Welcome to my Contact Me Page

But First—Some Frequently Asked Questions

I’ve decided to combine my contact page with a list of frequently asked questions. I’d appreciate it greatly if you’d scan down the list and see if your question is answered here. If so, read up, or follow the link. Then go ahead and contact me anyway, just to say hello. I really do love to hear from readers. 

Or maybe you don’t want to ask a question. Maybe you just want to share your thoughts. Please do. That never fails to make my day.

No one else will read your email. I don’t have a secretary or an assistant. All the mail comes straight to me, and I always answer. (Note: It usually takes me about three days to reply to a reader email. Occasionally it might take a little longer.)

PLEASE READ ***IF YOU ARE A TEACHER*** 

Teachers, I would ask you to please not assign your students with writing me individual emails asking questions. This is becoming more popular, and is seriously straining my correspondence time. A class of 45 students, each asking me to respond individually, takes me at least 10-12 hours to complete. Think three to four emails an hour. You can see where I would get in trouble, especially now that I am on a two-book-a-year schedule. I pride myself in never leaving correspondence unanswered, and so of course I don't want to disappoint the expectations of the kids who want me to make time for them. But it's a little different than hearing from a reader who loves my work and felt compelled to write. The kids are emailing me because the teacher said they had to do it.

In the future I'd appreciate it if the teacher could encourage the class to come up with a list of five or six questions and send me one email from the class as a whole. I promise, of course, to respond. 

Thank you for your understanding.

Now, here are the most common questions:

Where can I find discussion guides for my book group?

For my much older books, I have some here on this website under “Extras.” But for all the newer books, they are included in the back of the Kindle and paperback editions.

How did I come up with the Pay It Forward idea?

Right. Number one on the list. It’s a long story, somewhat involved, and, after telling it, oh, say…a thousand times, it’s become my adjunct life’s work to assure that I never have to tell it again. 

So here’s what I did. I found a clip of myself telling the story. And no matter how many times people play it, I don’t have to tell the story again. This video does it for me. It’s like a little slice of author heaven. (That same video is also on the Pay It Forward book page.)

Will I come to your town/school to speak about Pay It Forward?

I’m sorry to say I can’t. I stopped accepting such engagements at the beginning of 2009. I traveled for years, much to the detriment of my own finances, health, creativity and joy. Finally I had to move on.

I know people love Pay It Forward, and I’m thrilled about that, and always will be. What people may not know about me is that I have more than 45 published and forthcoming novels, and I love them all equally. Think of me as the parent of 45 children. You don’t starve 44 kids of the attention they need to thrive and give it all away to only one. Not even the best-known one.

That said, I do occasionally do Skype visits with classes as time allows.

Will I help you with your project for school?

I’d love to. But I absolutely refuse to do it for you. With you, yes. For you, no. I’ve put a huge amount of information about myself on this site, as well as on Facebook, YouTube, etc. So do a little reading, and then if there’s something special you need and you can’t find it, do feel free to drop me a line. I’d be happy to help.

May I send you my book, and if you like it you can write a blurb for the jacket?

I'm afraid not. Quite some time ago (September 2012, to be exact) I very publicly announced that I was stepping out of the blurb game, for what I think were very sound reasons. I like to help new authors, and I can sometimes offer bits of advice. But I can't offer blurbs or read and critique another author's work, published or not. 

I hope you'll read my post on why I don't offer blurbs, and I thank you for understanding.

Okay! We got that out of the way.  Now...

I once had one of those contact form pages. Then I found out it wasn't working, and people weren't getting through.  And that this might have been going on as long as a month, and I'd had no idea.

So...sometimes low tech is best.

Please email me at my full name (first, middle, last--all one word) at icloud dot com

or 

catherineryanhyde at ME (literally, the word "ME," M-E) dot com

You know the drill on that, right?  You just replace the words with the symbols.  And I'll get your mail.  And I'll write back. It usually takes me about three days to reply to a reader email. Occasionally it might take a little longer.

If I don't write back, I never got it.  I promise you that.  I really mean it when I say I always write back.  So if you wrote to me and heard nothing, maybe it was email trouble (I've had some), or maybe it got accidentally swept up in a sea of spam.  So please try again. Also please check your spam folder, as I might have replied, and my reply might have gotten swept up in a sea of spam on your end.

You can also find me on Facebook or other social media sites if you think your emails might not be going through. 

And...speaking of getting swept up in a sea of spam, please call me Catherine. I notice a lot of readers start with "hello" or no salutation, and I get why. You're not sure if you should call me Catherine. Let me settle this for you: you should. And if your email begins with "Dear Catherine" or "Hi Catherine," it's unlikely that I will accidentally sweep it away with the mountain of junk mail. (I guess that's a mixed metaphor. First it was a sea, now it's a mountain. It's big. I'll leave it at that.)

I look forward to hearing from you! 

Thanks,

Catherine