This post between regularly scheduled updates is just a quick roundup of new writing from me out in other publications.
I have a flash creative nonfiction piece in Issue 21 of After Happy Hour Review, “Sick Days.” I wrote about a week in April when Veronica was sick. Newshounds can probably place which week it was exactly. While I nursed a feverish toddler, I was also working on volunteer tasks for the Environmental Voter Project and Moms Demand Action. In writing about it all, I tried to capture the tension I feel parenting during these sick days, my worries about the climate, gun violence, and democracy, and also making sure that I stay present in the moment with my child. I am so thankful to After Happy Hour for publishing this piece of my heart and for nominating it for the Pushcart Prize.
I have a prayer, “A Prayer for Insects at the End of the World,” in Geez Magazine’s advent booklet: Prayers for the End of the World, a sort of tongue-in-cheek title for a collection of writing reaching out to souls praying through these times. I realize that not all of the critters I name in the poem are technically insects, but I was trying not to use the word bugs.
At Wild Roof Journal, I have an essay, “The Homestead After Dark”, in which I discuss fear of the dark, darkness as a habitat, and the impact of Artificial Light at Night (ALAN). My favorite parts of this piece are when I compare Julio to a nun and when I use the phrase “whose whos” in reference to an owl… who who…get it? Julio suggested I change it, but I couldn't.
I also recently started as one of two Nonfiction Editors for Kitchen Table Quarterly, a lit mag that I really love. We seek to publish stories that draw on and/or blend personal, cultural, and family histories. Submissions closed at the end of November but will reopen again next year.
That’s it for this year, but I will be hoping for a happy new writing year in 2024.