About Catherine

For twenty-five years Friend lived on a small farm in southeastern Minnesota with her wife Melissa and lots of sheep, all of which gave her plenty of writing material. Now, instead of farming, she and Melissa are trying their hand at ‘towning.’ She writes adult nonfiction, fiction, and children’s books.

The Compassionate Carnivore won the Minnesota Book Award in General Nonfiction. Her memoir, Hit by a Farm, was selected by the Minneapolis Star Tribune as one of the best books of 2006. Her children’s picture book, The Perfect Nest, was chosen by the Wall Street Journal as one of five best “read alouds,” and was nominated for numerous state reading awards. She was awarded a Loft/McKnight Artist Fellowship for Writers, and her adult adventure novels have won awards from the Golden Crown Literary Society and the Independent Book Publishers Association.

Friend has a M.S. in economics and a B.A. in economics and Spanish. She teaches writing workshops and speaks at libraries, yarn shops and fiber festivals, professional organizations, and schools. She’s discovered that snowshoes and ukeleles make Minnesota winters bearable (although she does not recommend using both at the same time.)

She still has oodles of yarn from their sheep, and loves dyeing the skeins during the summer. So if you want to buy a few skeins and help her dye them in her backyard (you choose the colors), just let her know!