Cathy Alter's profiles, essays and features showcase her strange affinity for subcultures. As author of LeAnn Rimes', Ricky Martin's, and Backstreet Boys' books, she wrote a continuing series for McSweeney's.net that chronicled her life as a boy band and teen queen biographer. Alter has trailed philosophers, human practitioners, Renaissance Fair performers, and powerlifting female midgets for The Washington Post, infiltrated DC's nasty singles scene for a cover story in Washington City Paper and joined a band of marauding Georgetown antiques dealers for The Washingtonian. As a Washington correspondent for People she made frequent calls to the White House.
