Where should I submit creative work?

You wrote a thing! Now what? Well, you can always graffiti it in an abandoned warehouse, or chant it around a bonfire under the light of a full moon, but perhaps you want a bit more exposure. Maybe even money. I’ve got a couple things to say about this, but take this post with a whole …

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Creative Writing Submission Do’s and Don’ts

As of this writing, I’ve racked up about 230 submissions and 23 acceptances (which is a super weird coincidence in terms of numbers. I swear, I wasn't aiming for a 10% batting average). If you didn't know how many rejections I'd received, you might assume I wake up every morning and walk around like I rent …

Why do I write?

It’s different every day. Today, for instance, I feel like an entire hive at work within me. Bees have partitioned my bones into their waxy cubicles. Their buzzing is the backdrop rhythm of a city in motion and my thoughts are a sweet elixir on my throat. Writing lets me do this; pour honey from …

Friday

This hour seems truly godless. This dark hour alone, when everyone is asleep or crying through their prayers, and sweating blood isn't a problematic symptom. Everyone's sweating blood now. Get a wipe, get a mask. You're not special in your suffering. This hour seems truly godless. This loud hour when the masses are the murderers. …

When it’s Okay for Dreams to Die: A Journey through “It’s a Wonderful Life”

“It’s a Wonderful Life” remains as relevant as ever even as it comes up on 73 years. Every year when Christmas is well underway, I rewatch it and feel something new, which isn’t something I can say about any other movie. Part of it is me getting older, but I would say most of it's …

From Stardust to Stardust

I read somewhere that we’re made of stardust; that the far corners of the dead cosmos climb into our lungs when we breathe in for the first time, and nest inside our wire-frames every time after. Carbon, they call it. And our bones radiate the stuff long after our meat has grown stale and our …

Loveliness

A bloom of ladybugs is called a loveliness, I think as a tear streaks across my face like a firework scream in the open, July sky. A loveliness. My mom bought a swarm of them once. Let them loose on a golden chain tree bejeweled with aphids. Turned the right way, those green lice hummed …

Bagel’s Blessing

Nothing had knocked the water bottle over. Katrina was rolled on her side, staring in the direction of her nightstand and fighting to fall asleep, when the bottle threw itself off. The cap was unscrewed and the last bit of spilled water sat on the surface of the carpet, slowly sinking in before her mind …

Fresh Bite: Part 2

The moonlight glowed off of Nana's white hair as she hunched in a patch of leafy greens. Her long, knobby fingers wrapped around a bundle of leaves. With a tug, the plant ripped out of the earth leaving a deep pockmark. "Macauley,” she said as she peeled back the cold, damp earth enclosing the rutabaga. …

Queen of Hearts: The Murder of Cynthia Rearden

Cynthia Rearden Her wedding dress was ready but she would never get the chance to walk down the aisle.  On June 20, 1999, thirty-one year old Cynthia was ready for a night at the bar. She had walked to Hayloft Tavern because her car was broken down, but with a leather jacket over her little …