About Me

The Long Version

Like most writers, I could never make a living writing fiction, so over the years I’ve worked a variety of jobs. In fact, I tried pretty much anything someone would hire me to do. That means I’ve fried fast-food burgers, cleaned offices, put together nail files in a factory, planted morning glories for a biology-department experiment, worked in libraries, bookstores, academic departments, and offices, done computer technical support, and written software documentation. I was a great babysitter and a terrible, terrible waitress. Nowadays I spend my days looking after my family and writing fiction. I live with my husband, my son, and our scrappy cat, Barnaby, in the New Jersey suburbs.

I read a lot. I read fiction, for kids and adults, and a lot of non-fiction, about stuff like space, science, and history. But it isn’t the only thing I like to do. I also like to cook, watch movies, do handicrafts, and spend time outside walking, hiking, gardening, and looking for found materials for art projects. I get a lot of entertainment from watching the variety of wildlife that moves through my neighborhood—from funnel-web spiders to turkey vultures and Eastern coyotes, all of it less than 20 miles from New York City.

The Short Version

Cathy Carr was born in western Nebraska and grew up in Wisconsin. Since high school, she has lived in four different U.S. states, plus overseas, and worked a variety of jobs, from burger flipping to technical writing. Wherever she goes, her observations of the natural world give her inspiration. Her debut novel, 365 Days to Alaska, was called “a wonderful debut novel about compassion, belonging, and finding your way home” by Lynne Kelly. It was a Junior Library Guild selection and chosen for Bank Street’s Best Children’s Books of the Year 2021. Cathy lives in the New Jersey suburbs with her family and a semi-feral cat named Barnaby.

Some of My Favorite Things

My favorite number? 19.

My favorite color? Orange.

Favorite movie? Spirited Away.

Favorite food? Appalachian soup beans.

My favorite middle-grade book? The Hobbit.

My favorite music? Jazz.

My favorite video game? Mario Kart.

My favorite pizza? Clam.

Favorite sport? Baseball.

Favorite thing to do when I was growing up? Reading, writing, singing, drawing, and playing outside.

Favorite thing to do with my friends when I was 11? Making stories up and acting them out. We kept playing make-believe long, long after we were supposed to have stopped in favor of more age-appropriate activity. Maybe this is what writers do.

The Short Version

Cathy Carr was born in western Nebraska and grew up in Wisconsin. Since high school, she has lived in four different U.S. states, plus overseas, and worked a variety of jobs, from burger flipping to technical writing. Wherever she goes, her observations of the natural world give her inspiration. Her debut novel, 365 Days to Alaska, was called “a wonderful debut novel about compassion, belonging, and finding your way home” by Lynne Kelly. It was a Junior Library Guild selection and chosen for Bank Street’s Best Children’s Books of the Year 2021. Cathy lives in the New Jersey suburbs with her family and a semi-feral cat named Barnaby.

Some of My Favorite Things

My favorite number? 19.

My favorite color? Orange.

Favorite movie? Spirited Away.

Favorite food? Appalachian soup beans.

My favorite middle-grade book? The Hobbit.

My favorite music? Jazz.

My favorite video game? Mario Kart.

My favorite pizza? Clam.

Favorite sport? Baseball.

Favorite thing to do when I was growing up? Reading, writing, singing, drawing, and playing outside.

Favorite thing to do with my friends when I was 11? Making stories up and acting them out. We kept playing make-believe long, long after we were supposed to have stopped in favor of more age-appropriate activity. Maybe this is what writers do.