Memoirous

 A piece that was accepted ages ago and is out now. Hoot Literary Review is a postcard, Sea of Lingerie is their November postcard , which you can order--this from their website: The idea is: -to have stories and poems on a postcard, so that they can be displayed and shared easily. Stick it on the fridge! Tuck it in your husband’s/wife’s briefcase or nephew’s book bag! -for people to have a literary magazine that they can both afford to subscribe to and have time to read. Never again will you be able to claim that you don’t have time to read current literature! Each post card will have fewer than two “Tweets.” Except it’s not digital! The idea is: -to have a literary magazine that is excellent in a pure way. artwork by Janet Cameron –want to read more?  Well, you can check out  HOOT  online — which is equally good work, but without the postcard…because let’s face it, we can’t avoid digitalness completely. HOOT online follows the same standard...

I have a new series underway at https://janehertenstein.substack.com/ What’s the difference between Freeze Frame (Substack) and Memoirous (the blog you’re reading)? I’m trying to build up the professional side of my writing and promote my Flash Memoir Workshops. Right now my Substack articles are FREE but would eventually like to use Substack commercially, a bit like Patreon. The plan is for Substack and the workshops to supplement my writing career.   I know, a bit too late when you’re past 65—but, hey, never give up! The biggest difference between content on the two sites: Memoirous acts as my everyday platform. Here you’ll read ubiquitous observations, Zen-like meditations, rants, and insights into writing and life and the writing life. It’s a bit more nimble than my Substack, as I post more frequently. Freeze Frame on Substack consists of articles geared toward those who are intentionally seeking to write—either memoir, novel, flash—or blurred genre. I put a lot of...

A repost from December 25, 2019   Nearly 50 years ago I went to visit my sister who was spending her Christmas break at Ghost Ranch, a Presbyterian conference center outside of Taos, New Mexico. She had spent time working there as part of the college staff the summer before. Soon after arriving we grabbed snowshoes off some pegs and trudged back into Box Canyon where our voices echoed off the icy walls. During the long twilight, we slowly made our way back to the house following a trail of twinkling lights, like sparkling crystals in the haloed atmosphere. After a quick cup of hot chocolate we bounded into the back of a pickup truck and set out over gravel and blacktop roads. I had no idea where. It was Christmas Eve. We arrived in pitch darkness at a monastery lit by candlelight. The small chapel was packed. I can still recall the smell of wet wool coats and candlewax. The monks began to chant Noël in Latin. A drowsiness descended upon me. Suddenly I was awakened when th...

Repost from https://www.skylarb.com/post/waiting-for-christmas?fbclid=IwAR32vdhIrqhKqIK9NNC2t0JCdqU_ynNSm7C_PgK3hbiF7LNjgCHIp2j-zrg From Ancient Paths Waiting for Christmas by Jane Hertenstein At Christmas every light comes on, in the basement where my daughter home from college retrieves ice cream, in the dining room a lamp illuminates the abandoned puzzle, the laundry nook dazzles, while the back porch radiates a smoky incandescence, the TV flickers a blue twilight, in the middle of the night my heart pulses as I reflect. Soon the house will be silent, the only light the bulb above my reading chair.