Welcome Author and Poet Cynthia Sharp

First of all, thank you to all the readers who commented here and on the Facebook post on my October blog post. So glad you were all able to meet Cathy Horn and appreciate her work.

November is here and I am introducing you to another great poet and author, Cynthia Sharp. She is an exceptional poet and author as well as outstanding human being. I have known Cynthia for almost ten years. We met through our love of reading and listening to poetry on World Poetry Open Mic and formed a friendship and bond through only Messenger, Zoom, and phone calls. We have never met but she is a good friend. 

Let's learn more about her before the interview:

                                BIO:
Cynthia Sharp is a well-known and respected poet, author, educator and speaker. She holds an MFA in creative writing and an Honours BA in literature. With twenty years experience teaching and tutoring language arts, creative writing and English as a second language, Cynthia’s positive energy and compassionate approach to learner-centered education make her sensory writing, photo journaling, chapbook and editing workshops a huge hit. She is sought out regularly as a workshop leader, panelist, host and author presenter for organizations and festivals such as Word Vancouver, the Delta Literary Arts Society, Art & Words on the Sunshine Coast, the Canadian Authors Association, the Federation of British Columbia Writers, the Burnaby Writers Association, PEN America, Girl Guide groups and college and high school classes, as well as to guest lecture in North American colleges and universities. She regularly coaches grade 12 writing students from Fraser Academy as part of their work placement component to graduate.

Cynthia loves to organize and host events, helping communities, individuals and partners in the literary world connect. As the Greater Vancouver Regional Rep for the Federation of BC Writers, she organized a highly successful 2018 Books Alive publishing fair in conjunction with the Vancouver Public Library, which Jamie Broadhurst of Raincoast Books, one of the panelists, called “impeccably organized.” As a regional rep, she also facilitated quarterly local Meet ’n’ Greets, book launches, readings and joint events with other art communities such as Artists Helping Artists (AHA) in Burnaby. In 2017 she organized and hosted a satellite version of the Denver Poesic Fest poetry and music gathering, broadcast live from the Tipper Restaurant in Vancouver, featuring performers from around British Columbia.

Cynthia is a full member of the League of Canadian Poets, as well as The Writers’ Union of Canada and was the City of Richmond, British Columbia’s 2019 Writer in Residence where she taught poetry, flash fiction and screenwriting. She is the WIN Vancouver Poet Laureate and regularly judges contests, such as the 2020 Pandora’s Collective Poetry International Contest, the 2024 North Shore Writers’ Contest and the 2025 Bharat Award for Literature. Her poetry, creative nonfiction and reviews have been published and broadcast internationally in journals such as CV2, Prism, The Pitkin Review, Friday’s Poems, Haiku Journal, Lantern Magazine and untethered, nominated for the Pushcart prize and used in classrooms throughout the world. Her resource book How to Write Poetry, with over 60 five-star reviews on Amazon, was named Best Poetry Ebook by Book Authority, a list featured on CNN and is being re-released in October, 2025. Keep an eye out for it! 

                                  BOOKS:

INTERVIEW:

 Where were you born and where do you live now?

I was born in Ontario, Canada, and now live on the west coast in beautiful British Columbia.

Besides writing do you have any other occupation? 

I’m a teacher and tutor and love it! I love the high of people energy and the balance it brings to my life, getting to have introverted creative time writing on my own, then daily interaction with students discussing ideas, learning about their interests and having the privilege of getting to know them. They truly inspire me. It’s an absolute honor to be part of their academic and personal growth. My poem “Inventory” in Rainforest in Russet is about the feeling of awe and wonder each year as the grade twelves graduate and I reflect on the gift of time I got to have with them whether in the classroom or as a private tutor. 

Do you have any hobbies?

Walking in nature, especially at the ocean and in old growth forests in BC is my favorite thing to do. I also love reading. I used to play guitar and sometimes wish I hadn’t given it away. It was a soothing hobby either alone from a break from writing or jamming with others, but now I jam poetry while musicians play, so those friends and communities are still part of my life. I also like skating and swimming. 

Who or what influenced you to begin writing?

My great grandmother gave me a book of British poetry quotes when I was five with space to write under each one and encouraged me to write. Both my grandmothers were also encouraging. My Scottish relatives loved books, whether it was my grandfather sharing science journals or my grandmother giving me romance stories, so I was always being read to, reading and given books, while my religious grandmother on the other side loved teaching grammar and happily read all my poems, stories and screenplays, loving their gentle themes. The love of words was in me from a young age. I also grew up in a time when reading was a primary form of entertainment, so writing followed. 

Why did you decide to write poetry?

It started out in grade three with the fun of rhyme. Like most kids, I enjoyed rhyme. It also gave me something to do quietly when I finished in-class work early. 

How has poetry impacted your life?

It has opened and continues to open my life beyond what I ever could have expected. Literature gives us the means to hear the thoughts of people who lived centuries ago, whether it’s Japanese love poems delivered as though the person had just written it moving me to meditation or choosing a time period like the Romantic Era to focus on and losing myself into the journals of Dorothy Wordsworth. In my MFA my advisor Juliana Spahr got me to read Bernadette Mayer for the first time and see that there’s room for extremely long poems like my morning pages just as they are. Especially in today’s world for those of us with access to the Internet, literature from around the globe is literally at our fingertips. Reading poetry is meditative and transformative to me. 

Writing is the natural release of the wordsmithing that responds to what I read and then sharing my words with others is a gift of community and friendship like how you and I met on World Poetry Open Mic and are still close friends ten years later.

Yes, meeting you and becoming your friend would never have happened without World Poetry Open Mic and our shared interest in poetry. Plus, I think we are fans of each other! LOL

What propelled you to get interested in organizing poetry festivals?

When World Poetry Open Mic, the podcast we met, on invited people in other cities to host their own Poesic Fest, I loved the idea of sharing the multicultural and diverse landscape of British Columbia with listeners in Denver and beyond. It was so much fun that I started doing an annual Earth Day event in Vancouver inviting  writers of all ages and a variety of genres to take part. I was also encouraged as a young writer by League of Canadian Poet outreach events and want to create opportunities for new and emerging writers of all ages.

Please tell our readers about a typical day of writing for you. 

I like to remember my dreams when I wake up to see if there’s anything awesome to add into my fantasy stories, so after reflecting on and recording dreams, getting some caffeine and protein, I open the file I’m working on and either dive in if ideas are right there, or read through what’s already there and plot or edit until the caffeine kicks in and takes me on an adventure with the characters. I tend to start with fiction in the morning. Then I walk to school or tutoring taking notes on nature or observations, read literature with students, then walk home again and let the poetry percolate. If it’s an ambitious day I might do some editing after my afternoon tea or call it a day and get some exercise.

You use nature a lot to inspire people to write. How does observing nature and found objects help people to write?

Nature imagery and found objects give us concrete similes and metaphors we don’t even have to think about, in addition to offering memory. I always think of the line of your poem about your husband and watermelon rinds and how powerful that is. Observation is a starting point the reader can see and relate to and then we give it our unique touch, the   or message we’re feeling and want to share.

Oh, that poem "Cutting Watermelon" was written after the actual experience and it made me so sad. I am so glad that I was able to express those feelings.

Besides poetry you also have a prose novel for children. What inspired you to write: The Light Bearers in the Sand Dollar Graviton?

When my oldest godson was four, he emulated everything he saw on tv in play and had an expectation that violence be used to problem solve, or that everything required a battle, which made me uncomfortable. So, I wanted a book that leaned toward non-violent solutions on big issues, to transform rather than kill enemies. When he was eight he was reading at a very high level and enjoyed the Harry Potter series during the day, but didn’t want anything that would give him nightmares, so his bedtime stories from me became meditative safe dream material with whatever two or three details he requested, like a team of eight-year-olds who save the world from pollution, or a visit to space with Santa in it, etc., and some of those stories became part of my The Light Bearers Series. 

That's so cool. I also used to read to my little brother and made up a story that I wound up telling to my daughters and eventually wrote.

I also work as a teacher and tutor for neurodivergent students, including gifted and for a couple of years I couldn’t find any material for my high reading level ten-year-olds who were emotionally young, but reading complex sentences at a university level, especially the girls who found The Hobbit too sad when they realized the dragon would die. They wanted fairy tales about princesses and dogs but they needed adult level sentence structure, so I created The Light Bearers with that need in mind. 

As a tutor I help students with language arts and social studies vocabulary, so I wanted to create a resource that uses and reinforces the vocabulary they need to know for middle and high school academics and that will continue through the series of Light Bearers books as I finish and release them.

Please tell our readers a little about this book.

Marcie Anderson has never been told where she is from, but she instinctively knows it isn’t Earth. No one can jump out of trees like she can and the bumpy prickles of her crystals protrude like piercings. When she opens the silver locket that answers her questions, she finds herself on a spaceship headed into danger. There is no turning back when she realizes she has been called to Light Bearer duty and must rescue her Light Bearer partner, Zanfry Zabadon Starlight, from the Yellow Sand Galaxy. They must outwit the jealous Princess Amitto and her Invidia robots bent on creating havoc for life-forms and civilizations that don’t suit her, protect wormhole travel and transform enemies into allies through compassion, scientific principles, and quick thinking.  

You do a lot of workshops and you also teach. How do you manage to get across the ideas that are necessary for poetry to happen?

Workshops are about giving people back to themselves, giving adults time, space and freedom away from phones and demands on them so they can access that place inside themselves where their truths reside, so they can slow down and take in the simple beauty and details all around. 

I start by creating safe space as best as possible, offering people a moment to slow down and breathe. I then hand out poems by established writers and ask for volunteers to read them so that participants speak as much as possible in a focussed on topic way.    

I often give out copies of my poem “What Stories are in your Hands?” from Rainforest in Russet and have people respond with a poem or story about something unique to their hands like a scar or memory. It always amazes me the depths people share and their life stories. I’ve had participants who were ER nurses, veterans, caregivers, cooks, parents, share astounding stories every time.

What would you say is the most important thing to know about writing poetry?

The first most important thing is that everyone who wants to write poetry can. Take your shot and don’t let anyone stop you. The second most important thing to be published professionally in this imagistic time period is to add in specific sensory details to make the work accessible, emotional and uniquely your own.

You also do a lot of poetry readings. Why is it important for poets to read their own work to an audience?

I would encourage everyone to give an open mic a try. It’s part of the creative circle to give our words to others, to be heard and appreciated and to connect in the moment with those listening. It allows the poem to travel. I have always been amazed by how supportive and kind every audience has ever been to me, whether it was at The Mercury Cafe in Denver, Whitehorse in the Yukon, Toronto, Ontario, as a student, or the many literary groups I take part in here in Vancouver. People are kind. Fear of reading in public goes away with time, I promise, and it even becomes addictive in a healthy way, like becoming addicted to exercise. It’s a chance to experience the impact of your voice, words and message on others and to connect with community. I also find that I do my best editing hours before I’m expected to present, sometimes at the mic, lol. A live audience gets my editor side to kick into gear and encourages me to cut lines or words I knew in my gut were weak or unnecessary. The open mic portion of a literary event is an opportunity to experience the world being receptive and kind. Most people who go to open mics are also nervous or afraid of being judged and tend to be supportive.  

·      Your book, How to Write Poetry is probably the best book I have ever read about the elements of writing poetry. How did you come up with all of the techniques you write about in the book?

It started with my Sensory Writing Workshop that I give for many communities, where I bring in objects from nature that people write to, adapting for professional writers where I go at a faster pace or English as a Second Language communities where I slow down. I used to give a lot of the material in the book as handouts but Vancouver is very rainy and people kept asking me where they could buy the material as an ebook or hard copy so I gathered my most used workshop handouts and compiled them into an easy to read book. It’s intentionally short and affordable, although I provide additional material on my blog and Substack site, often answering reader questions with blog posts. 

It’s been over ten years since How to Write Poetry was first released, so I took it down to update the links and plan to re-release it this month, so keep your eyes open!

https://zenofpoetry.wordpress.com/

·      Are you working on anything new to be published? If so, please tell us about it.

I’m at work on a prose poetry fantasy novel based on my love of The Vampire Diaries.

How can people find your work? 

The best way to get a copy of my poetry books Ordinary Light & Rainforest in Russet is to order from the Ingram catalogue at any bookstore in the world, since they will arrive at your store with free shipping. They are also on Amazon:

https://www.amazon.ca/stores/Cynthia-Sharp/author/B00QBH25KY?ref=ap_rdr&isDramIntegrated=true&shoppingPortalEnabled=true

Or available directly from Silver Bow Publishing:

https://www.silverbowpublishing.com/rainforest-in-russet.html

https://www.silverbowpublishing.com/cynthia-sharp.html

And The Light Bearers in the Sand Dollar Graviton is on Amazon:

https://www.amazon.com/Light-Bearers-Sand-Dollar-Graviton/dp/1986623947/ref=sr_1_6?crid=7SQFAVNYB840&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.8BCJWcVEB-19HdDLfexlMF-3imi7CAcVnN5qksbDyWUNat-j0O75QpozA3bqe_VClaPUZ_XlOmwHq20LVDMHMbJEEofnSYR-s1ArD8GNy1xVFTJqwNwNjMoMvuJsumZUGYmO_3-XQVgRzER6H_d-RHhtXWjfxwLOvCasl0cAS4n5Ym_gjrH5o0Of6_tguvBKxysXxM2tQa3xd7yIy_rG6UVsPoF2FasDE9SFdBjxsIM.mNq4xgo4QQILYR88lkbD3rrR9CI_1s_pUyIFTNwAyxQ&dib_tag=se&keywords=cynthia+sharp&qid=1762392331&sprefix=cynthia+sharp,aps,204&sr=8-6

Free poems & articles by Cynthia:

https://substack.com/@cynthiapoet/posts

·You live in Canada, so here in the United States are we likely to be able to see you?

There are a number of Youtube videos of readings I’ve done: 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JQ1VLxBoPiM

·      Finally, the last question that I always give to my guest authors. Are you a plotter or a pantser? In other words, do you outline or do you just write?

I’m an organic mixture. Pantsing is always more fun, but with epic projects like supernatural trilogies of novels, I find myself sewing the pantsed sections together by looking it all over and planning where to place or move each section to. I love to write off the top of my head when I’m in the zone, but when a manuscript gets to a place like the second draft of a three hundred page story, plotting has a place in structural editing. I find the magic is not to force old plotting ideas if fresh ones are taking the story in a different direction and not to slow down to force plotting or admin work when the words are flowing, but I like some order in the chaos, an idea of what sections to sew together each day, so I outline when I review the organic ideas that flow out in zone time, or as I’m easing in, like what couple of ideas I’m linking together today. 

CYNTHIA'S POETRY:

You Were There

by Cynthia Sharp

You were there

in lavender sunset swirls

of paint on canvas

through the grassy terrain

to Sechelt beach

in the cadence of royal blue shells

the waves washed to shore

the gentleness you are

finding its way to me

like the wind breathing cypress

through the grace of long easy days.

You were there

in the tempo of waiting

the lonely pages

of chapters in time

when I poured

my longing into work

loving through brokenness.

You were there

in the allegro

of journeys through life

the toddlers and labradors and sunflowers

I nurtured as mv own

and in the crescendo of mountain trails

leading to Eagle Bluffs.

You are there

out my bedroom window

as auroras disappear into stars

and the moon fills the night

to watch over and guide and protect

Copyright 2025 by Cynthia Sharp

In an Evergreen Altar

Shadows won’t catch you

if you beam toward radiance.

Stay focused and strong

in the saffron night

no longer manipulated

by misguided obligation

to enter any murkiness

not meant for you.

Inhale the auspicious candescence

infused with the scent of cedar

a candle along a pomelo path

to your inner child.

Let the quicksand of depression

dissolve on its own.

Stream along starlit stones in forest soil

through blood vessel rivulets

to dissolution

the return to nothing

reborn in light

arteries pulsating

universe creating

destination in sight.

Flow to the heart

the inner transcendence of trees

a wrapped mummy

in womb time bliss

to eternity.                                                                                                                               Copyright 2025 by Cynthia Sharp

Thank you so much Cynthia Sharp for being my guest author this month and I hope that everyone will read and appreciate your beautiful work. It has been a pleasure and you are invited back here any time. 

Until the next month, which will be close to Charistmas and near Chanukkah, my next guest is going to be the multitalented and beautiful Susan Joyner Stumpf. She is the author of over 100 books and she is a poet, publisher, lover of animals, and beautiful spirit. 

I hope to have my second book, Who Is Jennifer Taylor ready by then too. Meanwhile, the ebook for my print poetry book, You'll Probably Forget Me: Living With and Without Hal, lovingly published by Wildfire Publishing, is published by me as an ebook and available everywhere except Amazon. That will be coming soon. Grab a copy of this book for a very low price. It has all the features of the print book.

Enjoy the rest of November and Thanksgiving. If you comment on this blog please understand there is moderation of comments so you won't see your comment right away. I get notified so it will be up there soon. Thank you to all who commented on my last blog.

Welcome Author Catherine T. Horn

 It's been over three months since the last blog post and I apologize for that. I hope you enjoyed reading about my last guest whose books and career are very fascinating. In the interim between the last post a lot has happened. The best thing is I won a silver award from Reader's Favorite for my Young Adult novel: If I Could Be Like Jennifer Taylor.  During the summer I took part in some book festivals and though I didn't sell a ton of books I got great feedback about the book. At one of these events a woman came up to me and said that her daughter would not forgive her if she didn't tell me how much she loved the book and that she wanted to read the second one. And at one of them recently, a teen bought the book and started reading it immediately. These things tell me that it was worth writing my book. These days people don't read very much but I am happy that my book is getting the kind of attention you want from readers. 

The happy news is that I am publishing a second book and it will be out very soon. We are deciding on the cover and that is the main problem. Hopefully, this will be solved and it will be coming out within the next month, fingers crossed. It is called: Who Is Jennifer Taylor and will be published by Griffin Publishing. I will be revealing the cover as soon as it is completed.

This month my guest author is someone I know and she is a member of my Letters critique group in Greenwich Pen Women as well as a member of the Poetry Group there. Let's meet Catherine T. Horn, author, poet, and friend.

BIO:

Catherine Horn, an Active Letters member, is the author of Taking a Ride on Butterfly Wings. A retired Educator/School Psychologist whose greatest passions in life are her family, children and writing, she believes that, for her, there is no better form of creative expression than writing; no greater joy than to find the right words, phrases, and sentences to integrate ideas, thoughts, and feelings that converge to create the stories of our lives. 

Catherine has been writing for as long as she can remember, beginning with diaries and journal entries, lovesick poems with the kind of angst only teenagers can exude, and high school and college newspaper articles. 

As an adult, Catherine has written numerous stories for children, countless Psychoeducational Evaluation Reports, articles and presentations for parents, and eulogies for far too many family members. Catherine’s poetry writing has continued and has evolved into more mature, current themes including the pandemic and social injustice. In recent years, Catherine has ventured into writing memoir which she finds fascinating and rewarding. She is also working on a novel. 

Education:

Certificate of Advanced Study (C.A.S.)/6th Year in School Psychology, Fairfield University, Fairfield, CT, 1988

Master’s Degree in School Psychology, Fairfield University, Fairfield, CT, 1984

Bachelor of Arts in Special Education, Wheelock College (now Wheelock College of Education & Human Development at Boston University), Boston, MA, 1978

Work Experience:

School Psychologist Greenwich Public Schools, Greenwich, CT 1988-2016

Special Education Teacher Greenwich Public Schools, Greenwich, CT 1980-1988

Special Education Teacher Eagle Hill School Greenwich, CT 1978-1980

Professional Memberships:

Greenwich Pen Women (Active Member)

National League of American Pen Women (Active Member)

Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators (Full Member)

Connecticut Education Association – Retired

National Education Association – Retired

Publications/Recognition:

• "I Stand Alone" (poem and photograph) – Third Place, The Greenwich Tree Conservancy’s Awesome Tree Contest, Ode to a Tree Category, June 2025 

• "Taking a Ride on Butterfly Wings Finally Emerges" (article) - National League of American Pen Women (NLAPW), The Pen Woman Magazine, Spring 2025

• "Taking a Ride on Butterfly Wings: My Pathway to Publication" (article) – Dynamic Aging 4 Life Magazine, 1/20/25

• "Greenwich Pen Women Inspire Each Other" (article) – NLAPW, The Pen Woman Magazine, Winter 2024

• "Peregrine Falcon Inspires Poetic Creation" (article) – NLAPW, The Pen Woman Magazine, Spring 2024

• "Waterfall" (Poem and Photo) – NLAPW, The Pen Woman Magazine, Spring, 2024

• Taking a Ride on Butterfly Wings (children’s picture book, fiction), August 2024

• "The Thrill of Writing a Blitz Poem Together "(Article) – Written by Catherine Horn and Linda Hortick – NLAPW, The Pen Woman Magazine, Fall 2022

• "Challenging the Soul" (A Blitz poem) – Written by Catherine Horn and Linda Hortick – Featured Poem –NLAPW website, Fall, 2022

• "I breathe because I can" (Poem) – The 2020 Joan Ramseyer Memorial Poetry Anthology Sunbeams

• "A Moment in the CV19 World – Greenwich Pen Women Newsletter, July 2020

• Independence Day (Photo) – Greenwich Pen Women Newsletter, July 2020

• Pandemic Pondering (Poetry Collection) – Archived at Greenwich Historical Society

• A Moment in the CV19 World" – Greenwich Historical Society COVID19 Project, April 2020

• "A Moment in the CV19 World "– Greenwich Free Press, April 13, 2020

• "A Seared Memory – Your Place Squared", Bruce Museum, Spring, 2019

• Taking a Ride on Butterfly Wings – Honorable Mention – Children’s Fiction – Writer’s Digest Magazine Writing Competition, 1997

I was able to interview Catherine and here it is:

INTERVIEW:

 Where were you born Dobbs Ferry, NY and where do you live now? Greenwich, CT

·      Who or what influenced you to begin writing? 

Life! I have expressed my thoughts, feelings and ideas through writing for as long as I can remember - starting with diaries as a child, poems as an adolescent (and still today), children's stories as a mother, and memoir/personal essays as an older adult. Two English teachers I had in high school were positive and encouraging. 

·      Besides writing do you have any other occupation? 

Not another occupation, but I spend most afternoons caring for my two granddaughters while my daughter and her husband work. 

Do you have any hobbies and what are they?

Playing with and reading to my granddaughters! When I am not writing, I am often reading fiction or critiquing the work of other writers. My husband, Bill and I love to travel. 

·      Why did you decide to become a school psychologist? 

After working as a self-contained special education teacher for several years, I decided to further my education to become a school psychologist. Teaching for ten years, led me to want be more more involved in diagnosis and treatment plans for children with special needs. I was fascinated by evaluating students and actually enjoyed report writing which allowed me to analyze all of the information and data and synthesize it so that parents and teachers understood and knew what it all meant in terms of how best to support the child. 

·      How has your work in this field influenced your writing? 

Working with children throughout my career has kept me inspired. Experiencing life through the eyes of children (my own, my students, and now my granddaughters) has kept me focussed on joy, love, and laughter.

·      What inspired your latest book: Taking a Ride on Butterfly Wings? 

When my children were young, at bedtime we would talk about things they could think about as they were trying to fall asleep. That inspired me to write a poem that, at the time, I called Sweet Dreams. My favorite phrase from the poem was Taking a Ride on Butterfly Wings so I changed the title to that and focussed on that as the lead image for the book. 

·      Please describe the story of Taking a Ride on Butterfly Wings for our readers. 

Taking a Ride on Butterfly Wings follows Lulu and Lainy on an imaginative journey traversing the seasons in New England as they explore peaceful and calm places and activities with their family and friends. 

·      You also have written a memoir. Are you planning to publish this? 

I started writing the memoir pieces after I retired in 2016 and took a class at Greenwich Library called Crafting Life Stories led by Joan Motyka. From the first prompt ("I was one of those kids who...") my pen hit the paper and I haven't stopped yet. I realized how much a house fire at our family home when I was a child changed our family significantly, so I suppose that is a central theme - the idea of home, what it means, and how to rebuild and move forward when everything seems lost. I am writing it for my children and granddaughters, as a way of capturing my life stories and the strength of endurance but other writers have said it may have a wider appeal. I'm not sure that my life experiences are vastly different from any one else's, made up of love and loss, but I'll consider it when I am finished. My message, and the title is Love + Loss = Life©.

·      How is writing poetry different than writing prose? 

Writing poetry provides a certain structure within which to formulate thoughts, ideas and feelings. In some ways, that can be helpful but at other times, it is a hindrance. When trying to write something that rhymes, the thoughts and feelings can become compromised when trying to force a rhyme. Most of the time, when I have something that I've been thinking about, grappling with, and/or trying to process, I sit down to write about it and the form evolves on its own. 

I have found that to be true myself as a poet. The poem creates its own form and also your frame of mind at the time helps.

Would you say your poetry has influenced your children’s story? 

The book was always written in rhyme, but the poetic verses and rhyming has improved over time making it a better story and a fantastic book. 

·      Has your work with children as a school psychologist influenced your writing in any way? 

Definitely. Children tell you what they are thinking and feeling before they learn social graces and the idea that what you say and do can impact other people, often in ways unintended. Being aware of the issues children face every day keeps me current and in-the-know so that my children's stories reflect those ideas. 

·      Does your story teach a lesson? 

Not a lesson per se, but it does offer children things to think about when they are trying to fall asleep which is often the time of day when fears and anxieties come to the surface. The book is an example of Guided Imagery, a mindfulness strategy that can be calming. I have also added an activity page for families to create their own list of what to think about at night. 

Do you think children’s stories should always have a lesson to teach? 

No. Educational stories are important but so is entertainment, fun and humor. 

·      How have you incorporated things in your new book that will delight children? 

I made sure to write about places and activities that are calm, enjoyable, relaxing, and peaceful. There isn't anything scary, disturbing, or even problematic in my book.

·      How important are the illustrations of your book to the understanding of the text? 

I think that more so than helping readers to understand the text, the illustrations enhance the ideas and bring them to life. They are critically important and I was lucky to find an extremely talented and creative visual artist, Martha Ratcliff, who brought my vision forward.

Yes, the illustrations in your book make you want to read it. I was at your book launch and saw the joy in the faces of the children and even adults who saw the cover. They grabbed it immediately.

·      What are you currently writing and are you thinking of publishing it? 

I am still writing memoir pieces and poems all the time. I hope to publish a collection of poems in the future. I have many more children's stories finished and I would very much like to publish some of them. I am also writing a novel that I think is timely and relevant, deserving to be out in the world as a catalyst for discussions around the impact of social media addiction on people everywhere.

·      How has your experience with Greenwich Pen Women Letters influenced your writing? 

All aspects of my writing have improved. I have learned new forms of poetry through our Poetry Group and now also write about nature in addition to people and relationships which were always my focus previously. 

·      Please tell our readers where they can find your book and you.  

Taking a Ride on Butterfly Wings is available at many local independent stores in Greenwich (Diane's Books, Athena, Bush Holley House/Greenwich Historical Society Museum Store, Christ Church Dogwood Bookstore) as well as on Amazon and barnesandnoble.com. For more information see lululanepress.com

·      Will you be doing any in person or online events in the future and where will they be? 

None scheduled at the moment. A highlight for me has been when I was lucky enough to be invited to Bush Holley House/Greenwich Historical Society as a featured speaker during their Local Author Showcase series this past spring. 

·      Finally, my last question I always ask my guests. Are you a plotter or a pantser? In other words, do you outline or do you just write? 

I am a tried and true, well-established pantser. Words flow through my fingers to the pen or keyboard and I am often amazed by what appears. An outline seems too restrictive and confining. For me, writing is the best and my favorite form of communication. 

I'd like to add that the reason this book finally became a reality, 32 years after I wrote the poem, is perseverance. After 11 rejections from traditional publishing houses, I decided to self-publish. I hired Martha, then a book formatting and publishing company, and then a website designer (Michael Murray, my brother, owner and founder of Baliwick Marketing). I have done all of my own marketing and promoting, all without the use of social media. I want my granddaughters to know the power and strength of pursuing goals and dreams regardless of obstacles and/or how long it takes. With our endless imaginations, we can all envision Taking a Ride on Butterfly Wings and who knows where we will land...

And one final, most important note is to thank my family once again - I could not have accomplished this without the love and support of my amazing husband, Bill, and the inspiration from our children, Kelly and Rob, our son-in-law, Neal, and our precious granddaughters, Eliza and Cassidy (represented in the book as Lulu and Lainy). 

Thank you, Catherine T. Horn, for the very thorough answers you gave to my questions. Your perseverance should show anyone who wants to be an author that you should not give up. Your story reminds me of my own struggle to republish my Young Adult novel and how I wound up self publishing. It is important to keep that belief in yourself when you want to publish your book. Also, thank you for the additional information about how you published this book. It will help all who are in the same situation. Publishing is not easy but not giving up is the answer! Lots of luck with this very beautiful book that young children will love. And now you have an online presence with my blog.

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This interview will run for a month. Please comment here so the author can see how you felt about this. I do moderate comments so please no spam and be courteous. So if you comment and don't see it right away no worries. It will be there when I see it.

Until the next time when my guest will be another friend who is a poet, teacher, and an author. Her name is Cynthia Sharp. Hope you all have a great October. Here the leaves are changing and I leave you with a poem I just wrote about October:

                                    October Yellow

Is there anything more amazing than the yellow of the trees in October?

When the air and all around them turns the environment a bright yellow

As sunlight touches the leaves and creates a magical paradise

from a simple forest lane

The yellow almost blinds you as you gaze in wonder

At this fairyland created by leaves and sunshine

Your eyes take it all in as a serendipitous moment

When sky, trees, and air came together

To form this beautiful tableau

Only seen in October.

Copyright 2025 by Barbara Ehrentreu