Lesson Summary

In a conversation between Cath and Morgen, various aspects of writing and publishing are discussed, shedding light on the challenges and joys associated with being a writer. The dialogue covers several key points:

• Finding inspiration for stories
• The importance of encouraging teachers in the writing process
• Setting deadlines to maintain productivity
• The editing process for drafts
• The impact of book covers on book sales

Cath, a writer of novellas and short stories, shares anecdotes from her writing journey, which includes:

• Her varied experience with editors
• The collaboration process involved in creating book covers

Cath Barton has authored notable works such as 'The Plankton Collector' and 'In the Sweep of the Bay', for which she has received awards.

Her writing is widely published both in print and online.

Currently, she is engaged in multiple projects, including a novel-in-flash and a full-length novel.

Additionally, Cath utilises photographs as a means of inspiration for her writing, and actively markets her work through various platforms such as social media and public events.

More information about Cath's published works can be found on her website and Amazon page - see the biography below.

Cath Barton, a writer of novellas, short stories, flash fiction and reviews, used to say she’d never write a novel, but has a couple of those in the pipeline.

Widely published in print and online, Cath challenges herself to write longer fiction. Her novella The Plankton Collector (2018) won the New Welsh Writing Awards AmeriCymru Prize for the Novella 2017 and was published by New Welsh Review under their Rarebyte imprint. It also received a special mention in the Saboteur Award for the Novella 2019.

Cath's second novella In the Sweep of the Bay (2020) is available from Louise Walters Books in paperback and e-book, and as an audio book from Audible or iTunes. It was shortlisted in the Saboteur Awards in 2021.

Her third novella, Between the Virgin and the Sea, set in a fictitious city on the edge of a continent, where a boy dreams his future, was published in March 2023 in Novella Express #3 by Leamington Books.

Cath's novella-in-flash set in her hometown of Abergavenny, Wales, The Geography of the Heart, was published in December 2023 by Arroyo Seco Press.

She has also completed a collection of short stories, The Garden of Earthly Delights, inspired by the fantastical pictures of the Dutch artist Hieronymus Bosch, for which she was mentored by the novelist and short story writer Catherine Merriman, courtesy of Literature Wales. A selection from this collection was published in March 2024 by Atomic Bohemian under the title Mr Bosch and His Owls.

Cath was also a regular (successful) contributor to Morgen's 100-word flash fiction competition.

Current projects include:

• a magical realism novel-in-flash inspired by the life of her Auntie Phyllis, who was a famous circus artiste, out on submission.
• an expansion of In the Sweep of the Bay to a full-length novel, in draft.
• a novel set in Kathmandu and Wales in the aftermath of an earthquake, in draft.

Cath often uses pictures to inspire her writing and she takes a photograph every day.

Her website is https://cathbarton.com and Amazon page is https://www.amazon.co.uk/stores/author/B00BKN6LTU.

Based in Abergavenny, South Wales, Cath lives with her husband Oliver and their cat Feely.