Join me online on Saturday, January 14th at 1pm EST for a one-hour workshop on characterization: Nice is Not Enough, part of the SCBWI (Canada East) "Digging Deeper" workshop series. Here's the blurb: Nice is Not Enough: Developing Likeable and Unlikeable Characters: What makes us root for a character? How flawed can a protagonist be?… Continue reading Online Character Workshop
Welcome to Cabin Tales: Spooky Stories for Young Writers. This is Episode Two: Nasty People meet Nasty Ends. It's a long one at 50 minutes. I’m Catherine Austen. And my guests today are great Canadian writers Karen Krossing, Monique Polak, and Tim Wynne-Jones. Today we’ll be talking all about characters. Check out the Episode 2… Continue reading Nasty People Meet Nasty Ends (Episode 2: Characters)
To all the young writers whom I'd hoped to meet at a workshop this spring or summer (cancelled due to Covid-19)... If you're stuck at home with a pen handy, why not start a story or ten? Don't know how to begin? I'll take you through five easy entry points over the coming weeks. (Kind of… Continue reading Young Writers Workshop: Know your Character
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 5:00 a.m. to arrive in time! -- to enjoy a day… Continue reading MASC Festival 2019
For the eighth time in my life, I’m trying to finish Milton’s Paradise Lost. (So far, I’ve reread Book I, the bit about the fallen angels landing in hell. It’s fun to read aloud when you get to lines like, “Awake, arise, or be for ever fallen!”—which does not work on sleeping teenagers, BTW). I… Continue reading Satan Makes Lemonade
Catherine Austen 