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What is the date you began writing this memoir and the date when you completed the memoir? I have always written, even as a child. I wrote my first book, Kids Helping Kids Break the Silence of Sexual Abuse(Linda Lee Foltz, Lighthouse Point Press) many years earlier and I started journaling the events that would…… Continue reading #026 The Magnification of One Memory in Memoir: Linda Lee Blakemore’s memoir ENTRENCHED: A MEMOIR OF HOLDING ON AND LETTING GO.

What made you decide to write this non-fiction work? RawStory published my 2,000-word timeline of January 6, 2021 last spring, on March 5. The original timeline was focused mainly on January 6 itself, since we didn’t know nearly as much then as we do now about all of the behind-the-scenes machinations to overturn Joe Biden’s…… Continue reading #005 The Fascination of One Fact in Non-fiction: A DRESS REHEARSAL FOR FASCISM: THE COMPLETE JANUARY 6 CAPITOL INSURRECTION TIMELINE by Dan Benbow.

Can you go through the step-by-step process of writing this poem from the moment the idea was first conceived in your brain until final form? This poem was written nine months (December of 2021) after the publication of my poetry collection, “In the Aftermath- 9/11 Through a Volunteer’s Eyes” in commemoration of the 20th anniversary…… Continue reading #341 Backstory of the Poem “Twenty Years After- NYC Fire Museum 9/11 Memorial Program” by Beth SK Morris.

*No part of this article can be used or reproduced without the permission of Susana H. Case and/or Margo Taft Stever. Susana H. Case susana.h.case@icloud.com Margo Taft Stever margostever@gmail.com How did the two of you originally meet?  And can you describe your journey of friendship and poetry together? Susana: Along with Stephanie Strickland, Margo was…… Continue reading Scripted interview with Susana H. Case and Margo Taft Stever, co-editors of the anthology I WANNA BE LOVED BY YOU POEMS ON MARILYN MONROE

Allison Blevins in January of 2022. Credit and Copyright by Allison Blevins. Can you go through the step-by-step process of writing this poem from the moment the idea was first conceived in your brain until final form? This poem was written in response to the onslaught of well-intentioned folks asking “How are you?” or “Are…… Continue reading #340 Backstory of the Poem “A Poem for When You Ask What’s Wrong” by Allison Blevins.

What made you decide to write this non-fiction work? Traveling around the world, I noticed many different learning systems. In Uganda it costs to go to school. It was rare to find a school room with desks, tables, or chairs. Students sat on dirt floors. Most children in northern Uganda have no formal training. Gary…… Continue reading #004 The Fascination of One Fact in Non-fiction: RELATING TO ANCIENT LEARNING- AS IT INFLUENCES THE 21st CENTURY by Gary Wietgrefe.

What is the date you began writing this piece of fiction and the date when you completely finished the piece of fiction? For my novel White Ops, I started writing it in 1998. I finished writing it and six others in the series in 1999. Where did you do most of your writing for this…… Continue reading #279 Inside the Emotion of Fiction WHITE OPS by Declan Finn

What made you decide to write this non-fiction work? I’m inspired to make this planet more beautiful.  I felt I could reach a lot of people talking to them about their dogs.  My desire is to expand our consciousness. Can you talk about your experience of researching this non-fiction work? And the dates of when…… Continue reading #003 The Fascination of One Fact in Non-fiction: ENLIGHTENED DOG TRAINING: BECOME THE PEACEFUL ALPHA YOUR DOG NEEDS AND RESPECTS by Jesse Sternberg.

What is the date you began writing this memoir and the date when you completed the memoir? I began in the fall of 2020. Meg Pokrass was giving a workshop based on her novella-in-flash, “The Loss Detector,” about a single-mother led family and the main narrator was the young daughter. For 30 days, we would…… Continue reading #025 The Magnification of one Memory in Memoir: Jayne Martin’s memoir THE DADDY CHRONICLES MEMOIR OF A FATHERLESS DAUGHTER

Can you go through the step-by-step process of writing this poem from the moment the idea was first conceived in your brain until final form? I started writing this poem after reading Jan T. Gross’s Neighbors, a history book about the Jedwabne, Poland pogrom. https://www.amazon.com/Neighbors-Destruction-Jewish-Community-Jedwabne-ebook-dp-B009AKK8VC/dp/B009AKK8VC/ref=mt_other?_encoding=UTF8&me=&qid=1643399178 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jan_T._Gross There are many aspects of the book that are…… Continue reading #339 Backstory of the Poem MARGOLA’S CRUSH by Liz Marlow.

After Susana H. Case and I gave a Lit Balm Reading in December, 2020, with Stephen Dunn (his poems read by Indran Amirthanayagam), and Maurya Simon, and after Susana and I both read poems that mentioned Marilyn Monroe, Susana asked me if I would like to work on an anthology of poems about Monroe. Although…… Continue reading Guest Blog Post by Margo Taft Stever with Susana H. Case, Co-Editors of the Anthology I WANNA BE LOVED BY YOU: POEMS ON MARILYN MONROE

What is the date you began writing this piece of fiction and the date when you completely finished the piece of fiction? As much as I can figure, from looking back on my files, I started this novel in February of 2019, and I finished it in August of 2020. It was accepted by four…… Continue reading #278 Inside the Emotion of Fiction “ALL TOLD” by Kathie Giorgio

Can you go through the step-by-step process of writing this poem from the moment the idea was first conceived in your brain until final form? In 2018, I started writing poems for a new book. I’d published my first book of poems, Border Crossings, in 2017, and most of my existing poems were in that…… Continue reading #338 Backstory of the Poem Thaddeus Rutkowski’s WHERE I’M FROM

Can you go through the step-by-step process of writing this poem from the moment the idea was first conceived in your brain until final form? My poem, “For Neil Young, Who Brings My Brother Back to Me,” (dedicated to my late brother, Tommy) began as a response to watching an old video of Neil Young…… Continue reading #337 Backstory of the Poem Terri Kirby Erickson’s “For Neil Young, Who Brings My Brother Back to me”

What is the date you began writing this piece of fiction and the date when you completely finished the piece of fiction? What Feeds the Heart blossomed in my childhood, became a serious endeavor in 1990 while in Valley College; became my Mater’s dissertation at CSUN Northridge State University 2001, and published on November 8,…… Continue reading #277 Inside the Emotion of Fiction Daryl Glinn-Tanner’s WHAT FEEDS THE HEART

What made you decide to write this non-fiction work? A number of people approached me and asked if I would consider writing a book on mentoring and mental health. I had/am dealing with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) so it was a sensitive and raw topic for me to explore. https://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/topics/post-traumatic-stress-disorder-ptsd Can you talk about…… Continue reading #002 The Fascination of One Fact in Non-fiction: YOU ARE NOT ALONE by Doug Lawrence.

What is the date you began writing this piece of fiction and the date when you completely finished the piece of fiction? I wrote the opening scene of what would become Blood Mark back in August 2015. I didn’t touch it again until I’d completed another series I was writing. When I next picked up…… Continue reading #276 Inside the Emotion of Fiction: J.P. McLean’s BLOOD MARK

Can you go through the step-by-step process of writing this poem from the moment the idea was first conceived in your brain until final form? Well, I actually wrote this poem over thirty years ago, so there’s no way I’ll be able to take you through the process  step-by-step. That being said, I can say…… Continue reading #335 Backstory of the Poem “The Grace of Conversion” by Frank Paino.

Can you go through the step-by-step process of writing this poem from the moment the idea was first conceived in your brain until final form? I can’t go through the step-by-step process of writing the poem because writing is not a step-by-step process for me.  It might be for some people but not me.  As…… Continue reading #334 Backstory of the Poem “Figure” by Robert Wrigley

What made you decide to write this non-fiction work? Antisemitism is a growing problem worldwide these days. But rather than focus on conflict, I wanted to let people know that there is another way to consider Jewish Christian relations. The book therefore focuses on ways Jews and Christians have cooperated and worked together throughout history.…… Continue reading #001 The Fascination of One Fact in Non-fiction: A BLESSING TO EACH OTHER: A NEW ACCOUNT OF JEWISH AND CHRISTIAN RELATIONS by Rebecca Moore

What is the date you began writing this piece of fiction and the date when you completely finished the piece of fiction? I began writing “Lilli Chernofsky” in 1991.  The writing of it was interrupted by other projects, but I began to write seriously about the German-Jewish WWII exodus to Shanghai in 2014 and finished…… Continue reading #275 Inside the Emotion of Fiction LILLI CHERNOFSKY by Nina Vida

What is the date you began writing this memoir and the date when you completed the memoir? In January 2005, Larry Summers (BELOW), then the president of Harvard, was conducting a lunchtime discussion with his faculty when he wondered aloud why more women didn’t hold tenured positions in the hard sciences at their university. Maybe…… Continue reading #024 The Magnification of one Memory in Memoir: Eileen Pollack’s investigative memoir THE ONLY WOMAN IN THE ROOM: WHY SCIENCE IS STILL A BOY’S CLUB

Can you go through the step-by-step process of writing this poem from the moment the idea was first conceived in your brain until final form? I felt this poem coming during a walk on a beautiful November day, the tranquility of a valley, the happening upon an old deserted graveyard, then looking down within a…… Continue reading #333 Backstory of the Poem “Small Journey in a Time of Plague” by Joyce Brown

Can you go through the step-by-step process of writing this poem from the moment the idea was first conceived in your brain until final form? I keep a poetry journal with first drafts of much of my work. This poem appeared there first. I often write poems about my family members on their birthdays. These…… Continue reading #332 BACKSTORY OF THE POEM “On My Mother’s Birthday (haibun)” by Kathleen Cassen Mickelson

Name of fiction work? And were there other names you considered that you would like to share with us?  DOWN A DARK RIVER. For the first time ever, I knew the title from very early on, and I never changed it. Not so for my first book, A Lady in the Smoke, about a young…… Continue reading #274 Inside the Emotion of Fiction Karen Odden’s DOWN A DARK RIVER