The administrative tasks of being an author always surprise me, and that's partly what the Saturday panel addressed at The Midtown's Harrisburg Book Festival. Titled "Congratulations, You're Published! Now What?" the session was led by the inexhaustible Ann Elia Stewart, whose workshops I attended years ago (and the resulting stories published in the anthology, A Community of Writers).
The other panelists included Gina Napoli (children's fiction and nonfiction), Don Helin (one of my longtime crit partners extraordinaire, thriller and military suspense), and Lori Myers (nonfiction). The best part was having a responsive audience, engaged in what we had to offer during the session.
I was also grateful to meet my newest publisher, Lawrence Knorr of Sunbury Press, who'll release Wild Life, the collection of related literary shorts I submitted under my other pen name, C.A. Masterson. More about that here, if you're interested. :)
More News!
I just signed another contract with Decadent Publishing for a short romance in their 1NS line. Homecoming is a contemporary with a bit of suspense mixed in. The 1NS line is very fun, almost to the point of addiction, and yesterday I actually finished a draft of another story to sub to that line. They always seem to come in twos for me! I'm looking forward to working with Decadent's fantastic cover artists and editors again on Homecoming.
In its 5-star review, Bitten by Love Reviews said: ""Death Is A Bitch" the first novel I have read by the awesome Cate Masters and I am definitely now a huge fan. This is a book that has all that you could ask for in the paranormal world, plus some! Ms. Masters weaves an enthralling story, linking both heaven and hell together, in this intriguing novel."
Another 5-star review, Sniffer Walk said: "Cate has a gift for making the traditional non-traditional and the day-to-day, well, exciting and funny. I loved reading this book. I was always curious what was next and who would show up. Much to my pleasant surprise, the story even took me to one of my favorite places, Paris. You will find all sorts of little surprises in here. Now this certainly is not for anyone under 18 but I highly recommend it to anyone needing a respite from everyday life."
Red-Headed BookWorm gave Death four stars, and said: "Death may be a bitch, but I really like her. I liked this book from page one. The characters are very well written and like-able. Death is a strong female lead, really, would you expect anything less. I mean she is Death after all. The mix of angels, demons, and mythology mesh really well. The story is fast paced and kept me wanting more. I fell in love with "the bad guy", Damien. Any author that can make me feel something for the villain deserves high praise! This book was just too short!"
Again, just a sampling, and you can see many of the reviews on Death's Goodreads page. I was actually relieved that so many reviews were positive because, as will happen, some reviewers just didn't like Death. It baffled me because I'd worked so hard on it, and my editor was fantastic in helping me bring the story to a higher level. But the old saying is true, you can't please everyone. Bad reviews happen. I'm grateful to all the reviewers for their time!
