iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Carrie Birde @carriebirde.bsky.social · 26/05/2026

I had a lovely conversation with Holly Gutwillinger about our shared love of Nature, writing, & creative expression. You can find it here: open.substack.com/pub/hollybri...

open.substack.com

Singing While You Work: How Wild Things Feed a Writer’s Soul

Episode Summary

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Carrie Birde @carriebirde.bsky.social · 13/04/2026

Epic… …Nahoko Uehashi’s 2022 “Kokun – The Girl from the West” (translated by Cathy Hirano) is an unexpected union of Japanese fiction and ecology. A powerful re-imagining of Japan’s past reworked against a fantastical backdrop, it nonetheless feels eerily familiar – a powerful dynastic (1 of 5)

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Carrie Birde @carriebirde.bsky.social · 17/03/2026

...Grace spends a lot of time wandering in the forest... maybe we all should... An excerpt from "A Small Tale of Uncommon Grace", written by me :) #fiction #fairytale #cozyfantasy #ya #nature #environment

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Carrie Birde @carriebirde.bsky.social · 16/03/2026

Leonora Carrington was primarily known for her surrealist paintings. Naturally, her writing embodies a similar feel & flair. Her novella, “The Stone Door” (written during the 1940’s but unpublished until 1976) reads like a hallucinatory dream -- knotted with meaning specific to the (1 of 3)

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Carrie Birde @carriebirde.bsky.social · 12/03/2026

Juelz the Horse has a small part in my novel, "A Small Tale of Uncommon Grace", but her wisdom is welcome ;) (I took the photo of "Rattlesnake Meadow" in Tourne County Park.) #fairytale #cozyfantasy #ya #animals #nature #VoicesOfTheBrightWood

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Carrie Birde @carriebirde.bsky.social · 12/03/2026

Nancy Mitford wrote her 1949 novel, “Love in a Cold Climate”, with a cool, appraising eye turned on 1930’s England’s ‘between wars’ societally privileged. We gain access to the Montdore family’s extravagance & narrow attitudes through Fanny who – despite her lack of status – (1 of 4)

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Carrie Birde @carriebirde.bsky.social · 18/02/2026

In his 2015 #memoir “The Penguin Lessons”, Tom Michell recalls his time at 23 years old, travelling & teaching in South America in 1975. Though most of the book takes place in Argentina during enormous political & economic upheaval, it was while visiting Uruguay that he encountered (1 of 4)

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Carrie Birde @carriebirde.bsky.social · 11/02/2026

I'm so grateful to James Walters for the opportunity to converse with him on his amazing podcast, "A Quiet Rebellion" -- his calm, his insight, his intuitive questions made for a warm, welcoming experience -- give a listen! www.ajoyfulrebellion.com/e/a-quiet-re... #creativity #writing #novel

ajoyfulrebellion.com

A Quiet Rebellion- Carrie Birde on Shame, Voice, and Uncommon Grace | A Joyful Rebellion

Episode Summary Some people rebel by getting louder. Carrie Birde rebelled by getting gentler. After years of writing in secret—carrying shame, creative fear, and a persistent who am I to do this?—Car...

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Carrie Birde @carriebirde.bsky.social · 05/02/2026

No matter how well read we are, there remain books that slip past us unnoticed. Despite reading all the 'little girl' & 'animal' books in my grammar school library, Betty Brock’s 1970 “No Flying in the House” is a fine example. A sweet tale of young Annabel Tippens (accompanied by her (1 of 4)

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Carrie Birde @carriebirde.bsky.social · 04/02/2026

"Notes" Song sparrows scrawling notes on January snow, trilling for spring's thaw. -- C.Birde, 1/26 #poetry #creativewriting #birds #snow

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Carrie Birde @carriebirde.bsky.social · 13/01/2026

Fabulist… … sensualist, sorceress of prose. Tanith Lee coaxes order from chaos & weaves not only worlds, but whole mythologies out of word & image & sheer, brilliant imagining. Her 1978 “Night’s Master – Tales from the Flat Earth: Book One” is a collection of short stories, connected (1 of 4)

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Carrie Birde @carriebirde.bsky.social · 08/01/2026

I'm still tiptoeing my way back to drawing, still chasing the relationships of line, this time, with a little fox mischief. These small works are a balance between creative need & physical restraints, which don't rouse much complaint from my hand's/arm's delicate tendons & ligaments. #sketch #fox

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Carrie Birde @carriebirde.bsky.social · 08/01/2026

Born in 1900 in the Austro-Hungarian Empire, Sandor Marai gained literary fame there in the 1930s. Though he survived WWII, Communist persecution that followed forced him to flee Hungary in 1948. His novel, “Embers” (written in 1941 and translated into English in 2001) is a taut meditation (1 of 3)

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Carrie Birde @carriebirde.bsky.social · 08/01/2026

"Receding" That white-laced edge where snow recedes from sallow grasses -- White-throated Sparrows. -- C.Birde, 1/26 (The temps reach unlikely Jan. warmth, & I distract myself from anxiety by watching the birds' activities...) #poetry #birds #compassion #create

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Carrie Birde @carriebirde.bsky.social · 23/12/2025

...I injured my arm (permanently) some years ago & am trying to find my way back into drawing. To limit anxiety, I sketch on scrap paper w/a mechanical pencil to de-emphasize outcome. Here, I followed a correspondence of line, how they meet & overlap to form the idea of "deer". #sketch #create

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American Bird Conservancy @abcbirds.bsky.social · 23/12/2025

Yesterday, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) released the latest round of sage grouse plans. Urge Congress to restore ESA protections for the Greater Sage-Grouse, maintain critical conservation funding & uphold a strong Endangered Species Act. Act now: act.abcbirds.org/a/take-actio...

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Carrie Birde @carriebirde.bsky.social · 23/12/2025

Sarah Arthur confesses admiration for C.S.Lewis & J.R.R.Tolkien, & her affection shines through the pages of her 2024 novel “Once a Queen”. Arthur has not only written a spell-binding story in which her young heroine, Eva, (1 of 3)

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Carrie Birde @carriebirde.bsky.social · 16/12/2025

Last Sunday, I read an excerpt of my book, "A Small Tale of Uncommon Grace," to an intimate gathering at The Sanctuary -- it was a warm & engaging evening of q&a and conversation. I'm grateful to those who braved the frigid night to join in! #debut #author #fairytale #cozyfantasy #ya #fiction

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Carrie Birde @carriebirde.bsky.social · 16/12/2025

Enchanting… When Robert MacFarlane learned the Oxford University Press had dropped scores of nature-themed words from its pages & replaced them with those more technologically themed, he did what we hope any motivated creative might (1 of 3)

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Carrie Birde @carriebirde.bsky.social · 09/12/2025

Poetical... When L.M.Montgomery began “Anne of Green Gables” in 1907, she later reflected that she “did not for a moment dream” the book would bring the fame & success she had dreamed of, & that this freedom from “writing up to any particular reputation or style” allowed the opening (1 of 3)

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Carrie Birde @carriebirde.bsky.social · 23/11/2025

Shirley Jackson enjoyed placing extreme personalities in extreme situations. Her 1958 #novella, “The Sundial”, uncomfortably settles three generations of the wealthy Halloran family – all at odds with one another – in a palatial home. Opening with a death (that may have been a (1 of 3)

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Carrie Birde @carriebirde.bsky.social · 19/11/2025

As I #write, I make small #thumbnail #sketches to remind myself where I've placed objects. An example below, for my newly published #fairytale "A Small Tale of Uncommon Grace" - Grace's home, with garden arch & brick path, clothesline & henhouse, even the distant bee skep. #fiction #ya #cozyfantasy

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Raven @ravenbranhard.bsky.social · 15/11/2025

zen begins a new podcast live from the basin #Caturday 😸😽

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Carrie Birde @carriebirde.bsky.social · 12/11/2025

Chilling… Stephen King cites Henry James’ 1898 gothic horror “The Turn of the Screw” as one of two “most important” ghost stories, for good reason. James wrote the novella while experiencing great personal loss. This is reflected in the melancholic atmosphere, as well as its main character’s –

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Carrie Birde @carriebirde.bsky.social · 06/11/2025

It's been a while! On Oct. 11, I had my #debut #novel's #book launch! What a wonderful, warm, welcoming experience -- I'm fortunate to have the support of exceptional friends & an amazing community. I hope "A Small Tale of Uncommon Grace" finds its way to those who will cherish it❣️

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Carrie Birde @carriebirde.bsky.social · 30/09/2025

Magnificent... Chloe Dalton’s 2024 “Raising Hare” captures all the nuanced delight & heartache that accompanies forming relationship with a wild creature. She writes with a poet’s heart & a scientist’s eye, illuminating the fraught results of humanity’s unconscious actions & effects on the natural

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Carrie Birde @carriebirde.bsky.social · 15/09/2025

I'm so happy to have "conversed" with the incomparable @tesscallahan.bsky.social in her Substack, "Writers at the Well" -- Tess is warm, welcoming, and asks deep, thought-provoking, soul-searching questions ❣️ Carrie Birde on Writing from the "Bright Wood" Within open.substack.com/pub/tesscall...

open.substack.com

Carrie Birde on Discovering the "Bright Wood" Within

How a friendship with a Catbird inspired a literary fairy tale

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William Shakespeare @shakespeare.lol · 29/08/2025

O thou monster Ignorance, how deformed dost thou look!

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Carrie Birde @carriebirde.bsky.social · 29/08/2025

Bunny-gram! Out on delivery, stretching to reach the door bell...! #rabbit #lovenature #photography

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Carrie Birde @carriebirde.bsky.social · 27/08/2025

Crepe myrtle's improbable pink frilled blooms clouding, drifting, dropping petaled confetti, heralding summer's encore. --C.Birde, 8/25 #poetry #crepemyrtle #inbloom #pink #lovenature #observation #photography

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Carrie Birde @carriebirde.bsky.social · 19/08/2025

Freed from a shape that no longer fit, & crooning all the louder for it. -- C.Birde, 8/25 ❤️ May we all shed what no longer fits us, & allow ourselves to grow & transform beyond restrictive notions ❤️ #poetry #cicada #exoskeleton #hope #photography #lovenature

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Carrie Birde @carriebirde.bsky.social · 19/08/2025

Heartwise Books, of Blydyn Square Books, is looking for submissions :)

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Carrie Birde @carriebirde.bsky.social · 14/08/2025

Sunlight, sweet-sliced, slipped between teeth & tongue, this magic fruit In June a promise made, fulfilled, consumed in August heat. -- C.Birde, 8/25 #poetry #peach #summer #august #truth #beauty #photography

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Carrie Birde @carriebirde.bsky.social · 31/07/2025

I held my breath while reading Alice Hoffman’s 2005 “The Foretelling”. A superb tale, told deftly, astonishingly, & almost entirely through exposition, of a girl born to an ancient nomadic clan of women, who slowly unravels the

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Carrie Birde @carriebirde.bsky.social · 23/07/2025

Overdue... In grammar school, I'd read every “animal-related” #book (#fiction & #non-) in our school library by 4th grade &, in 5th, moved on to my teacher’s treasured personal collection. Which makes it all the more puzzling that Kenneth Grahame’s 1966 “Wind in the Willows” never

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Carrie Birde @carriebirde.bsky.social · 16/07/2025

"Weave" I reweave the vining virgin's bower -- patiently, carefully -- uncurl tendrils twined 'round spirea, aster, peony, & re-route them -- gently, gently -- upward towards the light they seek. -C.Birde, 7/25 #write #poetry #truth #observation #photography #garden #virginsbowerclematis

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Carrie Birde @carriebirde.bsky.social · 09/07/2025

Riddle… Cool to the touch, this burning bush unkindled yet to autumn’s flame Framed in July’s lush greenery, casting fluid heat- crowned shade. -C.Birde, 7/25 #poetry #lovenature #truth #burningbush #observation #photography #boonton

A photo taken looking up through the interlocking branches of a green-leafed burning bush against a blue sky.

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Carrie Birde @carriebirde.bsky.social · 07/07/2025

#Monday #Music #Mood "And the men who hold high places Must be the ones to start To mold the new reality Closer to the heart..." "Closer to the Heart" by Rush, 1977's "A Farewell to Kings" #lyrics as #poetry #inspiration #progrock

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Carrie Birde @carriebirde.bsky.social · 02/07/2025

"Rabbit" pocket shrine for my sister; a blessing to "Move with creativity, intuition, & quick wit." Such a pleasure to #create! #foundobject #paper #craft #art #rabbit #blessing #reuse #reduce #recycle

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Carrie Birde @carriebirde.bsky.social · 02/07/2025

Clarissa Pinkola Estes urged #women to reconnect with their inner Wild Woman; C.G. Jung, our Shadow; & Lisa Marchiano, Lillith’s #feminine fire. In her 2024 #book, “The Vital Spark”, she explores how we may access our “outlaw energies”, sharing personal experience, themes

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Carrie Birde @carriebirde.bsky.social · 25/06/2025

Daylily -- thirsting, lips parted, jaws wide, quaffing sunlight by the gallon. -C.Birde, 6/25 #poetry #daylily #inbloom #now #observation #truth #photography

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Carrie Birde @carriebirde.bsky.social · 24/06/2025

The name #Achilles is so much a part of our cultural fabric, it’s practically a brand, associated with hubris, as well as the human body. But Madeline Miller , in her 2012 #novel “The Song of Achilles”, grants this larger-than-life #mythological figure humanity, complexity, and

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Breezie @breeze420.bsky.social · 23/06/2025

“We can easily forgive a child who is afraid of the dark; the real tragedy of life is when men are afraid of the light.” ― Plato

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Carrie Birde @carriebirde.bsky.social · 23/06/2025

Synopsis: Bc some have asked -- I consider my debut #novel to be a literary #fairytale that could snuggle up wwith the #YA & #CozyFantasy #genres. Its main themes are communication, community, & connection - to each other & our #environment - & it asks what our world

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Carrie Birde @carriebirde.bsky.social · 23/06/2025

Mina, remembering the recent taste of whipped cream, grows weary of our #sunday #morning conversation over coffee. #companion #canine #chihuahuamix disguised as a small #fey #creature

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Carrie Birde @carriebirde.bsky.social · 04/06/2025

Peony speech arrives perfumed in sunlight, A profusion of pink petticoats – raindrop bruised – bearing petal-tongued poems to peace, love, & beauty. -C.Birde, 6/25 #poetry #peony #inbloom #lovenature #truth #peace #beauty #photography

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Carrie Birde @carriebirde.bsky.social · 02/06/2025

MondayMusicMood... "Hear my song People don't you listen now? Sing along, You don't know what you're missing now, Any little song that you know, Everything that's small has to grow..." - "The Song Remains the Same" - Led Zeppelin's 1973 "Houses of the Holy" #lyrics #poetry #hardrock #bluesrock

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Carrie Birde @carriebirde.bsky.social · 30/05/2025

I'm elated to actually hold an ARC of my very first book -- "A Small Tale of Uncommon Grace". To feel it, see it, fan its pages! I'm so deeply grateful to Blydyn Square Books for seeing its potential & working with me toward this very personal goal. To be published this September!

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