I Can See Clearly Now, the Haze is Gone!
The blue sky over Houston, today, is fairly clear. I guess we have more than two seasons, after all — in addition to “hot and rainy” and “hot and sunny” (with the obligatory treat of “three days’ winter with a glaze of ice”), we have “evil yellow pollen season,” “Saharan dust plume season,” “no burn season,” “on fire season,” and “underwater season” — also known as, “hurricane season,” which we’re technically in right now.
The last few days have been clear, sunny, and about 100 degrees Fahrenheit in the shade, dipping into the mid-70s for a few hours, around 2:00 AM, only to do it all over again around lunch-time. I am thankful for central air-conditioning and ceiling fans, as we are too far inland to get much of a breeze, but not so far from the Gulf of Mexico that we’re not drenched in humidity. I am actually grateful for humidity, too. Have you ever been to “But-It’s-a-Dry-Heat” Arizona? Seven seconds in the jetway in Phoenix, Arizona, and I nearly shriveled up like a beached sponge. You know what else is a “dry heat”? An oven.
More Writing Than I Remembered
Has it really been two weeks since my last newsletter? I guess Ming Qian is too busy writing top-notch stories to nudge me like last time! I’ll admit, it’s a better use of his time: Rasheed Hooda and I started a new Medium Publication: “Reading Rhombus” and Ming Qian kicked things off with “The Problem with Cancel Culture” — getting quadruple-curated in the process!
The idea of this publication is to pay it forward — we’re looking for a very specific kind of Story (that’s actually a lot of fun to write, since it encourages you to go out and read the work of your fellow Medium writers). See “Web Weaving Diamonds” and “Reading Rhombus Submissions Guidelines”, then join in the fun and submit something! All are welcome, and if you still have any doubts about exactly what sort of story we’re looking for, you now have several great examples to read, there: my “Just Don’t Call It a “Project”, Rasheed’s “Four Feisty Females of Medium”, “Reading Racism — 4 Stories That Inspired Me” by Sharon Hurley Hall, and “The Idea of Margin Fascinates Me” by Susan Baker TX.
I’ve been encouraging my friends to branch out a little — it’s easy to get stuck submitting your work to just one or two publications that feel welcoming, comfortable — you know, a little like “Cheers,” where “everybody knows your name.” It can be daunting to branch out to others, even just the 1000 or so official and independent “publications” within Medium’s own ecosphere. But it’s good to stretch your wings and grow. It’s good practice in following submission guidelines and dealing with new requirements, different editors, different styles. If you’re new to Medium, still wondering how to submit to those publications within the site itself, I hope this Story gives you all you need to get started: “Publications on Medium: How Do I Submit Stories to Them?”
But don’t stop there — if you’re serious about your writing, about “being a writer” as I see so many people write that they dream of being, then get out there and submit your work to magazines, book publishers, other eZines.
Here are a few of the other things I’ve written or posted on Medium in the past two weeks.
Short Stories
Poetry
“Rage”
“Christmas Present, from the Past”
“Tanka Trucks” (Did I mention my friend Susan Baker TX has joined Medium? We have a long tradition of goading one another into wordplay, so go follow her, too, and expect more mischief. She’s the one I dared to write a voting Villanelle, two years ago — and of course, once she did, I had to prove I wouldn’t ask of someone what I wasn’t willing to do, myself. See “I’m Still Not Sure What a Villanelle is” and decide for yourself if she’s just being overly modest.)
Non-Fiction
“Past Perfectly, Passive-Aggressive Voice”
“What is the Sound of One Hand Clapping?”
“Fiction for Dessert” (Not to be confused with “Dessert for Breakfast” on my own website — a glimpse at an apocalyptic future I didn’t see coming quite so soon.)
Off to Write Something to Write About Next Week!
Either Write Things Worth Reading or Do Things Worth the Writing
“If you wou’d not be forgotten As soon as you are dead and rotten, Either write things worth reading, or do things worth the writing.”
— Benjamin Franklin
“If thou wouldest win Immortality of Name, either do things worth the writing, or write things worth the reading.”
— Thomas Fuller
From Either Write Things Worth Reading or Do Things Worth the Writing.
Have a marvelous, exciting, writing-worthy week! Till next time — Holly
P.S. Feel free to forward this to all your friends! And if you’re reading this on Medium, be sure to follow this publication to get periodic updates from me.
