Steps In Between

Celaine Charles ~ My journey as a writer ~ Author site: celainecharlesauthor.com

Tag Archive for ‘books’

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Reader Advice: Same Walk, New Step (Squash the Creative Crunch)

Last week I shared real-life distractions blocking my creative pathway, even amid true inspiration. My readers delivered with caring advice, either through comments or private messages, and I am grateful. A few small suggestions helped me to make some slight alterations to my writing routine, which made all the difference. As a reference, please take a peek back at last week’s post: https://stepsinbetween.com/2020/06/21/creatively-crunched/ For starters, I took some time off […]

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Character Developing: The Story and the Author

After five-plus years of writing my finally finished book, Seam Keepers, a burning new story has sparked into life. Although I am still in the querying stage of my first book, I can’t seem to snuff the light from this new idea seeking passage to the page. And though Seam Keepers has a sequel in need of completing, this new story inspiration doesn’t seem to mind sharing in the limelight. […]

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Marketing-Shmarketing (A Writer’s Request)

Just because I’m a writer…author of my first poetry book…revising-expert of my fiction manuscript…and mostly nice human, doesn’t mean I have the business knowledge or wherewithal to market myself. This is the hardest part for me. More difficult than the writing itself; and writing is challenging. ***Side Note: At the bottom of this post you will find some links to marketing advice as well as a REQUEST for more resources. […]

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CC’s November Interview: Christine Grabowski, 2019

November finds us with another “CC’s Interview Series,” where I share the thoughts and hearts of writers and creators. After last month’s poetic conversation with Ann Christine Tabaka, across the states in Delaware, today I’m nestled into the heart of my own hometown. Seattle is the setting and we’re shifting the focus to fiction. I am eager to introduce you to Christine Grabowski, a dynamic YA author, editor, and speaker. So, […]

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CC’s October Interview: Ann Christine Tabaka, 2019

I am thrilled to kick off my new “CC’s Interview Series” with poet friend and 2017 Pushcart nominee, Ann Christine Tabaka. Although she lives across the nation from me, in Delaware, it feels as if we are sitting together in a warm and cozy coffee shop. The scent of cappuccino fills the air as our poet’s inspiration and experience weave an intricate story. Please, pull up a chair, fill your […]

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Joyful Reading with ADHD – A Conundrum

I love to read. I revel at finding new books, and love everything about bookstores. The excitement of a new story waiting behind each glossy cover, competing for my attention, is an adventure. I love the wooden bookshelves, and the overstuffed chairs often found at the end of an aisle. I love posters about books, the book trailers I see online, the hype of a new series in conversation. Books […]

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SOS – Save my Synopsis

SOS – Save my Synopsis, by Celaine Charles, June 9, 2019 I cannot write a synopsis to save my life! Summing up the most important and magnificent pieces of my three-hundred-plus-page story, in one to two pages, has been a wrecking point. Two years ago (when I believed my manuscript to be done), I took a workshop class at a writing conference and wrote what I thought was a good […]

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The Beauty in Failure – Writing Acceptance

A friend wrote about admiring my “…patience and attitude in this labor of love.” Her response to a celebratory post I’d made about completing my final revisions, before handing my manuscript over to my editor. She ended by reminding me, “It’s worth it.” I wonder about that. When I think of the five precious years I’ve worked on this story, all I can see is my heart brush-stroked across each […]

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January Writing: Wrapped-up Renewal

January has wrapped me up, and instead of snuggling down for my typical renewal time (see: https://stepsinbetween.com/2018/01/07/january-renewal-dont-resist/), it feels as if I’m spinning round and round in constant motion. This year’s cocoon isn’t for rest; it’s for growth. I happened upon a book from Priscilla Long, The Writer’s Portable Mentor, a while back (see: https://stepsinbetween.com/2018/11/11/creativity-and-age-inspiration-from-author-priscilla-long/) and recently began diving into her words of wisdom. At the same time, I signed […]

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Halloween: A Scare Break from Real Life Writing

Halloween, early 1970’s, I was always a witch. My mask was made of plastic and attached with a long rubber string tied behind my head. Equally shiny with synthetic materials was my dress, not unlike the mask, tied behind my neck. The designs of the fabric simply printed on, to give the illusion of different fabrics and textures. Illusions. I’m wondering now if the illusions of fright during Halloween time […]

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My Writer’s Mind Takes a Walk

I’ve discovered my writing mind is never still. It’s either that or the characters and topics I write about live three dimensionally in my head. It gets crowded, so we get out and take a lot of walks. Or at least, this is how if feels. I believe writers are undeniably always thinking. Our minds are on the go even sitting still behind a desk. This makes perfect sense. It’s […]

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First October Sunday ~ Family & Poetry

The first Sunday of the month is where I highlight my poetry page: https://stepsinbetween.com/poetry/. Although the first Sunday in October fills me with family. I remember when my babies were little. The energy it took bundling them up with mittens and hats that always multiplied in those moments getting out the door. As each young one pulled off a fuzzy garment piece, one after another, I patiently (and sometimes impatiently) […]

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Happy One Year Anniversary WRITERS!

Happy Anniversary! It’s been exactly one year since I began posting about my writing journey in this blog, Steps in Between. I have succeeded in some of my goals, reworked a few others, and still have a handful waiting for retrieval. But what I’m most excited about… YOU! Blessings are overflowing when I think of the writing community I’ve been fortunate enough to interact with. I’ve written before about the […]

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Pockets of Time to Write

Time – I have written so many posts on time. It must be something I’m dealing with on various levels. According to the Internet a ridiculous number of people are stressed about not having enough time. There are numerous articles about the topic, and a hundred different lists of what to do about it. Just google it. But how do I define time for my writing? We all need to […]

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Surrounding Myself with Writers ~ and Announcing FRIEND POETRY

I find that I grow as a writer by surrounding myself with writers. The problem is when I first recognized myself as a writer, I secluded myself. I told no one. I wrote in secret. Three years later (and after many self-sabotaging conversations with myself) I took a wild leap before I could change my mind. Bam! Now, I have this blog, I have joined several online writing groups, and […]

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New Projects To Pump Productivity

My ploy to staying focused in writing is to surround myself with projects. They keep me thinking, planning, scheming, and using other various parts of my brain essential to writing. I’ve read many articles about conquering writer’s block, and this tip has been mentioned in several of them. For me though, it’s more than just curbing the occasional writer’s block, it helps with my creativity as well as productivity. It […]

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How Well Do You Wait?

  How do you wait for what you want in life? Are you a foot-tapper, restless and sleepless until your desires come to be? Do you stir your coffee into swirls in attempt to concoct Plan B? Or do you submit to the waiting, unmovable to pursue a pastime in the delay? How do you wait for something important to happen? I must be subconsciously thinking about this topic, because […]

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Want to be a Writer? Be a Magnet

You will find some “magnetic” writing advice at the end of this article, but for those who are striving to create in the world, this message will hopefully uplift. Do you want to be a writer? Do you want to create? Be a magnet. Be a magnet to everything you desire. I am sure you have heard the various sayings, you are a magnet to what you want to attract […]

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January Renewal: Don’t Resist

Don’t resist the rest you need this time of year… use the time to think ahead. I have writing advice, as always, at the bottom. But let me start with a mental image about January… I am imagining a chrysalis wrapped in layers to protect a tiny caterpillar from aggravating weather; the wind, the rain, the cold. I imagine the hardships of her short past, good and bad, can be […]

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Merry-Merry: Socks or Chocolate

It’s Christmas Eve, for those of you who celebrate. But, it’s also Sunday Post Day for me. To begin, I am wishing you all a Merry…everything you celebrate, believe in, and/or value as a custom this time of year. A sincere Merry-Merry to you all! As for my writing advice, I’ve just tried something new below. I’m calling it a Glimpse: Take a memory from one of the characters in […]

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A Holiday Ticket to Writing

Holidays can bring out unusual feelings. Hopeful, nostalgic, inspired, and joyful, yet also crazed, anxious, melancholy, or even hostile. I hope whatever you’re feeling today, just days before Christmas, you are able to sit down with paper and pen (or computer and keyboard) and write down your feelings. Write without guilt. If you are an artist— sketch, paint, create. Use this stirring opportunity as a ticket to express. Memories, Aspirations, Realities Write […]

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Possibilities

Possibilities ~ I love this word because it’s full of hope. Anticipation swells in my belly as the word rolls off my tongue. Possibility is defined as the state or fact of being possible. Possible is defined as that which may or can be, exist, happen, be done, be used, etc. When I think of possibilities I imagine tall skyscrapers in bustling cities, or massive mountains in landscape vistas. No […]

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Finding Time On The Last Warm Day

Now that it’s mid-October, I am finally falling into the idea of autumn. I said my farewells to summer. It took a while this year, as I clung to warm weather and sunshine and time… just time. There’s something about summer that makes me smile inside, that slows my pace, that turns a trip to the store into an excursion where inspiration hides around spectacles of produce. I feel so […]

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Want-To-Be-Writer

I am not an author – yet. Who decides? A publishing company? A degree in literature? My readers? I used to call myself a “want-to-be-writer” because I felt the pangs of becoming an author heavy in my chest. Yet, from the mouths of authors themselves, I have been told, “If you write, you are a writer.” But, are you a chef because you have cooked for your friends? Are you […]

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