Sharing my journey as a writer also includes an occasional request. Today, I need your thoughts—from both readers and writers! After working with my editor on Seam Keepers, set to launch in 2021, it only makes sense to set aside my new book project, Life Song, to write the next book in the Keeper series. It’s reassuring to know that Life Song is still there, outlined, started, and ready to […]
I love a good metaphor. Similes make me smile. Describe, describe, describe! Isn’t that the expectation of a writer? My answer? To an extent. Sometimes I run with language too far in my manuscripts. This morning, as I peered out my window, the season called to me, and I listened. How timely that I am editing my book in October. Instead of combing over every sentence for mistakes, I imagined […]
There’s a certain dazzle that surrounds me when I attend a writer’s conference. I’ve come far from my first experience in 2017, where I ate lunch in my car and sat solo in the back of every workshop. By 2019, I had made new friends through a PNWA writing class. And since then, many of my classmates and I still meet regularly in a critique group. As many authors tend […]
Writing Out Loud – Take Time to Hear Your Words I used to write in the closet. My story idea hidden between the stored winter coats, a keyboard, and my mind. My family had no idea I was taking the plunge of authorhood. I surely told no friends of my plans to write and publish a book. Discreetly, I swept every piece of description and dialogue into a quiet corner, […]
Filter Flops in Writing When I curl up to read a good book, I don’t want the author putting a safety glass between me and the story. I want to be right there in the action. I want to feel the frustration, the sorrow, or the zeal of each character. I am referring to filters, of which I did not realize I, myself, unintentionally add to my writing. Time to […]
September marks my three-year anniversary with my writing blog, Steps In Between. I am grateful for my readers, encouraged in my progress as a writer, and elated for the new year ahead. First on the list: a remodel! Maybe I’ve been watching too much HGTV this summer, but it’s time to update and renew. I am going to be reworking some of my blog and linking it to my brand-new […]
Often, I have wished for more time, or more of me to tackle the work and writing I must complete. Most writers, like myself, have a day job. Writing is something we generally must squeeze in between life. For most, that’s career obligations and family responsibilities. And when there’s more than one writing project to manage, time is split even further. I often feel like a Matryoshka Doll, those Russian […]
Somehow August has arrived, with sunshine and summer in tow. It felt so far away, back in March, when isolation started. But here we are. And after a long lull in my poetry inspiration, I’m back to writing more fluently again! Last month I wrote three poems for my Wednesday Whims page, plus a couple online workshop pieces, and a few others to hopefully send out for submissions (so I […]
I am a goal-setter. Although to be honest, I don’t always look back and reflect. Sometimes I just keep going, setting new or abbreviated goals along the way. But today, with the accomplishment of one very important goal that’s pushed me to drive through long nights and torrential downpours, I have found reason to reflect. And I believe it is important to share for all the writers out there who […]
With April abloom, we are more than midway through National Poetry Month. If you have been following along with Steps In Between, you know we are reveling in this event by sharing poetry from writers all over the world. Their names are listed below, but read on for a quick bit of well-filling inspiration… POETS below in alphabetical order, their poems can be found at this link: https://stepsinbetween.com/2020/04/05/let-the-words-roam-national-poetry-month-april-2020/ Yvonne Brewer (Spring Sends […]
This year, our entire world is isolated and locked down during National Poetry Month. But I say, let the words roam! Let them “beat upon your head like silver liquid drops” (Langston Hughes, April Rain Song, 2)! Let them singe from your fingertips as you write and embrace your heart as you read. I say, fill this time of fear and instability from an enemy-virus with grace and hope and […]
Do I really need another writer’s checklist? I do. I’ve discovered it’s needed for my own growth. Only six years into writing for myself, and three years into writing more publicly, I am in great need of accountability and push-on-abilty. And, sometimes I forget the pure satisfaction in checking off an item on my list. Maybe I should add, celebrate checking off the checklist, onto my list. I find my […]
Happy earliest Spring since 1896! In celebration, come join our “Community Garden” of Poetry! This year March 19th marked the Spring Equinox, and with world-wide isolation and the stuffiness of staying home, I am ready to burst into something beautiful and colorful and flowerful! In less than two weeks April arrives signaling…National Poetry Month! So, let’s celebrate with a garden of poetry from everyone in my writing community! It’s “Community […]
Writers Need Writers! Lunch with friends is always a joyful experience. When written on my calendar, it becomes a beacon of light to look forward to. And now I have a new “lunch with friends 2.0” to share: lunch with writer friends! Writers typically work alone. Isolation is required in the realms of creation, but sometimes we need to poke our heads out and interact with others. Yesterday, I had […]
Welcome to another CC’s Interview Series, where once again I am settled in my own city of Seattle. This time I am honored (and quite honestly, ecstatic) to be with writer and artist, Pamela Hobart Carter. I was the luckiest of hopeful writers, back in 2017, when seated next to Pamela at the PNWA Awards Ceremony Dinner. A funny story she might not know, I had been sitting somewhere else, […]
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. […]
I’m two scenes into a new story idea, and I can’t wipe the grin off my face. There are still plot twists to create and character arcs to build but ringing in 2020 with a novel writing goal seems like a decade-worthy decision. It’s also a fresh new year for my blog, Steps In Between. The first Sunday of every month I typically pull your attention to my Wednesday Whims […]
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 […]
Steps In Between is celebrating two years! This number may not sound as impressive as twelve or twenty, but to say I’ve posted 208 times is a huge accomplishment (personally). I’ve posted writing-journey articles every Sunday, and I’ve shared a poem to my Wednesday Whims of Poetry page every Wednesday for the last two years. That’s 104 articles and 104 poems! In addition, I’m thrilled and amazed (and exhausted) yet […]
My Upcoming Writing Conference (the good, the bad, and the ugly): The PNWA Writing Conference happens in less than a week in Seattle. This is a good news-bad news event for me. As eager as I am to soak in all the learning presented and meet other authors and writers, I still consider myself new in this writing world, and to be honest, I’m intimidated. Thankfully, my whole writing class […]
I tend to write alone, as most writers do. But, sometimes we need each other. Artists, Edgar Degas and Edouard Manet, were friends. Henri Matisse and Pablo Picasso were also friends…encouraging and pushing each other along in their creative paths. Poets, Anne Sexton and Sylvia Plath were friends. Lord Byron and Mary Shelley were friends. J.R.R. Tolkien and C.S.Lewis? Friends. Celebrating friendship in the arts, especially the isolating art of […]
June Poetry Celebration ~ Letting Words Live, by Celaine Charles The first Sunday of June welcomes with a poetry celebration. Beginning this ritual in March of 2018 has become my own monthly therapy check in. As you know, I post a new poem every Wednesday to my “Wednesday Whims of Poetry” page. What do I like about this page? It’s me. It’s raw. It’s whatever is on my mind at […]
It’s the first Sunday in March and the sun is up, shining hope through cold winter air. I put on a sweater and throw open my windows. I can’t help myself after the long snow-filled February. And then I realize, February is the shortest month of the year. This year it passed like John Green’s line in his book, The Fault in our Stars, “I fell in love the way […]
Inspiration rolls in waves at various times in a person’s life. But, is there a peak age inspiration strikes? Can you miss it? Author Priscilla Long doesn’t believe so. She gave a talk on aging and creativity at the Elliott Bay Bookstore in Seattle on Saturday, October 27, 2018. The event was in honor of the second edition release of her book, The Writer’s Portable Mentor (University of New Mexico […]
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 […]
The day I dropped my first daughter off to college was the day I grew smaller. I used to be five feet-seven inches, quite an average height. Now in my forties, the doctors keep measuring me at just over five feet-six inches. Of course, they encouraged calcium supplements and I got serious about my Pilates classes (check out The Balanced Life, by Robin Long, contact below). But I know it’s […]
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 […]
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) […]
Sometimes I feel at the will of my inspiration. Could it be that this abstract part of me is more in control than originally thought? It’s my creative side that links itself to motivation. It’s my motivation that gets things done. But it’s the reality of those finished works (and sometimes unfinished) that seem to define me. Or do they? I think, in all honestly, I allow myself to be […]
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 […]
Technically it’s still summer until the middle of the month. But there’s something about September that puts me in the mood for warm cider by the fireplace, football games, and crockpot dinners. The name September comes from the Latin root, septem- meaning seven. I read in Dictionary.com that in the original Roman republican calendar, September was the seventh month of a ten-month year until perhaps 153 BC. Of course, today […]
Time is elusive. It doesn’t matter that there is sixty seconds in every minute, or sixty minutes in every hour, or twenty-four hours in every day… I could go on to weeks and months and years, and so on. Time is measurable until it gets to the value of time, hence how we spend the time we’re gifted. This is how something perfectly calculable becomes ambiguous. And when it comes […]
Summer Saturday mornings are meant for lazing in bed. Perfection would dictate my husband brings me coffee… but life isn’t always perfect. On a recent Saturday morning, I abandoned my usual write-in-bed routine and turned on the television. After Food Network shows repeated every thirty minutes, drawing me in for longer than intended, I started wondering about recipes for writing. Many authors swear by handed-down rules for writing, such as […]
I am proud to introduce my amazing writer-friend, Pamela Hobart Carter, as my guest-blogger today. She has written a witty and thoughtful article about “writing every day.” Please read, like, and share her work. Links to her websites and writing work are at the bottom. As always, I appreciate your follower-support. ~ Celaine 🙂 ***Thank you, Pamela, for your help while I take a much needed vacation. I will see […]
Writing can cause mixed emotions. There should really be warnings about mood swings, stomach pains, and anxiety that can occur when writers write. Each day… hour… moment can feel atypical in the practice of writing. The key factor for me is to continue reaching out to other writers. I’ve discovered I thrive on the encouragement. And, it may be that our support of each other holds more power than we […]
My summer schedule allows for more writing time. I assumed, with all those extra hours, I would make steady progress on my rewrite project. Instead, I experience mind-blowing breakthroughs, while at the same time drag along in the pits of a muddy mess. Some days I’m smiling as I rework sentences and tighten lagged pacing in my manuscript. Other days I feel stressed about the plot taking on bigger changes than […]
First summer post of 2018 feels like a blank canvas. I stand back eyeing it from different angles, adjusting the blinds to allow in the right amount of light, afraid to choose a color, a medium, a subject. Hanging over my mental awareness is the fear that whatever I choose begins the process. The spiraling journey down to Autumn, to the end of this short-tempered season of energy and possibility. […]
Steps In Between 