Carmen Peone
Carmen Peone is an award-winning author of Young Adult and Inspirational Western Romantic Suspense. She worked with a Tribal Elder, Marguerite Ensminger, for three years learning the Arrow Lakes Language and various cultural traditions, which led to her writing career.
With the love of history and the Western woman's lifestyle, she weaves healing, hope, and horses into her stories. With a thread of romance.
She lives with her husband in northeast Washington and on the Colville Confederated Indian Reservation.
Facebook: @CarmenEPeone
Instagram: @carmenpeone
X (Formerly Twitter): @jcpeone
Is there a genre of music that influences your writing/thinking? Do you listen to music while you write?
I love to write to Native American Flute music. I normally go to YouTube and select a video that will play for several hours. There are various ones with the flute and rain or wind chimes. It’s quite soothing to listen to. And since I write stories with Indigenous main characters, the flute music gets me in tune with my characters and their culture. It helps to live on a reservation as well. I’m in the heart of their music.
Is there a genre of music that influences your writing/thinking? Do you listen to music while you write?
My favorite non-writing activity is riding my two horses. I’ve shown Western Pleasure and have competed in Extreme Cowboy and Mountain Trail competitions in the past. These days, I simply ride for pleasure. Riding calms me, is great for realigning my back, and when stuck in my writing, hopping on a horse and hitting the trail reenergizes my creativity. Horses are a huge part of my life.
When riding, I pack my cell phone and take photos of the country and wildflowers. I then take the photos, write a daily haiku poem, and post them on social media. I used to ride with my Saddle Sisters, but with full-time writing, I ride alone most of the time. And that’s okay because I have quiet time to think and reflect.
Speaking of music, I also ride to my favorite songs on Spotify.
Vacation druthers… City or Rural destination? Why?
I don’t get to take many vacations, but when I do it has to be to a rural location. I was raised in Spokane Valley in Washington State. We had neighbors in all four directions and little to no privacy. Where I live now, the closest neighbor is a half mile away and I cannot see any homes from my house. We live on 140 acres and overlook Lake Roosevelt which is the lake behind Grand Coulee Dam on the upper Columbia River. Yeah, rural or nothing for me.
Do you have another artistic outlet in addition to your writing? Do you sew? Paint? Draw? Knit? Dance?
My other artistic outlet is Native American beading, which I don’t get to do much of anymore with horses and grandkids. Over the past few years, I’ve also gotten into Doterra. I signed up so I could get the essential oils at a discounted price. When creating signature scents for my granddaughters, I came up with the idea to create signature scents for the female main characters in my books. I sell the perfumes at craft fairs along with my books and photo cards as a book bundle. What fun!
What brings you great joy?
What brings me the greatest joy, besides my Creator, are my horses and my grandkids. They both, including my husband and sons, are my life. My horses calm me and my grandkids humble me! We love to play games and spend time outdoors swimming, fishing, riding, and camping. I get excited when they come and miss them terribly the moment they leave.
