Caroline Allen

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I was a journalist in newsrooms in Tokyo and London when a sudden call to find myself and my purpose sent me back home to the States. I settled in Seattle and started writing short stories. A mentor helped me see the stories fit together as a book, and that night, in the middle of the night, I awoke with the idea for a series of books. Even the titles came to me in that sudden epiphany, Earth, Air, Fire, Water, Ether. One protagonist coming of age over five books traveling the world amidst global climate change. Today, Earth, Air, and Fire are published (Fire was just published this month, March 2018). In writing the books I found myself more deeply, and became a book coach (artofstorytellingonline.com), and a visual artist. I now live on 80 acres in Oregon, and have a yurt art studio/writing space in the woods.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
Fire is the third book in the Elemental Journey series, and was just published this month (March 2018), in print version, with pre-orders available for the ebook. Like my protagonist, I spent a year traveling through S.E. Asia and working as a travel writer, and I ended up settling in London with my then boyfriend. Fire is fiction, but was inspired by real-life adventures. Hiking in the Himalayas, snorkeling in the Philippines, a came trek through the Thar Desert in India — it was an adventure that would change my life forever. While in the Himalayas, I felt a “call” to find my purpose. It was strong and spiritual. Like my protagonist, I would have to make a decision. Would I have to give up everything and everyone I loved to find myself?

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I have a yurt writing space in the woods that is also an art studio. It’s not heated in winter, so you can often find me down there in long johns, sweats, sweaters, down coat, hat, and fingerless gloves sitting at my desk writing my novels! Once I looked up and out the clear plastic window into the eyes of a mountain lion. I could not move. She was stunning. Poised. Primal. Glorious. She imprinted on me and I dreamt about being her for days afterwards. My writing was HOT that week. 🙂

What authors, or books have influenced you?
As a book coach, I have worked with hundreds of writers worldwide, from Spokane to Shanghai, and I am utterly fascinated by the creative process. What emotions are at play with writers? What creativity are they tapping into? Why do they get stuck? What is their authentic voice? I would say that my greatest influence are my clients. We work very dynamically together, and I’m influenced by their courage, their struggles, and the power that happens when they tap into their truth.

What are you working on now?
Water is the fourth novel in the Elemental Journey series. I am bundled in the yurt most days developing the characters and the story. Water is about our protagonist healing in the Pacific Northwest. There will be lost of rain. And flooding. (My novels also bring in climate change into the setting.) Carl Jung believes that rising water represents the unconscious coming into the conscious and I’m going to play with that concept. Not only must Pearl, my protagonist, heal wounds from her childhood, she will have to find out who she really is. As one who has been there, that’s not an easy process.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
My website is carolineallen.com. But, the best promotion I have is through Kenya Moore at The Book Nymph PR, https://thebooknymphpr.com. Hiring her was the best decision I ever made. I run a super busy business, I do visual art, and I write novels, and all of this leaves little time to promote my books. And I just do not have a marketing brain. I hired Kenya just three months ago, and it’s not just about Kenya doing the promoting. She’s inspired me to step up and join the promotion fray. What has happened in the process is that I’m more fully owning the process of getting my voice into the world. And that is powerful. I don’t much much extra money, and I know if there are other indie authors reading this that finances are a common issue, but it’s been worth the investment. Why spend so many years writing if you’re not also going to invest in getting people to read your work?

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Rough means rough! For the rough draft, quit worrying the details. Get the story out of your head and onto the page. Go fast. Go hard. And watch your writing improve. To become a better visual artist, I decided in 2014 and again in 2016 to do a “painting a day for a year”. I did one 9×12 watercolor every, single, day for 365 days! I was running a business. I was writing and publishing novels. Often I only had 20 minutes. What happened? I had to go fast. I couldn’t think about it, I just had to do it. By the end, I’d become a much better artist, and now magazines and galleries contact me when they see my art! The same is true for writing. You’re going fast and sloppy and full on to get behind all of those critical voices in your head to your real voice, and your real truth!

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
Commitment to your creative work is easy when you’re succeeding, when you’re winning book contracts, and awards, and making money — when people love you. As artists, we must commit even when it’s not easy, even when we’re not getting book contracts or winning awards. We’re being called again and again to recommit to our path as voices that can inspire and change the world.

What are you reading now?
Bombarded with reading client books: One Soul, Two Lives, a historical and modern novel that follows one life over two lifetimes, being written by a client who is a Denver attorney. The Railroad, a historical novel about the BriBri, indigenous people who live in Costa Rica, and were displaced by the railroad, written by a woman of Jamaican descent living in Singapore. The Lavois Brothers, a memoir of an HIV positive gay man, a bike race, and his estranged brother, written by a California man who lives in Guatemala. Most of my clients are expats, people who do not live in their home countries. This is because I love how displacement draws up a person’s original voice.

What’s next for you as a writer?
As a book coach, I have so many books to write. I have two decades of knowledge in teaching thousands of writing students on both coasts, and coaching hundreds more new writers around the globe. Some ideas for books I have — The Four Pillars of Writing a Book, from setting up your creative life, to writing the book, to editing to publication and promotion. The Expat Novel, how to write a novel when English is your second or third language. I’m also fantasizing right now about Ether, the final book in the Elemental Journey series. The theme is “giving back” to the community. I may make it into a fairytale set deep in a hut in the woods!

If you were going to be stranded on a desert island and allowed to take 3 or 4 books with you what books would you bring?
Eastern Body, Western Mind by Anodea Judith
Mary Oliver poetry
The Art Museum, a Phaidon massive book of great art
The Odyssey by Homer

Author Websites and Profiles
Caroline Allen Website
Caroline Allen Amazon Profile

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