Big shoutout to Virginia Watts, one of the OGs at OSP! Her short story collection, ECHOES FROM THE HOCKER HOUSE, just landed on the shortlist for the 2024 da Vinci Eye Award and the Eric Hoffer Book Award. As the editor on this project, I gotta say, these stories are straight-up mesmerizing. They’ll take you on a journey you will not be able to forget, and I wouldn’t be surprised if you binge-read the whole thing in one go. Virginia, you’re killing it! Fingers crossed for the win! PS. Virginia already won this one!
bsolutely delighted to extend a warm invitation to join us for a Current Words One-And-Done Session—an exclusive and enjoyable opportunity designed specifically for fiction and memoir writers to refine their skills in a highly supportive environment. And guess what? It comes at no cost to you!
Picture this: a virtual gathering hosted by Di and Dave (D&D), happening from 9-11 AM Pacific time on select Saturdays, and limited to just five participants. In an intimate Zoom setting, you’ll exclusively share your work with D&D along with the other participants. D&D will come prepared for a deep dive into your work, seeking out your distinctive patterns, challenges, and talents as an author.
Here’s the rundown on how to secure your spot: shoot us an email with a 450-550 word snippet of your writing at workshops@currentwords.com. Don’t forget to include your full name and the genre you’re working on (whether it’s short stories, long-form fiction, or memoir). Once you snag a spot, expect an email with exclusive instructions and the meeting URL. Prepare to join our small-group discussion via Zoom, where we’ll give your work the thoughtful attention it truly deserves.
Wondering why you should participate? Every writer has unique qualities—some that add zest to their writing, others that might slow it down. Have you ever pondered the role of an editor or what it’s like to be edited? Find answers to these questions, connect with a small group of fellow authors, and get a boost to your enthusiasm—all in a brief Saturday morning session.
Few things boost a writer’s productivity more than mingling with other authors. We’re eager to dive into your creative world, share in this enriching experience, and connect with our fellow wordsmiths.
Remember, this is completely free of charge! D&D have been extending a helping hand to fellow authors since their bi-monthly free workshop started at their home in 2017. We genuinely enjoy the company of other authors and can’t wait to explore your words, embarking on this exciting writing journey together.
To secure your spot, simply shoot an email to workshops@currentwords.com with 450-550 words of writing for our review.
We’ll then send you the first available date, followed by a Zoom link if you’re able to attend. Looking forward to seeing you at the virtual gathering!
Anthony Doyle’s story is up for story of the year at SPILLWORDS!
“Brain in a Jar” is a haunting father-and-son story that deals with who men are, and who they have to prove they are.
As you know if you read my blog, Anthony wrote the novel I published, HIBERNACULUM, and it is one of my favorite books. I published it because I was stunned by his story-telling, and I still am.
Anthony is an indie writer really trying to make it, and notice like this helps a lot.
So please, if you have a moment, give Anthony a vote!
I also made him a write-in for SPILLWORDS author of the year.
Aside from doing my own writing, and teaching and tutoring, I’m in the publishing biz. And, during my six years doing that I have really been delving into this topic over and over, not even for myself, in all honesty, but for the truly very talented authors I have helped to publish who I think should be making a living from their writing, because most authors are not making a living from their writing.
And, the ones that are, are probably working their social-media butts off, and probably not fully making a living. They probably have gainfully employed spouses, with health benefits, and are making a contributing amount as an author, but not a rent-paying amount. That is my guess, for the “in general” group. There are always outliers. But, there are not very many of those.
So I offer you two articles to read which I find helpful as an author for keeping me grounded:
THIS ONE:
AND THIS ONE:
May you write a good novel and finish it, and may it find its readers.
I think politics are extremely important, because they determine what rights I have as a woman in the United States, and, over the past few years, I lost the right to my own body because of them. Which is really a sickening thought. I do not own me. And now we lost Senator Feinstein, who worked tirelessly to get me control of my own body, and protect me from gun violence, and tried to help to keep me in control of my own body. With her in the photo is former UC Chancellor, Sue Desmond-Hellmann, and another hero of mine, Congresswoman Nancy Pelosi, Speaker Emeritus, and one heck of a fighter.
I know many people will use the occasion of Senator Feinstein’s passing to jump on the bandwagon that she was impaired in her last year of service. As a person who has always given my service to others, I know how hard it can be to stop doing this, even when it would benefit you to do so. I understand. And, maybe, in hangin on, she has brought us to a conversation we need to have about how long people keep going. As a very late bloomer, I’m not sure how I feel about that.
And, MOST CERTAINLY, the work she wanted to get done is not done: guns are still killing people and I have lost ownership of my body, so I can imagine she felt it difficult to stop fighting for those things.
Rest in peace, dear Senator Feinstein. I am so proud to share a name with you, so proud to have twice had you as my senator, and I am so deeply grateful for your service.
It’s corn season! And I feel duty-bound to report to my fellow pigness owners that not only do piggies LOVE corn husks, they go crazy for corn silk, which, in our family, we call pighetti.
Yes, you read it here first. When it gets into the dictionary… it’s mine: pighetti: corn silk for pignessess.
Just trim off the yucky brown bits, and there you go! Happy pignessess! Pighetti season!
The first thing I felt myself noticing about the film Asteroid City was how orange everything was.
The orange was gorgeous, and a device of course, and part of what makes it a poem.
The movie is a poem.
The movie is a poem because it is not a full and complete story as much as it is a full and complete poem about grief.
The mother who has died in the color part of the movie is just an actress, and the story of her surviving family is just part of the script of the play, and in the black and white part of the movie, she is still alive and well, and it is actually the playwright who has died. Which, in the narrative, makes sense as the color part of the movie, the play, remains unfinished.
Some people. might mildly enjoy the film’s “story” and leave feeling unsatisfied, because they do not understand poetry, and they do not understand that it is a poem.
If there is a central theme to the black and white section of the film, it is creative people doubting their creativity, and struggling to manage their “art” while they live, or not, their lives.
If there is a central theme to the color part of the movie I would say it is people trying to manage the relationships in their lives, and struggling to be open about their struggles and emotions, because they are too concerned about the affect they will have on those around them, who they love.
But the overall theme of the film is just the feeling, the feeling of wanting something special to happen, the feeling of wanting lives that end to go on indefinitely, the feelings of wanting to be accepted in the full splendor of our own weirdness, the feelings of how hot and uncomfortable and trapped life can feel, and then, in a whiff, all the circumstances and all the people you were worrying about are gone when you wake up. And maybe you weren’t ready. And the world is so orange, and the world is so grey, and can we connect more than superficially, and do we know what to do when everyone has gotten up and gone, and we’re still working things out?
If you need a thread… if you need a frame around your story… if you need a linear: “…and then this happened and then this happened and then this happened…,” sort of story that you can successfully sum-up for another human, this might not be your movie. But that is no reason to slam it. It is a lush, and sparse, and warm, and disconnected, and full-of-feeling poem. And like life, the end moves into the current space and time, and you probably were not ready for it. But that doesn’t mean we slam it based on our own short-comings, and our own reluctance to let go of the handrail, and float in a poem masquerading as a film. One very interesting thing about my daughter, which may be, in part, a reflection of her coming up as a consumer of reels, she is not so bound to the linear in story-telling, and she went with it. She liked it; she got it enough to be entertained, and she didn’t ask too much more of it.
And it seems like many people didn’t get it, and were none too pleased that it looked and felt like
The family in Moonrise Kingdom has four children, one female teen in crisis, and three small hellions for sons. Asteroid City has the same: one male teen in crisis, and three small hellions for daughters. But no neat ending. Grief is not neat.
Asteroid City is a poem. If you like poetry, you might like seeing a movie that is only masquerading as a film, and is, in truth, a poem. I loved it.
Dianne Pearce Writes 