1st Place Award Winner in the Paris, London and Amsterdam Book Festivals.
"Each of these forty comical stories conveys a satisfying quirky message that empowers the reader. Several years ago, I decided to explore the happy side of life, while seeking deeper truths--or not," says Burns. "I wanted to see what humor could show me. At times I was inspired by the thought of a pagan Anne Lamotte or David Sedaris on estrogen."
Libido Tsunami: Awash with the Droll in Life enchants with forty humorous stories. Burns unearths the ludicrous in the emotional live traps surrounding us -- in families, friends and disastrous romances. She relishes the uproarious human spirit and its on-going absurd wrestling with ego.
"Absolutely LOVE the descriptions [in this work]. The connection to chakras, along with the metaphorical richness … is wonderful. Very very very clever and, dare I say it?—unique. This is refreshing, funny, inventive, and delightful."
Sharon Whitehill, Ph.D.
Professor of English Literature
Author of The Life and Work of Mary O'Hara
Author of My Friend Flicka and On the Trail of Flicka's Friend
Synopsis
LIBIDO TSUNAMI is a collection of forty humorous short stories exploring human tragedy, drama, vulnerability and adventure in laugh-out-loud incidents taken from Burns' quirky experiences. In them, Burns salutes the droll in her life within four topics which correspond to four directions on the Native American medicine wheel.
The West, “A Flood of Family,” reconnoiters the emotional live traps unique to our original home nest. Burns’ familial tradition, to laugh, is a way to frame, hide and disguise essential domestic spectacles as seen in the comic frustration in “Unrequited-it is” or the ridiculous awe of “TWNBD or Twin Bed” short for “Those Who Need to Be Deified.”
In the East, “Male Amazements,” Burns exposes curious relationships with men that go topsy-turvy, and are never what any logical person would expect. From the miscommunications in “Sentence Interruptus” to an odd male desire for bondage in “Order in the Court” to basic lust in “Male Scent,” Burns tickles the funny bone of relationships.
In the South, rooted in the land, “The Unknown Hawaii,” Burns explores the most recently formed real estate on earth. With an erupting volcano daily creating ever more land, Hawaii lends itself to themes of phantasmagoric regeneration and bizarre comedy.
In the North, we see the human spirit and the absurd ways people attempt to disguise and transcend ego in “The Life Divine.” One can do this by grieving with underwear, staying in a state of self-hypnosis, eating money-cakes, and by avoiding archetype attacks.
CATE'S BLOG
Recognition & Awards
2019 Amazon Genre Bestselling Poet
Entwined: 2019 Savant Poetry Anthology
Kindred: 2018 Savant Poetry Anthology
2017 Amsterdam Book Festival, 1st place, Libido Tsunami
2017 Paris Book Festival, 1st place, Libido Tsunami
2016 London Book Festival, 1st prize, Libido Tsunami
2016 Pacific Rim Book Festival, Runner-up, Libido Tsunami
2016 Los Angeles Book Festival, Wild Card Honorable Mention, Libido Tsunami
Running From the Pack: 2015/16 Savant Poetry Anthology won an award from the Pacific Rim Book Festival
2015 1st prize for non-fiction, Lorin Tarr Gill Writing competition
Volutions: 2014 Savant Poetry Anthology won Book Festival awards in the Los Angeles, Paris and Pacific Rim Book Festivals
2007 Chroma Award, National League of American Pen Women
1998 Wu & Elsie Ject-Key Memorial Award, N.A.W.A., New York City
1997 International Woman of the Year Award, International Biographical Center
1997 The 20th Century Award for Achievement, International Biographical Center
1996 Elizabeth Morse Genius Foundation Award, N.A.W.A., New York City
1995 Juror's Award, National League of American Pen Women
1986 Teaching Excellence Award, Sierra Nevada College, Incline, Nevada
1980 Grant, Tosco Corporation, Los Angeles, California
1974 Juror's Award, California Polytechnic University, San Luis Obispo, CA
1966 Max H. Block Award for Humanism , City of Seattle, Washington