Oh, that lovely schoolbus roar. Yes, it has begun - here in Quebec, school is in session. (As of yesterday.) Packed lunches, 6:30 alarms, goodbye waves, and - at last - peaceful offices. My entire family takes August off. When my children are not unplugged at the cabin, they are hogging the computer. I have half-forgotten how to write. (Lame excuse,… Continue reading Back to School
Tag: creative process
Evolution of a Novel
My new middle-grade novel, 26 Tips for Surviving Grade 6, comes out next month from James Lorimer & Company. Just in time for back to school. It's a comedy aimed at reluctant readers, and it's my first book with a female protagonist: Becky Lennox. I love that girl. Her story didn't take a long time to write, yet it was… Continue reading Evolution of a Novel
Making Time to Write
I wanted to blog today in order to procrastinate on writing an Annual Report due Friday - most of my meagre blogging attempts coincide with the due dates of paid writing contracts - but alas, procrastination is not in the cards for me because fellow writer Lizann Flatt has made me her guest blogger today. Check out my interview… Continue reading Making Time to Write
Intrinsic Motivation Running Out
I have to drag myself to the keyboard to finish drafting my new teen novel, Across the Water (a sequel to All Good Children, forthcoming Fall 2011 from Orca Book Publishers). It's not that I can't figure out the ending. It's that I know what horror awaits me in revising my rough draft into something readable, let alone publishable. The return… Continue reading Intrinsic Motivation Running Out
Dreaded Edits
"Editing is the same as quarreling with writers -- same thing exactly." - Harold Ross, founder of The New Yorker magazine I am SO happy because I have finished Round One of edits on both my teen novel, All Good Children, and my middle-grade novel, Title Being Rewritten as Part of the Editing Process. I have… Continue reading Dreaded Edits
Catherine Austen 