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Coleen Clare completed her first novel at the age of eighty. She is a lesbian, a feminist, a teacher, a psychologist, a public servant, a community advocate and has a passion for the provision of social housing. Coleen has an extended family covering four generations and enjoys the lively interactions this brings to her life. She has worked with many families and has a deep understanding of family joy and trauma. Coleen lives in Australia; she was born in Aotearoa and carries an abiding love for the country and people. She has worked in New Zealand, Samoa and Australia and has deep respect for Indigenous peoples, intensified by her experience of the pain and joy of the adoption of a Cook Island son, and a Samoan son. Storytelling has always been a passion for Coleen, as a small child she grew up in an isolated household and began imagining and telling alternate versions of her home life in primary school. As she grew older and wiser she learned that if you embellished the truth too much it was called a lie. She turned her creativity to storytelling, which she used extensively as a teacher and counsellor, and for several years ran a storytelling group, together with art therapy. An inclination to write was always present for Coleen but with a big family to care for through various traumas, the need to earn a living, and chronic fatigue and pain from childhood polio, there was never sufficient time. With the time afforded by retirement, Coleen began writing at the age of seventy-two. A pilgrimage to explore Minoan Crete with a group of women deeply inspired her to reflect on a matriarchal society without war and violence. What began as trip notes from a pilgrimage in 2013 morphed into Minoan Foosteps, her first mystery novel.
Coleen Clare has vividly created the world of Crete, deftly linking past and present and the matrifocal Minoan world to the dominance of patriarchy today. She has woven this backdrop into a tale where we enjoy first getting to know the characters, their relationships, the food, countryside, the moods of the sea and the hospitality of the people. Into this stalks the ever-present female fear – male violence. Read the book to see how it unfolds! —Jennifer Cameron, author Ancient Ways for Current Days: Women, Goddess and Communities of Peace In Minoan Footsteps, Coleen Clare explores the complex lives of a small international group of women on a history and spiritual learning tour on Crete – Greece’s largest island, with an ancient matriarchal past. Coleen’s protagonists – all realistic and relatable – are on the trail of Minoan goddesses. But juxtaposed with misogynist males in a contemporary patriarchal society, their adventure turns upside down. Coleen describes the Greek scenery, foods and smells enticingly, and she explores the women’s personal responses and camaraderie as they navigate their challenges. —Penny Zagarelou-Mackieson, author of Greek, Actually Redemption is found in the love and friendship of the women as they grow through the pain and trauma and emerge with new understandings of their strength and resilience. There is nothing simple or cosy about this book; it challenges! It is true to life with some women protecting violent men and refusing to see the problem this creates. On the other side, it shows that some men can change and even others can support women when needed. Captivating indeed. —Tricia Szirom, author, Seasons of the Goddess and co-author Gaia Emerging: Goddess in Australia An imaginative intriguing story of how when all seems stacked against the truth, and misogyny seems to hold the cards, women loving women may prevail, with transformative possibilities for all. — Glenys Livingstone, author of A Poiesis of the Creative Cosmos: Celebrating Her within PaGaian Sacred Ceremony
