A special Halloween episode featuring 5 spooky stories written by students aged 11-17, including a terrifying musical awakening, a horrifying futuristic drug, a demonic yoga class, a pizza you don’t want to order, and a phone call you don’t want to answer. PG. Let the kids listen in. Check out the Special Episode webpage for… Continue reading Spooky Student Stories (Halloween Special Episode)
Category: short stories
Squirm (Episode 5: Tension)
A "telling tales" episode about how to build tension in fiction, with stories, excerpts, and prompts. Featuring guest authors Lena Coakley, Sarah Raughley, and Don Cummer. 45 minutes. PG. Check out the Episode 5 webpage for audio, show notes, and author bios.
Bad Things Happen (Episode 4: Plotting)
An episode about plotting stories, with guest authors Robin Stevenson, Wendy McLeod MacKnight, and Amelinda Bérubé. Featuring an original story, “The Critter Cam.” With excerpts from Harold and the Purple Crayon; “The Band-Aid;” and Holes. 45 minutes. PG-13. Check out the Episode 4 webpage for audio, show notes, and author bios.
2020 Winners Announced
The Award Ceremony for the Ottawa Public Library's Awesome Authors Youth Writing Contest had to be cancelled this year, due to the COVID-19 pandemic. So the judges (including me) made short videos to announce this year's winners and honourable mentions, and the wonderful folks at the library put it all together into two ceremonial videos:… Continue reading 2020 Winners Announced
Awesome Authors 2019 – Decision Time
Every year, the Ottawa Public Library holds a youth writing contest for which hundreds of local kids write stories, poems, and comics. The winners and honourable mentions are published in the annual anthology, Pot-pourri. But the contest's title -- Awesome Authors -- applies to all of those who enter. The contest deadline for 2019 has… Continue reading Awesome Authors 2019 – Decision Time
Catherine Austen 