About me

In addition to the many volumes I have ghostwritten, I am the author of two books of my own. My novel, The Age of Miracles, was originally published in 1990 by Atlantic Monthly Press, and has recently been reissued by Shambhala under the title Beyond the Abbey Gates. My latest book, On Becoming an Alchemist, is due from Shambhala in February. (See braggadocio below.) My writing has also won me various ego adornments such as a National Endowment for the Arts Fellowship in Prose, an Illinois Arts Council Fellowship, and the Daniel L. Curley Award for Recent Illinois Fiction.

My background is in training and organizational development. I was a training consultant at the University of Illinois at Chicago for nearly a decade, and have also worked as a senior editor for a major publisher. When I launched my own business ten years ago, I specialized in serving independent consultants, producing books, presentations, marketing materials and training designs. While I still enjoy that kind of work, I have since branched out into writing self-help books and memoirs.

Praise for On Becoming an Alchemist . . .

"An enchanting,engaging, and insightful work that investigates the power of our creativity and our relationship to the laws of the universe."
---Carolyn Myss
   author of Sacred Contracts and Entering the Castle

"A true alchemist, Catherine MacCoun has transformed profound ideas into a gold standard of what a book on magic should be. Excellently written with prose that sparkles with clarity and wit, this book can serve novice and advanced practitioner alike with equal grace and insight. She inspires with her vision and effortlessly transforms magic into the practical living art it is meant to be as a part of life and an expression of who we are. I highly recommend it.
---David Spangler
   author of Everyday Miracles: The Inner Art of Manifestation and A Pilgrim in Aquarius

"Many discussions of alchemy are hopelessly dense and opaque; this one is full of light and life. With admirable clarity, MacCoun shows how alchemy can benefit one's life here and now. This is uncluttered, everyday wisdom. On Becoming an Alchemist is the most accessible discussion of the psycho-spiritual dimensions of alchemy to appear in years.”
--Larry Dossey
   author of The Extraordinary Healing Power of Ordinary Things


"Catherine MacCoun is a great communicator and she knows her stuff from the inside too. Blows a bright and refreshing breeze through the musty halls of hermetic and magical symbolism, and lays it all on the line. Highly recommended."
---Gareth Knight
   author of Magic and the Western Mind