Writer Focus

Love is Fickle, and so are Knuckleballs

New writer spotlight and update on June writing challenges

How much is the internet worth? Great question, right? And that is only a start today of the excellent writing some of our new writers on Illumination have created. Today we have two very different love stories, some baseball allegory and a call to the priesthood. Get ready for some eclectic and informative storytelling!

Each day in June I hope to feature a few articles from writers that have just recently been added to the publication. I am doing this because I want to make a point of welcoming and getting acquainted with the new writers, and doing a feature allows me to read some of their work and pick items that catch my eye each day.

My hope is to get these authors a few extra eyes on their writing and perhaps gain a few fans that otherwise might not have seen their work. If these new-to-Illumination writers don’t have bios yet, we hope they write one soon so we can add it to our growing list:

But until then, my aim is to choose a handful of writers from the ranks of the newly added to Illumination and highlight one of their articles. Then I will have an ask of them afterward (Hint: I will ask that they pay it forward by doing the same thing for other writers).

Plus, an ongoing list of writer challenges follows the feature articles below! So, without further ado:

New Writer Spotlight

Our first story today is a love story of sorts. Join Nehal Sharma as she remembers an amazing woman and role model.

Nehal helps us remember that life is short, and we should take every opportunity to spend time with those we love in this warm and heartfelt piece:

Keeping with the love theme is a story about a 5-year romance that ventures into places that not many love stories go. Follow Apollonia Torres as she shares the ups and downs of a romance largely conducted at a distance.

If you ever had that one person that you can’t seem to get out of your mind, then Appolonia’s story will resonate and inform. Read her electronic message in a bottle sent out in hopes that one particular person will find it here:

Life is never simple. As the saying goes, sometimes life throws you a curveball. But, as Cameron Engle will explain, that may not be the worst thing in the world.

In fact, it isn’t actually the curveballs that mess us up, sometimes something even less predictable comes flying through our strike zone. Take a few minutes to learn some baseball-related wisdom that will inspire and inform. Knock the dirt off your cleats and read this great story:

We all have our own unique stories, but I am inclined to believe that not too many people find themselves with two passed opportunities to enter Catholic priesthood.

Read Vic Alcuaz‘s account of preparing twice to become a priest, but eventually finding out his calling was elsewhere in this interesting article:

Finally, we have a writer that asks a very intriguing question: “How much is the internet worth?” That seems like a question that may not actually have an answer, and that is exactly why Ariful Islam set out to research and find a response.

Using some relatively scientific approaches, Ariful attempts to place a dollar amount on the internet and discusses the concepts of absolute value versus potential value in this thought-provoking story:

Let’s Make a Connection

Next I want to broker an introduction of the new writers tagged in this article and one of our editors and/or writers who has been at Illumination for a bit.

A writer that has been with Illumination since the start, and who has the amazing ability to navigate topics from the extremes of silly to the sublime moments that make us all human, Charles Roast is a storyteller who can bring you to tears from either sympathy or laughter, and sometimes both.

Check out one of Charles’ recent humor pieces, then did deeper in his collection to experience his full range of writing chops. Keep a Kleenex handy and start here:

If you want to connect with me or any of the editors, please consider joining the Illumination Slack workgroup. You can request an invitation to Slack by contacting Dr Mehmet Yildiz from this link. Please type “Request for Slack” on the heading as Dr. Yildiz has many other requests from this link.

I am always willing to answer questions and provide information for anyone. The other editors and writers are as well. Slack is the best way to interact if you have questions.

If you need some tips to get up and running on Slack, this article is a good starting point:

The Big Ask

As promised, if I featured your story here, or are reading this and feel inspired, I encourage you to pay forward the concept of highlighting the work of others.

Please consider choosing another writer (or writers) and creating a story that emphasizes aspects that you appreciate about their work. It could be their style, topic choices, voice, technical aspects of writing, or maybe you just like their profile picture.

I am confident that when you do this you will find that your own writing work gets better. In many ways I believe that the person that brings attention to others’ work benefits even more than the recipient. That is one of the core premises and values of Illumination, and when you engage you will find that you reap dividends. I encourage you to give it a whirl. And, when you do, tag me in your article. I love being exposed to stuff I might not have otherwise seen.

Bonus Gift — The Writing Challenge

There are two types of writers in the world. Those who have experienced writer’s block, and those that will.

One of the great remedies to the question, “What do I write next?” is responding to a prompt or challenge provided by another writer. I personally have benefitted significantly from this and, to some extent, this section is a bit self-serving because I want to have some handy prompts to write about occasionally.

Older prompts

Some older prompts I have been involved in are: If I wasn’t a writer I would…, Self-Discovery during lock down, a funny video prompt, and a musical prompt.

List of New Challenges and Prompts

I am hoping to develop a list of newer prompts with their originators. Send me your writing prompts! Here’s what we have so far:

Kevin Buddaeus

Sarah E Sturgis

Sherry McGuinn

Tree Langdon ♾️

B. A. Cumberlidge.

If you are participating in or originating a challenge and you want to include it here for people to find, either respond to this article or hit me up on Slack (@timothykey).

Next Group

Tomorrow I will pull from this new group of recently added writers:

Cortney Cino, Ruby Melone, Linda Latt, Louise Morris, Diana Rus, Hadir Ramadan, Aaron Joseph Hall, Furkan SAATCİOĞLU, Nicole Smiths, John Kremer, Kemi Bateye, Mahbub Zaman, Tara A, Jinna Halperin, Michael Burg, MD, Ozge Kantas, Ph.D., The Crabbler, Mystère Poème, Sharon Turnoy, Denisa Cerna, denise scholander, Chris Carter, Scott Kinkade, Syed Muhammad Khan, Wendy Van de Poll, Beth Stormont, Megan Preston Meyer, Rasatheauthor, Lee Dixon, Ashley Broadwater, Caleb Mackie, Vipula Gupta, Kelsey Kryger, Adrian Janiszewski, Felicity Leo, Mimo, Lorida Cito, Sharon Brandon (Readywriter59), Devin Arrigo, Dr. Jackie Greenwood,

If you want me to highlight one of your stories in particular, or have any questions just respond to this story, or better yet, find me on Slack!

Thanks for reading, I am enjoying getting to know all the new writers on Illumination!

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Timothy Key spent over 26 years in the fire service as a firefighter/paramedic and various fire chief management roles. He firmly believes that bad managers destroy more than companies, and good managers create a passion that is contagious. Compassion, grace and gratitude drive the world; or at least they should. Follow me on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter, and join the mail list.