Santa Rosa author talks about 'Future Girls'

Catharine Bramkamp says her muse has good instincts.

“I agree with Madeleine L’Engle,” she said, citing the well-known author. “‘You have to write the book that wants to be written. And if the book will be too difficult for grown-ups, then you write it for children.’”

The Sonoma County author’s new book, “Future Girls,” has plenty of youth appeal. Published by Santa Rosa’s Eternal Press, the novel is set in the year 2045 and the protagonist is Charity Northquest. She’s on a mission to change her world through time travel, and has only 100 hours in the past to make the right change for a better future.

The plot unfolds with a strong female character at the helm.

“I love books with strong female heroines,” Bramkamp said. “When I was a young adult reader, books with a kick-ass heroine were more difficult to find than they are today, that’s probably why they are so cherished. The not too subtle message of “Future Girls” is you can change the future, and it doesn’t need to be a big war, or a small dragon. Change can come from inserting a different idea, showing one person a different way to see things.”

Bramkamp’s credits include “The Real Estate Diva Mystery” series, two essays in the “Chicken Soup for the Soul Anthologies,” “Don’t Write Like You Talk,” and the poetry collection “Ammonia Sunrise.” She holds two degrees in English, and has served as an adjunct professor at the Santa Rosa Junior College. She lives with her husband, Andrew Hutchins, in both Sonoma County and Nevada County.

Right now Bramkamp is busy writing a “Future Girls” series, with the second book “Future Gold,” set in Gold Country in 1861, and the third, “Future Run,” a Mad-Max-like road trip across the western states. The author hopes to create a trilogy with a broad reach of young readers.

In the “Future Girls” series, women work to change the future, because historically women often have much more to change,” Bramkamp said. “We have more at risk. It is said that children are our future, but that attitude seems too passive for me - at the very least, too passive for a novel.”

Staff writer Peg Melnik can be reached at 707-521-5310 or peg.melnik@pressdemocrat.com.