You gave me the greatest gift of my life. My son. And here it is, nearly 40 years later, and I barely remember your smile. Our time together was so elusive, so temporary, yet permanently etched in my life. Your son, my son: your gift to me. And now our son has sons of his … Read More →
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Flannery O’Connor has come up as a topic of conversation a few times in the past few months. I was writing my husband’s eulogy and remembered the time he took me to her home in Savannah as a little side trip on our driving trip to Florida. It was just one of the many thoughtful … Read More →
Once again, I entered the Fish Short Memoir contest. Keeping my fingers crossed that the judge likes my revamped memoir about my childhood mentor and her Batmobile.
Last Call, by Katherine Billings Palmer Her dad’s cell phone was tucked away in a drawer, untouched since his death six months earlier. Keeping his account open was a waste of money, but cancelling it would mean he was really gone. Time to face reality and cut the cord. Kate logged onto her account at the … Read More →
The Miracle of Braile Street It was a muggy summer evening in 1964, years before we could afford air conditioning in our little Detroit bungalow. We were entertaining my Aunt Ariel and Uncle Harry, who were visiting from out of town. In those days, no one in my small middle-class neighborhood had even dreamed of … Read More →
Rejection letters are no fun. A day after I received a polite email from American Literary Review Literary Awards telling me that my poem didn’t win their poetry contest, I discovered the results for the Fish Publishing Short Memoir prize were published. I found my memoir on the longlist (yay!) – out of 780 memoirs submitted in total, 197 … Read More →
My writing partner found an interesting local contest for us to enter: the “Short on Words” writing contest, held in conjunction with Northville’s 2013 Arts & Acts Festival. Entries should be no longer than 1,500 words and must be postmarked no later than Friday, April 12. The cash award for the winner is $100; second-place … Read More →
The Writers’ Group met again Wednesday and we discussed several essays as well as our beginning novels. We’ve selected two new contests to enter. The Writer’s Digest Your Story Contest looks intriguing: Every other month, Writer’s Digest presents a creative challenge for fun and prizes. We’ll provide a short, open-ended prompt. In turn, you’ll submit … Read More →
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