CanNibalistic tadpoles
The beauty of a lumpy, bugeyed tannic elastic species of toad.
Read More CanNibalistic tadpolesWriting workshop etiquette
Do your fucking homework -your mom Writers are notoriously creative. When we get together and talk about writing, the extroverts among us wax poetic—the introverts (if given a chance, and enough pauses by the chatty extroverts) often have great ideas about improving and augmenting a text in workshop. But more loquacious workshoppers and their quieter […]
Read More Writing workshop etiquetteYou write because you must
Learning our craft through community. Finding ourselves inspired by workshops, craft lessons. Writer’s inspiration grows in diverse environments. Lighthouse LitFest 2021.
Read More You write because you mustWhich witch are you?
What the Dead Say: A memoir of life after death Excerpt: Paranormal circus Before I could stop myself I said, “Ha! Paranormal circus for you, huh?” to the owner, as she was checking my daughter out. “What?” “No one has said anything about the guy in the back? He doesn’t bug you?” “What guy?” I’d flustered […]
Read More Which witch are you?Assless chaps
Letter to my son: What do you hear when you hear the music that changed my life? There was an alcove between the restrooms at a bar called Dizzy Duncan’s in the Morris County Mall. In the alcove, an old cigarette machine squatted mellowly in the thin golden light spilling out of the bar. Adjacent, […]
Read More Assless chapsRevision: re-envision, discover
Find the gold in the pan. Revisioning your work as a writer with care and effect.
Read More Revision: re-envision, discoverSong: Selfish as a Sphinx
When you find your voice you find your power. Learn how creating art creates new choices for trauma survivors to express joy and their inner creativity.
Read More Song: Selfish as a SphinxBlown away
I’m never getting over it. I’m never going to heal. The number of family members who supported the evil president and the way we shied away from talking about it. For me, it was like endless, internal bleeding. I kept loving them and I hated them for it. I have so much fucking white privilege […]
Read More Blown awayBaby gimme mod
Give yourself a midcentury modern overhaul or channel the Grandmillennial chic of The Queen’s Gambit.
Read More Baby gimme modLive on earth
Pronounce the title as “live–on earth– LIE-V” A concert for the end of the world. The King of Lies conducts. A volcano choice to erupt against them, the OTHER the ones who will not see it the way they should. Channy sees her feet on soil as a prayer on earth, for earth, pulling from […]
Read More Live on earthBeing an ally: #amplifymelanatedvoices
Female Black poets
Read More Being an ally: #amplifymelanatedvoicesBeen caught stealing
Starting National Poetry Writing Month 13 days in with a found poem prompt.
Read More Been caught stealingBe where you need to be
Whatever your reaction to this, please be kind to yourself.
Read More Be where you need to beCOVID-19 poem
82,404 The latest count of infected here on this land of plenty Times two—one hundred sixty-four, eight hundred and eight. This many lungs pulling fur in the sac instead of air, we pant for hours, we gulp in infected skies The rest of us hold our breath—the spores in the air in flown sputum from careless […]
Read More COVID-19 poemCoronavirus: Obsessive Hand Sanitizing and Other Observations
Fear and hand sanitizer and the coronavirus.
Read More Coronavirus: Obsessive Hand Sanitizing and Other ObservationsClimate Change: Poems for Gaia- Chapbook Launch
Join me March 6 in Manitou Springs Colorado for an art opening at Commonwheel –Responding to Climate Change
Read More Climate Change: Poems for Gaia- Chapbook Launch5 ways to keep to a writing schedule
5 ways from successful writers to keep a writing schedule going. The schedule includes sane plans for marketing; submitting; and spending time in community.
Read More 5 ways to keep to a writing scheduleMaking every Monday my B&^tch (Hound)
Today I sit at my desk with emails answered. I have incredible peace of mind. Why? I finally decided to eat a healthy breakfast! Up at five this morning, it was dark and 6 degrees Farenheit. I couldn’t see Pikes Peak out of my window. I first tackled the dishes from my marathon meal prep […]
Read More Making every Monday my B&^tch (Hound)The problem with Christmas
The problem with Christmas is: The two sides of my personality are arrayed against one another in hand-to-hand, bloody red and money-green-colored combat. On one hand, I revel in movies about sorority houses being invaded by murderous Santas– Krampus is my spirit animal of the season, not Rudolph. On the other hand, I am recording […]
Read More The problem with ChristmasNew flash fiction: inspired by beasts
When I use imagery, often I use the animal world as inspiration. I culturally appropriate their innocence; their victimhood; their beauty. Many of my horror writer idols use beasts and monsters as inchoate expressions of the darkest part of the mind of womyn. If you want to see what you can do with the two […]
Read More New flash fiction: inspired by beastsBillie Eilish: Ms. Magnificent Malaise
Billie Eilish is brilliantly broken–but it’s not her fault.
Read More Billie Eilish: Ms. Magnificent Malaise
Patty Tomsky 