Category: Newsletter

Q&A with Caroline Kurtz

An excerpted version of this Q&A appeared in our newsletter. Each month, we include things like information about events, giveaways, sales, and fun extras like author Q&As. If you’d like be the first to know about what’s going on at Catalyst HQ, be sure to subscribe!

We’re getting ready for another big release at Catalyst, A Road Called Down on Both Sides: Growing up in Ethiopia and America by Caroline Kurtz (out July 15). It’s big for a few reasons: not only is this our first non-fiction release, but because Caroline is US-based, we’re able to help her plan a few events in support of the book. What this means for you book-lovers out there, is that you may get a chance to see Caroline in person as she talks about her memoir detailing her life growing up in rural Ethiopia in the 1950s. She’ll be holding a book launch at Annie Bloom’s in Portland on July 15.

As the daughter of Presbyterian Church missionaries, Caroline and her family packed up their lives in Oregon, and headed to Maji, Ethiopia. It was during her time there that she discovered what it was like to live between cultures. She came of age in a country that felt as much like home as her native country, and yet, she was outside of it. When she returned to the US, she again felt like an outsider. In this thoughtful memoir, Caroline explores what it’s like to search for home when that means so many (often conflicting) things, how her parents’ faith wasn’t necessarily her own, and how she found home by building it from all of the pieces of her traveller’s life. Now back in Oregon, Caroline is the co-founder of Ready Set Go Books along with her sister Jane, which publishes books for young Ethiopian readers, and she runs a non-profit that brings solar power and economic development options to women in Maji.

We chatted with Caroline about her book, her childhood, and why she switched from writing about dragons to writing about her life. You can also keep up with Caroline’s development work at her website, and be sure to check out her pictures of her life in Maji and beyond. Continue reading “Q&A with Caroline Kurtz”

Q&A with Matt & Jessica Powers

In addition to being great friends, brother and sister pair Matt and Jessica are also co-authors of the YA book Broken Circle (Akashic Books) and now, they’re co-workers here at Catalyst HQ. There’s no sibling rivalry here! Matt, who in in his downtime from being a parent and author, will also be heading up the newest Catalyst imprint—Powers Squared! In another life, Matt studied Oncology, eventually earning his PhD in Oncological Studies from the University of Utah. It was during his studies that he realized that science could be, and should be, for all of us. Science can dazzle us, excite us, captivate us, but only when it’s done in engaging ways. We’ll be bringing those kinds of engaging science stories to readers everywhere through the Powers Squared imprint—beginning with the first release Cat Among the Pigeons written by David Muirhead and featuring illustrations by Patricia de Villiers. Welcome to the team, Matt!

Matt and Jessica found some time between parenting, writing, and publishing to have a little chat about life as a Powers kid, reading and writing, and what you can expect from Powers Squared in the coming years. Learn more about the Powers Squared mission and Cat Among the Pigeons here.

This Q&A first appeared in our newsletter. If you want to see more great Q&As like this, plus be the first-to-know about sales, events, and lots of fun extras, be sure to subscribe to our newsletter!

Continue reading “Q&A with Matt & Jessica Powers”

Q&A with Max Annas

The residents of The Pines, a community in East London, South Africa, put up walls and gates to protect themselves from the dangers of the outside world. But what happens when the thing that’s meant to keep people safe, becomes someone’s biggest threat? That’s the question posed in Max Annas’ upcoming release The Wall, out on May 21 (paperback, digital, and audio versions). In this taut, fast-paced thriller, Max tackles issues of race, class, exclusion, and violence, but with a light touch that makes The Wall a surprisingly humorous book. This is Max’s first book in English (and you can learn more about Rachel Hildebrandt Reynolds, the book’s translator, here).

We chatted with Max about his influences, The Wall, and the magic of seeing his book “living in another language.” Pre-order your copy of The Wall through IndieBound. This Q&A first appeared in our monthly newsletter. If you want to be the first-to-know about events, sales, and fun extras like these author Q&As, be sure to subscribe! Continue reading “Q&A with Max Annas”

Q&A with Yewande Omotoso

Last year was quite a year for Yewande Omotoso. Her most recent release, The Woman Next Door, earned Yewande a spot on the shortlist for the Dublin Literary Award, and a Hurston/Wright Award nomination. We’re betting that readers will want to read more from this talented author in 2019, and so we couldn’t be more excited to be the North American publisher for her novel Bom Boy.

First released in South Africa, this novel of loss and belonging earned Yewande the South African Literary Award First Time Author Prize, and it was also shortlisted for the Etisalat Prize for Literature. She has revised the novel for its North American release on February 26. Pre-order your copy today!

We chatted with Yewande about her process, writers she admires, and what it felt like to revisit to Bom Boy after many years. This Q&A is the full version of the excerpt from our newsletter. Learn about Catalyst events, authors, giveaways, and read more author Q&As like this by subscribing to our newsletter! Continue reading “Q&A with Yewande Omotoso”

Q&A with Peter Church

This interview first appeared in our newsletter. To read more author interviews, keep up with Catalyst news, events, and giveaways make sure to subscribe! 

Peter Church

This February, we’re excited to release Crackerjack, a new thriller by Peter Church. Peter’s tense techno-thriller takes us to the dark side of the digital world. We meet reformed hacker Daniel Le Fleur, who finds that his virtual trouble is becoming all too real. There’s a missing executive, millions of dollars gone, and very determined killers on his trail. Crackerjack is a classic thriller re-imagined for the digital age (read an excerpt here). It’s also the first of three books from Peter that we’ll be publishing in the coming years, including Crackerjack‘s prequel.

We chatted with Peter ahead of the book’s release about his influences, his writing routine, and why he loves thrillers. Crackerjack is out on February 26— pre-order your copy today! And keep up with Peter by following him on Facebook.  Continue reading “Q&A with Peter Church”

From the Editor’s Desk: 2018 Reflections

This comes from our newsletter series, From the Editor’s Desk, where Catalyst founder/publisher, Jessica, gives you a peek behind the Catalyst curtain. Subscribe to our newsletter to get more looks inside Catalyst HQ, author Q&As, giveaways, and more!

I have to tell you the truth, I’m feeling kind of tired. But it’s a good tired! 2018 was a whirlwind year (following 2017, its own kind of whirlwind) and included many firsts. For this Editor‘s Desk column, I thought I’d tell you what some of those firsts were–all of them worthy of celebration. And hopefully I’ll find some time to do just that this month–celebrate all the firsts of 2018. Continue reading “From the Editor’s Desk: 2018 Reflections”

Q&A with Luke W. Molver

This Q&A is an extended version of the one that appeared in our most recent newsletter. Want to read more interviews like this, plus stay up-to-date on everything going on at Catalyst Press? Be sure to subscribe!

Earlier this year, we released Shaka Rising: A Legend of the Warrior Prince by author/illustrator Luke W. Molver. This graphic novel was the first release in our African Graphic Novel Series and the first release under our Story Press Africa imprint. The book was praised by The Wall Street Journal, Kirkus, Booklist, and the Midwest Book Review. This nuanced look at the life of the legendary Zulu king is part family saga, part military epic, and part history lesson. It has been a pleasure to bring Shaka’s story to readers. Luke will be bringing this story to even more readers as the book makes its South African release this month. Luke will be celebrating that, along with his other accomplishments at Comic Con Africa in Johannesburg this month.

We chatted with Luke about his work, writing Shaka, and what’s next for him. Keep up with Luke at his website, on Instagram, and on Facebook.  Continue reading “Q&A with Luke W. Molver”

Q&A with Futhi Ntshingila

This Q&A with the wonderfully talented Futhi Ntshingila first appeared in our newsletter. If you’d like to see more things like this, and find out about giveaways, and events, and new releases, and lots more, you should subscribe to our newsletter. We’re fun, we’re nice, and we promise not to flood your inbox. Interested? Subscribe here. Continue reading “Q&A with Futhi Ntshingila”

Q&A with Jive Media Africa

Our monthly newsletter is full of good stuff. We’ve got author news, events, and special sales. We have a good time there. Part of that good time is also being able to publish Q&As with our authors and partners that we then get to share with you. We’ve been republishing these Q&As here at our blog (you can read them here), but if you want to be among the first to read them, you can subscribe to our newsletter here!

The Q&A we’re sharing this time is with our South African partners, Jive Media Africa. We’ve teamed up with them to create our imprint Story Press Africa. Story Press Africa’s mission is to bring African histories and figures to life in the pages of our African Graphic Novel Series. The first installment in the series was Shaka Rising, and we’re so excited to bring more stories like this to readers everywhere. Continue reading “Q&A with Jive Media Africa”

Q&A with Reneilwe Malatji

One feature in our monthly newsletter that we just love is our Q&As with our authors. If you’re a subscriber, you’ve read some great ones, and if you’re not, let us help you! Subscribe here

We did a brief Q&A with Love Interrupted author Renielwe Malatji back in May that we’d like to share with you. Love Interrupted has already been getting some high praise. Foreword Reviews writes that the stories these stories “pack an emotional punch as they examine post-apartheid patriarchy through the eyes of various observant black women characters,” and Kirkus notes that “Many readers will see themselves in—and find themselves rooting for—the women in Malatji’s solid debut.”

Love Interrupted releases on on August 7. (And for a in-depth look at the design process for the collection’s cover, make sure to check out this Q&A with cover designer Karen Vermeulen) Continue reading “Q&A with Reneilwe Malatji”