An Interview With Cendrine Marrouat

I would like to start with saying how very happy I am to be doing this interview with Cendrine. I saw her post with her website which is stellar by the way, and I thought, I'd like to know this woman a little more. Though Cendrine has been on Vocal a couple months she has an impressive 35+ books published and is also an accomplished photographer. I am always curious about people who have multiple artistic interests so let's start there. May I introduce to you the multi talented and sensational Cendrine Marrouat.

INTERVIEW:

1) You obviously consider writing an art form, which mode do you prefer, photography or writing?

To me, everything that involves the creative process is art.

I don’t have a preference. Photography inspires my writing, and writing inspires my photography.

2). Would you say that the visual imagery of photography is poetic itself, retaining symbolism. Is subject matter therefore most important or are things like lighting and tone?

Good photography is not just about hitting the shutter button. You need to have a good eye and understand the importance of composition and light. And there is also simplicity, which can help tell interesting stories! That’s why I love the play between light and shadows! For examples of what I’m talking about, check out this link:

https://www.cendrinemedia.com/Photography/Light-shadows/

I often compare photography to haiku. To take impactful images, you must show more than you tell. The viewer will have to "read between the lines” to be able to experience emotions—even if they aren’t the ones your were trying to convey.

So, to answer your question, I believe that everything matters equally.

3) What are your goals with writing, more books? Plays? Novels?

Even after 35+ books, I am still eager to continue my publishing journey. However, since I have self-published many collections featuring poetry and photography, as well as social media books and a play, I feel the need to challenge myself with something different. This year, I started delving into short stories and flash fiction, even creating my own literary form based on those two genres: the Flashku. I actually released a short story into an ebook a couple of weeks ago:

https://creativeramblings.com/happen-next. A collection of short stories is in the works, as well as several other projects, mostly collaborations with artists from my collective.

My writing style borrows heavily from the haiku. I let (very) minimalist descriptions and conciseness do the talking. It’s a style that works well for theatre, poetry, and short stories—but not for novels. And based on the feedback I have received, especially with my play In the Silence of Words, I know that I am right.

4) What do you think the most satisfying function of Vocal is, do you like online media?

I have a long experience as a content creator and curator, and social media coach. I also worked as a digital journalist and art critic for several years. So, I have had the opportunity to use many platforms!

Vocal is great! Its community of creators is one of the best I have ever seen!

I have joined all the Vocal Groups on Facebook. Overall, Vocal creators are caring, empathetic and supportive. They read your stuff and take the time to write constructive comments. They encourage those who lack self-confidence and celebrate one another in different ways (like you do with your interviews). When arguments happen, admins and moderators are usually on the ball. This is extremely rare, because Facebook Groups are notorious for being rife with spammers and bullies.

However, Vocal as a company, doesn’t cater to outside audiences enough. Further, it relies too much on creators to do the promotional work for them. It is missing a few major features, including the ability to comment on stories, format posts, and share content directly to social networks like Pinterest, Tumblr or LinkedIn. We also need RSS feeds to display our content on our blogs; and email subscriptions, so non-Vocal members can receive our stuff directly in their inboxes. I have been able to figure out something, though. You can see an example here: https://haikushack.substack.com/p/cendrine-newsletter-3.

I would also like to be able to rearrange my stories by categories or in the order I want, and display more than eight posts per page.

5) Cendrine has an impressive amount of published works, totalling 35+ along with other creative endeavours - what is your source of energy, do you meditate, drink gallons of coffee or both?

Believe it or not, I don’t like coffee. I don’t need to meditate either. I just find life very inspiring. I also have the kind of healthy self-confidence that leads me to challenge myself regularly. There is nothing better to beat Writer’s Block! ;-)

6) Favorite genre to write in?

Poetry, obviously. :)

7) Favorite authors, books?

Kahlil Gibran and Alphonse de Lamartine. The Prophet is my personal Bible. I also find Emily Dickinson’s poetry fascinating.

Gibran and Lamartine have had such an impact on my artistic career that I wrote a collection of haiku inspired by the energy behind their timeless words: https://creativeramblings.com/after-fires-day/

8) When did you start writing?

I started writing in 2005. I penned sappy poetry when I was a teenager, so that part of my life doesn’t count. ;-)

9) Where do you see your writing going?

I have already answered in question 3, so I would repeat myself here.

Then we should look forward to more books, fiction as well as poetry in the future Cendrine, nice! Looking forward to it.

10) Is there anything else you would like to include about yourself or advice for an aspiring writer?

Writing can be a lot of fun or complete hell. The difference lies in the way you treat yourself and your work. If you believe that you have it in you to succeed as a writer or author, then it will happen in due course. But if you let others and the negative voices in your head dictate your future, writing will be unrewarding.

(Of course, success does not knock on your door out of the blue. Talent and belief in yourself alone are not enough. You need to add strategy, hard work, commitment, and patience to the equation.)

Don’t write because you seek validation from others. Write because you know you can help and/or entertain your readers.

Lisa, thank you so much for this opportunity. I appreciate your support more than you know.

You are so very welcome Cendrine! I enjoyed doing this interview so much. For others to appreciate your work as much, here are Cendrine's links. You really have to read her work and view her photography.

Website: https://www.cendrinemedia.com

Blog: https://creativeramblings.com

Books: https://creativeramblings.com/books

Newsletter: https://creativeramblings.com/newsletter/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/haikushack

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/haikushack

Pinterest: https://pinterest.com/cendrinemedia

TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@haikushack

Twitter: https://twitter.com/haiku_shack

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/cendrinemarrouat

By Lisa Lachapelle, Writer, Author. More of her work here and here.