Katherine Fawcett’s sense of humor came to life as she read her first fictional book at the Fernie Heritage Library on Sunday, March 12.
Travelling from Pemberton, B.C. to Calgary, Alta., Faucett made a pit stop in Fernie to promote her collection of short stories titled The Little Washer of Sorrows alongside local author and mentor Angie Abdou.
“This is such a great space, it’s a magical space,” Fawcett said as she took a glimpse of the large windows lighting up the inside of Fernie Heritage Library’s open space.
After attending a workshop at the Whistler Writers Festival, taught by Abdou, Fawcett reached out to her, asking her if she would sponsor her short adult fiction novel.
“I read it and I loved it, it’s brilliant,” said Abdou of Fawcett’s book. “We have quite a good writing series here in Fernie so I talked her into coming.”
Reading her own endorsement from the back of Fawcett’s book, Abdou continued, “Katherine Fawcett is blessed with a fierce imagination. Her style is as original and wildly diverse as her characters.”
As Fawcett read an excerpt from The Little Washer of Sorrows, her bright imagination came to light.
Dragged into Fawcett’s fantasy world, you began to envision the three mythological sisters portrayed in her Sirens Sisters tale. A modern twist on a Greek mythical tale, Fawcett’s humorous piece didn’t hold anything back.
The author joked that the four qualities that helped her publish the book were being cheap, being lazy, being optimistic and being a worrywart.
Fawcett said she began writing her book after entering several short story writing contests. She quickly realized she could get free memberships to literary magazines upon winning the contests – hence being cheap.
As for being optimistic, Fawcett said, “After two and a half years of really, really encouraging rejection letters, finally I was picked up.”
Fawcett also noted that the vicious circle editing process, in which eight female writers got together once a month to critique each other’s work, contributed to the creation of her novel.
“The book wouldn’t exist without my writing group,” Fawcett admitted. “All the stories in this collection have gone through the writers group.”
Fawcett’s reading was followed by a musical performance put on by the Kootenay Stringbenders.
The Little Washers of Sorrows can be purchased at Polar Peek Books.
