Interview with Maja Scheler: 2018 Fall Flash Fiction Contest Runner Up

Maja’s Bio: Maja Scheler has returned to the page. After graduating from Oregon State University in 2015 with a Liberal Arts degree focused on creative writing and Spanish language, Scheler birthed three novel-humans within three years. Her most accomplished works to date are wiping derriéres at NASCAR speed and managing a 24hr buffet for her three sons and Oregonian husband. Jokes aside, with...

Read More »

2 comments 2018 Fall Flash Fiction Contest, contest runner up, Maja Scheler, Sue Bradford Edwards

Mindful Dementia Care - Blog Tour and Giveaway

Mindful Dementia Care is a book of stories and a book of love. It is a book without denial, without any papering over of the challenges that can be involved with being a caregiver, and the sadness, anger, and frustration they may bring. It is also a life-changing source of information that can revolutionize relationships with one of the most vulnerable populations in our midst. In her decades as...

Read More »

4 comments dementia, dementia care, Luke Nachtrab, Ruth Dennis, Velma Arellano

Should I Really Save Everything I Write?

Not too long ago, I was going through my notebooks from high school and early college years. Each one was filled with partially finished stories, snippets of character sheets, and scenes without a story attached to them. After finding them and briefly contemplating keeping these notebooks, I threw them away - well most of them at least - and I even blogged about it (twice). It felt freeing. It...

Read More »

3 comments amwriting, Nicole Pyles

When Writing Heals Our Wounds

Canva.com There are many reasons we write. We write because we want to make money and support ourselves and our families. I started out my career writing press releases and news briefs for public relations clients because it seemed like a natural way to make a paycheck out of a communications degree. We write because editors ask us to. When we become experts on a specific topic (such as...

Read More »

4 comments Renee Roberson, the stories behind writing, writing as therapy, writing that heals wounds

Friday Speak Out!: The Relationship of Writing: Mad Dash or Life-Long?

by Amanda Russell When I think about the writing process and how creativity works for me, I cannot separate it from a regular practice. I used to write a lot during my teen years and in college- those times when everyday life is intensified by complex ideas like who am I, what do I believe/think, where am I headed and the ever-present how do I get there? As time progressed, I found that my...

Read More »

8 comments Amanda Russell, Friday Speak Out, muse, natalie goldberg, writing experiment, writing practice

Who Has the Right to Write It?

So, before I begin this post I should explain a bit of the backstory, in case you haven't been subjected to my previous prattling and blathering before this. I am trying to snag an agent/publisher for a manuscript. It's a middle grades historical novel. The main character is Henry, a 12-year-old African American. I am a white senior citizen female. My son was a 12-year-old boy (two decades ago)....

Read More »

20 comments #OwnVoices, Janet Reid, Lisa Bodenheim, Ruby Ibarra

The Surprising Writing and Earth Day Connection

So I was checking out my calendar, thinking about Earth Day, when I started tossing ideas around for this post. And I know what you’re thinking: she’s going to talk about recycling. Nope! (Though recycling is super important and I sure hope that you do your best to recycle!) I went with the calendar. The calendar, you ask? What’s the calendar got to do with writing? So glad you asked! When it...

Read More »

5 comments calendar, Cathy C. Hall, celebrations and holidays, Earth Day, editorial calendar, evergreen articles, recycling

Interview with Lisa Bodenheim: 2018 Fall Flash Fiction Contest Runner Up

Lisa’s Bio: Lisa Bodenheim, a native of Minnesota, always thought she'd be a romance writer. But after a 10-day study journey to Chiapas, Mexico, her first book was Disturbing Complacency: Preparing for Christmas, published by Wild Goose Publications. Over the past few years, she has studied the craft of writing through blogs, has entered several 100-word flash fiction contests (snagging a few...

Read More »

3 comments 2018 Fall Flash Fiction Contest, Anne Greenawalt, Lisa Bodenheim, Runner up

Writing Prompts - Forge On

Writing prompts can sometimes assist us with moving forward or overcoming writers block. A recent piece of middle school homework came home with the following definition of a writing prompt: "The purpose of a writing prompt is to invite students to think about, develop a perspective about and write about a topic. A writing prompt introduces and focuses the writing topic. If also provides clear...

Read More »

2 comments Inspiration, Writers Block, writing inspiration, writing prompts

Writing Nonfiction: 5 Tips to Help Readers Enter Your Nonfiction World

Each time I turn in a nonfiction project, I think I’ve nailed it. Certainly after 20 books, I should have tiny clue. But still I find myself working through the rewrite using my editor’s comments to clarify and smooth the way for my reader. Helping them enter the nonfiction world I’ve chosen to recreate is always tricky. Here are 5 tips to help make the task a bit easier: 1. Set the Hook. ...

Read More »

3 comments Creative Nonfiction, hooking the reader, nonfiction, Sue Bradford Edwards, wirting nonfiction, world building

Once in a Blue Moon Writing Comes Easily

It's rare, but on occasion, I will write something that clicks in such a way, I'll wonder why I'm not able to recreate the experience every time I write. This happened to me recently thanks to a writing prompt and I can probably count on one hand the number of times this has happened to me. The other time that I can remember I was on the bus going home from work and a poem came to me. It came...

Read More »

6 comments Nicole Pyles, writing

Friday Speak Out!: Overcoming New Notebook Anxiety

by Diane DeMasi Johnson I crack open a new special notebook. It’s large and its pages are smooth. It’s beautiful, it inspires me to write, but I can’t write just any notion, wayward thought, filler fluff, or other banality. I can write only deep, meaningful, magnificent, literary stories, memories, and life-altering insights. And I must not make one mistake or use anything but my best penmanship. Could...

Read More »

7 comments Diane DeMasi Johnson, Friday Speak Out, journal, writer inspiration, writing notebook

Podcasts Are Saving My Life Right Now

art by Wesley Fryer (Flickr.com) The title of this post may seem a little extreme for some of you, unless you're a big fan of Jen Hatmaker's podcast, For the Love, like I am. She asks every guest on her weekly podcast at the end of the interview: "What is saving your life right now?" (Answers can range from serious, such as therapy, to silly, such as coffee or Netflix binging.) This question is...

Read More »

4 comments Becca Syme, book marketing, Chris Syme, Jen Hatmaker, podcasting, podcasts, Writing Excuses, writing podcasts

What is poetry?

The answer to that question is similar to the answer Louis Armstrong gave when asked to define jazz. “Baby, if you got to ask the question, you’re never going to know the answer.” According to the Encyclopaedia Britannica, poetry is defined as literature that evokes a concentrated imaginative awareness of experience or a specific emotional response through language chosen and arranged for its meaning,...

Read More »

6 comments Anne Sexton., Black Box, Emily Dickinson, Jennifer Egan, Matthew Freeman, Sylvia Plath, What is poetry, William Carlos Williams