Have You Ever Had a When You Were Older Moment?

Updated on Thursday, December 20, 2012 at 6:39PM by Catherine

My mind is on my new release When You Were Older today, and I've been thinking about the way I use "crucial moments" in some of my novels. In Electric God, a life was lost over a crucial moment. A moment when the main character, Hayden, could have done something, but didn't. Of course, he had no way of knowing it was a crucial moment. We almost never do. That's what I find so fascinating about them. Looking back, you realize the gigantic nature of a moment, the way life turned on it. In fact, in Electric God I referred to it as a "fulcrum moment." But at the time you have no way of knowing you just passed an important crossroad.

In my newest, When You Were Older, Russell is late for work when the phone rings. And he almost doesn't get it. Because he's late. Thing is, he's late to work at the World Trade Center. On September 11, 2001. If he had kept going and ignored the phone, he would have been at work when the first plane hit. If the call had been of no importance, he might still have made it in time to be killed. But it was far from unimportant. It was a neighbor in his home town of Kansas, telling him that his mother has died suddenly, and he has to come home and look after care for his brain-damaged older brother, Ben. So he doesn't rush out the door. And he survives.

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Heifer International Fundraiser

Nathan Bransford is holding his fourth annual fundraiser for Heifer International.

Two words: I'm in.

Leave a comment on this blog post, and I will donate $1 to Heifer International. $1 for every comment left, up to 250 comments.

If you don't know about this great organization, click here. They are the ultimate Pay It Forward project! Then...comment away!

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Update on Thursday, December 20, 2012 at 2:20PM by Catherine

PS: I normally respond to comments on my blog, but I hope you will understand that this time I want to keep the count clean. Please know that your comment is appreciated, even if I don't say so to each of you individually.

Update on Thursday, December 20, 2012 at 7:16PM by Catherine

Here are some links to participating blogs. So if you want even more money to flow to Heifer, you can click through and comment on these blogs as well:

Nathan Bransford, of course

Anne Mackin

My Karma Ran Over My Dogma

T.K.'s Tales

Update on Sunday, December 23, 2012 at 12:22PM by Catherine

Three more participating blogs to help you spread the love:

Mira's Corner

100 First Drafts

Tales from the Motherland

Thanks for all of your comments!

Update on Sunday, December 23, 2012 at 1:24PM by Catherine

An answer to Joanna's question in the comment thread, below (but I'm moving it up here because I don't want to spoil my count, plus others might be curious):

If you want to be part of the fundraiser, just create your own blog post, be clear what you will donate, and contact Nathan Bransford through his blog, so he can add a link for those who want to visit all the blogs. And that's it!

Update on Sunday, December 30, 2012 at 4:40PM by Catherine

As of this follow-up, 4:40 p.m. December 30th, I'm going to up my contribution to $2 per comment to get closer to my proposed limit. I'm closing out this fundraiser at midnight tomorrow, also known as the end of 2012 and the beginning of 2013. Spread the word! 

Update on Tuesday, January 1, 2013 at 9:34AM by Catherine

Okay. Fundraiser over, and I didn't hit my limit but we didn't do badly. Because I have only 77 comments (I'm counting the reference/trackback as a comment) I'm going to go ahead and donate $2 for each one, or $154. Off to do that right now. Thanks for being part of our fundraiser!

A Giveaway for Writers

Updated on Sunday, December 16, 2012 at 10:43AM by Catherine

Many of you know that my friend Anne R. Allen and I co-authored a nonfiction book for writers that came out this year. It's called How to be a Writer in the E-Age...And Keep Your E-Sanity. It's getting lovely reviews on the bookseller sites, and the writers I know who have picked up a copy have good things to say.

For those of who who don't know Anne (and I'm guessing most of you do, at least by way of her accomplishments), she is a highly successful publishing industry blogger. Her blog, Anne R. Allen's Blog...with Ruth Harris, has garnered numerous awards and is quickly becoming a leading go-to source for up-to-the-minute industry news. So the match was a good one in terms of what we had to offer to our fellow writers, especially those on the newer end of the process.

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Cover Reveals (3!) and What's Up in '13

Updated on Wednesday, December 5, 2012 at 10:35AM by Catherine

A few weeks ago I quietly made book pages for three new books that will be released in 2013. The first two are The Long, Steep Path and Always Chloe and Other Stories. They are both departures for me. The Long, Steep Path is my first foray into creative nonfiction, and Always Chloe is the first time I have ever brought the characters of an older novel back for a sequel-like work of fiction.

And today I have the final cover for both projects, so I'm sharing them with you, and reminding you to keep an eye out for them in 2013. The Long, Steep Path will be released very early in the new year, probably right around New Years, in fact. Look for Chloe later in the year. Because...

I have another big announcement. In March of next year, Amazon Encore will release a new edition of When I Found You, which enjoyed so much Kindle success in 2012. And then in May, Amazon Publishing will release a brand new US title of mine, Walk Me Home. So we're waiting to release Always Chloe and Other stories at a time that won't confuse or interfere with the launches of those Amazon titles.

And, by the way, Walk Me Home is available for pre-order right now.

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