I have to drag myself to the keyboard to finish drafting my new teen novel, Across the Water (a sequel to All Good Children, forthcoming Fall 2011 from Orca Book Publishers). It's not that I can't figure out the ending. It's that I know what horror awaits me in revising my rough draft into something readable, let alone publishable. The return… Continue reading Intrinsic Motivation Running Out
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Book Launch Afterword (II)
Success! About a hundred people showed up at my local library yesterday to help me celebrate the release of my first picture book, My Cat Isis, illustrated by Virginie Egger, published by Kids Can Press earlier this month. Yes, that read, "a hundred." Good thing my library had such a nice big room to hold them.… Continue reading Book Launch Afterword (II)
Book Launch
Need I say more? Well, maybe... There will be food: grapes, cinnamon cookies, date squares, cheese and crackers -- anything with a connection to Ancient Egyptian agriculture, however flimsy -- plus coffee, tea, and juices they never even heard of 5,000 years ago. The walls will be decorated with pet-related artwork from Lord Aylmer Elementary School students, plus informational… Continue reading Book Launch
On Bookshelves Now!
It's out at last! My Cat Isis was released by Kids Can Press on March 1, 2011. Gorgeous, gorgeous, gorgeous. My Cat Isis is my first picture book, and it's on the list of spring children's titles in Publisher's Weekly. Scroll through to K for Kids Can Press, and you'll see my name amidst dozens of well-known… Continue reading On Bookshelves Now!
Dreaded Edits
"Editing is the same as quarreling with writers -- same thing exactly." - Harold Ross, founder of The New Yorker magazine I am SO happy because I have finished Round One of edits on both my teen novel, All Good Children, and my middle-grade novel, Title Being Rewritten as Part of the Editing Process. I have… Continue reading Dreaded Edits
Catherine Austen 