Carol Ann Howell - Author, Artist & Photographer

2008-07-22T07:41:00.000-07:00

ESSAY - WHY I WRITE

John Steinbeck wrote, ...We have a thousand selves... If I have a thousand selves and everyone who reads my writings has thousands, then there are zillions of selves to be touched and challenged.

It is my mission to cause people to feel, to think, to see things in another way. I want to agitate their cells a bit.

Do I write to entertain? My work might be entertaining, but my main goal is to find a truth. It is said that through looking deep into our Being we are consequently touching a universal ache.
Well, why not? The stuff comes from the Universal Mind – or whatever you call it.

When I am in the depth of my writing-meditation, I feel as though I have a straw that reaches into the bottomless ocean of knowledge, of creativity, of feeling, that what I tap into is much larger, vaster, more profound than I alone can know, that anything is possible.

I invite you to go there too, in your way, and be amazed at the riches you will find.

About the Drawing

2008-07-15T20:23:00.000-07:00

This is one of a series titled "Beauties!" It is the pen and ink technique, but I used a stick from the garden instead of a pen. I think their energy is inspiring! If you have any questions about the process, just ask.

About me, Carol Ann

I was born in downtown Los Angeles, and I went to Occidental College.

I lived for seven years in Antigua Guatemala where I was considered one of the top artists and beloved poets, known for my sensual poetry in two languages. They called me Carolina. In Spanish it is (Kahroleena). My bilingual flipbook, IN THE LANGUAGE OF NATURE, was published there.

My work as a writer has appeared in the Los Angeles Times, Family Circle, Yellow Silk, and many others in the U.S. and in various publications in Guatemala.

I was invited as an artist-in-residence to Dorland Mountin Colony in Temecula where I finished my first novel SED: THIRST, CRAVING & DESIRE and organized the manuscript for my second, LOVE LETTERS TO A MARRIED MAN. I later adapted it to the screen.

I've won many awards from the WNBA, National Federation of Press Women, P.E.N., the Santa Barbara Writers Conference, the South Bay Manuscriptors (Ray Bradbury was a member), and others.

I have lectured on the subject of writing a novel and creative writing to the WNBA, the Writers Roundtable, Westside Writers' Group, and to writers in Guatemala and Florida.

I now live in Perry, Florida, through some cosmic accident, and would like to return to my native Los Angeles.

I last lived in Malibu. The waves call me...

Tree Poem

2008-07-15T10:17:00.000-07:00

This is one of a series, (I like to work in series.) This is part of a tree poem. No words, just feelings and thoughts given to you by the tree language.

More will appear, by and by.

Did you hug your tree today?

RECYCLING

Let's talk about the subject of saving trees, paper, ink, and money. Every morning I read the Los Angeles Times online, then I walk four blocks to the store. I buy a Tallahassee Democrat newspaper. I read it, do the crossword puzzle, then place the paper, w/o the puzzle, at my neighbor's door. He's the manager. He reads it, then takes it to his office and shares it with someone else.
Then, as if by magic, I find a paper at my door, it's the local paper which he has read and left for me. I read it, then walk across the parking lot to my neighbor and leave it at her door. She reads it, then gives it to her next door neighbor. I don't know how many people are on the string of reading these same two papers. At the end there is a lady who doesn't read the papers but collects them for a paper drive. Oh, happy trees!