Category: The Writing Life

  • “The Dare” by Rachel Unkefer

    I entered my first short story contest in 2009 on a dare—and won. Until then I never considered submitting a story for publication. I thought of myself as an unpublished novelist, not a writer of short stories. Since then, I’ve had four more stories and a poem published. But this is not a story about publishing.…

  • “The Power of Friendship and Latino/a Identity” by Comadre Nora Comstock

    I have always been a reader—not a writer. Occasionally someone would bring to my attention a book by a Latino writer, and I would purchase and read it. The story filled my soul and made me yearn for more, but the idea of seeking out Latino/a writers to read and interview did not occur to me…

  • “Wearing Three Hats” by Clarinda Harriss

    Wearing three hats is uncomfortable.  Wearing more than three is unwieldy to the point of immobilizing you, which is probably just as well because you look ridiculous.  The hats I totter under are beret, mortarboard, schoolmarmish cloche, black prison uniform cap, fedora with press pass stuck in the brim, and flapper’s feathered whimsy. There’s a…

  • “On Your Mark, Get Set – Freelance!” by Sonja Patterson

    Writing is similar to running a marathon. But as a freelancer, you may find yourself crouched at the starting-line, waiting for the pistol to fire—or more literally, a pitch to be accepted—so you can commence the race—I mean, the writing.  From pitch to publication, a full year passed before my feature article, “No Man’s Band,” (about…

  • Reflections: p.m. korkinsky

    P. M. Korkinsky lives with a large dog of indeterminate heritage in a small apartment in DC. Both poet and dog spend many hours wandering the city in search of words. When not writing poetry, Korkinsky blogs at www.zendogjourney.com about dogs that suffer from separation anxiety. Late Night Jazz, a collection of experimental prose poetry,…