by Carolyn | Dec 1, 2019 | Ireland, The SoulFire
It’s nearing 10 o’clock at night on my first day in Ireland after being away for 36 years. When I last set foot on Irish soil, I was a young woman about to embark on a career as a journalist and author. Now I am an empty-nested woman who does not know how to write the...
by Jona Kottler | Nov 30, 2019 | Ireland, The SoulFire, Unwritten, WHAT'S NEW
In this guest blog post, we hear from Jonatha Kottler, co-facilitator of the 2020 Ireland Writing Retreat along the Wild Atlantic Way, to be held June 21-25, 2020. I had wanted to go on a writing retreat for a long time. It wasn’t because I knew what to expect—maybe...
by Carolyn | Nov 7, 2019 | The SoulFire, WHAT'S NEW
Part III: Making It Magic In this post, we conclude the series about how to write a personal essay in three easy lessons. I love the personal essay as a short form that can illuminate a vital issue or a slice of life. Sometimes the essay can be a great way to test the...
by Carolyn | Oct 31, 2019 | The SoulFire
Part II: Keeping It Going This series honors the power of the personal essay. In the hands of a masterful writer, an essay has the power to evoke emotion or to lay out an argument that calls others to action. [See Part 1 if you’re wondering how to get started.]...
by Carolyn | Oct 24, 2019 | The SoulFire
Part I: Kicking It Off The personal essay is one of my favorite art forms because it has the ability to use a personal story to speak to universal truths about what it means to be human. In the hands of a masterful writer, an essay has the power to evoke emotion or...
by Carolyn | Jul 26, 2019 | The Story Catalyst authors
David Sorensen’s memoir Between Two Worlds: My Life as a Child of Deaf Adults, published June 28, 2019, with his publisher of choice—Gallaudet Press, which is part of Gallaudet University, the nation’s premier university for the education of the deaf or hard of...
by Carolyn | Jul 25, 2019 | Unwritten
Entering the first pages of a masterfully written book is like embarking on a magical odyssey. I first remember that feeling when I met the opening pages of Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird, a book to which I feel an uncanny and unwavering devotion. And most...
by Carolyn | Jul 24, 2019 | Ireland, The SoulFire
I’m standing at the Hertz rental car counter in Shannon airport, when the clerk asks for my name. I simply say, “Flynn,” without spelling it. He nods, “Aye, me mum’s a Flynn.”“From what county?” I ask.“Cork,” he says.“There are a lot of Flynns in Cork,” I say.In fact,...
by Carolyn | Jun 24, 2018 | The SoulFire
Peter Pan, magical kisses and the place where we can come home When the twins were small, we used to make up stories together, stories that would carry us to deep into wild, enchanted forests or set us sailing on the high blue seas, stories that would catapult us to...
by Carolyn | Jun 3, 2018 | Faith & Meaning
As creatives, we can draw inspiration from imagining ourselves in a soul-stirring setting. An expansive place that opens our minds to new horizons, easily allowing us to shed our distractions. Sometimes, we imagine the perfect writing desk with a gorgeous journal and...
