The Disappointed Housewife

  • The Disappointed Housewife

    Notes from The Disappointed Housewife editor Kevin Brennan:

    “The Disappointed Housewife is a literary journal for writers, and readers, who are seeking something different. We like the idiosyncratic, the iconoclastic, the offbeat, the hard-to-categorize. Out of the universe of fiction, poetry, and creative nonfiction, we want to attract work that plays with form and presentation. Work that’s not just outside the box but turns the box inside out.”

    Excerpt from Mission Statement

    I took a long time debating whether to launch this literary journal. I wondered whether there’s really a need for another online gazette of literature and image, when readers hardly have time to read their friends’ Facebook pages much less an actual book now and then.

    But I got to thinking, there are an awful lot of writers out there, looking for places to share their work. And while blogs offer a kind of outlet for works of fiction, creative nonfiction, and poetry, they are generally personal, a lot like online diaries in many ways, and most of all they aren’t curated.

    I’ve also found, as a consumer of writing on the web, that I have a hard time finding much of the kind of material I’m really interested in. After a lifetime of reading, I have a taste now for something different. Stories that are made differently, that play with form and presentation.

    Publishing, as a business, tends to incentivize writers to produce what they think will sell.

    Yet there is a place for “high risk” writing, fresh, creative, experimental, idiosyncratic, idiomatic, iconoclastic writing. Writers should be allowed to have their quirks.

    So I decided to forge ahead with this project, to see what comes in over the transom when writers are given the flexibility to “think different,” as Apple used to say.

    I’m afraid that many writers will be disappointed that The Disappointed Housewife declines their work. But it will only be because the editors envision another way the piece could be a better fit, a way that better conforms with the journal’s proclivities. It’s not you, it’s us. Don’t be discouraged. We might suggest some possibilities to you, or you can try again with something that you write with us in mind.

    Just remember, this is the place to find writing (in all its manifestations) that you can’t find anyplace else.

    Submission Guidelines

    Thank you, Guy Biederman, for posting about The Disappointed Housewife on Facebook.

     Guy’s “Language of Lies” posted in The Disappointed Housewife.

    Meet Guy in [Zoom] person:

    May 5 and May 19, 2022: Guy will teach flash fiction writing. Free on Zoom through Recovery Writing of Idaho.

    #amwriting #justwrite #iamawriter

    Marlene C

    , ,

  • Don’t Tell Anyone . . . Prompt #643

    Writing Prompt:

    Don’t tell anyone . . .

    #justwrite #iamawriter #iamwriting

    Marlene C

  • Divine Candy

    Memorable writing that sparks imagination. Lean in. Hear the writer’s voice on the page.

    Divine Candy

    By Sandra de Helen

    On Route 66, Dead Man’s Curve
    our house with an outhouse on seven acres
    with no running water,
    no candy store in sight.
     

    We ate the eggs our chickens lay,
    beans, potatoes, and greens
    Mom picked in the woods.
    No sweets except on holidays.
     

    Grandma baked pies,
    Aunt Mame made candy:
    Chocolate fudge, peanut butter bars,
    and her heavenly divinity.
     

    Billowy clouds of white sugar,
    studded with walnuts Mame herself
    picked out with her prized nutcracker set.
     

    Black walnuts the family gathered together
    to gather from alongside gravel roads
    of the nearby countryside.
     

    Once each year every small family
    within our larger family
    were gifted a decorated box
    of Aunt Mame’s treasured sweets.
     

    We rationed them, made them last
    by savoring each bite with the mindfulness
    we’ve long since forgotten.
     

    Only my sister and I are left to recall
    our Aunt Mame and her gifts.
    No one thought to ask for her recipe,
    and no family member makes divinity.
     

    Sandra de Helen lives and writes in Portland, Oregon. She is author of the Shirley Combs/Dr. Mary Watson mystery series, set in Portland; Till Darkness Comes, a thriller set in Kansas City, Missouri; and four collections of lesbian poetry published by Launch Point Press.

    Sandra is a member of the Golden Crown Literary Society, Dramatists Guild, Honor Roll! and International Centre for Women Playwrights.

    Follow her on Twitter @dehelen

    Follow her on Instagram @dehelen

    Check out her Facebook page.

    Marlene C

    ,

  • A Safe Place . . . Prompt #642

    Today’s writing prompt starts with a visualization.

    Sit back. Relax.

    Breathe in deeply.

    Release and relax as you breathe out.

    Let go.

    Let your mind relax. Settle into your chair.

    Nothing for you to do right now, except be here.

    Nowhere for you to go.

    Let your mind drift.

    Go back to a time when you were little … 4 or 6 or 7 years old.

    A time when the world was fresh to you.

    Filled with new sights, adventures and exploring.

    A time when there was magic in the air. Full of possibilities.

    Take a deep breathe in and settle into your comfortable space.

    No worries.

    No hurries just now.

    This is your time, in your special place.

    Imagine or remember what your world was like when you were 4 or 6 or 7 years old.

    When everyone was taller than you. Everyone seemed wiser than you.

    But you knew some things.

    Even at that young age, you had strong feelings about some things. 

    Perhaps a pet, or a favorite toy, or a special blanket.

    You had an attachment to something.

    Maybe you were attached to an idea like snowing on Christmas Eve, or the perfect family, or the perfect vacation.

    Take a deep breath. Feel your breath go past your lungs, past your chest, into your belly. And release.


    When you are ready, write about a safe place … either a real place from your childhood, or an imaginary place.

    You could also write about an item, a person or an animal that brings you comfort and joy.

    Other prompts that work well with this visualization:

    Back in the Day

    The way I found out about . . .

    Just Write!

    Marlene C

  • Jon Batiste, radar, and writing

    Jon Batiste

    “I believe this to my core, there is no best musician, best artist, best dancer, best actor,” he began. “The creative arts are subjective and they reach people at a point in their lives when they need it most. It’s like a song or an album is made and it’s almost like it has a radar to find the person when they need it the most.” — Jon Batiste, during his 2022 Grammy winner for best album acceptance speech

    I think writing can be included in the creative arts category.

    When we’re lucky, our writing radar picks up news and events when we need them to enhance our writing.

    And that includes writing communities like The Write Spot.

    Welcome! I’m so glad you are here.

    The Write Spot Resources Page:

    Writing Blogs and Websites

    Places to submit writing

    Community groups

    Writing magazines

    ~Marlene

    #justwrite #iamwriting #iamawriter

    Marlene C

    ,

  • Brevity Blog seeks submissions

    Brevity Blog is the place to discuss issues related to the writing of creative nonfiction. “Though we don’t shy away from important issues in the writing community, the Brevity blog can also often be colloquial, personal, and at times irreverent or humorous, and our most popular posts tend to be those that are the least academic.”

    Appropriate topics for the Blog include the craft of writing nonfiction, issues in editing and publishing, writing conference and creative writing classroom experiences, interviews with writers or editors, prompts, close reading of essays or essayists, or specific issues that challenge us as we attempt to capture true experiences on the page. 

    Word Count: 500 to1,000 word range (sweet spot is 850).

    Brevity Online Journal also welcomes submissions.

    Marlene C

    ,

  • The next thing . . . Prompt #641

    Writing Prompt:

    The next thing I want to do . . .

    Just Write!

    #justwrite #iamawriter #iamwriting

    Marlene C

  • On My Mind . . . Prompt #640

    Today’s Writing Prompt:

    What’s really on my mind . . .

    Just Write!~

    #justwrite #iamawriter #iamwriting

    Marlene C

  • Instructions for See’s Candy: A Love Song Learned from My Mother

    Memorable writing that sparks imagination. Lean in. Hear the writer’s voice on the page.

    Instructions for See’s Candy: A Love Song Learned from My Mother

    By Susy Pareto

    “Life is a box of chocolates. Here’s how you do it,” she said without another word.

    Pick up a piece.
             chocolate filling
             marzipan
             truffle
             brickle
    Pause to note the smooth, warm texture between thumb and finger. 

    Now, bring it to your mouth,
    And slowly,
               steadily,
                          bite down.

    Teeth cut through the buttery darkness
    Like cutting blades on a garden clipper
    The sweetness seeps out like sap
               covers the tongue
               coats the palate
               transforms the sides into
                        cool
                        creamy chocolate-y cocoa-y
                        truffle-y nougat-y praline-y
                        other-worldly
                        let-me-lie-down and dreamil-y

    Eyes closed.
    Nothing exists but mouth,
    And tongue,
                twirling, swirling, luring
    All thoughts into one luscious lump of pleasure.
                  Chocolate.

    And I want you again, and again, and again 

    A lifelong love affair, long after she’s gone.

    Susy Pareto writes, gardens and lives in Petaluma, California. A former translator, she spent many years in Europe and holds a BA in Design and an MA in Linguistics. Her favorite pieces are as yet unpublished.

    Marlene C

    ,

  • The Freedom of Freewrites

    The freedom to write whatever you want.

    Writing freely is like soaring with no limitations.

    Freewrites can lead to:

    ~ Ruminating, resulting in new thoughts.

    ~ Discovery, leading to innovative realizations

    ~ Revelations, finding the “aha”

    ~ Exciting, uncover fresh ideas

    ~ Jubilations, the joy of making connections

    Writing prompts can help generate writing.

    There are over 800 writing prompts on The Write Spot Blog, as well as a list of places where you can submit your writing.

    Just Write!

    #justwrite #iamwriting #iamawriter

    Marlene C