What to look for when working with an editor: “My goal is to help them [editing clients] bring their vision to life and to push their craft further.” –Maggie Smith, “Building Together,” Jan/Feb 2025 Poets & Writers. More about editing: Re-visioning aka editing Just Write!
A Prayer for the World
A Prayer For The World Let the rain come and wash away the ancient grudges, the bitter hatreds held and nurtured over generations. Let the rain wash away the memory of the hurt, the neglect. Then let the sun come out and fill the sky with rainbows. Let the warmth of the sun heal us wherever we are broken. Let it burn away the fog so that we can see each other clearly. So that we can see beyond labels, beyond accents, gender or skin color. Let the warmth and brightness of the sun melt our selfishness. So that we can share the joys and feel the sorrows of our neighbors. Let the earth, nourished by rain, bring forth flowers to surround us with beauty. And let the mountains teach our hearts to reach upward to heaven. —Rabbi Harold Kushner
Memory
Guest Blogger Hospice Nurse Sharon Ziff writes: We acknowledge that aging, slowing down, and death are normal stages of life. We exercise, eat healthy, think positively, and bring love and playfulness into our lives. Still, eventually, death will walk in. What if we make friends with death? Can understanding the last chapters of your life move you toward acceptance and peace? Acceptance and peace can be a gift you can give yourself and your loved ones. Sharon’s Story:I remember Mama. I wore a hat with a bee pin that was my Mother’s. I gave it to her for her birthday thirty years ago. Maybe for her 75th? I don’t remember the year. But I remember the joy of purchasing it and her face when I gave it to her. I can see it on her blouse. I think of Mother often. Every time I wear my hat with her bee pin….
Know When to Quit
I’m a fan of Brevity Blog. Here’s a favorite: “Quitting Time: Why You Need to Let Go of That Writing Project” by Allison K. Williams. “As writers, we’re sold on the value of perseverance. Just do another draft. Just keep working. Send another query, another submission. One day you’ll break through. Sit down and finish. Now. Today. This week. In fifteen-minute increments while waiting for carpool, or in one wild coffee-fueled weekend. I think I can, I think I can. I can get to the end of this sentence. This paragraph. This page. This essay. This book. But there’s value in quitting, too. Click “Quitting Time” to read the rest of Allison’s Blog Post.
Get through trauma
“One of the best things you can do for yourself to get through a traumatic life or childhood or single incident is to not bury it but talk or write about it until you acquire the skills to manage it or put it to rest.” — Janet P. How to write about a difficult subject without adding trauma. Just Write! #iamawriter #iamwriting #justwrite
Willow Springs
Willow Springs publishes two issues per year: Spring and Fall. SUBMISSIONS through Submittable Nonfiction is open year-round. Fiction and poetry between September 1 and May 31. $3 reading fee.
Where I Live
Memorable writing that sparks imagination. Lean in. Hear the writer’s voice on the page. Where I Live By Ken Delpit When I walk into where I live, I smell memories. This is where we first beheld what would be our first and only home, from the inside. Over there was where his first, very tentative, steps took place, from the parquet mahogany coffee table to my luring, waiting hands. Right there on the carpet is where she often would get rolled up into a daughter burrito, with auntie-made birthday blanket as tortilla, and with generous gobs of tickling cheese. When I walk into where I live, I smell unfulfilled should-haves and wish-I-hads. I wish I had done this, that, and especially that, better as a parent, and for that matter, as a husband. I should have taken care of that household repair long ago. I should have spent more time…
Scary Tradition . . Prompt #821
Write about a tradition that scared you as a child. Krampus Yule goat Burning of the Böögg Guy Fawkes Night Or, something unique to your family. See what CM Riddle wrote on this subject, Wild Man of The Hunt. Just write!
Wild Man of the Hunt
Memorable writing that sparks imagination. Lean in. Hear the writer’s voice on the page. Wild Man of the Hunt By CM Riddle Mom grew up in the country with her brother and sister, along with what seems like hundreds of Italian immigrant relatives. Mom’s great-grandparents Albina (the mean one who kept a lid on the candy jar) and Rosalina (the sweet one who didn’t have a lid on the candy jar) were sisters. They sailed into San Francisco from Luca Italy in the late 1800’s with their husbands, who were brothers; Pietro and Romolo. While making great efforts to become a part of the new world, the family still clung to ways and traditions from Italy. Working on their land they grew vegetables and flowers, and made wine. Their families thrived in West Marin. Rosalina, or as Mom called her, Noni Rosie, had an original “bed and breakfast.” She hosted…
Winter’s Walk
Memorable writing that sparks imagination. Lean in. Hear the writer’s voice on the page. Winter’s Walk By Cheryl Moore On these dark mornings I feel the fog’s kiss on my cheek As though waking me to a new day; So unlike a much drier place I once lived so many years ago Where dust storms were more likely. I walk to the river where The fragrance of wild fennel fills the air Reminding me of the black liquorish I loved as a child. On the muddy banks wild fowl often appear On their daily hunt, bringing to mind They too fill their senses. We are not so unlike in our goals. When Chery Moore came to California in the early 1960’s, she realized she’d found her home. Then moving to Petaluma in the 70’s, she was as close to paradise as she’d ever be. Travel has taken her…