Tag Archive

I was (Almost) a Twentysomething Jeopardy! Contestant

Nonfiction by Mary Catherine Owen

“1977 film in which Luke Skywalker uses the Force in the struggle between the royal houses of York & Lancaster.”

I know this one. “Before & After” is the category; I do well on these clues anyway, but my obsessive preparation for the Jeopardy! College Championship audition led me to go over all the questions and answers (or rather, answers and questions) of the past five years of championship games. This clue was used in. »

Daily Moments: Getting Started

In the age of the Twilight Saga and Harry Potter, it can be a bit daunting to sit down at a blank page. After all, who doesn’t want to write a series that becomes a world-wide phenomenon? Dreams should be big, but sometimes all we have–to begin with, especially–are small moments. As writers, it’s our responsibility to show the world what these moments can do. In any genre, these little glimpses of reality can be used as tales of their own, or they can be used to springboard into something. »

Sleeping in on Sunday

Nonfiction by Tisha Reichle

I missed mass again. Third Sunday in a row that grading papers, cleaning the apartment, going for a bike ride, or watching football have been more important. After more than thirty-five years of being Catholic, I am ready to. »

What I Didn’t Do for Sam

Nonfiction by Kevin Rabas

Spindly Billy, with his black leather and chains, had me up and pinned to the top lockers. He was about six foot in seventh grade. They had Sam, his head bobbing in the toilet, as they hung onto his head and hair and dunked him. When he was up for air, Sam yelled, “Help, Kevin.”. »

Crossing-Over: On Writing Poetry for the First Time

by Magda Makonnen
So you decide to start writing poetry. You’ve been writing fiction or non-fiction for some time, but this will be your first time committing to writing verse. Where do you begin?

I know crossing-over is no easy task, except for those special few who seem to do it all. How many times have I heard a. »

A Candle in the Dark

Nonfiction by Cj Hayes

It’s cold outside, blustery and nasty—the way that makes joints ache and allergies flare up. Pollen from the redwoods has been painting parked cars green all week, making a sickly mossy mess when the rain inevitably falls. Even now, my head is plugged with the microscopic drift of a dry afternoon.. »

Nights

Nonfiction by Amanda Lee Hickey

1. Take two orange slices and a few sprigs of mint.

2. Squash them together for a few seconds.

3. Add ice.

4. Add one packet of sugar.

5. Add one part Grand Marnier.

6. Another part orange vodka.. »

Three and a Half Weeks

by Geoff(rey) Line

Trucks are a rigger’s temple. I am in a temple, a Chevrolet I-don’t-know-what, trying not to nod off to Ozzie Osbourne’s yells fused with metal guitar. “Let me hear you SCREAM like you WANT it.” Leonard, the driller takes one of the four turns on the fifty minute drive—a hasty brake and thrust to accelerate. “Let me hear you YELL like you MEAN it.” I strain my eyelids open. Leonard steers through the sunrise—premature crow’s feet round his Oakleys. In the passenger seat, Nate our goliath derrick hand, holds a coffee mug with a massive calloused hand on his knee. Beside me, Muscles, the other roughneck, rolls down the window he’s used to ash his butts past a slit, and lobs the first of three empty Red Bulls to the deserted Alberta highway. Artificial wind blusters through as Leonard rips 140 K to the site. Oil. »

Suzanne La Follette

Suzy La Follette wrote her way onto the poetry slam scene in 2002, becoming a force on the stage and placing 6th in the National Poetry Slam in 2003. She is a structure firefighter in Austin while attending Antioch University for a dual major MFA in poetry and creative nonfiction.
Suzy is Associate Editor in both. »