authors, books

Cliff Hangers and Letting Go

Last night I cuddled up with my 7-year-old and read a few chapters from the Deltora Shadowlands series by Emily Rodda. It's our habit to read three chapters a night. With Rodda's books, storytime usually ends with a cliffhanger and a whining plea for more (which I never give in to unless I'm dying to know what happens next). Last night my… Continue reading Cliff Hangers and Letting Go

authors, books, writing

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

authors, writing

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