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Author Spotlight: Angela Townsend
Angela Townsend won 2nd prize in Non-fiction in the Northwind Writing Award 2023 for her non-fiction story “Basking.” It is an honor to feature her Q&A here on Raw Earth Ink as part of our promotion of truly exceptional authors.
Q & A
Candice: In your short story “Basking,” you seem to master the inner world of a new college student and her challenge with adapting to college-life manifesting in a degree of orthorexia or type of eating disorder. This is an important and oft neglected subject, is that one reason you chose it for a short story?
Angela: This topic is close to my heart, as “Basking” is inspired a bit by my own experience. In times of turmoil, I think we often reach for ways to squeeze life back into our own two hands. There is healing in surrendering to the great wild open, but we need gentle companions to help us feel safe on that odyssey.
C: You are close to your mother, is this relationship influential in your own writing, given her background as a writer also?
A: She is my constant inspiration. My Mom introduced me to the companionship of words before I could hold a crayon. We made weekly pilgrimages to the library, carrying home as many books as they’d allow, and she read me “The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock” and Maya Angelou’s poetry as far back as kindergarten. Of course, my favorite poems were always her own. We are our own little two-woman writers’ colony, with poetry and prose flying across Pennsylvania to one another every day. Her best friendship constantly gives me the courage and light to write from my soul.
C: Your studies include time in a Theological Seminary. Does that influence the style you employ as a writer in any way? Or the direction you choose? And if so, how?
A: I have always felt writing to be a gift from a generous, joyful God. For me, it is a sort of prayer. I am incorrigibly smitten with this ragged world, so I am always striving to bear witness to light. My small stories are nestled in the big story of mercy.
C: How does your admirable work with rescuing cats and your sanctuary, affect the direction of your writing if at all?
A: As grateful as I am for my education, it’s been my sixteen-plus years at Tabby’s Place that have honed my writing. My role at the sanctuary is storytelling, and the cats have been happy to school me in character studies. It is a challenge and a delight to honor these beings who seem to live in a state of grace, free from bitterness. They are gratitude on four legs, masters of mindfulness and mirth. They have also taught me most of what I know about comedy!
C: What wakes you up in the night/gets you up in the morning, and demands you write?
A: An overflow of love. For good and ill, I have always erred on the side of exuberance. I am incurably infatuated with people, animals, and the thousand glistening gifts of any ordinary day. I feel driven to capture it all, as a kind of thanks.
C: The humor of your story is inescapable. I particularly felt drawn to your description of The Walrus and how by the story’s end, Roy does not respond. For me, it was better that he not respond, as such unsung heroes do not relish attention but are perhaps angels among us. Do you feel similarly or was his role different for you?
A: You’ve captured it! I believe we are all granted a lavishment of companions across our timeline, some for just a season. Yet they travel with us always, asking only that we treasure them and let their love enlarge us.
C: What do you get out of other writers and how? Meaning, when you read a book, you absolutely love, what is it specifically that really pulls you in?
A: I experience other writers as my best friends. I am drawn to those writers who, even in thick lament, leave me with the sense that grace will prevail, and all shall be loved. Often the most sheltering words come from people whose lives are profoundly different from my own, yet with a family resemblance that makes the world feel like a hearth.
C: Which writers have cultivated in you an urge to write as well as them, even if differently and what was it about their writing or story that encouraged you to begin your journey as a writer?
A: My touchstones include Henri Nouwen, Emily Dickinson, Madeleine L’Engle, Anne Lamott, Brian Doyle, C.S. Lewis, Kathleen Norris, Mary Oliver, J.R.R. Tolkien, and Dave Barry. As different as they are, each one strikes me as having a conscious sense of being on pilgrimage, falling often but trusting greatly. They all take hold of rebel joy and love life furiously, even in times of torrential tears. They also own their odd and incandescent selves fully, something I am a long way from doing!
C: Your story touched me on many levels, not least in really illustrating the challenges of going to University and how they can exacerbate ‘conditions’ such as anorexia, because of being alone for the first time. What was your goal with this story in terms of what you wanted to ultimately convey?
A: I think the essential message is that we are never ultimately alone. Our seasons of barest isolation are ringed with angels, who may wear bushy mustaches or Java City aprons. There is nowhere we can travel where we can’t find mercy.
C: The encouragement aspect of your story was inescapable, and one of the most poignant elements. Do you believe encouragement goes a long way in building others up and helping them avoid falling? When we consider the high attrition rates in education, especially University, how important is this?
A: I believe encouragement is as essential as breath. We as a species are exasperatingly blind to our own light, and it is the better part of love to merely be a mirror. I attribute the entirety of my thriving to the encouragement of my family, and I see daily how a mere handful of words can give someone back to themselves. I keep a secret, sacred “encouragement” folder in my own inbox!
C: How much does the physicality of your existence influence your writing? And what else do you believe really drives you as a writer in terms of influence and/or tools that you utilize consciously or subconsciously to craft your storytelling?
A: Although I would do cartwheels for a cure, I would never trade away the force with which a lifetime of Type 1 diabetes has turned me to writing. They don’t use this word anymore, but when I was diagnosed at age nine, they described me as a “brittle” diabetic – particularly challenging to control (which is, of course, a problematic word in itself). I learned quickly that, even if I felt poorly, I could transcend my body when I wrote. With my little notebook, my weary body became fully cheetah, free. Writing has been a kind of peace treaty between body and soul for me, where they can meet on healing ground.
C: Is there anything you really despise about writing or writers, a pet peeve or something that disgusts you when you read it?
A: I grieve all instances of meanness and competition turned caustic. I am a big believer that “we need us all,” and that there is room at love’s table for the whole kaleidoscope of words and their wielders. To turn the question around, my heart thrills every time I feel part of a gentle, generous community of writers rejoicing in each other.
C: How do you envision your writing journey in say, five years’ time, what do you hope in terms of where you will find yourself?
A: If I could trust that my words offer candles and companionship, that would be the highest joy. Whenever my ego belches a desire for accolades, I remind it that the goal is to bear hope and light, and to trust that my little offerings will land where they are intended.
C: If you were describing yourself to someone else, anonymously and they did not know you, what would you want them to know about you?
A: Although she stumbles hourly, Angie strives to do everything from love.
C: Do you think a writer needs a degree of ‘education’ or do you believe a writer is born able to write or becomes able to write through lived experience primarily?
A: I believe there are as many paths to life-giving writing as there are lives. For this reason, I’ve always been ravenous for biographies of writers, a motley lot of miracles!
C: Your animal family: how do they encourage you? Would you be the person you are today if they were not in your life?
A: I don’t believe I could write another paragraph if not for these comedians and counselors. Animals live with such a shimmery immediacy, they lead me to experience my life in real-time, which is the only address for inspiration. I am exasperatingly indoorsy, but they nudge me to remember that I am “in nature” by the sheer, spectacular virtue of having a body. They love without calculus and have never heard the word “worthy,” so they are singularly good at picking me up from rejection or just a rumply day. And they have never heard of Pushcart nominations or The Paris Review, so they catch my wandering ego when it loses love’s path!
Angela Townsend is the Development Director at Tabby’s Place: a Cat Sanctuary, where she is honored to bear witness to mercy for all beings. She has an M.Div. from Princeton Theological Seminary and B.A. from Vassar College. Her work appears in bioStories, Cagibi, Dappled Things, Fathom Magazine, Hawaii Pacific Review, and The Razor, among others. Angie has lived with Type 1 diabetes for 33 years, laughs with her poet mother every morning, and loves life affectionately. She lives outside Philadelphia with two shaggy comets disguised as cats.
To read The 2023 Northwind Treasury, including Angela’s winning piece, you can purchase it (come December) in paperback on Lulu, Barnes & Noble, or Amazon or as an eBook on Lulu, Nook, Kobo, or Kindle. To see the list of contents and winners, visit our winner’s page.
Book Review – Lockless Doors in the Land of Harsh Angels by Dave Matthes
Available at Amazon.
I read this book as a paperback. This is an unsolicited review.
The Review:
I really enjoyed this book. The tragedy and drama of the Ponce siblings kept me up a bit late a couple nights as I read it. Each one a train-wreck of a person but somehow lovable – flaws, quirks, and all. I appreciated how unapologetic each of them were. Unapologetic in their personality and in their decisions. In their love and in their mistakes. It was as if Matthes created a family who on the surface appears dysfunctional, yet they have each come to realize who they are and they aren’t afraid to be themselves.
The story is told from Ed’s point of view, as he finally reveals (in the form of an admission to himself and the reader) the Moment which altered his entire future. The crossroads which really had no other options yet he blames himself and never quite gets past that corner. You want to slap him and hug him. To offer to be his confessor. To help him forgive himself and move forward.
Of course we don’t get that chance, and Matthes has done what every good storyteller does: gets in your head and in your heart. Or rather, allows his characters to do so.
My Overall Score:
I give this book 5/5 stars. Excellent story. Great length; really good characters – every one of whom is believable and neither overdone or cliche; nice setting; some laugh-out-loud, shake-your-head parts; memorable and well-written. Highly recommended reading.
Read more book reviews by following the Book Reviews Category.
be a good writer: read.
~tara caribou
A FINAL NOTE ON REVIEWS: it may seem that I am harsh on many writers for their editing, formatting, grammar, punctuation, etc. I do so unapologetically. First, because this is a review not a popularity contest. Second, because honest criticism should help us grow as artists.
The fact of the matter is, these things MATTER. A mathematician must use his tools and use them correctly to be an effective mathematician. A surgeon cannot simply say, “I know I can’t sew the wound closed but at least I could remove the appendix or whatever that thing is called.” Same with writers. We can’t claim to be writers yet refuse to use proper spelling, grammar, and punctuation. We can’t claim to be a photographer just because we know how to push the button on the camera (or phone). There’s an art to it.
So while I may appreciate the artist as a person and their words, I believe that it does us all a disservice to claim that lower quality editing is okay, whether in word, deed, or omission of criticism. Instead: believe in yourself! Believe in the power of your words! Put the effort into being the very best you can be. Ask for help. Grow and learn.
Book Review – Tainted by the Same Counterfeit by Candice Louisa Daquin
Available at Amazon.
I read this book as a paperback. This is an unsolicited review.
The Review:
To say Candice Daquin’s poetry is deeply moving is barely scratching the surface to actually reading it. Her words get deep inside the marrow, burrowing in and finding ways to be remembered days down the line. This latest collection of poetry from her is the perfect example of this. I earmarked so many pieces in the book, I don’t have room in this review to share them all.
A few of my favorites were:
“The memory of clothes” which begins ‘Somewhere in a filing room with corrugated cardboard and dried blood, her skirt of 2006 is folded by a uniformed man who isn’t used to folding women’s clothes.’
“The Opal” with ‘how did you come to be? A vowel, a constellation, a rhyme in my mind…’
“We, made of paper” with lines like ‘we made of fog… we made of wrung hands… we made of incomplete stitch…’
“Not of man, not of woman” begins ‘The earth cracked open one ordinary Thursday Thursday’s child walked out she has long to go’ and continues ‘setting out on foot zola budd if she swam oceans in seal fat and ate stones to give her some brevity… once, crossing river she saw herself reflected her skin green like deep forest with shallow scoop, she spoke to silver fish telling them of her beginning in clay too hard for shape…’ oh man I loved that piece
And not to mention a handful of short pieces such as “Loathe” and “Relinquished habits”.
Other pieces which I can’t bear to share a simple line or two because they were so powerful were “Amulet”, “Frenzy”, and “Late bloom”.
I took my time and absorbed each poem one by one, savoring them, not crowding them in my mind. What a privilege to be able to read her words! My heart is tender and pulled. She knows just how to write the words between the lines to evoke such emotion.
My Overall Score:
This book receives 4.5/5 stars from me. Beautiful cover and an excellent length. The poetry itself isn’t lacking. The only dings from me are some spelling errors and some awkward formatting, (which I didn’t expect I’d see from a press like this, as I was under the impression they publish a LOT of authors). It was a hard pill to swallow because such immense and gorgeous poetry deserves respect and a gorgeous printing. To be honest I don’t feel the publisher gave Daquin the beautiful book she deserves. Sadly, that 1/2-star is really from the publisher not doing a great job and not due to the writer.
Regardless, I highly highly recommend this collection of poetry to those who love real poetry and poems to make you swoon and sigh and clutch your heart.
Read more book reviews by following the Book Reviews Category.
be a good writer: read.
~tara caribou
A FINAL NOTE ON REVIEWS: it may seem that I am harsh on many writers for their editing, formatting, grammar, punctuation, etc. I do so unapologetically. First, because this is a review not a popularity contest. Second, because honest criticism should help us grow as artists.
The fact of the matter is, these things MATTER. A mathematician must use his tools and use them correctly to be an effective mathematician. A surgeon cannot simply say, “I know I can’t sew the wound closed but at least I could remove the appendix or whatever that thing is called.” Same with writers. We can’t claim to be writers yet refuse to use proper spelling, grammar, and punctuation. We can’t claim to be a photographer just because we know how to push the button on the camera (or phone). There’s an art to it.
So while I may appreciate the artist as a person and their words, I believe that it does us all a disservice to claim that lower quality editing is okay, whether in word, deed, or omission of criticism. Instead: believe in yourself! Believe in the power of your words! Put the effort into being the very best you can be. Ask for help. Grow and learn.
“The Comment Poems” poetry by Robert G. Wertzler
Raw Earth Ink is proud to present Robert Wertzler’s debut poetry book, The Comment Poems: Encounters with Contagious Poets.
From the back cover:
In keeping with Robert’s heart for reading and writing, to encourage and share work which touches him, he shares links to the original piece which inspired the poem, as well as including at the end of the book a list of those inspirations by author.
In paperback at: lulu.
As eBook at: lulu, Nook, Kobo, or Kindle.
Leave a review on Goodreads.
©️2023 | Robert G. Wertzler
Robert can be found on his website cabbagesandkings524.wordpress.com.
Book Review – Suburb’n ndn by Hidden Bear
Available at Amazon.
I read this book as a paperback. This is an unsolicited review.
The Review:
Hidden Bear’s second collection of poetry did not leave me disappointed. He opens with a heartfelt and honest introduction to both the book and himself, as an indigenous man living in the modern world, something I am quite familiar with here in my own birthplace of Alaska, where a huge percentage of the people are Alaskan natives. He goes from there to separating out the poetry into “land” (his tribe’s land and modern heritage) then “people” (his heritage as a man, more than blood) and then “me” (hidden bear, the man).
I really appreciate his honesty and I’ve had so many of these same conversations myself, questions such as “how native are you? or you don’t look native…” which he addresses in the poem “The Conversation”, where he breaks down the assumptions from the ignorant and answers with hard-hitting truths and realities. ‘Didn’t you get like free education? No I didn’t. Boarding schools cost us everything – Kidnapping, colonizing, culture killing rings – All in the name of kill the Indian save the man – Suppressing who we are so they could take our land – Pretending to be heroes offering helping hands’.
Some of my favorite pieces are: “Box” which describes a sacred place; “Seek” with ‘I hear the old language – I listen for elder whispers – I pray to the Creator – I visualize the village and me’; “Winter Flowers” which reminded me of crocuses with ‘Delicate the petal holds up the Ice – More ice seeks out the beauty – Soon the bloom is covered in Ice – Though consumed its beauty shines through’; my personal favorite “Nyctophilia” a gorgeous nighttime scene described; “Eaton Jamani” describes his tribe’s home valley over the eons; and “Home” a mixture of suburbs and nature.
Hidden Bear has always been a favorite poet of mine. He know how to describe nature and you’re standing right there too; he knows how to explain inner thoughts and draw out the emotions. He writes simplicity without being simple. He inspires me to embrace who I am, as he has embraced himself, and strive to be the best me I can be. There aren’t a lot of poets who do that. I appreciate that.
My Overall Score:
This book gets 4.75/5 stars from me. Gorgeous cover, which is even better in person than it is on the screen; nice length (though I would have happily accepted another 50 pages); really great content and subject poetry; relevant and timely. The only loss of a 1/4-star comes in the odd formatting and a few grammatical/misspelling mistakes (though not many). I did NOT enjoy reading this font and it took away from the reading experience for me, also the wide spacing was too much. It felt clunky and didn’t flow well. That’s a shame with such a great writer, but it’s a small ding on an overall excellent book.
Highly recommended to those who appreciate indigenous topics, especially combined with modernism, nature poetry, and poems from the heart.
Read more book reviews by following the Book Reviews Category.
be a good writer: read.
~tara caribou
A FINAL NOTE ON REVIEWS: it may seem that I am harsh on many writers for their editing, formatting, grammar, punctuation, etc. I do so unapologetically. First, because this is a review not a popularity contest. Second, because honest criticism should help us grow as artists.
The fact of the matter is, these things MATTER. A mathematician must use his tools and use them correctly to be an effective mathematician. A surgeon cannot simply say, “I know I can’t sew the wound closed but at least I could remove the appendix or whatever that thing is called.” Same with writers. We can’t claim to be writers yet refuse to use proper spelling, grammar, and punctuation. We can’t claim to be a photographer just because we know how to push the button on the camera (or phone). There’s an art to it.
So while I may appreciate the artist as a person and their words, I believe that it does us all a disservice to claim that lower quality editing is okay, whether in word, deed, or omission of criticism. Instead: believe in yourself! Believe in the power of your words! Put the effort into being the very best you can be. Ask for help. Grow and learn.
Book Review – Elk by Jacob Russell Dring
Available at Lulu.
I read this book as a paperback. This is an unsolicited review.
The Review:
This book is one of Mr. Dring’s older books but that doesn’t take anything away from it. I love the storyline. The main character, named Elk, wakes up with amnesia in a stranger’s home and ends up on the run searching for who he really is. It ends up in a run-down city where the law is dirty and the townspeople know it. He becomes a bit of a self-made vigilante, executing anyone he crosses paths with who doesn’t hold a sacredness for human decency as he does (such as a pimp who pimps out his teenaged step-daughter or a would-be rapist caught in the act). The situations seem to come to him by providence and he unapologetically takes care of business.
Jacob Dring’s style, as I’ve come to expect, engages you immediately from the first line and holds you until after you’ve turned the final page. I loved this story. I liked and wanted to see the bad guys get their justice. For once, to see them NOT get away with it. I won’t give away the ending… but this book is worth every minute.
My Overall Score:
This book gets 4.75/5 stars from me, with the only losses coming from some misspellings/mistakes in the storyline (such as the character leaving behind a certain gun as the scene and then later having it and then later having a different gun again). There were 8-10 in the entire book, so not too many and it was only enough to lose 1/4-star. Other than that, a tight engaging story, awesome character, awesome justice, great cover and title.
Highly recommended to those who like fast-paced fiction with justice for all.
Read more book reviews by following the Book Reviews Category.
be a good writer: read.
~tara caribou
A FINAL NOTE ON REVIEWS: it may seem that I am harsh on many writers for their editing, formatting, grammar, punctuation, etc. I do so unapologetically. First, because this is a review not a popularity contest. Second, because honest criticism should help us grow as artists.
The fact of the matter is, these things MATTER. A mathematician must use his tools and use them correctly to be an effective mathematician. A surgeon cannot simply say, “I know I can’t sew the wound closed but at least I could remove the appendix or whatever that thing is called.” Same with writers. We can’t claim to be writers yet refuse to use proper spelling, grammar, and punctuation. We can’t claim to be a photographer just because we know how to push the button on the camera (or phone). There’s an art to it.
So while I may appreciate the artist as a person and their words, I believe that it does us all a disservice to claim that lower quality editing is okay, whether in word, deed, or omission of criticism. Instead: believe in yourself! Believe in the power of your words! Put the effort into being the very best you can be. Ask for help. Grow and learn.
“Tiny House, Big Mountain” a novel by Patrick Gillespie
Raw Earth Ink is proud to present Patrick Gillespie’s novel, Tiny House, Big Mountain.
From the back cover: With her ex-husband imprisoned for embezzlement, the pampered Virginia Fleetman relocates to an inherited mountainside property expecting to live in a newly-finished vacation home. Instead she finds a half-finished foundation with the builder Drew Tippet and her twelve-year-old daughter Cody living inside. Drew has been planning a new life too, but after the checks stopped coming, she is forced to make the basement a refuge.
When Virginia orders Drew and her daughter out, a cascade of life-altering events inextricably binds them together. Cody’s visions and premonitions, after nearly drowning, make her wonder if anyone, including her own mother, believes her. Drew, with a broken back and ankle–and a worsening dependence on pain medication–struggles to forgive herself. Above all, if they’re to have a home before winter, all three must work together to build a house atop the foundation.
Tiny House, Big Mountain is a coming-of-age novel set in the fictional town of Brookway, Vermont where magical realism is woven with betrayal, addiction, and recovery through the bonds of friendship, family, and community.
In paperback at: Lulu, Barnes & Noble, and Amazon.
As eBook at: Lulu, Nook, Kobo, or Kindle.
Leave a review on Goodreads.
©️2023 | Patrick Gillespie
Patrick Gillespie can be found on his website PoemShape.
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