The Way of StoryFavorite Memoirs
The books I picked & why Hope Against Hope: A Memoir Why am I passionate about this? After decades of teaching in graduate school as well as a career in acting, and writing 11 produced plays in NYC, then writing films & television in Hollywood, and later becoming the author of 8 published books—both fiction […]
Open to Insights
Open for Insights Five years ago after living in NYC for 20 years – my theatre years – I had moved to Hollywood. After working in Hollywood as a screenwriter and teaching graduate screenwriting at USC, I moved to Ojai, California. I soon learned of the annual Ojai Music Festival – now in its […]
Open to Insights
Open for Insights After living in NYC for 20 years – my theatre years – I was invited to work in Hollywood. After working in Hollywood for 5 years as a screenwriter and teaching graduate screenwriting at USC, I moved to Ojai, California. I soon learned of the annual Ojai Music Festival – now […]
To Worry or Not to Worry
To Worry or Not to Worry Recently, I had to go to DMV to renew my driver’s license and failed my vision test. I did not wear eye glasses, and the DMV woman gave me a two-month extension to see an eye doctor and return. It took over a month to get the appointment then […]
Memoirs by those who made a difference
5 Best Memoirs by Those Who Made a Difference with Catherine Ann Jones 1. HOPE AGAINST HOPE by Nadezhda Mandelstam I first read Hope Against Hope decades ago and never forgot it. I remember when the Russian poets under Stalin, now allowed […]
Santa Barbara Writers Conference June 21-26
The Way of Story: The Craft & Soul of Writing June 21-26 in Santa Barbara Monday-Friday 9:00-11:30 AM RM 3-101 The Way of […]
Setbacks as Blessings in Disguise
Setbacks Can Sometimes Be a Blessing in Disguise In New York, after a grueling two week audition process from 2000 applicants to one winner, I was cast as Ophelia for the Broadway production of a new play by Tom Stoppard called Rosencranz and Guilderstern. This was my first Broadway audition and I was both relieved […]
Writing from the Unconscious
Writing from the Unconscious Due to some medical challenges and house repairs, the writing of a new book has been set aside. Last month, in March, an odd thing happened and more than once. As if my conscious mind had stopped writing during the day, at night during sleep, the unconscious took over and began […]
Heal Your Self with Writing workshop in OJai
Heal Your Self with Writing with Catherine Ann Jones February 21, 2026 in Ojai, CA Saturday, 10-4pm “Heal Your Self with Writing is an elixir for the soul.” – Psychology Today Our lives may be determined less by past events than by the way we remember them. Heal Your Self with Writing offers a […]
On Patience
Patience is All Do not measure in terms of time: one year or ten years means nothing. For the artist there is no counting or tallying up; just ripening like the tree that does not force its sap and endures the storms of spring without fearing that […]