Sun, 21 Dec 2014 16:28:33 +0000 Rivers play a key role in Earth, my first novel. Even as a child I thought of the rivers as veins in a hand or arteries connected to our hearts. Here's an excerpt from the book. I watched the Current whip by in muddy fury. It was deceptively small, ordinary, but so ornery. It was just a few feet wide and tempted you with its…

Fri, 08 May 2015 19:05:24 +0000 I'm so excited and honored to receive the Independent Publishers gold medal for Best Midwest Fiction for my literary novel Earth. http://www.independentpublisher.com/article.php?page=1937#.VUp9znazGNY.facebook

Thu, 04 Jun 2015 01:11:25 +0000 An American woman this week was killed by a lioness at a South African private animal park. Against park rules, she and her husband were driving through the park with their windows down. The lioness came up to the passenger window, attacked the woman and killed her. I was at a friend's house when the news came on the television. I turned and said: "I grew up around wild nature…

Fri, 29 May 2015 17:07:51 +0000 A couple of days this week, I woke up after 8 hours of sleep feeling like someone took a baseball bat to the back of my head. I really cleaned up my act a few years ago, went vegetarian, then vegan, got rid of almost all chemicals like dyes and preservatives from my diet, stopped eating processed foods. For a couple of years, I've felt re-born, healthy…

Mon, 16 Feb 2015 16:26:08 +0000 My first novel, Earth, is being published by Seattle's Booktrope, and the official launch is this Thursday, Feb. 19th. Join our mailing list on my website, carolineallen.com, and be entered to win a couple of fun promo prizes. I'm a visual artist and metaphysical coach (besides being a fiction writer) and you could win a 9x12 original watercolor or a tarot reading on the day…

Fri, 13 Mar 2015 17:01:21 +0000 Join us on Earth Day, Wednesday, April 22nd, for a reading of my first novel, Earth, at Third Place Books in Lake Forest Park, WA (Seattle). We start at 7 p.m. with a reading, followed by a Q&A and a signing, and you can expect a few fun audience surprises along the way. Click for directions to Third Place Books. More information about how the…

Sat, 21 Mar 2015 22:08:36 +0000 Earth: An Unexpected Journey of Self Discovery Reading at New Renaissance Bookshop, Portland Oregon Sun. Apr. 19, 5:30-7pm, $12 In this first of the four-book Elemental Journey Series, Caroline Allen introduces a form of storytelling that is unflinching in its honesty, filled with compassion and underscored with originality. Journey with Caroline as she discuss the themes and concepts of her book Earth, and the importance…

Wed, 08 Apr 2015 19:57:29 +0000 In early 2014, I grew frustrated with the lack of time I had for doing visual art. I'm a novelist and run a book coaching business. I gave up an international journalism career to pursue a literary and artistic life, and felt like a child stomping my foot when it came to not having time to do visual art. How could I be an artist if I…

Tue, 14 Apr 2015 23:45:06 +0000 Today's guest blog is by Editor Caroline Clouse. Caroline joined the Art of Storytelling team last week. Here she breaks down the five steps to editing your manuscript. Long gone are the glory days in which publishers saw potential in writers and cultivated them into bestselling authors. Acquisition editors and literary agents are faced with overwhelming slush piles, and sloppy writing or blatant errors make…

Fri, 17 Apr 2015 06:00:24 +0000