Posted on September 11, 2019
by Catherine Austen
2 Comments
Good things come to those who wait. Years ago, I wrote a story about a clever squirrel who grew tired of waiting for a daily handout, so she decided to steal a whole bag of peanuts, along with the little girl carrying it. I…
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Category: books, children's books, featured, illustration, picture books, squirrels, What's NewTags: authors and illustrators, book development, books, Canadian writers, canlit, children's books, creative process, delays, editing, featured, fitzhenry and whiteside, grey squirrels, illustrations, inspiration, patience, picture book layout, picture book process, picture books, publishing, revising, sean cassidy, squirrel books, squirrels, squirrels stole my sister, writers
Financial assistance for author visits is available throughout Canada, thanks to the generous support of our governments working with the literary non-profit community. A couple of key funding programs have looming deadlines — so if you would like to invite me or another author…
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Category: author talks, featured, public speaking, school visits, writing workshopsTags: author events, author funding, author presenations, author readings, author visits, books, canada council for the arts, Canadian writers, canlit, creative process, creative writing, culture in the schools, featured, funding, national readings program, public speaking, Quebec writers federation, writers, writers in cegeps, writers in the schools, writers union of canada, writing workshops
I had a great time at this year’s MASC Young Authors and Illustrators Festival in Ottawa. The 3-day event was held at the Canadian Aviation Museum, where over 450 children aged 9-12 came from around the region — some of them getting up at…
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Category: art, author talks, authors, featured, writing conference, writing workshops, young writersTags: art workshops, author visits, Bill Juillette, book signings, books, britt wilson, canadian aviation museum, Canadian writers, cary fagan, characters, children's books, children's novels, creative process, david a robertson, featured, fiction, fictional characters, illustrations, inspiration, karen krossing, MASC, MASC Young Authors and Young Illustrators Festival, novels, picture books, plots, plotting, soyeon kim, writers, writing workshops, young writers
I’m ready for the MASC Young Authors and Illustrators Festival taking place in Ottawa April 9-11. I’ll be leading workshops with keen young writers coming to town from elementary schools across eastern Ontario and western Quebec. This annual event draws hosting authors and illustrators from…
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Category: author talks, authors, children's books, illustration, What's New, writing, writing conference, writing workshops, young writersTags: author visits, books, britt wilson, canadian museum of aviation, Canadian writers, canlit, cary fagan, children's books, children's novels, creative process, david a robertson, illustrations, inspiration, karen krossing, MASC, MASC Young Authors and Young Illustrators Festival, novels, soyeon kim, writers, writing, writing workshops, youth art, youth writing
Posted on February 8, 2019
by Catherine Austen
2 Comments
I’ll be giving a writing workshop tomorrow at the Carlingwood Library to help kids aged 9-12 prepare their stories for the Ottawa Public Library’s Awesome Authors Contest. We’ll do two story-building exercises: one on Character, and one on Setting.
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Category: author talks, contests, friday form, school visits, writing, writing proces, writing workshops, young writersTags: author visits, awesome authors, Contests, creative process, creative writing, FOPLA, inspiration, Ottawa Public Library, setting, setting exercise, short fiction, short stories, writers, writing, writing contests, writing workshops, youth writing, youth writing contest
Posted on November 26, 2018
by Catherine Austen
4 Comments
I posted a motivational blurb on the SCBWI Canada East website today, about slogging it through the last days of November’s novel-writing challenge. I have never actually made the NaNoWriMo journey, meaning I’ve never done a start-to-finish draft in the month of November. I’ve…
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Category: writing, writing procesTags: books, Canadian writers, children's books, children's novels, creative process, discipline, fear, inspiration, motivation, nanowrimo, novels, orca book publishers, procrastination, revising, walking backward, word count, writers, writing, writing practice
Posted on October 1, 2018
by Catherine Austen
9 Comments
It’s the first day of Inktober. Illustrators know this. The rest of us might not — but we should, all of us. Because Inktober is awesome. And it’s for everyone. Inktober began in 2009, by artist Jake Parker, as a challenge to improve drawing skills…
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Category: art, illustration, writingTags: creative process, daily practice, discipline, drawing, fear, illustrators, ink, inktober, learn to draw, october, picture books, procrastination, writing
