Hi Writers,
We have the first subscriber essay in the new series “writing from inspiration,” Pam Hale’s “Open Heart.” To read the essay, click here. You can read all the previous subscriber essays in our themed series (and leave comments for them) by scrolling down the posts.
Do you have an essay, story, or poem about being inspired? The new subscriber writing call is for poems and essays about receiving inspiration. What has compelled you to act because it was inspiring? A person’s words or actions? A pet’s? A newspaper or magazine article? A speech? Someone else’s writing? An object you own or came across? A play, music, or visual art? A poem? What was your response to the moment of inspiration? How do you carry that inspiration with you, and how has that altered your life? Send your essay or poem or flash piece to me!
Two Class Reminders
There are a couple of rooms left at the hotel for our Lake Garda workshop from September 26 to October 3. It is hot in Europe right now, but luckily, September will bring cooler temperatures and beautiful cold water in the lake.
If you are considering joining us (and maybe going on to visit other European sites when the weather is cooler), let me know. I am happy to talk with you about the workshop, although this website does a good job of presenting it.
I am enrolling for the remaining two-hour session of Prompt(s) & Response on August 12, 9 AM to 11 AM Pacific Time. Enroll here. The class is designed to help you find surprising topics and keep on writing.
This Week’ Resource Links: Articles from Word Smart
Everything is Groovy with This Boomer Slang
When Shoud I Use “Different From” vs “Different Than”
Here is a page of many more to read.
Last Week’ Resource Links
· Silly Goose Press - Special Issue Submission Window: July 1-15, 2026. Silly Goose has opened their submissions for two weeks only for a super fun special issue. From their website: The Sturgeon Moon is set to rise on Thursday, August 27, and we want to leave her an offering. We’re looking for your midnight moonlit mythologies, your odes to the Great Lakes goddesses, your meditations and manifestations, your rites and rituals, and your love letters to the never-topped muse, The Moon. Open to all genres (there’s no one way to worship a Sturgeon Moon after all) and for two weeks only.
· Tupelo Press - Submission Window: July 1-August 31, 2026. Tupelo Press is open for submissions during their summer open reading period. This is not a competition. They will select and publish writing they love. They are open to submissions of full-length and chapbook-length poetry submissions, and they select multiple titles for publication.
· The Drue Heinz Literature Prize - Submissions Open July 1, 2026. The Drue Heinz Literature Prize, awarded by the University of Pittsburgh Press, recognizes and supports writers of literary short fiction and makes their work available to readers around the world. The Prize is open to authors who have published at least three short stories or novellas, or one book-length collection of fiction, or a novel. Please see the website for more details, guidelines, and submission requests.
· Poetry International’s Summer Tiny Chapbook Competition - Submission Deadline: September 1, 2026. Submissions are now open for the 2026 Summer Tiny Chapbook competition. They are accepting chapbook submissions of 8-16 pages, any genre. There is a $20 reading fee.
Read winning flash fiction stories about teachers in and out of the classroom
Subscriber Publishing Successes: Send info about yours to me!
Mona Anderson’s poem, “We Don’t Say What We Mean,” appears in Touchstone,” Vol. 68.1, and her poem “After" has been published in the New Hampshire ACLU’s Poetry Protest Project.
Marlene Samuels’ “I Remember the Wallet” is up now on True Stories Well Told.
Carol Blatter’s essay, “My Right Thumb,” will be on True Stories Well Told at the end of July. Link coming soon.
Rose Ann Woolpert’s novel, Mrs. R. Pacheco, the story of Mary McIntire, a Kentucky girl who wanted to become a playwright and ended up achieving her dreams and also becoming First Lady of California, is out from Historium Press.
Beckie Miller’s book about her son’s murder, Losing Brian - Finding A New Me (Surviving a Child’s Murder), will be available starting July 21st on Amazon, at Barnes and Noble Book Stores, on the Atmosphere Press Website, and other venues in both hardcover and paperback versions.
David D. Horowitz’s poem, “Strings Attached,” recently appeared online in The Asses of Parnassus.
Barbara Simmons’ poem, “Diffusing Peace,” has been accepted for publication in SweetSmell Journal Issue Five. She also heard from Scotia Road Books about another poem, “Hopefully Before Our Expiration Date,” to be published in their anthology, When We Gather to Eat: An Anthology of Hunger, Heritage, & Healing.
Linda Petrucelli’s memoir Mother Tongue was reviewed in the June 1st Kirkus Reviews Magazine (page 151).
Mona Anderson’s poems, “Look Up” and “Ablaze in Red,” are now published in the Northern New England Review, Volume 46.
Gloria Sinibaldi’s memoir, The Cottage and the Chicken Coop: Reflections on Memory, Meaning, and the Quiet Miracles That Shaped Me. Told in lyrical fragments rather than a linear path, The Cottage and the Chicken Coop reveals how meaning often lives in what we overlook. It invites readers to pause, reflect, and recognize the quiet miracles that shape who we become.
Danna Walker’s “The Drive to Natchitoches” appears in Wildgreens (scroll down a bit to see it).
Sue Pace has learned that Raven’s Chronicles will soon publish her very short prose piece about transitions. We’ll have the link soon and put it in the newsletter.
Sandra Hurtes published a two-part essay, “On Writing Prompts,” about how they helped her find a story she wanted to write. You’ll find them both on True Stories Well Told.
Lynda Monk’s new book, The Adoptee’s Guide to Healing, Wholeness & Growth, has just been released by Books that Save Lives.
John Delaney’s collection, Morocco: Poems and Photographs, is out now from Finishing Line Press.
Marianne Vincent’s essay “BorderLess” appears on the People Potential’s blog.
Sandra Hurtes’ essay “1964. Brooklyn” is up on True Stories Well Told.
Mona Anderson’s poem “Ice Blessing” is published in WayWords Literary Journal, Issue 21, on the topic of Wonder.
Author Quote
“Processions, meetings, military parades, lectures, waxwork displays, film shows, telescreen programs all had to be organized; stands had to be erected, effigies built, slogans coined, songs written, rumours circulated, photographs faked.”
― George Orwell, 1984
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