A Collection of Tiny Stories: Diminutive Tales from the Tip of My Imagination
CK Sobey
Inner Harvesting (2022)
ISBN 9781737506133
CK (Kas) Sobey continues to live a life of curiosity. She considers herself to be a seeker, an explorer. Her many ventures in life attest to this. In her earlier years, she studied singing and theater. Kas is a trained mediator and worked in the San Diego dispute resolution department. She also worked in the corporate world for almost thirty years. As a once active spiritual practitioner, she later became a certified hypnotherapist, bringing a deeper understanding of the inner, subconscious mind to others. She has facilitated groups in a variety of subjects and a practice called SoulCollage® for years.
Kas has since retired from her businesses to spend more time reimagining her life. She enjoys cooking, walking, dancing, photography, and exploring new ideas. Bubble baths with a mixture of music are her ways of unwinding at the end of a day.
For the past twenty years, Kas has lived in the Valley Forge area of Pennsylvania, doing her best to listen to what is calling her. You can often find her on fresh paths and retracing some older ones with a different lens of perspective.
When CK (Kas) is not writing or in her studio creating something that has caught her attention, we can find her in her kitchen cooking and savoring a dish with a blend of aromas wafting about or somewhere on one of her trails, waving.
She published her third book; A Collection of Tiny Stories, Diminutive Tales from the Tip of My Imagination in June 2022. CK is also the author of a book of poetic prose and photography, Musings, Woolgathering, & Ghosts, which is also on Amazon Audible, B&N Audiobooks and several other audio outlets. Her first book is a young children’s book entitled Henry the Turtle. CK is currently working on two new books.
Hi CK, welcome to Reader Views! What is A Collection of Tiny Stories about?
It is a variety of short tales. The book is divided into three sections:
Inspiring Odysseys, which is a combination of tales that were written from something I read or experienced in my life, which in time blossomed and a story was created.
The second section is From the Heart. Touching scenarios, as the title of the section suggests, heart-felt, moving tales.
The last part is Fanciful. Humor and suffering from the rim of my imagination. Another kind of perspective. For instance, a story about a woman who works in the ICU and has superpowers (Superpowers). A story about a woman who finds a teddy bear in a forest while walking (The Wild Woman and the Teddy Bear). Night Shift about men who work the docks.
What inspired you to sit down and write this book?
My mom used to spin delightful stories, all original to me when I was very young. She was a dancer, and above the bed hung bunches of her fluffy petticoats in different colors. It was like my personal cloud. I suppose I am a storyteller at heart because of her.
Why short stories?
It seems to be the way I write. Impact can come from something tiny and meaningful. I love reading short stories. I love getting involved in long novels, but there is a certain power that moves me when I read the shorter story. Also, in a busy life, just as an alternative to a bigger book is a nice balance for me.
I always hope that I inspire others with something they read from one of my stories before turning out the lights or rolling out of bed to “seize the day!”
How long did it take you to write A Collection of Tiny Stories?
It’s usually takes a year from the conception of the idea. It becomes an idea and forms into more of a focused intention. This can take quite a while and then parts come together in what seems moments. The hopes are that they all blend together. My muses are very helpful throughout the process!
Writing is not your only creative outlet. The drawings and photos throughout A Collection of Tiny Stories are amazing! How long have you been creating art?
Art is a process that comes in different ways for me. I don’t call myself an artist, but I love the art of photography, the art of writing. I’ve been into art since I first saw colored crayons on paper. That little girl is still experimenting with what makes me feel good when I create doodles, collage, photography, cook a roast, or a begin a book.
Tell us about the different mediums you used in the book and how they relate to your different stories?
In Tiny Stories, I used collage and doodles, no photography as in my previous book. I learned to be careful with images I choose. Copyright laws are real. I honor all the people I chose for my artwork. All from copyright free sites.
I fused and edited several images together for the most part. I had a clear idea in mind of what I wanted the image to look like at the finish. Creating the ultimate image took time. The images alone tell their own story.
As for my doodles, I trusted and allowed my vulnerability to show others what my scribbles and tinkering were like. I wanted to share what we can create in moments.
Creativity comes in so many ways. We all can get stuck in over- thinking what we are capable of. If we are not a professional artist/painter or writer, we tell ourselves we aren’t good enough. This is wrong thinking.
Do you have a favorite story from your collection? Which one is it and why?
Not really. I don’t have too many favorite anythings. I love cooking, colors, eating, plants, animals, books. The list goes on and on. It is something I cannot limit to one thing. There is so much to appreciate, and moods often dictate what it is I currently like. The story of The Man and Wife is one of my favorites.
What was one of the most surprising things you learned in creating your book?
To honor all the other writers and people that put “It” out there and do the work. That success means many things to many people. For me, it is about feeling the satisfaction of accomplishing something I didn’t know I could do. Little steps. I know I’m learning all the time.
What is one thing you wish you knew when you started out?
If I knew how much I didn’t know before beginning, I might’ve become frozen with doubt.
What do you like to read and which authors have inspired your own work as a writer?
Oh, so many….Mary Oliver, Jojo Moyes, Kristin Hannah, Nora Roberts, O’Henry, Elizabeth Gilbert, D.H.Lawrence. So many more……Barbara Wood, Abigail Thomas, Rumi.
What do you enjoy most about the creative process? And the least?
This question took me time to think about. I love it from the idea birthing, and going forward with a purpose, picking up steam, then becoming an intention that drives the desire to complete. Synchronicity, all the surrounding prompts around us that inspire. Feeling myself in the “zone.”
The least: There is so much talent out there that stays in the darkness because of this idea of what success is. Not everyone can be a best seller or at the “least,” even noticed on a grand scale. One person who notices something we wrote or painted etc., can make all the difference in a life.
You have another book of short stories and a children’s story! Can you tell us a bit about those books?
Henry the Turtle was my first foray into producing a book. I created a particular collage card. Looking at it, waiting for it to speak to me (part of the process), I felt a story bubbling up, and I jotted it down. What came forth was a delightful children’s story. I hadn’t planned on this. That’s the joy of creativity.
My second book; Musings, Woolgathering, & Ghosts came to me years laterduring the first intense two years of COVID, and major walks I would take to stay sane in my solitude. It was also a time of a major shift in my life. I retired from my professional businesses to become a serious writer. This was an enormous step in my life! Taking photographs during my COVID walks became part of this journey and the book. That is a story in itself.
What do you like to do outside of the creative process? What are some of your other passions?
I love to cook. I read a new recipe and cook it another way. Listening to a dancing music playlist, moving my body is an added pleasure.
I enjoy talking with people I may not see any longer due to distance. I am more of a global person. So, my relationships are unique. I still maintain interests in health, wellness, and the sciences of healing.
Watching birds and sitting in places to just be a witness. Also, quiet times to speak with Spirit, pray/meditate, listen.
So, what’s next? Are there more stories in your future?
Yes, always something cooking. Ideas for two books have come to me. One is developing into a type of memoir. Observations of my past that pop up while cooking and “stirring the pot.” It is still in the formative stages.
I feel a strong desire to write a longer book, a novelette. A mystery about a beekeeper and time sweeps with a central character. I would love that. One step at a time.
How can readers connect with you?
I would delight in hearing from others! I invite anyone that would like to know more about me to visit my website: INNERHARVESTING.COM. Please take a look around and fill in the Contact page. The page also has my mobile and email. Texts, emails, are always appreciated.
What is the best piece of advice you’ve ever received, as a writer, or regarding life in general?
Believe in yourself! Go for it and tell your Inner Judge to get out of the front seat and sit in the back. Get her/him out from steering your life! Release those old messages that hold you back.
What advice can you give to aspiring authors?
After you have written your piece, look at it with fresh eyes. Read it out loud, listen. Change the font, edit, edit, edit and then find a professional editor that is right for your genre and you.
Is there anything else you’d like to add?
I will mention that from Halloween 2022 to January 3, 2023, I plan on selling my books in bundles. In any combination, for a discounted price. We will wrap the bundles with a colorful bow and signed with any words you ask of me. Shipping within the USA is included.
I will send out emails to my contacts to remind everyone. I will also list on this on my website, Facebook, Instagram, besides word of mouth. The assortment of books can make a lovely, affordable gift(s) for the holidays.
Kas, thank you so much for being here with us today at Reader Views! It’s been a pleasure learning more about you and your work!
What an honor this has been. Thank you very much!
CONNECT WITH CK (Kas) SOBEY!
Website: https://innerharvesting.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/InnerHarvestKS
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/innerharvesting/
Amazon Author Page: https://www.amazon.com/C.K.-Sobey/e/B08174ZZKG
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/13836875.CK_Sobey
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