Genre-hopping local author advises newbie writers to try it all
Catina Noble, an Ottawa-based author, persevered through the challenges in her life to pursue her love of writing. She now has over 200 publications including books, short stories, poetry and articles.
At the Media Club of Ottawa meeting at the Lord Elgin Hotel on Nov. 19, Noble told aspiring authors they just need to put themselves out there and try everything to get the ball rolling.
Her newest book, Boxing Day, a romance novelette, was released on Nov. 16, just in time for the holidays.
The Media Club of Ottawa allows writers from all backgrounds of experience and ages to come together and use community to push each other forward. Denise Anne Boissoneau, a recent addition to the club, attended Noble’s presentation and has felt the support of the community in her journey into the writing world.
“It was the first time I had heard Ottawa described as a village,” Boissoneau said. She had only started to be able to call Ottawa home once she found herself within her writing and in the Media Club.
Noble is an Algonquin College social services worker graduate and currently enrolled in the addictions and mental health program, as well as the creative writing certificate program. She uses her Algonquin College diploma and a BA in psychology from Carleton University in her career working in halfway houses in Ottawa.
Since she was young, Noble always wanted to be a writer but found herself a single mother of four at 23 years old. She didn’t know how or if she would ever be able to pursue her dream.
She’s always kept journals, filling the pages everyday with her life story and fictional stories. But her writing never saw the light of day.
“I kept writing because it just, it gave me a reason to get up in the morning,” said Noble during her talk. “It just helped me stay focused and life was always better for me when I was actually writing.”
The fear of never getting published, and therefore wasting her time writing, lingered in her mind until 2013. Then she received notice that one of her poems, You Can’t See Me, had been shortlisted in a poetry contest in Ottawa. It eventually went on to win first place.
From that point on, the fear of rejection was pushed aside and Noble propelled forward, diving into her writing.
“I just wrote everything,” she said. “People said I had to stick to one genre. I was like, no, I’m just going to do whatever I want, and that’s what I did.”
Noble allows her life to bleed into her writing. Her eclectic collection ranges from having a story published in an edition of Chicken Soup for the Soul to non-fiction about booking a Black Friday deal to Mount Everest Base camp and going on the trip without any prior training.
While some writers want to live off their creativity, it may not be financially responsible for most people. Many authors, like her, have to work full time and write on the side.
“I remember thinking, there’s got to be more to life than just paying your bills,” said Noble. “I just, I cried so hard. And I was like, it stops here. We’re going to make changes. And I did.”
Public lending rights are a great way Noble suggested independent authors try and get paid for their work.
Public libraries can accept small authors and offer their books for lending in the library and authors can collect royalties. The process is done through the Canada Council for the Arts to see if the books qualify. The maximum they paid out per individual between 2023 and 2024 was $4,500, according to Noble.
Noble found connections through the Ottawa Media Club that have greatly helped her writing and the exposure necessary to propel her success. Having people in the same field supporting and sharing each other’s projects has had a huge impact in Noble’s marketing strategy.
“You meet different people and everybody’s at a different place,” said Noble. “They have a lot of experience… it’s just interesting to hear the different takes because everybody has a different approach.”
