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Hard to believe though it may be, given the amount of work I need to do between now and then, but this Wednesday I leave for my Vermont College fall '08 residency. Normally, I'd say that Vermont is lovely this time of year, but the weather forecast actually seems to call for rain. D'oh!

I just opened up my tentative rez schedule and briefly wished I hadn't; they sure do know how to make the most of ten days! That being said, I am thrilled to death that VCFA golden child Tobin Anderson will be offering a lecture. That one is sure to be packed.

I, however, am exactly the opposite of packed. In fact, I'm not even back in NYC. N and I decided to stay up at the cottage for one more night, so enamored were we of the writers' retreat (and so unfinished are we with our writing). To that end, my "prep" for rez has largely consisted of thinking about the people I'm so looking forward to seeing again. I could go on forever. Instead, I'll just post on 3 VCFA-types about whom you should know!

1. Gwenda Bond, kick-ass fantasist and book-blogger extraordinaire. Do you read "Shaken and Stirred?" You should. Reviews, updates, and occasionally, tales of red-velvet baked goods. She's also my roomie. Love.

2. Rachel Wilson won me over with her mad karaoke skills. I just might have a girl crush (don't worry; she knows. She's cool with it. I think.).

3. Varian Johnson has published a fabbity fab book with Flux, the new-ish and quite edgy imprint that will be releasing SO PUNK ROCK (The Work Previously Known as Tribe) next July. He is also one of the minds behind The Brown Bookshelf.
*Flux is also one of the publishers of the amazing Miss Carrie Jones. Carrie has been an inspiration to me in every possible way. And yes, this is me sneaking an extra entry into my way-too-short list.

Well, that's just not nearly enough, is it? I've had the opportunity to work with some AMAZING faculty directly, such as: Kathi Appelt, Uma Krishnaswami, and Tim Wynne-Jones. Kathi's new book, THE UNDERNEATH, has gotten fantastic reviews. Some people have already heard Newbery buzz. Check it out:



I can't believe it's been almost two years since I left my job to write full time and to study at Vermont. I knew at the time that it was the right decision for me, but I had no idea how rewarding the experience would be. I can't recommend it enough.

Any other MFA-ers out there? What sort of feedback to you have to give on *your* programs?

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Happy, Happy, Happy Easter - and yes, I have already had too much chocolate. I'm kind of procrastinating at the moment. And later I'll not only be procrastinating but sweating. I am going to face an old, old fear... Wait for it...

The evil that is The Wizard of Oz! Cue clip:

The film creeps me out and I don't know why. So now that I am old and brave, well older and a little bit braver, I am going to tackle it. Next up The Omen!!!

Been a bad week, been a good week.

First the bad, my zombie story for the 'Bits of the Dead' anthology was rejected (and I have a feeling if I submit again, come the zombie invasion, the editor is going to post a McDonald's sign above my house). Now the good, or almost good... Morrigan Books are, I quote 'seriously considering' my story 'When the Cloak Falls' for The Age of Blood and Snow anthology. Of course that is by no means an acceptance, or even a hint of one, but at least they didn't change their address, phone number and go into hiding.

Okay, must go now, more Easter Eggs to hunt for... Read the rest of this post

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I'm having a difficult month - that elusive 'brilliant' idea for my next novel is eluding me. Then, during my daily trawl of the net, I stumbled across this...

Ah! That explains it then.

And for the zombie fans out there, check out this site, which has the 26 Best Zombies of all Time.

Apologies for the short blog post. Catherine is currently trapped mid luncheon at the Convention for Martins (yep, without the intergalactic 'a') and her hero 'Martin Neville' is reluctant to ask what the guy with the skinned cat for a wig is eating.

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Sometimes it's not enough to set goals. Sometimes it helps to let others know your goals. Then they can ask if you've accomplished them. Annoying when you haven't. But sometimes just knowing someone will help to keep you honest, makes all the difference in the world.

I was writing a new novel, but the holidays have put a crimp in my writing. Right. In truth I'm procrastinating because I'm not sure where I'm going with the story. So I find other things I must do, and take a lot longer doing them while avoiding what I set out to do--which is write the new novel.

The muse isn't going to jump out and hit me on the head and say here I am, here's the story, here, write it. Sometimes it does. But most often it doesn't. So I have to make it happen. The laundry won't clean itself, neither will the pots and pans. The mowing has to be done, the weedeating too. Christmas cards? Argh.

Organization is the key. Make a list of what you want to accomplish, and try to stick to it. It's amazing how easy it is to get sidetracked when we don't set goals. Even if you don't accomplish everything in the day, keep track of it and have weekly goals, monthly goals.

What is your biggest time waster? Playing video games? Watching tv? Surfing the net? Allow for only so much time to do these things. Better yet, make it a gift to yourself. Work first, then play.

That's how it was when I was growing up. Go to school, come home and do homework and then the rest of the time was free time to play. Somehow the Internet has made me lose sight of work first, and play later. :)

So make a list, and then do what's listed. Fight procrastination! Make it happen!

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Welcome to the pet project of a great group of authors from Echelon Press!

We have gotten together and are interviewing one another or writing essays that we are posting weekly to our numerous websites and blogs, creating exposure for us all! I will post the links to the interviews conducted on yours truly, just as soon as they are available.

My first interviewee is Kerul Kassel.
Kerul is a non-fiction author of the book: http://www.stopprocrastinatingnow.com/
And, the soon-to-be-released book called: Productive Procrastination (Echelon Press, 2007)

I am very excited to welcome Kerul to my Blog!
Check out our interview below:

Tell us a bit about yourself and the genre you write.

I'm a fairly new author, and my writing was inspired by my clients and workshop participants. I found so many people beating themselves up about what they hadn't accomplished in life, and it was weighing them down, draining them of energy, and that was so unnecessary! I wanted to help them let go of that punishing perspective and replace it with a new lively, fun, experimental, forward-thinking one, and I could reach more people by writing a book. You guessed it, I write non-fiction, specifically about procrastination: www.StopProcrastinatingNow.com/book.

Did you choose your present genre; or did the genre choose you?

It definitely chose me. But I’ve always been a non-fiction sort. I do love fiction, but the books I’ve collected tend to be reference oriented, such as field guides, how-to’s, photographic essays, books on psychology, philosophy, literature compendiums, animal behavior, and more recently, self-help. Have you always wanted to write?Not in any definite way – I’ve always just wanted to be happy! At times in my life, writing has been a path to that, sometimes through journaling, at other times through telling a personal story or documenting a situation or event, and more recently, to help me get clear on and communicate good ways of mastering one’s goals, dreams, and time.

Have you ever had writer’s block? If yes, what have you done to overcome it?

Writer’s block was a frequent companion during the writing of my first book. The block was usually doubts about the value and originality of what I was writing, what other people would think of it, the quality of the style, grammar and voice, etc. At that time I had a coach who suggested that whenever I made an appointment with myself to write and found no words forthcoming, that I make a diary of sorts, just to spill out of my brain whatever was in it to free up some “RAM”, so to speak. It worked, and in my next book, Productive Procrastination, The Procrastination Diary is included – an almost daily account of the struggle with writer’s block. I hope it helps give people a sense of humor and ideas for options when they’re putting something off because it feels uncomfortable, scary, overwhelming, or difficult.

Do you have any advice for the young writer just starting out?

Write, write, and write some more, and write for yourself first, for fun next, and for others last. I know that you’re supposed to write for your “target market”, but your voice will be truer if it’s really you, and you care about what you’re writing about and are enjoying the process. Some people write for the joy of it, some people write for pleasure, some people write because they want to inspire or entertain or educate, and some write for money. What fun if you can do all of those things!

And just for fun, if you could be a Transformer, which would you be? An Autobot (the good bots) or a Decepticon (the evil bots)? =D

I’d definitely be a good bot, but I can’t pretend to know anything about Transformers. If there’s a transformer that empowers people, has purple and pink in it, loves animals, and is a protector of the environment, that’d be me.

Thank you so much Kerul!

Stay tuned! And check back each week for a new interview!

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Last year's more conventional entry This year's less conventional one, from 'Tis by Frank McCourt, which I'm rereading while awaiting the arrival via ILL of his Teacher Man: I walk through Woodside to the library to borrow a book I looked at the last time I was there, Sean O'Casey's I Knock at the Door. It's a book about growing up poor in Dublin and I never knew you could write about things

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