Snow

Not long ago, a dear friend sent me a black-and-white photograph of us skating in her parents’ back yard. They had a rink they set up with a plastic sheet, a sturdy frame of some kind, then water poured out which quickly froze. This was Upstate New York where the winters were harsh in the […]
A Milestone

Next September I will celebrate an anniversary, or perhaps milestone is a better word. Forty years ago that month, I committed myself to writing and to becoming the best writer I could be. To say it has not been easy isn’t helpful or informative, though it is certainly true. I wrote only short stories until […]
Wearing My Reader Hat

I have the honor and privilege of reading poetry submissions for the Atlanta Review. Several times a year, a slew of poems lands in my inbox and I dig in, sometimes eagerly, other times a bit reluctantly depending on how my own writing workload is going, and these days, that workload is heavy. I’m a […]
After the Fact, and Before the Fall

For most of my life, I didn’t pay attention to the world of politics. The broad strokes, sure, not the smaller details. I am a child of the 1960s and 70s when the fight for rights, freedom of choice, freedom of expression, pulled us along. Things have changed and old questions have no good answers. […]
The Distance We Travel

We know people much better after they die. In life, we have their voices, the way they touched us, the clothes they wore, a long list of habits and traits. In death there are letters and photographs to widen our understanding of who someone was—often the person they were without us, or without us in […]
Will End in Fire – a novel by Nicole Bokat

I’m so happy to introduce my readers to Nicole Bokat whose new novel, Will End in Fire, published on October 1st, 2024, from She Writes Press. Anne: The plot of this novel sounds absolutely fascinating! Can you give us a quick summary? Nicole: When twenty-seven year-old Ellie Stone is left to watch over her younger […]
Why Trees Stay Outside – poems by Terry Tierney

As readers, we seldom have the chance to chat with the authors we enjoy and admire, so I’m delighted that Terry Tierney is here to share some thoughts about poetry, writing in general, and of course his wonderful forthcoming collection, Why Trees Stay Outside, which publishes on October 1, 2024 from Unsolicited Press. Anne: Terry, […]
When Poetry Gets Political

originally published in Wildroof Journal’s Substack For a long time, my writing focused on domestic relationships, often between a married couple or a mother and her child. Settings were key. So was “white space,” things unsaid but made clear by gestures and where the eye would fall during and after a difficult conversation. The natural […]
From Below

What do we have and when must we give it away? Ask the oak that stands by the vineyard Two limbs, only one in leaf The other bare, perhaps dead Maybe its life has been pushed down where we can no longer see Or maybe it’s gone to the survivor who carries on season By […]
Second Editions – Part Two

Berried Branch against Sky This fall, Unsolicited Press is bringing out second editions of two of my earlier titles. The original publisher moved to a new distributor who felt these titles weren’t selling well enough to keep in print. My short story collection, Our Love Could Light the World, and the subject of the first […]