"World is suddener than we fancy it." (Louis MacNiece, "Snow") We've long been warned not to build tension on the cheap by spattering our manuscripts with the word "suddenly." Lately I've read a few posts advising writers not to use the word at all - ever - because it's meaningless. These are posts from editors… Continue reading Suddenly a blog post
Author: Catherine Austen
I'm a Canadian author of books for all ages. My short stories are published in literary journals including The Fiddlehead and The New Quarterly. My books for young readers have won multiple awards, including the Canadian Library Association Young Adult Book Award and the Quebec Writers Federation Prize for Children's Literature. I live with my family in Gatineau, Quebec.
Friday Fable: The Writers’ Group Driver and his Three Passengers
You may have heard the classic fable, "The Lion and his Three Councillors:" A lion caught a whiff of his own rancid breath and thought, "Maybe I'm not as kingly as I ought to be. I better check." He called to a sheep and asked, "Say, does my breath stink?" "Yes it stinks terribly," said… Continue reading Friday Fable: The Writers’ Group Driver and his Three Passengers
The Sunburst Awards
The Sunburst Award Society (for Excellence in Canadian Literature of the Fantastic) has just selected my novel, All Good Children, as the winner of the 2012 Sunburst Award in the Young Adult category. I am thrilled! Check out the Press Release here. I owe everyone at Orca Book Publishers my thanks for making this book… Continue reading The Sunburst Awards
Goodreads Discussion Group Guest Author
If you're interested in young adult novels, you should: (a) read Daniel Pinkwater's Young Adult Novel; and (b) join the Goodreads YA Reads for Teachers (and Any Other Adults!) discussion group. I am the group's Guest Author this month, so I'll be talking with discussion group members and visitors about the writing life, my award-winning teen novel, All… Continue reading Goodreads Discussion Group Guest Author
QWF Prize for Children’s and Young Adult Literature
I'm taking a breather from picking up after the puppy to say, wow, it was such an honour to win the Quebec Writers' Federation 2012 Prize for Children's and Young Adult Literature for my middle-grade comedy, 26 Tips for Surviving Grade 6 (James Lorimer & Company, 2011). The book was shortlisted with Monique Polak's Pyro (Orca Book… Continue reading QWF Prize for Children’s and Young Adult Literature
Catherine Austen 