It all started when…

my mom let me use her typewriter. A columnist for the local newspaper, she also wrote stories. I didn’t know that at the time. I must have showed her my poetry. I remember sitting on the hunter-green overstuffed couch in our living room. I was only eight years old and yet, absorbed every word she had to say about rhyme and meter. In fifth grade I won an essay contest sponsored by the Daughters of the American Revolution. Win? Hooked!

When I was around twelve years old, Reader’s Digest rejected my story about our cat Rusty. He was never allowed to stay inside at night, so I knew it could not be our cat that jumped up on my bed in the middle of the night. Rejection isn’t an easy thing to swallow. I didn’t send any written thing to another magazine or publisher for years…’n years…’n years. But I still wrote, and people who read my stuff (mostly emotional outpourings) said it was great.

It’s hard to determine what purpose you want your writing to serve. For me, it could never be about the money. Somehow that rang hollow (not that I don’t want to be a NYT bestselling author - I do!).

I’ve always wanted to touch people’s hearts through writing,

The Truth Lies...a Florida Saga, based on a true story, has been described as on a par with Patrick Smith's A Land Remembered, and won the 2016 Space Coast Writers' Guild Don Argo Award for best in Florida Literature. It is a cattle-woman’s story about struggling through mental illness during a time when little was known about the disease which was rarely ever discussed. Mental illness does not mean stupid.

I, Clawed - The Adventures of a Cat This 3 book series chronicles the trials of a cat who writes. His stories are filled with magic, natural catastrophes, and bullies, and explore life issues such as forgiveness, how to deal with racial (specie) differences, life after death, what a friend is, climate change, materialism, and more. Fairy tales can come true.

Water Drops offers award-winning poetry, short stories, photography, and art. And Chase A Dream Today is a collaborative work with her son and offers more of her poetry and art.

Purple - stories on magic, devotion, mystery and creativity: Purple represents the future, imagination, and dreams while spiritually calming the emotions. It promotes harmony and contributes to mental balance and stability. Empower yourself with purple.

Beyond the Dark - Healing in the Wake of Suicide is about my ongoing internal work to cast off layers of self-doubt I wrapped around myself after my first husband took his own life.

"Writing is an art. As masters of disguise, we take real people from authentic situations and weave them into colorful tapestries. We are all real-life characters searching for redemption, and writing is a way to expose our erring human ways with grace.

Write! It's good for the psyche and purges the soul.

Read! It takes us home and helps us explore new worlds.

I’m a Past President of the Space Coast Writers’ Guild, past Treasurer of the Space Coast Writers’ Guild and editor of the SCWG Bulletin, and currently serve on its poetry committee. I am a Director for the Brevard Author Society, and am a member of the Florida Writer’s Association. Some of my favorite work is with first-time novelists. Feel free to email me. I can help you get started telling your story.

JUST SAYIN’ 

Don’t look too closely at these words

as if I’m telling you my life story. 

Fleeting thoughts

sometimes have

a ring of truth

that I am told to share,

by someone Greater than I,

thoughts to touch our hearts

because we all need to be reminded,

this is our story,

and we are not alone.

I love to write.

cindyfoley123@gmail.com