I know you are anxious to get your hands on a copy of my second collection of stories. On February 21st 2024, DarkWinter Press released The Roach Family and Other Stories into the world. Learn more about the book here. So exciting!
Go here to order your copy, click on the book cover, or drop by your independent bookstore to order the collection. Happy reading.
Porcupine’s Quill published my story collection
Took You So Long August 2022.
Did you know?
I have worked as a chambermaid, potato peeler, data entry operator, teacher, parenting instructor, vice-principal of special education programs, and instructor (Queen’s U.) of online additional qualifications courses for teachers. Now, I devote myself fully to writing and painting in my studio-office in the Municipality of Brockton, Bruce County, Ontario, Canada.
My fiction and non-fiction writing have appeared or are forthcoming in literary journals / anthologies throughout the world.
Learn more about my book by clicking on the cover:
The book’s elevator pitch:
The contemporary literary stories in C. I. Matthews’s collection offer true-to-life, easily ignored characters charting paths from places of peril or sorrow into the unknown neglected landscape of non-urban Ontario. Often out of sight and certainly out of mind, the characters wrestle with the often unanswerable: who am I and how do I become unstuck? With uncanny insight into ultra-modern relationships, Matthews creates authentic yet flawed characters: an Amish woman in a psych ward; a washed-up clothing designer who cohabits with three ex-lovers; an infatuation that results in a girl becoming a voyeur; a woman who discovers her best friend is actually a fraud; a pregnant teen who uses her developmentally challenged brother as her confidante. Compassionate and honest, propelled by forceful emotion, these twenty-one highly nuanced stories will transport you.
The book’s trailer: (videography by Jenni Welsh)
Here are some reviews of my book:
Write about what you don’t know about what you know. ”
―My painting style is abstract:
I’ve been making art since I could hold a pencil. Often, while my parents were occupied with responsibilities on the farm, I would wonder the woods and collect natural objects such as twigs, leaves, and fungi. I would bring the treasures home and spend hours sketching the found objects using a self-taught realistic approach.
Now, many years later, I’m drawn to art that pushes boundaries. Art that’s too safe & repetitive feels boring. I work with acrylic, alcohol inks, mixed media (wax, paint, found objects, glue), and watercolour.
My work is or has been in stores and public venues in three Ontario counties: Bruce, Grey, and Huron.
Big thanks to my supporters! You know who you are.
In 2020, ‘Helping Hands’ (a digitally manipulated mixed media piece) was selected by the City of Waterloo to hang as a banner in the Waterloo Park Art Promenade.
“A good snapshot keeps a moment from running away.”
― E. Welty
For art commmissions, kindly reach out through the Contact Form.