Writing

Taking Stock of Things

/ Liz H / 5 Comments

Norwegian Forest CatNorwegian Forest Cat


We write because it feels good,

Like after a long, exhausting hike

When you sit on your front steps

Watching the cat paw

For fresh grass under the snow.

And also because

We feel itchy and awful when we don’t…

© Liz Husebye Hartmann (2023)

Mag? Yeah, No

/ Liz H / 5 Comments
Bunch of carrots

Carrots. Original public domain image from Wikimedia Commons

(The prompt was “robotic writer,” the experience all-too-familiar as we send out our work to editors and publishers. Read on…)

Dear [editor],

Please consider my work, [insert story title], for publication in your esteemed [media type], [publication name]. At [number] words, this [genre] story about [catchy character name], a [adjective][character trope], is an excellent fit for your upcoming [special focus] issue. I am an avid reader of [publication name]!  Continue reading →

Shifting Boundaries

/ Liz H / 11 Comments
Bunch of carrots

Carrots. Original public domain image from Wikimedia Commons

Lois started awake, struggling with her sleeping bag, before recalling she’d agreed to camping with Kenny. Not too keen on the northern woods, wild animals, and biting flies, but fair was fair. He’d gone to that Writer’s Conference with her, and from all appearances had a great time. Continue reading →

Dear John

/ Liz H / 30 Comments

fountain pen

“What instrument shall I use, and what medium to convey my deepest and most honest wishes?”  Annalisa, one hand holding her elbow, the other holding her chin, scanned the open drawer filled with seven different kinds of pens (one with eight different nibs for calligraphy), a half dozen different colored inks, brushes of many sizes and an uncounted number of acrylic paints (some rolled tight into tiny secret snails of color, others fat and shiny like a slug that didn’t give a shit), a box of 50-count soft pastels (none broken, but all tested and of different lengths…a lovely diversity), and no markers of any kind as she detested them. Continue reading →