As a kid, Caity Schmidt told people she was going to be an artist and was immediately asked what her ‘real job’ would be. It had to be true, that being an artist wasn’t a real job, because adults said it. She then started writing, which prompted the exact same question.
?
To spite those people, she decided to do both.
Caity went to school for theater and took classes in drawing and painting and writing. She then graduated, looked at the economy and immediately decided to take more classes.
She followed her education with a career in themed entertainment design, which has turned her casual enjoyment of storytelling into a passion. In particular, she’s fascinated by -- and susceptible to -- the human need to reach out and pluck a chord that will resonate with others.
When Caity writes, she pulls inspiration from classic novels, niche stories, transformative works, Greek dramas, stage plays, history, and most especially from the surreal millennial experience of coping with a world that has broken every promise. Rather than re-examining the problems of the world in reality, she looks for their brighter reflections in fantasy and fiction, where swords and magic make them more palatable.
Dissatisfied with stories that ignore or gloss over mental illness and trauma, Caity explores the realities and pain they cause, paying special attention to the messy road recovery follows. Her themes of home and a sense of place are influenced by the journey she’s taken in her own life, and what she’s lost.
Caity currently lives in Los Angeles at her 18th address, in her eighth state, despite not being a military brat -- just unlucky. There she can be found complaining about the lack of weather, sleeping late, baking, futilely attempting to grow something beyond petunias, and drinking what her friends tell her is an unnecessary volume of coffee.
She strongly disagrees.
Caity can be found on Twitter, Instagram and Tumblr @CaityMSchmidt
