cbrookinswriting

[cbrookinswriting]

Hide me within your walls

so I won’t be seen

stuff my mouth with

spare fabric

and bind me so I can’t

        move prove your Goddamn point.

Take away my sight

        carve out my eyes

        until all you can 

see is the space behind them

and replace them with glass shards

        that sparkle and pop and gleam

and never hear me scream.

Reach your hand down my throat

        and push the scraps down with it

        until you’ve clogged the cavity

        within my ribcage stage me

        stuffed in the front yard.

And when little girls walk

past make me your

warning

        (tell them that this is what they

        have to be and will never be andwillseeinthemirrorinthedark—)

your goal my soul not in sight

        while I rage against the dying

        of my own fucking light.

--Charlotte Brookins, "Carving the Madonna"

[cbrookinswriting]

[cbrookinswriting]

“A book is a dream that you hold in your hands.”

— Neil Gaiman

[cbrookinswriting]

You are a villain famous for “killing” heroes. In reality, heroes come to you to fake their deaths.

[cbrookinswriting]

“The very reason I write is so that I might not sleepwalk through my entire life.”

— Zadie Smith

[cbrookinswriting]

“Lock up your libraries if you like; but there is no gate, no lock, no bolt that you can set upon the freedom of my mind.”

— Virginia Woolf

[cbrookinswriting]

Just a reminder to anyone who will listen! There’s a huge cold front coming up in America right now and I want to remind everyone to NEVER use or rely on a gas stove to heat up your home. You will die. If your power goes out, the best thing you can do is cover your windows, or get to an area in your house with no windows, and bundle up to the best of your ability to conserve heat. I know generating heat with whatever you have sounds good in theory, but we lost a LOT of people to carbon monoxide poisoning in last years Texas Freeze because many relied on gas stoves and other propane heat sources. A lot of people went to bed and never woke up. Please be aware of the things you can’t see, like fumes from your generator, built up gas when starting a car in an enclosed space, and of course, the excess carbon monoxide that can be generated by leaving a gas stove on for too long.

[cbrookinswriting]

“Read, read, read. Read everything  —  trash, classics, good and bad, and see how they do it. Just like a carpenter who works as an apprentice and studies the master. Read! You’ll absorb it. Then write. If it’s good, you’ll find out. If it’s not, throw it out of the window.”

— William Faulkner

[cbrookinswriting]

some people think writers are so eloquent and good with words, but the reality is that we can sit there with our fingers on the keyboard going, “what’s the word for non-sunlight lighting? Like, fake lighting?” and for ten minutes, all our brain will supply is “unofficial”, and we know that’s not the right word, but it’s the only word we can come up with…until finally it’s like our face got smashed into a brick wall and we remember the word we want is “artificial”.

[cbrookinswriting]

I made this callout meme for me and me specifically

[cbrookinswriting]

Finally

You've successfully distilled an eye of a beholder.

The source of all beauty

[cbrookinswriting]

Me: I'd like to think I am a well-adjusted person in most ways.

Also me: *sobbing uncontrollably over the fact that I can never fully appreciate Old English literature in its original form and instead must live through fragmented translations in Modern English*

[cbrookinswriting]

You are simply an incredibly friendly individual and the many creatures you serve will defend you, your restaurant, and your honor without question.

You are the owner of a very well received restaurant that caters to the… not quite human variety. You serve the vampire lords, and wolf pack leaders, zombie kings, and all sorts of supernatural guests, but one customer is causing you a lot of trouble. It is time to show why you are the owner

[cbrookinswriting]

[cbrookinswriting]

A piece of flash fiction I wrote published in UIowa's "New Moon Magazine" last November

Check out the full issue here! https://drive.google.com/file/d/1viUI-_tUbD9et-kolR62Q-6oZuzOjszR/view

[cbrookinswriting]

Hi there!

Welcome to my blog! As the title suggests, this is me doing my best, so feel free to observe and interact as I work my hardest to do something with my writing. My name is Charlotte, and I write all types of genres, including but not limited to, poetry, suspense, romance, fantasy, thriller, etcetera. Keep scrolling to check out some of my published work and keep an eye out for ramblings that I will post from time to time!

[cbrookinswriting]

Reminder: the staff at Harper Collins are on strike for better wages. They are literally out there in these icy cold streets trying to make sure they can do their jobs, and give you books, without starving. Here’s their linktree; help them out, if you can?