Knock knock. Who's there? Opportunity. Opportunity who? It's not a joke. Opportunity is walking away shaking its head right now. Here are a few timely contests for emerging Canadian writers bold enough to try their luck. The Writers' Union Short Prose Competition. Check it out here. It's open to all Canadian writers who do NOT have book-length publications. There… Continue reading Emerging Writer Opportunities
Category: writing
Exercise and Anglerfish
I intended to exercise this morning but my pets conspired against me. I haven't exercised for twelve days due to a bout of bronichiitis that shows no sign of improvement. I fear that all my weight-lifting gains are fading fast. Compare me twelve days ago (left) to me now (right): Notice how the glow is gone? Being under the… Continue reading Exercise and Anglerfish
Feast and Famine
In 2008, after several years of writing for children, I had the good fortune to sell two manuscripts in the same year: a picture book to Kids Can Press in the spring; and a middle-grade novel to Orca Book Publishers in the fall. I did not understand the bleak book market at that time and I had no idea how… Continue reading Feast and Famine
Hard Work Rewarded
The YA novel I've been working on for the past year, All Good Children, has found its home with Orca Book Publishers. My editor loves it and sold it to her board and they're already asking if there will be a sequel. (And just so you know, my editor rejected other manuscripts in between Walking Backward and this new one.… Continue reading Hard Work Rewarded
Coming Up for Air
Sunday night, I tied up my sneakers and called my younger son to hurry up for drum lessons: "Come on, Dallas, we gotta go!" Strange? Yeah. Because Dallas isn't my kid's name. Nor is it the name of my older son, my husband, dog, cat, nephew, neighbour, or anybody else I talk to regularly and… Continue reading Coming Up for Air
Catherine Austen 