How does one sum up a weekend like this one? Every time I try, my mind fills with a kaleidoscope of images that cover a spectrum of beautiful faces, bright colors, book covers, poetry and prose, rainbow hair and amazing costumes. It seems strange to me that I haven’t always known these people, that it
I’ve been battling migraines and all of their attendant baggage off and on for about two weeks. Only two days were really bad, but the up and down is exhausting. Today the headache is only mild, but the nausea is yucky and my sinuses are cranky. This is the start of my fourth week in
August is something of a transition month for me. When I lived in Upstate New York as a kid, it had this impending feeling of autumn, but with the heat and free spirit of summer. Corn of the cob and macaroni salads filled picnic tables, kids splashed about in Lake Ontario, and trees were just
There is something I love about the freedom in a short story. There is no obligation to begin at the beginning, in fact it is sometimes more fun to jump in somewhere in the middle. Short stories ask more skill of us authors, in some ways, than a full length novel. There is the challenge
I love words. I love long words, short words, weird words. I love unusual words and common words. I love combinations of words that absolutely, perfectly describe something or someone. I love twisting words around until they come out just right. I’ve been drawn to words and how we use them to communicate since I
You may recall me talking about a collection of poetry recently. This morning, I woke to the news that my publisher, Next Chapter publications, already has it available to purchase! How awesome is that? This collection of poems comes from across more than 30 years of writing poetry and covers the gambit from sweet, rhyming
Here we are on the other side of Pride month. My work on the anthology is complete and turned in, I have only a small amount of Pride paperwork to finish, the new job is starting to settle in. That must mean it’s time to get my “normal” life back, right? For some value of
Today is the submissions deadline for the short story anthology that I am editing for the Sirens Conference, a benefit anthology that will help defray the costs of running a conference like this one. This year we opened up submissions to include poetry and flash fiction, as well as the short stories we’ve always accepted.
It’s early on a Saturday morning and I am up, showered and dressed (for some value of dressed anyway). There is coffee sending up steam and the aroma of goodness on the desk next to me, most of my house is clean and I have a weekend stretched out in front of me. Today I
My those two weeks of vacation disappeared in a flash! I had an amazing time visiting Rome and Pompeii and Florence and Venice and Paris! Lots of great food and lots of wonderful vistas. I got home last week, but was unfortunately sick with a cold I picked up in Paris. Woke up with it
Natalie J. Case 