The Battered Bastards of Medium

Introducing my lineup of writers in my daily reading routine.

There is a sports documentary I recently watched on Netflix called “The Battered Bastards of Baseball.” It is about Bing Russell, a blue collar-type supporting role actor who founded an independent minor league team after a thirteen-year stint on the Western series “Bonanza” came to a end.

When Russell learned the Triple A team in Portland, Oregon, was being moved to Spokane, Washington, he came to town like a Western hero and founded a new team, the Mavericks, that was a collection of misfits and oddballs who had all been rejected by Major League Baseball scouts.

Russell found the ballplayers who had been overlooked by the scouts, and with a flair for showmanship similar to Greatest Showman, P.T. Barnum, he encouraged them to flaunt their quirky personalities to add some flair to the team’s games.

If you’ve seen the 1989 classic Major League with Charlie Sheen, that is a picture of the Mavericks who achieved athletic and box office success. They routinely beat teams with players picked to be future pros and set attendance records, Russell’s team winning four division titles in five year in the 1970’s.

It’s a great documentary to watch if you haven’t already seen it, and the best part of the film is the is the has-beens, glory chasers, and iconoclasts who make up the Mavericks’ roster. They were like the Bad News Bears of baseball, derided by profession scouts as being “furry” and “paunchy” in appearance.

The Hell’s Angeles of baseball

They were the Hell’s Angels with baseball bats, and in the spirit and honor of those Mavericks, I thought I would share my team of misfit Medium writers whose talents are often overlooked by the algorithm curators, but not by me.

My team is has oddballs and is not squeaking clean, but that’s why I like them. They’re not trying be something they’re not, and their most special quality is they’re talented writers whom I’ve discovered and befriended on Medium, the kind of people who aren’t shy to give you a clap or a comment to your writing.

So without furthers any ado, let me introduce you to my Battered Bastards of Medium writers, an eclectic mix of different races, gender, ages, and creeds who I am vouching for their word wrangling and recommending you read.

Lu Skerdoo

Leading off is Lu Skerdoo. I’ve linked one of her stories at the end of a few my stories and wrote a short piece in Illumination’s Mirror on why her story, “Sweet Surprise,” was my favorite article on Medium in my month and half journey. I believe it’s one of those stories that flows out of you as a writer and it’s tasty like a slice of pepperoni pizza because of the rich content in the story.

J.R. Spiers

Batting second is J.R. Spiers. What I like about him is his neurodiverse perspective (which I share) in his honesty storytelling in stories like “Chicken Shoes.” You can’t help but like a guy who talks to chickens and reading J.R. will help you gain awareness of what it’s like to have a neurodiverse mind. Two other excellent writers on neurodiversity are Keira-Fulton Lees, found and editor-in-chief at Artfully Autistic, and deep thinking The Silent Wave.

Scott Younkin

Up third is my Medium muse Scott Younkin. His response to my article article, “Memoir Writing is Complicated,” led me to write a follow up article on gender and age divides in memoir writing. His story, “Let me Teach You About the 1950's” reminded me of my childhood when dogs and kids could run more freely than they do today, coming home during lunch or dinner times.

Pam Winter

The clean hitter who can whop a home run with her writing is Pam Winter. I like her narrative style writing and dry humor that’s similar to mine and how she takes you into to the quiet, calm suburban life with plenty of details in the state of Dorothy with a Christian world view mixed naturally into her stories. I recommend “Slow Down and Take a Walk with Me,” especially if you’re a person who often feels harried and wants to slow down the pace of your life.

Kiki Walter

Batting fifth, and I should say one thing all these writers have in common is a love for writing. This is true of Kiki Walters, who runs the editing crew at The Memoirist. I met her in the first week of my writing journey here, and we share a mutual love of memoir writing. She started on Medium right off the bat and it has a growing publication for those who lean into narrative style writing. I like her story “My Happy Massage” for its honest awkwardness.

The tagline for her publication is, “Your Story Deserves to be Be Told,” and I recommend it for those looking for a place to write with depth about your journey. It’s a home for that story that shares a deeper part of yourself and runs longer because the community here expects that of its memoir writers.

Rayvan Hawke

Next up, I have to give a shout out to editors like Ravyan Hawke at Promply Written who is supportive and encouraging to so many new writers like me. She serves up some great daily writing prompts for poetry, fiction and essays. As she says in the tagline to her publication’s homepage, “It’s all About the Prompts,” and I’m grateful for her prompts to take me places in my own mind.

Trista Ainesworth

Seventh on my line up card Trista Signe Ainesworth at Thank You Notes. Trista is another hard-working Medium editor who provides delectable prompts to stir up a writer’s creative juices. She even accepted my off-the-topic Christmas rant that came in my head when I struggled to respond on cue to her prompt.

Thank You Notes is like a cup of coffee in the morning. As Trista says in her “Welcome to Thank You Notes,” she wanted to create a place of gratitude and positivity online and she has accomplished this. Thank You Notes is “the place to thank life, the universe, and those who have helped you in your life.”

Liz Porter

Eighth up is an editor of a fast growing publication, Liz Porter, for those like me over 50 called Boomerangs. She’s fast on the draw to accept or reject your story with a kind note (if it doesn’t fit Boomerang’s focus) of encouragement.

Let me share a little secret to get your view/read percent a bit higher … older people read. They don’t rush around reading a sentence and swiping away like some fly buzzing around for some tasty piece of food to land out. I know because my stats range around 60 to 70 percent for my Boomerang stories.

Ken Middleton

Last but not least, I have to put in another plug for an editor for their tireless volunteer work on behalf of us writers in the trenches on our laptops and this editor of Alcohol is not Your Friend has a heart for helping people in recovery.

A shout out to Ken M. Middleton, who writes insightful stories on recovery, is quick to accept stories related to recovery, knowing writers tend to become a bit antsy and maybe even jonesing waiting to hear back from a publication. His response time to a submission won’t have you pulling out your toenails.

My pinch hitter, a reliable reader of my work who I reciprocate faithfully, is Lisa’s Chat Desk, and I can’t leave her off my lineup because I appreciate her consistently reading and responding to my stories. My pinch runner would be Dana Leigh Lyons for her diverse perspective on life. A few of my other most most faithful readers are Jimmy Misner Jr. and David Permutter. Hint: They will be yours too.

Other Writers I read (sorry if I forgot anyone in this list)

Here’s some other writers that are part of my daily line up as a reader: srstowers, Mark Krauss, Suma Narayan, JoAnn Ryan, Maria Khan, Janet Meisel, Gary Roberts aka Papa, Kamil, Michael Hall, Brett Milan, Krystal Mossbarger, B.R. Shenoy, Dennet, Alyse Rowe, Judy Derby, Rachel Hope, Sara Burdick, Angie Smartt, Jan Sebastian, Mandy McElroy, Jasmine Aguilar, Filiz Ozer, Sam Ochstein, Kaz Rochford and Ines May.

Take a look at my YouTube video on my journey as a writer or my first impressions of my first three weeks of writing for Medium. I share what I am learning on memoir writing and writing on Medium. If you think my videos would be helpful, don’t forget to subscribe and give me an endorphin buzz.

I’m trying to get to 20 subscribers on my route to 1,000 and I don’t think I’ve got on the radar of YouTube’s algorithm. She’s like the hot girl in high school ignoring me. Show me some love my brothers, sisters, and writing comrades.

I love reading and writing on Medium and shouting out other writers.

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