Carol S. Mann

fiction writer, blogger

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Promoting Your Book

The Friends of the College of the Desert Library hosted an Author Reception for me at the historic Shadow Mountain Golf Club in Palm Desert, California. For me, this meant talking about my short story collection Creek Songs. My time constraint was 15 to 20 minutes. If you find yourself needing to prepare a book talk, below are the steps I took to get ready. First – What did I include in my talk…

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Newspaper Article about Creek Songs

Newspaper Article about Creek Songs

The local newspaper of the Palm Springs/Coachella Valley area is The Desert Sun. On Sunday, September 18, 2022, Creek Songs and I were honored to be the subject of an article in the Arts and Culture Section, written by reporter Joanne Hardy. Below is the link to the…

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Good News

I’m happy to announce that Creek Songs has been named a National Indie Excellence Awards Finalist in the “Fiction: Short Story” category.

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International Book Awards

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"A Brief Interruption" Goes Live

“A Brief Interruption” Goes Live

The Palm Springs Writers Guild hosted its Member Appreciation event recently featuring readings, books for sale, food, and fun. Mellow jazz played in the background as members and guests mingled, browsed the book offerings, and noshed on self-serve goodies and drinks. After a welcome by president Matt Lancelotti, board member Kristina Hoffman emceed the afternoon, creatively organized with…

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Writing about Art

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Writing About a Piece of Art

Writing About a Piece of Art

The hummingbird in this painting by artist JoAnn Fallstone becomes a metaphor for the writing of a piece of prose poetry. Art can inspire words onto paper, adding another layer of meaning to the story the painting already portrays. The Poet Within by Carol Mann A Prose Poem My inner poet is an exquisite hummingbird, darting from flower to flower, from sip to sip, savoring at long last the…

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Creek Songs

Creek Songs, my short story collection available on Amazon Books, will soon be available on Kindle. (I love writing short stories, bringing a character’s moment in time to fruition . . . or not.) Short stories are great reads for a moment of relaxation and/or escape, are time friendly, and mood friendly. Others think so, too! Reviews are coming in and are always appreciated. Here’s a review…

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Happy New Year!

Courtesy of Unsplash

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Short Story Settings

Choosing a short story setting can occur in several ways. Sometimes the choice is conscious and sometimes it’s not; perhaps it’s almost magical or dictated by something larger. Authors may have a setting they like and simply know that one day they will write a story and have it happen in that location. Case in point: I did intern teaching at an elementary school in Niagara Falls, New York. I saw…

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My Short Story collection is here!

My Short Story collection is here!

I hope you like to read short stories. If you don’t, let me offer a few reasons to try them out. First, my short story collection Creek Songs is live on Amazon.com! More on point, short stories are user friendly, time friendly and mood friendly. User Friendly. Reading a short story collection is like shopping at Trader Joe’s. You can read the stories in order, similar to going up and down the…

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Creek Songs has just gone live on amazon. 

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Skywatchers

Right now in the Sonoran Desert, rain won’t be our guest any time soon. We are in the midst of high summer temperatures. The temperature in my hometown of La Quinta is currently 113 degrees at 4:58 pm. Recent days have been even hotter and there are hotter ones to come. The daylight hours are made of heady stuff. Ah, but the nights! We have had some spectacular night skies. All the better to see…

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Free to be Wild

Free to be Wild

I’ve always had a fascination with horses. I admire their power, their beauty, and their role in furthering men’s dreams and goals through the ages. I’ve had the pleasure  of knowing a sweet tempered Appaloosa named Ember, a nervous and high spirited saddlebred named Rebel and an independent, strong-willed Arabian called Sultan. My feelings for these three unique animals plus my broader respect…

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Desert Writers Expo 2020

Desert Writers Expo 2020

 February 15, 2020, was the Desert Writers Expo hosted by the Palm Springs Writers Guild and the Rancho Mirage Library and Observatory located in Rancho Mirage, California. Forty writers came together to offer their current books for sale to the public. It was a busy and full day.

This is the “booth” featuring All Ways A Woman and a line of greeting cards with images and poems from the book.…

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Caring for that Complicated Person

Caring for that Complicated Person

In a recent post called “Nurse Ratchet Goes to School,” I wrote about caregiving and going to caregivers’ school, all in an effort to give the best care possible to my husband Tony who will celebrate his 97th birthday on October 10. In addition, I learned about the importance of self-care.

Happily, a health care team has been assembled. Daily, they make Tony comfortable and give me the confidence…

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Welcome to Quilling

A recent birthday card introduced me to an old art form. It’s called quilling. When I first looked at the card, I thought its design was simply raised. On closer inspection, I found the design was three dimensional and composed of small, coiled strips of paper. The intricacy of the work is evident.

The quilling on my card

I became curious about this decorative art form. Below is some information…

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