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Catherine Matthews

Women's Fiction Author

Tag: Nature

Making Memories Under the Big Sky

Icicle River Leavenworth Washington

The summer before 5th grade, my father took me on a week-long backpacking trip in Glacier National Park. We planned the trip over the spring on our every-other-weekend visits.  My dad pinned a map to the wall in the living room of his one-bedroom apartment. Back then, the map shifted from grey to a deep… Read More Making Memories Under the Big Sky

September 22, 2018January 20, 2019 Catherine Matthews2 Comments

Do It For A Friend

Alaska wilderness

As I was driving home from work tonight, Corey Hart’s Never Surrender came on. You probably will only know this song if you were embroiled in teenage angst or young adult drama in the mid-1980s. It was the theme song for that.   I remember it because I recorded it on cassette tape and sent it… Read More Do It For A Friend

February 16, 2018January 4, 2019 Catherine Matthews19 Comments

There’s Something About Sticking with It

Young Eagle Skagit Washington

I am going to preface this post with “No children were harmed in the making of the story” (well not permanently anyway).  If you were a child of the 1970s or before, you will appreciate this story. If you are a Gen Xer or a Millennial, there is a chance you might be horrified- at… Read More There’s Something About Sticking with It

January 26, 2018January 2, 2021 Catherine Matthews6 Comments

Don’t Miss the Joy in Grief

Eagle soaring over the Skagit River

I was sitting at Finaghty’s Irish Pub the night before we were to celebrate the life of my father. I was with my husband and daughter and surrounded by my sisters, most of their families and my stepmom. Family had been arriving from out of town and were still trickling in.  We are not a… Read More Don’t Miss the Joy in Grief

January 20, 2018January 4, 2019 Catherine Matthews10 Comments

Seeing the River for the Rocks

Skagit River with boulders and trees

I think people fall into one of two categories naturally. Oh sure, people can change. People can even change back and forth. But we all have a fall back type we are most comfortable with. I think people are either hunters or gatherers. I’m not talking about actually hunting (although I am not opposed if… Read More Seeing the River for the Rocks

December 20, 2017January 4, 2019 Catherine Matthews2 Comments

It Really is the Thought That Counts

Birch Trees on the Skagit River Washington

When I was a little girl, my father gave me a copy of Marguerite Henry’s All About Horses.  He worked for a publishing company and loved books so it wasn’t unusual for me to get one for my birthday or Christmas.  I loved this book. In fact, it is sitting on my own daughter’s bookshelf… Read More It Really is the Thought That Counts

November 25, 2017January 4, 2019 Catherine Matthews13 Comments

The Eye of the Beholder

field covered in frost

When I was a kid, my dad gave me Masterpiece for my birthday.  It was a board game in the mid 1970’s much like Monopoly except that players bought and sold artwork in an auction.  I don’t remember playing the game even one time.  But I remember the game.  I remember the cards.  Each had… Read More The Eye of the Beholder

November 8, 2017January 4, 2019 Catherine Matthews3 Comments

A Different Light

Field recently plowed in Skagit County Washington

Last Sunday morning at 0530, I found myself next to an empty field on the outskirts of Concrete, Washington.  No, I was not deposited there after an alien abduction.  Also I am too old to pull an all-nighter (debauchery-filled or otherwise) so I was not in the clothes I wore the day before, if you… Read More A Different Light

November 2, 2017January 4, 2019 Catherine Matthews3 Comments

Picture Meaningful

oars on the water

I like really old stuff. I have so much antique glassware my husband recently told me he thought we might have to fortify the foundation of our house. Hyperbole not withstanding, I have a lot. I like drinking out of glasses my grandparents drank out of. I like eating off of plates that were used… Read More Picture Meaningful

October 30, 2017January 4, 2019 Catherine Matthews3 Comments

Confessions of a Closet Artist

Rusting Crane on the Snohomish River

Confession time. I was a science major. There, I said it. It’s out.  What a relief!  Does that mean I am not also an artist?  Well frankly, I sure thought so.  In fact, I could make you a chart quantifying my non-artistic characteristics. (My friends are shaking their collective heads right now both in exasperation… Read More Confessions of a Closet Artist

October 28, 2017January 4, 2019 Catherine Matthews8 Comments

Seeing in Silence

Great Blue Heron in black and white walking in water

I am a morning person.  I love the stillness of the morning.  I love the way the groggy silence envelops me. Everything slows down.  Without the noise that fills every other space in the rest of my day, I can see so much more clearly. I can hear my own voice so much more loudly.… Read More Seeing in Silence

October 26, 2017January 4, 2019 Catherine MatthewsLeave a comment

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© Catherine Matthews and Catherine Matthews Images, 2017-2022. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this site’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Catherine Matthews and catherinematthewsimages.com with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.


Catherine Matthews is an educator and author living north of Seattle with her husband and two boxers, Delta the Destroyer and Buttercup the Bored. She is currently querying her debut novel, Becoming Benny. Her essay, Deeper Than Social Connections, is featured in the eBook and audiobook editions of the anthology Alone Together: Love, Grief, and Comfort in the Time of COVID-19 (Jennifer Haupt, Ed.), winner of the 2021 Washington State Book Award for general nonfiction.

After a lifetime of academic writing, Catherine discovered her passion for creative writing when she dove into writing her blog, Life Through My Lens. In contrast to her doctoral dissertation, which should not be read while operating heavy machinery, her stories will make you laugh and cry as she recollects the follies of her youth, and her adventures in parenting, teaching, and leading schools.

A learner at heart, she is an active member of the Women’s Fiction Writers Association and regularly hones her craft through writing courses at Hugo House. She is up before dawn to start her day with her two favorite things: riding her bike and working on her latest novel.

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Delta is snuggling Buttercup who’s struggling with all the boom booms.
Taking me social media manager out for coffee this morning 💗

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