I wrote Walking Backward to the Weakerthans. Something opened in my heart while listening to their song, "Virtue the Cat Explains her Disappearance." I have no idea why, but something in the song connected to my story in a way I don't understand. (The song is about a lost cat, which doesn't factor into my dead-mother novel.) If I wanted sad… Continue reading Words and Music
Category: writing
Walking into Ideas
Pooh Bear was onto something when he went on his think-walks. It never fails: no matter what mood I'm in, no matter how tired or headachy, no matter how preoccupied with other concerns, taking my dog for a good long walk always clears my mind and gets me thinking of writing. It takes about fifteen minutes for a… Continue reading Walking into Ideas
Book Release
My first book, Walking Backward, is being released today from Orca Book Publishers. This is a good day for me. Not that I know what to do about it, promotions-wise. I feel like there's a world of networking possibilities out there beyond me. (Many thanks to Terry Lynn Johnson, whom I met at an Agents Day conference hosted by SCBWI Canada, for pointing… Continue reading Book Release
Self-searching online
When a friend told me that she pre-ordered my novel, Walking Backward, from Amazon.ca, I got all excited to think that was even possible. I visited the site, found my book ranked 135,629th, and felt happy to be there at all. On a whim, I plugged my name into the various search engines to see what came up... What came… Continue reading Self-searching online
Being Read by Total Strangers
I stumbled onto my first book review a week ago (in CM Magazine). What a strangely thrilling experience. It's what prompted me to start a blog and web page (http://www.catherineausten.com/ -- built from a template and about as gripping as this blog). It is just slightly possible that a total stranger might like my book and want to know more… Continue reading Being Read by Total Strangers
Catherine Austen 