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Kathryn Mattingly

~ edgy words unleashed

Kathryn Mattingly

Tag Archives: fiction

Word Slayers

17 Thursday Apr 2014

Posted by Kathryn Mattingly in Blog Post

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

college class, creative writing, famous authors, fiction, journalism, nonfiction, poetry, U of P, word slayers

woman in print

Well folks I haven’t written a blog in a month. I’ve been busy teaching Creative Writing at U of P and that involves assembling lectures, developing activities, grading papers, and going mad.

Interestingly enough I think poetry was the biggest hit and that was the one unit I had to research. Although I’ve dabbled in it, to read and to write, I’ve never really studied it.

Don’t get me wrong. The short stories they wrote amazed even them and the personal essays were like free therapy and a new lease on their confused souls.

All in all I’d say none were disappointed in the elective they chose. And I say elective as an electrifying word because in a way it is. It means they had options. They didn’t have to take Creative Writing ENG340 like they have to take Basic Essay Writing ENG125 or College Math MTH120 (choke, gasp).

They chose to learn more about writing creatively and to study those masters who came before them and did exactly that – write creatively, and for all the ages no less…. Poe, Frost, Emerson, Dickenson and a slew of other noteworthy word slayers.

I relish how they reacted to learning about and hearing the work of famous poets, novelists and journalists. It was scary good fun watching them take risks with their own word choices and then share it with their classmates.

There is nowhere to run, nowhere to hide in my class. You just have to spill your guts all over the page and then all over your peers as you stand before them and share your work, with nothing to hold you up but the laptop in your hands.

Every one of them is better off for it. They feel more bonded with their own skin and the skin of all their classroom colleagues. They somehow were emancipated from all those locked up secrets and scathing self doubts. Suddenly empowered to speak their peace and therefore find it in their lives.

Most importantly, they now know a little something about all those old, and newly renowned names that never meant anything before because they slept through high school English. And they are now fearless about choosing a weapon of choice whether pen, laptop, or lead to punctuate and titillate using only imagination and an army of figurative language.

Personally I haven’t worked this hard mentally, emotionally, or even physically (pacing during the entirety of each 4 hour class while I stressed over every deliverable of my well-planned and fine-tuned agenda) since the last time I, well, taught college – almost 3 years ago at International Academy.

What will I do differently next time? Almost nothing. A tweak here and there. But for the most part I just wish I could relive every single minute.

And I will.

Next term. (:

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Fractured Hearts is coming soon…

03 Friday Jan 2014

Posted by Kathryn Mattingly in Blog Post

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

award winning author, Dark Discovery Magazine, Elizabeth Engstrom, Face in a Book bookstore, fiction, Fractured Hearts, Jon Reitan, Kathryn Mattingly, new release, short story collection, Tina Ferguson, Winter Goose Publishing, Writers Digest Magazine

Fractured-Hearts

Winter Goose Publishing would like to announce the upcoming release of Fractured Hearts, a collection of short fiction by Award Winning Author Kathryn Mattingly.

“Not for the faint of heart, these timeless tales deal with every type of love that drive us to do what we do—for better or for worse. Whether whimsical ghosts in love with art or cats transformed by the full moon, you’ll wonder if even the most unbelievable is somehow true. From a gypsy child in Rome to a widow in Aruba, the stories transport you to faraway places.” ~Winter Goose Publishing

Kathryn will be at Face In A Book in EDH Town Center Saturday February 8th from 4-6pm signing copies of Fractured Hearts, which includes 5 pieces recognized for excellence as outstanding literature.

Her love stories are guaranteed to pierce the heart and move the soul, and would make a perfect Valentine’s Day gift for the avid reader in your life or a unique offering for someone you’d like to impress romantically.

Stop by to browse the exceptional bookstore Tina Ferguson manages through her love and passion for reading, whilst nibbling chocolate, regardless of whether you indulge in purchasing Kathryn’s witty, whimsical, and wisdom-ridden words as told in the tales of this original volume.

Kathryn would like to give a special thanks and recognition to her good friend Dr. Virginia Simpson and daughter Sasha Mattingly for helping edit this collection to shine in its Sunday best, and to her long time friend Ladd Woodland, who created the cover art for Fractured Hearts.

Here is what other authors, publishers, editors, and professional reviewers are saying about the pieces in this collection:

From the Editor of Writer’s Digest in reference to award winning short story Cheating Paradise: “This year’s contest attracted close to 18,000 entries. Kathryn Mattingly’s success in the face of such formidable competition speaks highly of her writing talent and should be a source of great pride.”

From Best Selling Author Elizabeth Engstrom in reference to Kathryn’s body of work: “Kathryn Mattingly’s fiction has always shown great depth of character and emotion, with simple, yet clever plots. Her characters live and breathe in my mind for a long time after reading about them. I hope she keeps writing short stories and novels forever.”

From James A. Beach, Editor in Chief of Dark Discoveries Magazine in reference to several stories from the collection: “Kathryn Mattingly’s story Half Moon Cay is wonderful, and very moving. Her stories make me feel as if I am there. Skyward from the reading at Powell’s bookstore and Light of the Moon from Ghost Writers weekend are two such stories.  Kathryn’s writing is very powerful.”

From Eldon Thompson, Author of the Fantasy Trilogy Series Legend of Asahiel in reference to Kathryn’s body of work: “Kathryn Mattingly weaves sensory magic with her words. Whether writing about vengeful ghosts, forbidden love, or motherly sacrifice, her elegant prose offers seamless transport into the lives and hearts of her characters. Once swept away, you may not want to come back.”

From Jonathan Reitan’s book review in Dark Discoveries Magazine regarding the story Morney, which has been reprinted in Fractured Hearts: “Kathryn Mattingly’s Morney in the anthology Ghosts at the Coast stands out as being superb and highly original. It is a spooky tale about a mysterious gypsy girl in Rome.”

From Tracy Saville, CEO of Possibility Publishing and Editor in Chief of The Possibility Place in reference to Kathryn’s body of work: “Kathryn Mattingly’s writing has an elevated literary aesthetic ‐ a kind of obvious writerly quality that critics point to as gold standard.”

For a sneak preview of the stories within this collection, visit the Edgy Fiction page http://penpublishpromote.com/short-fiction/ of Kathryn’s website penpublishpromote where a few pieces from Fractured Hearts have been displayed, or peruse her WGP author page at: http://wintergoosepublishing.com/authors/kathryn-mattingly/

Face In A Book is located at: 4359 Town Center Blvd, El Dorado Hills, CA 95762

Visit Amazon’s Kathryn Mattingly Page

Visit Kathryn Mattingly at goodreads

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Sarah’s Key by Tatiana de Rosnay

11 Wednesday Sep 2013

Posted by Kathryn Mattingly in Blog Post

≈ 3 Comments

Tags

book report, characters, fiction, France, French police, Jews, literary, plot, review, Sarah's Key, Tatiana de Rosnay, theme, WW2

Are you looking for a good book to read? I suggest Sarah’s Key. It’s about a little girl who locks her brother in a cupboard, one where they liked to play because it was hidden in their home… like a secret.

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She locked him away in the depths of their house with a large heavy key. Similar to what you might see on a round metal ring. These old fashioned keys are history now, history like the secrets some of those keys locked up back then. Ugly little secrets… the kind you want to forget but seem to haunt you relentlessly – and maybe they should.

It takes you back- the long heavy key, back to when doors were cumbersome, solid wood – back to when everything was clumsily weighted, and a bit on the slower side- like communication. People often got the news late. It wasn’t like you could be updated every minute on twitter. Details were often missing. Rather than too many opinions and interpretations or too many facts and commentaries, there were obviously not enough. For had there been enough, surely history would read a little differently, would indeed have happened a little differently. One could hope A LOT differently.

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In our past world events were once looming heavy but learning about them – hearing the details, actually understanding what was going on, well, that was like the hidden cupboard. A place where the wall panels were so perfectly aligned you could never discover what was behind them without someone specifically showing you.

World events were a little like a secret.

How can that be, you say? More to the point, how could everyone let those world events happen if they weren’t more of a secret that not? Let’s use the Holocaust for example. That’s the subject in Sarah’s Key – half of it at least – the half that isn’t about her own personal family and family struggles. But whichever half you are reading it IS about difficult everyday human decisions that affect, well, lots of people’s lives. Affect them in a close up, intensely personal way, rather than a distant whole world away kind of way.

During WW2, Jews were rounded up in France and shipped off on cattle cars to their death, while neighbors peaked curiously from behind window blinds, wondering, perhaps some of them worrying, but not knowing. Not knowing their Jewish neighbors were being sent to their death, or why. It was like a secret.

A very bad secret!

The Jews in France were, obviously, French Jews. They were rounded up by the French police (of course) or does that really make sense? Would one expect the French to gather their own French people for another country’s insane beliefs? To this day France is not sure why French police were rounding up French Jews for Hitler. What they are sure of is that it never should have happened. It is a permanent blemish on their country’s conscience.

As well it should be.

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And that’s just part of what Sarah’s Key is about. As for Sarah and her family, and concerning the little boy in the cupboard, I suggest you carve out a couple days to hide away somewhere – locked up with a large metal key… and read!

If you have read Sarah’s Key, what did YOU think? I would love to hear from you.

Kathryn is the author of Benjamin, available at all major booksellers.

Click here to Visit Amazon’s Kathryn Mattingly Page

Click on this link to read ‘Literary Fiction Lovers, Meet Kathryn Mattingly’ Feature Article by Lori Anderson at The Possibility Place

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