

Besides writing, what was your favorite or most interesting job in your past?


I was once an all night disk jockey. Even though I’m a morning person, I liked the job. Before I started, I had no idea there was a whole sub-culture of people who worked the night shift—not just the obvious, like police officers and nurses. I met artists and musicians who liked working all night and sleeping when the rest of us are awake.

Are you a "cat person"?


Very much so. I love cats. I like their independent spirit. I don't have one because my husband is extremely allergic to them. (If he dies first I'm getting a cat. People laugh when I say that because they think I'm kidding.) Even though I don’t have a cat myself, I do have “cat friends”—cats in my neighborhood that I spend time with so I can get my kitty fix.