Does a new year inspire you to reach your goals of submitting your writing to publications? Here’s an idea to start off the new year. Send your writing to Wordrunner eChapbooks anthology. Wordrunner eChapbooks Anthology 2022 Submissions will open January 1 through February 28, 2022. There is no theme. “We simply want to publish your best writing.” Guidelines Submit up to three poems (no longer than a page each) or three flash fictions (750 to 1,000 words each), or one short story, novel or memoir excerpt, or a personal essay (up to 5,000 words). There are separate categories for each genre (poetry, fiction, nonfiction). You may submit to more than one category. Send your best. All submissions to the anthology must be previously unpublished. No genre fiction (horror, fantasy, mystery), please, unless a story transcends its genre. Literary/speculative fiction is acceptable. Fees for submissions to the anthology: $3. These fees cover basic operational…
Traditions
Memorable writing that sparks imagination. Lean in. Hear the writer’s voice on the page. Traditions Rebecca Olivia Jones Grandma used flashing colorful lights and handfuls of tinsel like a grotesque costume on her Christmas tree. I loved its tacky design. I watched it before I fell asleep on the couch the night before our Boxing Day. My brother chose to sleep on the floor to be nearer the presents waiting under and all around the tree. Grandma was very democratic in her gift giving to all her younger grandchildren. Five of us were one year apart; Pam 10, Becky 9, Patrick 8, Byron 7, and Danny 6. We each received a large box filled with a bunch of recycled smaller boxes. Grandma would even re-use Tampax boxes for the smallest gifts. Pam and I were thrilled to receive, for example, a doll, a rhinestone necklace, fuzzy slippers and a box…
The last straw . . . Prompt #625
Writing Prompt: The last straw . . . #amwriting #justwrite #creativewriting #iamawriter
Winter Solstice 2021
Memorable writing that sparks imagination. Lean in. Hear the writer’s voice on the page. Winter Solstice 2021 By M.A. Dooley This blessed day when the light returns, I stand on the mountain of my home Grounded at 7:59 AM and look up. The round moon wanes floating over Saucer clouds docked in the west. A soft haze hangs between me and my Shire, Layered hillocks of veiled emerald, Taste wet and lush as if the drought is over. The sun rises behind a filter of grey Cotton balls connected at fluffy centers like Fat caterpillars in the sky. When the time rings for a celestial split, A tear in the cotton, A thin sliver of blue blinks open And the sun sears my eyes Carving the womb of awakening. I am the field of green softened by one ray, I am the strong back of the moon, Light as the…
A Little Louder, Please
Memorable writing that sparks imagination. Lean in. Hear the writer’s voice on the page. A Little Louder, Please Susan Zahl Bono Christmas 2005 I must be going deaf. It’s the season when yuletide TV ads are louder and brighter than the shows they’re interrupting, but I don’t seem to be hearing their message. December is swinging into its second week and I haven’t bought any presents. Last weekend, my husband wrestled the fake tree into the living room and wrapped it with lights, but if that’s as far as we get, I’m not going to be heartbroken about it. At night with those little lights glowing, I can almost forget the ornaments are missing. These are my dark ages. My kids are too old to believe in Santa and too young to make grandchildren. They stopped caring about trees and holiday trappings about the time we gave in to their…
When I was a kid . . . Prompt #624
Writing Prompt: When I was a kid . . . #amwriting #justwrite #creativewriting #iamawriter
Message in a bottle . . . Prompt #623
Writing Prompt: Walking along the beach, a bottle washes ashore, right at your feet. It has note inside. What does it say? Who is it from? Or: You decide to write a message in a bottle. What do you write? What do you do with the bottle? Who do you hope finds it? #amwriting #creativewriting #just write #imawriter
Silence For The Soul
Memorable writing that sparks imagination. Lean in. Hear the writer’s voice on the page. Silence For The Soul By Sarah Horton Silence for the Soul is our tradition, created to welcome us into the deeper doorways to the heart. It is timed around the changing of the seasons. We gather in silence for a variety of meditation practices as individual as the people who come: sitting, walking the labyrinth, indoors, outdoors, eyes open, eyes shut, journaling, more sitting. We start with intention and breathing together. We end by coming together in a circle for the breaking of bread, homemade soup, and soft sharing. I have been doing this on a regular basis with two other friends of the heart since the “2012 ending-of-the-world” or simply an ending. This was our new-beginning-offering and continues as one. There will be anywhere from the three-of-us regulars to fifteen other souls to hold the circle of magic and light…
Dinner Lines
Memorable writing that sparks imagination. Lean in. Hear the writer’s voice on the page. Dinner Lines By M.A. Dooley Empty lines without a script, Two old lovers sit stiff like bricks Empty lines planked blue wood top, Inviting ages of warmth and weight. Warmth and weight, young bricks cool, Purpose wanted held at bay. Warmth and weight, mason’s hands Stack staggered bonds, build a wall. Build a wall, the server piles Flowers, wine, the table splits. Build a wall to be broken down With drink, pleasure, taste and texture. Taste and texture laughter blooms, Edges soften like molten stone. Taste and texture spills red wine Dripping, seeping fills empty lines. Empty lines, hushed hands held, Old lovers’ warmth and weight meld. M.A. Dooley is an architect and writer from the Santa Cruz Mountains, Sonoma County, and the Sierra Nevadas. Dooley has been…
Appositives . . . Prompt #622
Part 1 Finish the sentences: When I was ten years old, I . . . As a young adult, I wanted . . . To get what I wanted, here’s what I did . . . Here’s what happened . . . My recurring dream . . . Part 2 After your freewrite on any or all of the above sentence starts, rewrite, using “add-ons” or “appositives.” An appositive is a word or group of words that add detail to the original. They can be in the same sentence, or a new sentence. For example: 1. I rode my bicycle. 2. I rode my bicycle on a hot summer day. I looked behind me. Sure enough, my sister was following. Just Write! #amwriting @creative writing #justwrite #iamawriter