Hi Cath,
Immensely enjoyed reading your text “Grafitti Moon” from cover to cover in quick time.Need to re-read with emphasis on the climax.The opening is brilliant and the use of Intertextextuality enhances the overall value of the book being an apt text to teach in plus Ten classes in Arts,English,Social and cultural studies in particular and about the pangs of growing up in a especial geographical area with regard to its context.
I have already embraced your text as my choice of Study Text in my next 10 week teaching programme,however I hope my teaching plan will be approved.
Good luck and do keep writing.
Rudresh

Thanks for your response Cath.I have a M.Teach from UNDA, Fremantle and I will certainly send you the programme.I will have to design with your authorship as one key factor because the difficult and more interpretive responses can be had by the author herself;One key to encourage students;Ask the author.
I should describe myself as a starting teacher in Australia. I love Literature and Arts.Your text, Graffiti Moon is a good induction for our students to enter into discourse of what Art is to any Artist.

Rudresh

Hi Cath Crowley,

You came to my school awhile ago, actually, last year. I go to Mentone Girls Secondary College… We were studying Gracie Faltrain. You did a writing workshop afterwards, and I participated in that, it was GREAT, by the way. Really ^_^
I was just wondering if you have plans for a new book, it’s just I’ve read Graffiti Moon so many times my little sister told me off
I loved Graffiti Moon, especially how you described Ed and Lucy’s feelings about art, and Leo’s about writing. You really got it, and that’s pretty rare in books written by adults, so I’d like to say thanks for that.

Anyway, thanks.

hi cath crowley remember me i am mija weightman from st marys altona u came here once with alana as her craze prodject i want to know more about you and i also remember when you told us about when u hit your brother with a hammer and he had to get stichers did u get to finish your cubby house type back to me at st mays altona mweightman and type your answers on my mail

how many books are you going to write next year and can i be in one of them

xxx mija

Hi Cath!

I really loved “Grafitti Moon”. I’m just curious what resources you used in researching street-art. I found MelbourneGraffiti.com, and they’re wonderful for cataloging artwork and assigning ownership to artists.

Are there any other resources you can recommend?

Hi! I have an odd question for you. I am from Boston, MA and recently discovered your book, A Little Wanting Song, in my school’s library. What quickly drew me in was the image of the girl on the cover; she is the twin of my best friend! Now, all of my friends are in the process of reading it, and we love it. Now my question is this: Do you happen to know the name of the model on the book’s cover? Thank you!

Hi Cath,

It’s me Kate (again)! I don’t think you remember me
but I e-mailed you around October. Anyways, I am writing
a book and I was wondering if you have any advice for me.
Thank you for reading and I still really love A Little
Wanting Song! Thank you.

From,
Kate

hi cath

i just sent you a message.

but.

in case you’ll check your blog before … i wanted to ask you what your next book is about and if you can give as a description or a few words, anything, really. i’m just hungry for breadcrumb to fill my crowley-belly!

merry x-mas in case this message gets to you only after the 25th

- joe

Hi Cath!

I sent you a message via the contact form in your website. I hope you can check it soon!

Thank you so much. I hope you’ve had a wonderful year!

- Celine

Hi Cath

I just wanted to say how much I love your books. So many so-called YA books are contrived – full of conveniently absent parents and bland female protagonists and love triangles and boys with impossibly perfect good looks and and people who fall in love not because they’ve actually got to know each other but because it is ‘fated’. But not your books. They were funny, witty and effortlessly cool; your characters so delightful and real that if I visited Melbourne I would half expect to bump into them on the tram. Thank you. Whatever you write, I’ll read.

Zoe

Hey Cath,

I read Chasing Charlie Duskin in year seven and it became my library go to. (I eventually bought it) and I came across Graffiti moon accidently and didn’t read it for ages and then I realised ‘HOLY MOLY CATH CROWLEY WROTE THAT I NEED TO READ IT RIGHT NOW!’ So I took it on an excursion. An excursion to Melbourne to look at street art. Little did I know how relevant it would be! ANYWAY, I think that made me love it all the more. This is my long way of saying that I love your style and the pleasure and grief I get when I finish on of your novels. Official thank you forever.

-Zo

Hi Cath,

I just wanted to tell you that your writing is really good and that I loved Graffiti Moon. If you want to, you can read my review here: http://inabookshelf.wordpress.com/2012/02/20/review-graffiti-moon-by-cath-crowley/

Have a nice day!

-Nadia

Hi cath it’s jake from your show you did at beaconhills. I’d love to read some of your books because they look so interesting.

Hi Cath,

You came to my school last week (Beaconhills College) and I loved your talk. Telling us about how you make characters out of strangers really inspired me and I have actually started writing a new book called Muted Love, which is about a boy who cannot talk, but shows his feeling through drawing. He draws a girl and goes on a journey to find her in the real world. I have also just finished my first full length book called New Leaf. Thank you for inspiring me and I hope I get a chance to talk to you in the future.

Indi xx Year 7

Hi Cath,

I enjoyed reading your book ‘Chasing Charlie Duskin’. My avourite bit was on page 4 where Charlie looses her bikini (probably because i’m a boy). I was a great read and I would definately recommend the book to other people. Thank you for your talk at Brentwood SC the other week-I enjoyed it a lot.

Thanks, Paul

hi cath, im doing a project, and i need some info on you.. i know it sounds stalkerish but thats school for you so, if you could give me some info, that would be awesome ^_^ thanks,
giorgi -xo-

Cath, I heard you are currently writing a new book. My name is Eleanor and im from beaconhills college and I wondered if you might put me in as a character. I talked to you when you came to my school and I told you I could talk to my cat and I loved to sing. Today, my cat walked up to me while I was eating a mars bar, stared for about 5 seconds then polished my ankles. I bent down to pat him and he crawled onto my lap, lay down and started purring and head butting my head to say ” I love you and will you give me that yummy looking thing you have in your hand?” I hope I can be in your book and you find my tale funny.

Ele xx year 7

You spelt your name wrong

What is the name of the book you r currently writing?

Hi Cath,
You came to my school beaconhills last week and I just wanted to say I loved your workshop. It really helped me in my search for characters. Your talk was also really good and I enjoyed it heaps. I really hope to see you in the future!!!!!
Holly xx Year 7

Hi Cath, It’s me! (again)
If its ok with u, I just wanted to ask a few questions.

They r:
Do u watch or have u seen dr. Who?
Do u know what manga is?
Do u mind if u give me Ur e-mail so I can send u a pic of my cat? (this won’t let me)
When’s ur birthday?
What’s ur favorite animal?

If u don’t mind I would love to hear your answers!

P.S. holly is one of my besties

Ok

Hello
I shall read your book, Graffiti Moon for I have just finished a series called Faerie Wars by Herbie Brennan. I’m jut borrowing it now and I can’t wait till it comes in! ( I’m not borrowing from school cause they all left when you left )

Greetings Cath,
What’s your fav food?

Hi cath
Do u like birds?

Thanx for the answers

I LOVE DOCTOR WHO TOO!!!!!!
It’s soooo cool u do cause almost all my teacher don’t know what it is!
Manga is my favorite style of drawing (I love to draw a lot)
Your birthday is 2 day before Christmas! How awesome!
I love cats too!

It turns out we have a lot in common, which helps you to become my fav author!

I READ YOUR BOOK AND IT WAS THE MOST BEAUTIFUL LOVE STORY I HAVE EVER READ!! (I don’t read a lot of romance but this is an exemption)

I love to the way you write, I love the way you make ed and lucy fall in love.
I made a poem if you would like to hear. It’s called “this is love”

love is not perfect or easy to get,
but is something you should treasure forever,
And hold dear,

Next to your heart,
To hear another’s beating in time with yours,
Or to feel another’s breath collide with yours,
Is like athousand tiny explosions going of all over,
So you cant stand,

Just to stare into someone’s eye,
And know they’re staring back,
This is love

Hope you like it

Your book is sooooo cool i read it twice on the same day
It makes me reflect your story on my life and realize how boring it is compared (actual, my life is quite interesting but not as much as your story)

I want to be Lucy.
I want to find my Shadow
I want to be in your next book

You are officially my favourite author and your book is my favourite. I loved every section of it. I am inspired by u.

You no, I love art as well. I do a lot of crafty and imaginative things. I think this is what helped me love it so.

I also love music, animals and would love to fly.

Eleanor

I just finished reading your book Graffiti Moon and wanted to take the time to tell you that it was beautiful-both in its content and writing. This book has its own beating heart.

Hi Cath,

I’ve written a few short novels in first person, and it comes very easy to me. But now I have just started to write a new novel in third person but I am having trouble. Any tips?

Cath,
While I may be an “adult” now, I find that I often turn to YA fiction for the creativity and imagination, not to mention the existence of actual plot and character development, that I crave. In “Graffiti Moon” you have appeased that craving…although I now find myself on the lookout for more.

Throughout the book your use of vibrant imagery creates this flowing landscape of shapes, colors, ideas, and emotions that shift and swirl around to create a beautiful story. And you’ve created a reality that is not my own but was wonderful to be a participant in while I read. Thank you.

Dear Cath,
When I picked up your book Graffiti Moon I myself was writing a paper about graffiti and I thought that it would be an appropriate fictional read opposed to what I was finding in the library that was all substance and no imagination. What I didn’t expect was to find a story so raw but also so well written, especially not a story that hit so close to home. Lucy and Ed were interesting, relatable characters. Lucy was spunky and Ed was sweet, and even though she pictured him as this god-like Shadow I think she got something better. Something more real. Poet was my favorite character in the whole book. He reminded me of my best friend. He was a guy that would do anything for the girl he liked, and when she took off and left him, I took him to a movie and he managed to go 1/2 way through it before we got up, left, and went out to get some more paint. It’s 2:22 AM right now, and I’ve just finished memorizing you’re poem, Poet’s poem, about where he lived before for a school assignment. Writers get a bad rep in the general social scheme of things because of stereotypes, but in this book you get to see who many of these taggers tend to be. They are normal kids who are struggling to get by, who have maybe come from the rougher sides of town, taking the minimum wage jobs at McDonald’s and just trying to get through the school year. I look forward to reading more of your work.

Kreonin

I read Graffiti Moon recently, and I wanted to tell you that I absolutely loved it. I’m a high-school student, and(unrelatedly) I leave stuff lying around, so once I finished it and left it somewhere in my house, my mom found it and glomped onto it and devoured it in two days. She really liked it too. I thought you ought to know, and thank you for writing.

I just realized that this is where I have to ask questions, duh. Fool of me.
So:
Favorite poems, poets and books?
How you started writting and what is the first thing you wrote (at what age, all the story)?

Hahaha, well *blush* …In fact, I have been writting for 2 years. So is not…you know.
About the art itself, it is my mom´s fault. She signed up me for piano lessons when I had 4 years old. Then it was painting, dancing, choir, guitar, etc. I think that art has been part of my entire life.
Anyway, I love Pablo Neruda too. Poetry, for me, is hard to read but the way he uses words – like you – it feels smooth.
I think that I have to live more to understand some things…
I know is going to be difficult and I keep hearing people saying : “You are going to die of hunger”. That´s why I have to be strong. Here in Mexico, they don´t give writers many opportunities. And, yes, If you say that you want to be a writer, they look at you like “Are you nuts?”. Now you see why I cried with Graffiti Moon. My life hasn´t been so good just like Poet or Shadow. But I guess, that´s why I write (Sorry for opening my heart).
Next question: What inspired you to write Graffiti Moon?

Yeah, I get that.
No, I never hide the truth about who I am (cause it´s part of me)
Don´t be – sorry – cause that´s who made me the girl I am today and even I am not perfect I have learnt a lot.
My mom is amazing XD She is always there to listen my crazy stories or stuff even if she doesn´t understand. I know she´ll give me her support in everything.
Yes! Well, that´s the second reason why I write. There are stories that need to be tell. There are people that are worth writting them a story. And sometimes I get crazy cause I have many stories to tell but writting a book is not so easy. I have to wait to tell some stories. That´s why now I´m trying to write poems. They´re faster but you can put the same intensity.

What do you remember from your childhood?
Is there somebody that has marked your life?