I do love an accessory.
My cat Lulu is only too happy to oblige.

Greetings and gratitude!

I’m Kara LaReau and cattywampus is my new newsletter. Its logo features Pearl, one of my dearly-departed cats. She was equal parts fierce and neurotic, a kindred spirit, so it was easy to choose her as my newsletter mascot.

I’m an author of many books for young readers. In fact, my new novel, LICORICE (a retelling of Daphne DuMaurier’s classic Gothic tale, Rebecca), comes out on October 20. You can preorder here, or anywhere else books are sold.

I’ve had newsletters before, but I always put too much pressure on myself to create something fancy and perfect and strictly scheduled, which is…not me. Also I’ve learned I have a neurospicy brain so any inauthentic or mandated task ends up feeling like a drag. 

cattywampus is my way of keeping it real and keeping it casual. As you might know, the word “cattywampus” is a variation of the term “catty-cornered,” i.e. diagonal. It can also mean “askew” or “messy,” which feels relevant to my brain AND my house. 

What I talk about here will be entirely whim-determined. I might tell you about new projects, whether it’s what I’m writing or what I just baked. I might talk about my creative process or my mental health (or both, since they so often overlap). I might post photos of my cats, or the latest kitschy and/or haunted treasures I pick up at the antique store.

I used to struggle with the way my mind works and how it affects the way I move through the world. But now I just embrace it. I’ve come to realize it’s actually my superpower.

You can read cattywampus here on the webpage where it looks like a blog (remember blogs? good times), as a newsletter in your inbox, or via the beehiiv app.

Oh, and by the way, this newsletter is free, because as I’ve said, this girl is not about unnecessary pressure.

I’m really glad you’re here. Let’s celebrate all things bookish and creative and funny and messy together.