Hello dear readers, 

I write to you from our living room sofa, rain thundering down outside. Despite it being the last week of July, the weather seems to think it’s October, the (extreme!) heat of the past week all but forgotten. You know by now that this is not a problem for me, whose favourite weather is cold, dark, and wet. What I don’t love is that I have somehow caught a cold in the middle of summer, and so have spent today doing odd tasks between rests.

Today, though, it’s time to chat about writing. First and foremost, I’ve resurrected my patreon page, where I share my works in progress (novel excerpts, essays, poetry, short stories), among a pile of other things: 

• Diary entries
• In-depth writing and life updates
• Audio files of me reading the writing I share
• Exclusive videos
• Free digital copies of all current and future poetry collections
• Access to my close friends list on Instagram (which is only for the especially curious, of course)
• Other things as they arise—I’ve put out a google form so patrons can tell me what they’d like to see!

I will always love this blog, but it’s nice to have a space that feels more intimate than sharing with the internet at large. Especially as my profession as a writer continues to grow!

In terms of poetry, two very exciting things have happened:

1. I’ve submitted my second full-length poetry collection, Get Well Soon, and am just waiting to make sure everything looks good before I approve it for print. Physical copies will be available to order on August 31st, though patrons will get a free copy of the PDF in the next couple of weeks.
2. I’ve also re-formatted Salt Bones to be the same size/font/etc. as Get Well Soon. I really liked the idea of all my poetry books being the same in this way, so I can stick with this format going forward. I do have a couple more collections in the works, but their publication is far (far) in the future.

As for the sort-of secret thing I can’t (maybe?) talk about yet¹, an important step has happened as of last Saturday. Since then, I’ve been working on the first draft of my next book, which is already at 40,000 words at the time of writing this. Since I’m home sick, and all my plans have been canceled until I’m feeling better, this week is going to be a whole lot of writing. The goal is to have the first draft done before the end of August, and at the rate I’m going, I don’t see that being a problem. And, because I love setting arbitrary goals for myself, I plan on completing subsequent drafts before November 1st, so that my time can go to Pro Writing Aid’s NaNoWriMo-esque challenge.

Otherwise, because my brain is full of good things at all times, I’ve already come up with two more novels². Both have been planned out in a rather vague way, and will be better outlined after the first draft of the above-mentioned novel is finished. Both are in the same vein as the first in that they’re whimsical and a bit weird, but that’s where the similarities end. I can’t wait for you to read them in their finished forms in future years³, though patrons will of course get to see them in their various iterations as they progress.

I believe that’s all on the writing front. I hope you’re well, and that your own writing projects aren’t being too ornery.

Talk to you again soon,

—Catherine

FOOTNOTES

¹ I’m so sorry. I promise I’ll stop being vague when I’m told I can do that.

² One of which will get its first draft written during this coming November—if all goes well, and if I don’t have edits to do on other projects. But that’s the goal!

³ The way things work, it will likely be quite a while before you see them. But that’s ok! They’ll be something to look forward to.

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