By Corissa Haury The gilded edges of the trophy felt cold and clean in Rayna’s hands. She clutched it close to her while she walked, unable to believe that she had just won it. Something about her own self-doubt usually held her back, but this time she had an object to prove her accomplishment. “Where should we put that?” Jaren asked,…
By Corissa Haury Winter was on its way, but it was not yet present. It still felt like it could have been late autumn, when the cold doesn’t fall below 40 degrees and there is a damp stillness to the foggy air. One still put the seat warmer on when one got in the car, but it wouldn’t be the case…
By Corissa Haury Writing a novel is not easy. Whether you put pen to paper, type on a typewriter, or use a tablet with a keyboard like me, you still have to do something hard. You have to write. You have to write a lot, too. 50,000 words in one month is no joke. The daily minimum to reach 50k is 1667 words,…
By Corissa Haury I know I am spoiled, but I can’t help thinking how much faster the line could be if people would move and make a decision about their stupid morning coffee. I remember how long the lines were on Earth… You’d need a full 45 minutes just to get up there and get a coffee, but it was so expensive to buy…
By Corissa Haury “Mom?” I call throughout the house. She doesn’t answer the usual, “I’m home!” I call out when I return from my best friend’s house in the evening. Over the water, the sun is setting, and I knew she would be cooking up dinner. That is, she usually is cooking up dinner around this time. I look at my watch. 5:57. Where…
By Corissa Haury I close my eyes and I let the venom burn through my veins. The viper’s juice is soaking into my skin. The little yellow drop of rejuvenation filters through the open wound and rips through my bloodstream. Pain dips into my psyche and into my blood, burning on the surface of the skin, renewing the sharpness of…
by Corissa Haury My sister and I wander amongst the veterans’ graves on a rainy day in May. The cemetery is bigger than I had originally thought; so much so that we will get lost on the way out, but I don’t know it yet. We are making a sort of pilgrimage towards a World War II monument. We won’t see it is…
The 5 Major Mind Melts of A Writer As a 20-something woman, I have forged through many preconceived notions about running, marriage, citizenry, tradition, education, history, America, and my own past. I continue to shed unhealthy misconceptions and open my heart to the billions of truths we encounter. The most intimidating obstacle, the longstanding wound on the flesh of my…
by C. E. Poley We often find ourselves struggling to define how we feel both inside our selves and outside. We struggle to find methods that express our thoughts and emotions, such as writing, painting, making music, mathematics, astronomy, and countless other things humans do. It is not easy to express the self with clarity. We are told every day by American…
What is it about the smell of ink or graphite on paper, the motion of letter after letter running together, that draws us to put physical form to our thoughts? My latest for Medium.
I was there because I am the worst vegetarian of all time. I call myself a “baconetarian” every once in a while to crack a joke to friends when they hear me order pizza with bacon on it, and afterward I explain why I just can’t seem to give up that delicious, succulent bacon. Bacon’s the only thing that used to…
Inspired by today’s BrainyQuote, made by me.
I’ve been writing a bit today, and in some of my research for a character, I found some interesting works, including this by Maurice Ogden. It’s an excellent piece, and I think all too often we miss these days what Ogden was pointing out we missed in the old days… We never look close enough at what’s going on around…
It feels good to start the new year off writing, that’s for sure. I didn’t think that I would be able to jump back in so quickly, but it’s always that initial hour push that gets me going. I’m glad I started working on A’s story again. He needs to be written; his story is screaming at me from the…