Author: Cathryn Free
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Cover Reveal: Something Bright and Beautiful
The cover of SOMETHING BRIGHT AND BEAUTIFUL! I have been waiting for so long for this moment. I’ve dreamed about it for nearly two decades and even during the years of writing without any visible publishing progress, I couldn’t stop thinking about holding a completed and published novel in my hand. And today is finally…
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Navigating AI in the Publishing World
How to navigate a rapidly changing publishing world as a writer Maybe you saw the recent publishing controversy that’s been sweeping social media lately. The horror novel Shy Girl by Mia Ballard was recently pulled from bookshelves by its publisher after accusations of AI use put the author’s integrity into question. Speculation immediately swirled as…
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Stop Aging Up YA Characters. It’s Ruining the Genre.
Teens deserve books written for them. It often starts with a small shift that doesn’t seem like it should matter. A character is aged up slightly. The tone becomes a little older. The situations become a little more adult. On paper, these changes might feel minor, but in Young Adult fiction, these small shifts can…
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My Story “Elrida” Published in Seasons of Romantasy: Winter
“Elrida” is now available! I’m late in announcing this on the blog. What can I say, life’s been busy. BUT… My short story, “Elrida” is published in the Seasons of Romantasy: Winter anthology! This might just be the best short story I’ve ever written. It’s got magic, a snarky protagonist (and even snarkier horse) a…
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Boost Your Writing With These Must-Know Literary Devices
Discover how imagery, metaphors, and other essential techniques bring your words to life. “I could never write like that.”“I’m just not a literary writer.” If I had a dollar for every time a friend, student, or fellow writer said something like this… well, I’d at least be able to buy myself a new notebook. This…
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What to Do When Your Draft Isn’t Working
A Writer’s Guide to Not Spiraling Every writer has a few moments in the drafting or revising process where they stop, stare at the manuscript, and think, Oh no. This is a disaster. You know the moments I’m talking about: your plot veers off in twelve directions, your characters are suddenly acting like they have…
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Querying Mistakes I Made (So You Don’t Have To)
We’ve all been there, right? The endless querying trenches, staring at your inbox like it might suddenly start producing miracles. In my last post, I talked about the things that helped me finally land my dream agent (after, ahem, a very long road). But if I’m being honest, that road was also paved with a…
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Big News! My Book is Being Published!
A Dream Years in the Making (and the Moment It Became Real) It’s a Dream Come True!I was in the middle of teaching when my watch buzzed and I saw the flash across the screen of the email. It was first offer on the book I had spent months (years!) working on. I temporarily forgot…
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How to Land a Literary Agent: Part Two
Tips and tricks to help you finally land your dream literary agent! Every writer has a few milestones that they dream about and celebrate along their journey. The first time you finish a novel. The first rejection or the first acceptance. The first time seeing your name in print. One of the most major milestones…
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How to Land Your Literary Agent: Part One
Tips and tricks to help you finally land your dream literary agent! We all dream of the moment and what it will be like. After months or maybe (in my case) years of querying, you finally get that fateful call or email from a literary agent: They want to talk about representation! But for so…
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