In submitting a manuscript to an American publisher last week, I wrote a cover letter mentioning that one of my books (All Good Children) was nominated for two YALSA awards. I read through the letter and manuscript excerpt, made a few revisions, proofread it a final time, and was just about to send it off by email when I made a tiny last-minute… Continue reading Profread One Least Time
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Five things to Love about Fall
There are the leaves, of course. There's the back-to-school energy. There's the first fire in the woodstove. There are, ahem, the shoes. (Yeah, I know, but I have some beloved closed-toed numbers I haven't worn all summer.) And there is one grossly under-appreciated Fall wonder: the mushrooms. BTW, this post isn't about writing. Except to say that if leaves… Continue reading Five things to Love about Fall
Places for Young Writers to Publish – Updated January 2017
As promised... To the young Canadians out there who feel like their words are all dressed up with no place to go, here is a list of traditional publishing opportunities – print and online magazines - just for you. Remember, if you’re not ready to submit to a traditional publisher, you can self-publish your work on your own… Continue reading Places for Young Writers to Publish – Updated January 2017
Freewriting
Freewriting is a practice I first learned about in Spilling Ink (A Young Writer’s Handbook by Anne Mazer and Ellen Potter). It’s simple: Once a day, begin to write and don’t stop – don’t take that pen off the page or those fingers off the keypad - for five minutes. No thoughtful pauses to get… Continue reading Freewriting
Friday Fable: The writer and the Goodreads reviewers
You may have heard the old tale, The Bear and the Bees: One day a bear was rooting around in a fallen log where there just happened to be a beehive. One little bee was on her way home with some pollen when she spotted the nosy bear and stung him on the snout to chase him… Continue reading Friday Fable: The writer and the Goodreads reviewers
Catherine Austen 