Memoirous

Singapore artist tops 'comic book Oscars' nominations A Singaporean artist's graphic novel has topped the list of nominations for the Eisners, the Oscars of the comic book world. Sonny Liew tells the BBC about the challenges he faced in making the book, which has been criticised by the Singaporean government for "potentially undermining" its authority. Here is my original review post: The Art of Charlie Chan Hock Chye, meta FFFFIIICCTIONNN One of the most interesting books I’ve read since becoming interested in the puzzle within a puzzle of meta-fiction is the GRAPHIC NOVEL The Art of Charlie Chan Hock Chye by Sonny Liew. Okay let’s just begin by talking about Singapore. That was quick, right? If you’re like me (semi-engaged and somewhat geographically astute) then you know basically where Singapore is, but not much more. Such as I did not know it is a city-state. One of a very few cities that act as nation states. They are what they are. Then I went t...

this is also a flashback to Grace is having a birthday--we never stop worrying Treasures in the Sand July 2015, Mothers Always Write When my daughter was five or six I packed the car and drove to the lake. I had to lug bottles of water, a bag of fishy-smelling beach toys, a lunch cooler, and a lawn chair across the parking lot and down the stairs to the beach. I stopped to take a breath and take in the scenery. Broken flips flops, water engorged diapers, plastic bags, and pieces of glass littered the shore from the weekend. My daughter took off barefoot to scare a gaggle of seagulls. I screeched for her to be careful (I imagined her cutting her foot and getting an infection), but only managed to scatter the seagulls before she got to them. I set up my lawn chair, trying to avoid a decomposing fish with flies buzzing around its dead jelly eyes. Almost immediately we were surrounded by a horde of children wanting to borrow our beach toys. I could not keep track of them and m...

1)  A Very Short Story Contest It may be apocryphal, but the story goes that Ernest Hemingway won a bet by writing a short story that ran fewer than ten words. One version of the story places the bet at the famed Algonquin round table. Whether true or not, there is an actual bet-winning short story attributed to Hemingway: For sale. Baby Shoes. Never worn. You have to admit it's pretty good. It builds, and there’s a whole world of background and emotion lurking beneath those words. We would like to make a similar bet with you. Write a great short story in ten words or fewer. (You may use a title, but that goes into the word count.) Submit it to our contest. Entry is free. Winner of the bet gets a free Gotham 10-week workshop.  2)   The Arcanist! We’re a new Medium-based literary magazine that focuses on fantasy and sci-fi flash fiction. We love magical worlds full of dragons and speculative looks at the future, and we think these two genres are important to ou...

from a previous post:  Friday, July 24, 2015 1989 Before 1989 was the Cold War. There was also no grace. I remember when my daughter Grace was born the summer of 1989. In the middle of the night I’d get up and feed her. I kept a little radio playing by her bed for white noise, so that every little noise didn’t wake her up. It was just she and I and WGN or WBBM in the wee hours of the night. Then one night while I was nursing her within the glow of the radio dial I heard the most fabulous news. I use this word because it sounded like a fable. Often I dozed while feeding her. The announcer said the Wall had fallen. There had been tremors, rumblings leading up to this earthquake that brought down the Berlin Wall. Czech citizens were being issued passes to go to the West for holidays—once a rarity—and in Poland, Solidarity had made headway in their fight for workers and nationalistic rights. Ultimately Solidarity saw the end of Soviet rule and helped move Poland toward democracy. In my...

I missed the fireworks this year in Chicago--basically gunshots which I can hear anytime! Anyway, thought I 'd post a flashback to “4th of July Anarchy (Foster Beach)” Spring 2015, After Hours 4th of July Anarchy Where Foster Beach becomes Omaha Beach , where the shock and awe of Baghdad rocks Lakeshore Drive , where everyone in the city not only owns a gun but an arsenal of fireworks. Where the sky lights up and the buildings reverberate the chest-thumping KABOOM, where all night long m80s punctuate the city soundscape, and the pop-pop-pop of Blackcats compete with infrequent gunfire. Where Roman candles sizzle and burst setting off car alarms and where children chase falling sparks as if they’re fireflies. Where screamin’ meemies spin and whistle while overhead pinwheels of color blossom and dissolve into a shower of stars, once alive but now extinguished, leaving behind contrails of vapor. We shake the numbness from our ears. Where even the moon smolders behind a ha...

While I was gone rambling new work came out at a great journal, Sleet. A sweet suite or series based upon accumulated parking lot memories: enjoy! ...across the parking lot, I spied a coyote silhouetted, the bristled hairs on his back standing up.

I'm back from Art Week 2017 will blog after I sort my notes out until then, enjoy: the buoys of summer a table is set Double Beach sunrise

What does it mean to travel and come home— To feel your gypsy blood stirred To understand a little bit of what it’s like For the ocean to swallow the moon The highway holds me, calls me And I followed wherever it leads I am no braver than you It’s just that curiosity overcame fear Yet, I amaze myself! The miracles wrought by these middle-aged bones Long, steady climbs, map-reading Flat-fixing, chowder slurping—skills! Each day I faced the world, unknown I can do this, I reminded myself, maybe I’m out to find midnight, constellations Spread out across the sky, quiet bays I had no idea I’d meet a fisherman, A lady selling blueberry ice cream A tree with a huge burr, a fairy table Fellow travelers waiting at the dock. Together and alone, strangers and friends We plied the open road It’s not about certainty, getting there If only to say I did it, and would do it again.

Here is a guest blog I wrote https://morgenbailey.wordpress.com/2017/06/07/guest-post-flash-memoir-writing-prompts-to-get-you-flashing-by-jane-hertenstein/

Here is a guest blog I wrote http://muffin.wow-womenonwriting.com

Check out this guest blog I wrote: http://flashfictiononline.com/main/2017/06/flash-memoir-building-block-fiction/

Check out this guest blog article I wrote: https://www.writing.ie/tell-your-own-story/flash-memoir-writing-prompts-to-get-you-flashing-by-jane-hertenstein/