Catherine Ryan Hyde Catherine Ryan Hyde is the author of more than 25 published and forthcoming books, including the bestselling When I found You, Pay It Forward, Don't Let Me Go, and Take Me With You.
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As you know, I don't do many public appearances these days. However, On Saturday, November 5th, I'm going to be giving a talk on the YA fiction market at the Ventura County Book & Author Fair in Camarillo.
If you live in the area, I hope you'll come by!
For more info, click on the flyer to the left.
Thanks, and hope to see you there!
Think of this blog post, please, as an open letter to my adult readers here in the US.
I'll start with the short version: I'm back.
Now to go into a little more detail.
You have been amazingly patient. The last expressly adult (this does not mean pornographic--I hope you know that) title I released here in the U.S. was Chasing Windmills in the Spring of 2008. Three and a half years ago. Furthermore, Love in the Present Tense and Chasing Windmills followed another long dry spell in which I didn't put out a new book from 2002 to 2006. And then when I did, it was Young Adult.
Nevada Fall from the John Muir TrailSecond time's a charm. The weather cooperated beautifully as I left Upper Pines Campground at 6:00 a.m. (by headlamp and a full moon), hiked up to Vernal Fall footbridge, took the John Muir Trail up to the Panorama Trail, the Panorama Trail over Illouette Creek (and the outlook over Illouette Fall). Halfway between Illouette and Glacier Point, I still had not seen one other human. Then they began to pass me. Walking down. No one else was walking up. They all asked if I had hiked up from the valley. One man, when I said yes, said--in heavily accented but perfect English--"Then you are my hero."
My speed was anything but heroic, but no one seemed to care. Including me. Getting
This is not the first time my hiking/travel adventures have required a bit of a do-over. Those who have followed this blog for a long time may remember The Great Crater Lake Do-Over. I took my mom and my dog and myself to Crater Lake just in time to run into a fierce wildfire nearby. We did go to the lake--we had to. The road out again went
Things are moving fast now. My novel Don't Let Me Go was released in the UK on the 29th of September, and the next one, When You Were Older, will be out in the spring. And I just handed in another for 2013, but that's another subject for another blog post.
Now, I have to stop here and inject a message to my US readers. Yes, I understand there was a time when all these UK releases may have felt a little frustrating. But now these titles are coming out fast in the US. Second Hand Heart is already out and When I Found You will be out this month. So we're catching up fast.
Today I have the pleasure of doing a cover reveal for next spring's When You Were Older release. It's the first of my UK novels
Those of you who come to this site regularly know I like to give away books. And I particularly like to give away, to my US readers, books that are only available in the UK so far. But notice how that number is shrinking! Second Hand Heart is now available in a US edition. When I Found You will come out in the US this month.
But not this one, on the left. Not yet. This is my brand new Don't Let Me Go. It came out in the UK last Thursday. So it's not available in the US now. Except the ones I'm about to give away on this blog!
Here's where the "plus" comes in. I have a friend and former writing student (but she's no student now--she made it!) named Joan Swan, who did a giveaway for three
I have two more National Parks to talk about, both from my recent trip. The first is Black Canyon of the Gunnison, and the second is Mesa Verde. Both in Colorado, both parks we visited on the way home from Pike's Peak. Because, heck, if you're going to drive all the way from California to Colorado, you might as well get a good sampling of what Colorado has to offer.
Here are a couple of small samples of these parks.
For those of my readers in the UK, today is a big day. It's the day my brand-new novel DON'T LET ME GO is on sale.
For my US readers, the wait shouldn't be long. Within a few months we should see a US edition. And in the meantime, SECOND HAND HEART is out in the US (please see the "buying buttons" on the Second Hand Heart page), and next month WHEN I FOUND YOU will release in the US. That should give you plenty to read while you're waiting.
And today, on the day DON'T LET ME GO hit UK stores, I discovered that the Amazon.co.uk page for next year's novel has been created.
Here's what it says:
For those of you who followed the reports of my trip, you may know that the cog railway trip up to Pike's peak summit was the centerpiece of the whole outing. It had been a bit of a bucket list item for my mom, who is 89. The timing was not ideal. Her back had been giving her some trouble. But she got the blessing of her chiropractor to go. Probably because he knew the same thing we both knew. If not the September, then maybe not for a full year. And then...who knows?
Got home from my trip yesterday afternoon. It's unusual for me to already have one blog post about the trip, with photos. But that's what comes of an RV park with free WiFi.
Still, I want to back up and chronicle some of the other amazing places I saw. And, of course, get the photos up online.
Pike's Peak summit from Lightning PointHere are a few photos from my hike up the Barr Trail to Barr Camp, which is 6.5 miles and 3,800 vertical feet, or a little better than half the way to Pike's Peak summit. I just got back to the motor home about an hour ago.
I'd had the night's reservation for Barr Camp for a long time. The better part of a year. I spent that time wrestling with myself about the summit. I had two choices. I could hike up to Barr Camp, spend a night in the fall aspens, and hike back down the next day. Then the day after that I could take my mother up to the summit on the cog railway. (That's really the purpose of the trip. It's something of a bucket list item for her.) Second
Those who follow this blog know I've been doing an occasional More Puppy or More Kitty feature. Highlighting first my own dog (and my dearl departed late dog), then the dogs and cats of my reader-friends. I even did a More Bunny blog post as a foray into slightly more unusual pets.
In the past, I've had some rather unusual pets myself. I stumbled across their photos while looking for something different, and decided to do an "Unusual Pets" post.
I've probably hiked Valencia Peak in Montana de Oro State Park four dozen times since I started hiking seriously in 1993. But until a few weeks ago, I had never seen a fogbow. In fact, I had no idea there was any such thing as a fogbow. But I saw a fogbow a few weeks ago, the first of three times I hiked Valencia Peak after a break of a year or so. And I had my camera. So that's this first photo. I thought I was being tongue-in-cheek by making up that name, until I Googled fogbow. Here's
A couple of months ago, back when I was doing my More Puppy meme pretty regularly, my friend and faithful reader Lucy Llewellyn Byard from Sri Lanka sent me this photo of her "100-pound baby," Toby.
When I asked for more information about him, she was nice enough to send me the following text and photos. The photos were taken
For those of you who remember my blog post entitled MY BOOTS ARE DISCO, I was a little embarrassed by the newness and lack of character of my new hiking boots after nine years and probably three thousand miles on the old ones. I photographed them side-by-side as a comment on character, and how it's (in my opinion) attained.
I'm happy to say that a couple
Most of you know my novel Second Hand Heart has just been released here in the U.S., in both ebook and paperback. And I'd like to make an offer to my U.S. readers, particularly those who have e-readers (such as the Nook or Kindle). I'd like to give you an electronic copy of the book in return for your word of mouth. If, and only if, you enjoy the book, I hope you'll return the favor by spreading the word. Tell a few of your friends who read, review it on your blog, mention it to your book group...or...you tell me.
Just leave a comment, telling me how you'll spread the word if you enjoy the book. Make sure you enter your email address as you fill out the comment form. It won't show publicly. And I'll
Those who follow my various social networks may know that I went kayaking with my friend Doug last Sunday morning. And did not bring my camera. Because...well, you know. It's a boat. Things get wet out there. And, of course, I saw the most amazing things. A waddle parade of white pelicans on the sand spit. A bat ray gliding under the boats in a foot of very clear water.
Of course, when I got back, I had to Facebook and tweet about all the things I wished I
Okay, it's official, US readers. You've been wanting a new adult novel from me since Chasing Windmills. And now here it is.
Second Hand Heart, which released as an ebook in late June, is now available in paperback.
Just check out this link right here and you'll see what I mean.
Or, if you'd rather have it as an ebook, check out the right-hand column of my Second Hand Heart page for buying buttons that should satisfy any and every ereader format.
Dare I say...woohoo?
This morning I left the house about 7:30 and hiked up to the tip of San Simeon Point and back. It's not hugely different from the hike I like to do up to Ragged Point. It's not nearly as far up the coast, but I don't arrange a ride, so it ends up being in the same ballpark. Close to 17 miles instead of 21.
The other difference is that I feel more inspired to walk out onto the bluff trails, which make the trip a lot longer. The 21-mile Ragged Point hike pushes so close to what is achievable (for me) in one day that I'm often loathe to add even another mile.
My friend Mary Jo Smith-Obolensky and her daughter Joanna Celeste sent me these photos of their buddy Jasper. Now, this guy is a cutie. Not that they're not all. But this little guy is a scene-stealer, in my opinion.
Mary Jo says, "Well here is a little bit on Jasper--I hope it is OK... it is hard to write just a little about him!
