Catherine Hackman's Blog

My first book signing with Hieu for our new release, "Coming to America, A Journey Home" is this Saturday. I am really excited to visit with everyone who comes.Coming to America: A Journey Home

As part of my research for the Old Testament romance I am writing, I am reading "Jewish Literacy." Since I am Christian, I do not feel qualified to write a book about the Old Testament Jews, even though I consider them to be my ancestors and the Old Testament to be a record of my family history.

The first section of this book talks about the Old Testament. I have read the Old Testament several times, so I am familiar with it. The Jewish view of the Old Testament is fascinating. I am getting many ideas for the book.

If you have any suggestions for Jewish books, please comment.

Here is a link to "Jewish Literacy."Jewish Literacy: The Most Important Things to Know About the Jewish Religion, Its People and Its History

I did an interview this morning with one of Hieu Tran's former teachers. We have known each other for a long time. What I am discovering as I talk to people about Hieu is that Hieu lives out the themes of the book so well that other people recognize it. They comment on seeing it in Hieu without me even asking.

My second round Beta readers are reading my Old Testament romance. I have the 3rd round Beta readers lined up and ready to go. I'm excited about both books.

I LOVE romance stories. If a story does not have romance, I don't enjoy reading it. Even a little bit of romance will satisfy me. I am really enjoying the Morgan Ranch book series. The Reluctant Cowboy (I think a picture of the book was supposed to appear there. Not sure what went wrong.) Anyway, they are enjoyable, nice romances. (Since I am a Christian author, I do feel the need to warn you that they have explicit sexual content.) My older daughter is mortified that I would read romance novels. She has, therefore, loaned me three books to read: Agatha Christie's "Death on the Nile" Death on the Nile, V.E. Schwab's "Vicious" Vicious , and (ugh!!) Daphne Du Maurier's "Rebecca" Rebecca, a book against which I have a personal grudge without even having read it. Anyway, she has challenged me to read those during this month of July 2017. Maybe I will leave the ranch to read a chapter or two.

Every author enjoys writing, and reading and interacting with their fans, The other little chores that go along with being published--maybe not so much. There is an entire business aspect to being an author that most people don't consider. I consider the business side anything that does not involve me writing such as: setting up interview schedules, setting up speaking engagements, keeping track of time/mileage (if writing for someone else), developing and implementing marketing strategies, making a budget, keeping track of expenses and income, keeping track of tax matters, the list goes on . . .(to use a cliché, which authors are NEVER supposed to do.) If you are going to be an author, be aware that you have to take care of this part, even if it is not what you most enjoy. It will save you a lot of trouble in the end.

I am writing a memoir about a man, Hieu Tran, who traveled to American from Vietnam, alone, at Age 12. He was a "boat person." Boat people are the people who escaped from Vietnam via boat. It was a hazardous journey, and thousands died. I will update announcements on this book as it progresses.

I have an announcement to make on Monday about a project. I am really excited to announce this!

I entered three contests last year and submitted one short story for publication in a teen magazine. Didn't win or get published in any of them! I did figure out some of the mistakes I made. First of all, I didn't submit enough of my work. This year, I intend to write and submit a lot more. In the meantime, I am hooked on the "Beyonders" series by Brandon Mull. I has laugh-out-loud dark humor and an intriguing premise. I especially recommend it for grades 6 and up. The link is below. Let me know what you think of it if you read it.

A World Without Heroes