Works Published in 2024:
Together. First published piece of 2024! Brought to you by Ghost Light Lit in their inaugural issue, ‘Together’ is a small piece with amazing imagery. I love this piece! (The layout is a bit odd, but I’m on page 27.)
Works Published in 2023:
The Graveyard on Church Street. This is a very personal poem for me, even more so than usual. I’ll be doing a blog post about it shortly. Needless to say, The Graveyard on Church Street is a real place and I am writing from my lived experiences in that place. I started submitting this piece in late August and, while there were a number of publications that passed on it, the one consistent review was how striking the imagery is. I make pretty pictures with my words. In the end, Poetry Catalog picked it up and surprised me with an acceptance on the same day it is to be published. Pretty nice surprise for a Monday morning! If you would like to read more about this poem, please come on over to the Random Thoughts page.
Void. This poem lived in my head for a while, but once it was finally born, it was the quickest movement from editing to submission to acceptance! I finished it on July 21st, started submitting it the same day, and got the acceptance email on July 28th! Pretty amazing considering there are other submissions from February that I’m still waiting to hear back on. (Writing and publishing are NOT fast-moving things and require nerves of steel.) Anyway, Void was born from the existential dread so many of us are feeling these days and asks the question: If you scream into the Void, what happens if it screams back? Picked up by Dark Winter Press and Literary Magazine. So what causes YOU to scream in to the Void?
Sebastian the Safety Squirrel. This one may be familiar to some of you. Way back in 2017, when we were all screaming into the void (which frightened the void and made it scream back at us, but that’s a story for another day), I had entered one of the nycmidnight contests. I forget which round this was, but never mind. The prompt I was given was comedy, a foot race, and a police officer. And, much like the void, I panicked. I’m a funny person, but I don’t write comedy. Yeah? In sheer desperation, I tweeted out to some of the best comedy writers I’ve ever read: Jenny Lawson (aka The Bloggess) and Christoper Moore (author of such gems like LAMB). I asked for advice. They each suggested I read the other, because of course they did. Adam and I did some brainstorming. I may or may not have started drinking. I figured that the general inclination would be to have a police officer chasing a suspect and I wanted to do something that was NOT expected. And, thus, Sebastian the Safety Squirrel was born. It’s brilliant, if I do say so myself. I still can’t read it without cracking up. I never had hopes of having it actually published, but then I figured what the hell, started submitting it, and to my absolute joy, it was picked up by The Viridian Door. I hope you enjoy it!
Faces. A form of apophenia, face pareidolia is where elements of an object resemble a face. Most people experience this from time to time. For me, the big one is the marble tiles in my shower; there are a LOT of faces in the pink and white and gray swirls. There’s a couple of different presidents (no one recent), Batman, and Heath Ledger’s Joker among others. Yeah, I’m weird that way. This poem, Faces, is about that phenomenon and was selected by Tap Into Poetry for their 4th issue!
The Sea Cannot Turn to Stone. This is my longest poem to date, coming in at around 750 words, cut from the original 1,000. The Sea Cannot Turn to Stone was born from a prompt given by my friend, Jaime Dill and her journal, Full Mood Magazine. She had put out a submission call on the theme “Mythos” and I jumped in with glee. While ultimately we decided that my poem was not necessarily the right fit for Full Mood, I was able to find a home for it with JAKE, The Anti-Literary Magazine and I am thrilled. I love this piece so much.
This is a retelling and reimagining of the Medusa myth. There are several origin stories for Medusa, including the one where Medusa was a human woman who was raped in Athena’s Temple. Athena, in her anger and jealousy, cursed Medusa, turning her into the monster we all know and love. This is the origin story I am exploring here, looking at what happened to Medusa after she was turned into a monster. Obviously, given the origin story, this piece does carry a Content Warning for Sexual Violence, although the act itself is not graphically described and is only mentioned in one stanza. Please heed the warning and do not read it if it will make you uncomfortable.
Works Published in 2022:
Wise Woman and Burning Bridges. I have been submitting a lot of poetry lately, which is both exciting and frightening. Poetry is so extremely subjective and personal (at least for me). These two poems, Wise Woman and Burning Bridges, were both selected by Suburban Witchcraft Magazine for publication in their third issue. Wise Woman is even the first piece in the issue and Burning Bridges is one of my favorites poems. Funny note about Wise Woman: this was actually written towards a specific prompt from another publication, which then rejected it. Like I said, poetry is incredibly subjective, but I hope you enjoy these pieces!
Fractured. Occasionally, journals will put out calls for submissions with a certain theme or prompt. This was one of those times. Intangible Magazine’s prompt was for ‘kaleidoscope,’ which pulled images into my mind of pieces of me scattered onto the floor. Pieces that individually would seem insignificant, nothing, trash, but when pulled together and viewed through the light, would coalesce into something beautiful.
Bleeding. Y’all may recognize this one. I originally published it here on my Random Thoughts page the day that SCOTUS overturned Roe V Wade. Not too long after, I saw a call from Livinia Press looking for pieces related to Reproductive Rights and I submitted BLEEDING, after first taking it down off the blog. I am honored to have been included in this important publication. Abortion care is health care. Reproductive rights are human rights. This journal is available in both print and Kindle editions through Amazon. All proceeds will go to Center for Reproductive Rights. Buy it here: Livina Press: Fight For Reproductive Rights
Ruby, one of my longest pieces at 4,025 words, published by Sundial Magazine. In the middle of the Great Depression, Josephine Kingley searches for the daughter taken from her at birth, even though doing so means she has to risk losing her own identity. This was originally a piece for a NYCMidnight contest back in 2018-ish; the prompts were Historical Fiction, mistaken identity, and….shit, I forget what the third one was. Anyway, I had the story all together (the word limit was 2,000) and was ready to submit when something happened and I actually missed the deadline by less than 2 minutes. Anyway, I was super pleased with it and let some people read it. One of those people was Robert, the office manager of the veterinarian hospital where I was working at the time. He playfully grumbled at me that the story wasn’t finished yet. Hey, I like open-ended stories and I was up against a hard word count limit. But after a while, I started revising it and it ended up at just a tad over 4,000 words. The true conclusion is still unknown. The Happy Ever After is uncertain. No story is ever really over; it always continues for someone.
The Sycamore Table, a flash fiction of 995 words, published by Bright Flash Literary Review. Johann grapples with the thought of his missing wife and the concern that his daughter might one day reveal the truth of a horrific day.
Half-Life, a poem of just 17 lines. This can be found in the inaugural issue of Mental Rhythm Magazine. Content Warning: attempted suicide.
Works Published in 2020:
When May Came, a flash fiction piece of around 1000 words, published by Flash Fiction Magazine. In it, teenager June discovers the horrific truth of her eccentric family.
Works Published in 2018:
Burning Day, a poetry/flash piece of 123 words, was submitted as part of Cauldron Anthology's flash contest at the beginning of 2018, and appears on page 14 of Issue 4: Season. Their website can be finicky and requires Flash, but they publish a lot of lovely stuff.
The After, a flash fiction piece of 977 words, has been published by Chantwood Magazine in Issue 13. In a dystopian world where modern technology no longer exists, Lella must deal with the repercussions after a crash of a forbidden truck claims the life of her girlfriend, Izbet. UPDATE: As of 02/27/2023, it appears that Chantwood Magazine is not longer running, which is a damn shame. I’m not sure when that happened. A friend of mine, who is an incredible actor, is going to be doing a reading of this piece and with her permission, I will post it once it’s done.
Works Published in 2017:
The Kalip Woman, a short story of 2,851 words, published by The Cauldron Anthology in their second issue, which had the theme 'sphinx'. The Kalip Woman spends her days sitting outside the big stone house by the great river, answering the questions of anyone who seeks her wisdom. When a stranger with no questions visits, she begins to question her purpose, eventually remembering who (and what) she truly is.
Genesis, a short story of 2,190 words, published by Twisted Sister Lit Mag. This is one of my favorite pieces, edited by Kat Howard. After an apocalypse leaves Annie as the sole-survivor in her town (and maybe the world), she struggles to find food and prepare for the coming winter. Told from the perspective that she is speaking to her dead(?) lover, she begins to hallucinate and becomes more paranoid as she wonders if she is truly alone after all. The style of this piece was inspired by Maria Dahvana Headley's short story And the Winners Will Be Swept Out to Sea, although she is much more talented than I am. EDITED TO ADD: As of March 2024, the direct link to this publication no longer works. If you wish to read the story (and thank you if you do), please see the Random Thoughts section where you will find the story.
Works Published in 2016:
Widow's Walk, a flash fiction of 790 words, was selected for narration in the Bibliophone 1000 Words Heard contest. Read by Suzie Althens, Widow's Walk shows us Margie, an older woman living in an island community, as she thinks back to a lost love after learning that her disabled husband is dying. Widow's Walk also received an Honorable Mention in the Wow! Women on Writing's Winter 2016 Flash Fiction Contest (not published).
The Waitress, a short story of 2,145 words, placed in the Top 12 of the Channillo 2016 Short Story Contest. Channillo is a subscription site. The Waitress is a snapshot of a late night diner, it's customers, and the thread that connects them all: their waitress.
The Touch, a micro-fiction piece of just 66 words, was chosen for the inaugural issue (Issue 1) of Speculative 66, a new on-line literary magazine. It was published in both digital and audio formats and is very cool. It would take more words to explain the story than are actually in the story, so you should just go read it. Edited to add: The link works weird for this one. You'll need to look at the past issues for Issue One. That's the one I'm in.
The Cicatrix, a short story of 1,498 words, received 4th Place in the Short Fiction Break/The Write Practice 5th Anniversary Writing Contest. In The Cicatrix, Lori grows up under the shadow of her mother's mental illness, turning to her favorite tree and it's cicatrix for comfort.
Best Wishes, Melinda Rissmann, a flash fiction of 737 words, was awarded a Runners Up distinction in the Wow! Women on Writing's Spring 2016 Flash Fiction Contest. In Best Wishes, Melinda Rissmann, a famous author sees her ex-husband at a book signing and finally obtains closure.
Works Published in 2015:
Swinging, a flash fiction of 545 words, was awarded a Runners Up distinction in the Wow! Women on Writing's Summer 2015 Flash Fiction contest and was my first published work. In Swinging, a grieving mother reminisces about her daughter.