Q&A with Catharine Bramkamp
Please welcome Catharine Bramkamp to our Featured Author Q&A series at Writer’s Fun Zone. Enjoy!
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If you’d like to be considered for an interview, check out our guidelines here.
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About Catharine Bramkamp
Catharine is a world traveler, poet, and belly dancer.
In her spare time, she serves as a writing coach and workshop facilitator.
She has authored 30 fiction, non-fiction, and poetry books.
She is busy exploring all kinds of art, including outlets in which she has no talent.
But it’s fun.
On to Our Interview!
Q. Tell us who you are and what inspires you to write
A. I’m Catharine Bramkamp, a lifelong writer.
What inspires me the most is listening to people talk about their frustrations with art or writing, and from there, I create books to help.
Q. How did you get to this place in your life? Share your story!
A. Like so many writers I worked real jobs all my life from fundraising to non-profit projects, to event planning.
I use those skills in my volunteer work, which is very satisfying, but now that I’m retired, I can devote much of my time to creating books and helping others create theirs.
Q. What are you most passionate about?
A. I am passionate about the arts, in a time when budgets are being cut, libraries are under threat, books being banned, it’s critical we pay attention and help support and spread the arts.
Think of reading, all alone, with no supporting electronics, it’s practically an act of rebellion, sometimes an act of courage.
Q. Can you tell us a little bit about your writing process, routine, and/or rituals around your writing?
A. I write best in the morning.
I work hard to protect that time, saving calls and committee work for the late afternoon (when there is compensating wine).
It’s hard to schedule the time to do your art.
In my book Take Up Space, I address that very challenge with ideas on how to protect your time as well as how to look busier.
One of the challenges with art and writing, is we spend a lot of time staring out the window.
Some people do not consider that work.
It’s work.
Q. What are a few challenges you faced in creating, marketing, or publishing your creative work? And your solutions to them.
A. AHHHHH Marketing and publishing is an artist’s least favorite activity.
We have little choice to market and get our books out into the world, but it can be a heavy lift.
Some solutions to that lift are:
Find outlets you can control — like scheduling a group of blogs on Substack, or scheduling on Instagram.
So you can batch your work and your output during a time when you aren’t concentrating on your work.
If you can afford a social media scheduling program like Missing Leter (the t is missing, get it?), that can help streamline that output.
I use Facebook and by default, Instagram.
And I’m on Substack — Art Expands the Universe, and I’m very grateful to both subscribers.
I do like in-person connections with potential readers: conferences, speaking engagements, and podcasts.
Do what you enjoy, and just leave the rest.
Q. What do you wish you had known before you started writing fiction?
A. Fiction is hard!
You must be very clear about your work, where you work is going, what your characters have to say.
One thing I learned is that when a strong character comes to me, I can write what she says, almost take dictation, and the story flows far better.
I am a character-driven writer, and knowing that makes the work so much easier.
Some writers need the plot all laid out; that works too.
Others just blurt out the whole book onto the page and fixes things later, that’s more my process as well.
Writing may not make you rich; in fact it probably won’t.
But aren’t you having fun doing it?
Q. What’s next for you in your creative work?
A. My next project is creating a long apocalyptic poem loosely based on the Odyssey.
It is one of those impossible, enormous projects that will likely outlive me.
And that is a glorious thought.
Our huge projects keep us up at night, color our dreams and lead us to all sorts of adventures as we pursue our art.
That is the win.
Q. Is there anything else you wished I’d asked? Please share!
A. Thank you for publishing my blogs every month.
It’s a pleasure and an honor to be featured in Writer’s Fun Zone!
Take Up Space: Art is Your Second Act by Catharine Bramkamp
A guide to living creatively, vibrantly, and unapologetically after fifty.
What if your best years — your most creative, passionate, fulfilling years — are just beginning?
Inspired by Jenny Joseph’s iconic poem “When I Am an Old Woman I Shall Wear Purple,” Take Up Space invites you to turn joyful rebellion into lasting self-expression.
Whether you paint, dance, garden, write, or dress like the masterpiece you are, art can become your path to meaning, vitality, and connection.
This book is for anyone ready to:
- Reinvent life after 50 through creativity and self-expression.
- Stay mentally sharp, physically active, and joyfully engaged.
- Build community through shared artistic adventures.
- Turn small moments into daily acts of creation.
With warmth, humor, and practical guidance, author Catharine Bramkamp shows that making art — in any form — keeps you active, connected, and alive to life’s joys and possibilities.
It’s time to stop shrinking back and start showing up.
Pick up a brush, a pen, or your favorite red hat — and take up space.
Connect with Catharine Bramkamp
Site Link www.catharine-Bramkamp.com
Facebook https://www.facebook.com/catharine.bramkamp
LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/catharinebramkamp
Instagram cbramkamp
