Tag: featured
The Full Catastrophe, One Year Later: Unexpected Gifts
By Casey Mulligan Walsh When I began writing personal essays fifteen years ago, one of things I valued most was forming close connections with other writers. Having lived a life filled with an unusual amount of loss and trauma, topics we still don’t discuss openly in our culture, learning that my earliest readers—primarily critique partners—were […]
Back to Color, Back to Life: Behind My Book Sacred Curiosity By Britney Winn Lee
By Britney Winn Lee If you’ve noticed fewer fireflies lately, you’re not imagining it. The beetles that create those summer flashes of light are disappearing, victims of shrinking habitat. What fascinates me isn’t just their vanishing act, but how they work: a substance in their bodies mixes with oxygen to produce light without flame, without […]
From Barnyard to Bookshelf: Writing My Life as a Dairy Vet
By Linda Rhodes Other than various essays in college, all I had experience writing were scientific papers published in peer review journals. I’m not sure why I signed up for a weeklong course in memoir writing. I knew I had some crazy stories from the late 1970’s when I was the only woman large animal […]
How Science Shapes What I Write
On a freezing night in Illinois, I received a phone call from India. A scene from a Bollywood movie flashed through my mind: a beautiful heroine, phone slipping from her hands, her life fracturing into a before and after, aptly depicted by the movie screen splitting into two. But I was not, am not, a […]
Rae Dumont Interviews Lyman, from In the Shadow of Silence, a Novel
In the Shadow of Silence, a Novel A novel that follows the pursuit of love and joy—until the descent of untreated depression ends with unbearable loss, forcing a family to deal with the shocking and immediate aftermath of suicide. Eva’s lonely childhood has given her an intuitive connection with kids and teenagers. She is a […]
The Inspiration for A Woman in Pink
Before A Woman in Pink, I wrote only in the short form. Small spaces allowed me to say what I wanted to say, and the relatively low stakes kept me comfortable. If I wrote a story or essay that no one wanted to publish, I saved it for later revision or abandoned it. Either way, […]
The Inspiration behind The Stepsister’s Secret by Karen King
by Karen King The Stepsister’s Secret is my eight psychological thriller. I’ve also had thirteen women’s fiction novels published with another one due out in April. I’m often asked where I get the ideas for my stories from – as I’m sure are other authors. It’s sometimes difficult to pin down where the inspiration actually […]
The Role of Cats in My Writing
by Sharon Marchisello Cats have been in my life since I was four years old, when I got my first pet. They’re great confidantes and companions. But they haven’t played a big role in my writing, apart from climbing on my keyboard to divert attention from my WIP. However, in my new series—the DeeLo Myer […]
Small Press Pages February 2026
We’re halfway through Black History Month here in the US, and to celebrate, I’m highlighting books by Black authors whose work pulses with truth, insight, and depth. As a white reader, this month’s column isn’t about speaking for anyone; it’s about paying attention and reading widely, gratefully, and with joy. Across genres and generations, these […]
What Makes a Hero?
By Magda Mizzi Some years ago, I was asked to write a senior high school unit for a new syllabus at the school where I was teaching. I jumped at the chance. Immediately, I knew what I would focus on: the narrative of the hero, because who doesn’t like to learn about the heroes that […]
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