Writer Focus

There Aren’t Any Murder Hornets in Wales

New writer spotlight and update on June writing challenges

It is getting increasingly difficult to pick out only a few articles from our new writers. I am finding that I have to be selective and pass by some really good stuff; otherwise these features would be a 59-minute read.

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

Let’s cut out all the suspense and get directly to the murder hornets. Sowmya Sridhar asks the question on all our minds about whether we really need to be concerned about the Asian Giant Hornet making its way to North America.

A writer after my own heart, Sowmya urges us not to fly into panic (Ha! I loved it) about the relatively large hornets. Especially if you don’t live in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. Those of us that DO live here might have a thing or two to say about it, but Sowmya provides us with some corroborated facts that allow us to breathe a little easier. Don’t get stung, just read here:

Next, Adit Daftary relates several of the lessons learned from spending time teaching others. Adit shares how teaching not only cements the instructor’s grasp of the subject matter but also imparts some external wisdom as well.

Read how to truly learn patience and humility here:

While we are on the subject of learning, here is a heady (okay, that one might be a stretch for a homonym) topic about hedonism and how the pursuit of the sublime might be a necessary, or at least acceptable, part of survival; otherwise, why would it persist?

To answer this philosophical question, please read Twisha Rohan’s piece on how the selfish gene has made it through the evolutionary sieve here:

While we are on serious and profound topics, this article from Björn Jóhann is an absolute must read. When I said I was having a tough time narrowing down my feature to only 3 or 4 articles, this story shows why.

Bjorn makes an exceptionally cogent examination of the “mini-coming outs” that people in the LGBTQ community face every day. Please read his story here:

Finally, if you though Wales was just another part of England, then you won’t ever think that way again once you read Natalie Carroll’s story on the “forgotten” country of Wales.

Did you know that Guinness beer and Jack Daniels whiskey can both trace their roots to a Welsh heritage? Or that both Tom Jones and Christian Bale have a Welsh blood? I didn’t, but now I do, and you can too! Read about the country with 600 castles, more sheep than people and a big red dragon on their flag here:

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 since the beginning (which wasn’t really all that long ago in the big scheme of things).

A great writer that has been a muse for me many times with her questions to the world at large is Sherry McGuinn. Sherry seems to bring out the best in other writers by candidly saying what we are all feeling, and by asking tough (and sometimes also silly) questions that beg for a response.

Many writing prompts I have encountered flow from or through Sherry, and that is a testament to how many people are touched by her writing. If you haven’t read her stuff, drop everything and do it now. Here is a starter article for you, but don’t hesitate to keep going through her catalogue:

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, a musical prompt and most recently a query about what I would do if I suddenly became rich.

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

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:

Ann, Gaby Tefel, Roger Skibowski, Luciano Duarte, Fasiha Imran, MOHAMMAD MAHIR TAJWAR, Rashika Chaudhary, Ricardo Testori, Clarisse, The Dozen, Eva Keiffenheim, MSc, Naz Ahsun, Stella Macus, Hela Dvorakova, MeikoPatton.com, Jamal H. Goodwin Jr., David Vilentchik, Z. X. N. Natallanni, Luca Rossi, Sruthi Korlakunta, John K Adams, Sudharshan Ravichandran, Elvy Rolle, Fabiola Gallerani, Ph.D., Elad Simchayoff, Shweta L, Kat Ruf, Tornike Beradze,

If you want me to highlight one of your stories in particular, or have any questions just respond to this story, or better yet, hit me up 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.