Category: Art and Humanity Framed in the Photofeature Story

Kathleen Rooney at age 8. Copyright by Kathleen Rooney. What is the date you began writing this piece of fiction and the date when you completely finished the piece of fiction? This is a great question because I often wonder when a piece of fiction officially begins to be written. In some sense, I started…… Continue reading #335 Inside the Emotion of Fiction FROM DUST TO STARDUST: A NOVEL by Kathleen Rooney

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? As the title more than suggests, there is a mystical and magical aspect to this poem.The initial notion, and inspiration, of the poem was borne while sat in my local…… Continue reading #405 Backstory of the Poem “The Grace of Mystical Things” from the poetry collection PLEASURES IN THE PATHLESS WOODS by Richard C. Bower

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 belong to a Creativity group curated by Chris Norcross–One week she posted a Magritte painting, as the prompt. The picture is of a giant green apple in a tiny classroom.…… Continue reading #404 Backstory of the Poem “Magritte’s Apple Explains It All” from the chapbook poetry collection FEATHERS ON STONE by Joan Leotta.

Leanne and her mother Rita Lorraine Horwitz Grabel in 2014. Copyright by Leanne Grabel. 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 went to visit my mother in her final home, which was an assisted living facility…… Continue reading #403 Backstory of the Poem the excerpt “the day my mother died” from the illustrated poem “Bingo” featured in THE POEMING PIGEON: A JOURNAL OF POETRY & ART (Issue #12) illustrated and written by Leanne Grabel

MIDDLE: Claudia Serea in December 2022. Copyright by Claudia Serea 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? Like many of my pieces, my prose poems are assembled from short fragments and images strung together to fit a…… Continue reading 402 Backstory of the Poem “The caterpillars” from the poetry collection WRITING On The Walls At NIGHT by Claudia Serea

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 process for writing is difficult to define because I am generally moved to write. The poem that I’m sharing, “This Fire Tastes Like…” is one that will be included…… Continue reading #401 Backstory of the Poem “This Fire Tastes Like…” from the poetry collection THE FIRETALKER’S DAUGHTER by Regina YC Garcia.

LEFT: Molly Rice in 2022. Copyright by Molly Rice. 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 the last years of my Granddaddy’s life, he had Sundowners Dementia. Sundowning happens in the late afternoon or early evening…… Continue reading #400 Backstory of the Poem “Breaker, Diesel Smoke” from the poetry collection FOREVER EIGHTY-EIGHTS by Molly Rice

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? It was written for my wife Barbara on her birthday 9/11/2002, one year after the 9/11/2001 terrorist attacks in New York City. She was watching television, as they revisited the…… Continue reading #399 Backstory of the Poem “Offering For a Princess” from the poetry/flash collection THE COLOR OF DIRT by Giulio Magrini

What is the date you began writing this piece of fiction and the date when you completely finished the piece of fiction? This is my fifteen published novel, and the second book I was working on since the pandemic began. In August of 2021, I began initial research for The Myrtle Wand, and by early…… Continue reading #334 Inside the Emotion of Fiction THE MYRTLE WAND by Margaret Porter

MIDDLE: Andrea Potos in Winter of 2021. Copyright by Andrea Potos. 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’m not sure I recall the exact moment this poem took root, but I do know that this loving…… Continue reading #398 Backstory of the Poem “Another Thing I Miss About Her” from the poetry collection HER JOY BECOMES by Andrea Potos.

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? “Born Under the Influence, a Dämmerschlaf Pantoum” was a timestaking and challenging poem to write for three reasons. First was in the subject matter itself of the risks women are…… Continue reading #397 Backstory of the Poem “Born Under the Influence, a Dämmerschlaf Pantoum” from the poetry collection BORN UNDER THE INFLUENCE by Andrena Zawinski

What is the date you began writing this piece of fiction and the date when you completely finished the piece of fiction? I had toyed with the idea of a Weird West novel for a while, as I had written short stories about a stoic gunslinger and her boyfriend in an Old West ridden with…… Continue reading #333 Inside the Emotion of Fiction MELINDA WEST: MONSTER GUNSLINGER by KC Grifant

What is the date you began writing this memoir and the date when you completed the memoir? I began writing the prequel to my first book, Summers of Fire: A Memoir of Adventure, Love, and Courage, within days after submitting the final manuscript to my publisher. I simply could not stand to not to be…… Continue reading #065 The Magnification of One Memory in Memoir UPROOTED: A NEW LIFE IN THE ARIZONA SUN by Linda Strader

What is the date you began writing this piece of fiction and the date when you completely finished the piece of fiction? The Other Side of Now has a long history. I wrote the original version, Zeitsprünge (which can roughly be translated as Leaps in Time) in the mid-1990s. It was published in 1998 by…… Continue reading #332 Inside the Emotion of Fiction THE OTHER SIDE OF NOW by Max Meyer

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, “The Great Escape,” is the final poem in a fifty-five poem sequence about Harry Houdini. Click on the below link to purchase The Elusive American by Adam Begley…… Continue reading #396 Backstory of the Poem “The Great Escape” from the poetry collection A Magician Among the Spirits by Charles Rammelkamp

What made you decide to write this non-fiction work? My previous book, Women of Means, generated a great deal of buzz. Because the book’s topic dealt with fantastically famous women, my editor suggested I write another book on a similar demographic: royal women. Click on the below link to Women of Means: The Fascinating Biographies…… Continue reading #015 The Fascination of One Fact in Non-fiction “The Secret Lives of Royal Women: Fascinating Biographies of Queens, Princesses, Duchesses, and Other Regal Women” by Marlene Wagman-Geller

What made you decide to write this non-fiction work? The politician in Washington stay for long periods of time and become disconnected from the Americans throughout the country. Can you talk about your experience of researching this non-fiction work? And the dates of when you began researching and when your research was complete? My prior…… Continue reading #014 The Fascination of One Fact in Non-fiction BAD DEAL FOR AMERICA by David D. Schein

MIDDLE: Daniele Cybulskie in August 2021. Copyright by Daniele Cybulskie What made you decide to write this non-fiction work? This project was actually pitched to me by Lauren Orthey (LEFT) from Abbeville Press. I’d always wanted to learn more about monks because they’re such an integral part of the period I study, and I also…… Continue reading 013 The Fascination of One Fact in Non-fiction “How to Live Like a Monk: Medieval Wisdom for Modern Life” by Daniele Cybulskie

Steve Adams at St. Marks Place in the Lower East Side. Mid 1980s. Copyright by Steve Adams. What is the date you began writing this piece of fiction and the date when you completely finished the piece of fiction? I probably began writing it in the summer of 2008. That’s when I found out my…… Continue reading #331 Inside the Emotion of Fiction “Remember This” by Steve Adams

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? The first thing I let myself envision was a woman digging in a garden.  The next thing to pop in my head were the words… “I watch the earth open…… Continue reading #395 Backstory of the Poem “For the Maladjusted Gardner Who Would Be Culled By Her Own Brown Thumb” from the poetry chapbook FINDING HER by Kristie L. Williams

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 slowly evolved over a period of at least ten years. A repetition of sound started to imprint on my mind: the sound of the train whistle, the ferry…… Continue reading #394 Backstory of the Poem “Days” from the poetry collection LONG ISLAND POEMS by Barbara Southard

Credit and Copyright by Kimberly Ann Priest. 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? Since these two poems are in dialogue and were inspired by the same event, I’ve included them together. (And thank you for allowing…… Continue reading #393 Backstory of the Poems “My Friend Believes She Wishes a Miscarriage into Reality” and “Husk” from the poetry collection SLAUGHTER THE ONE BIRD by Kimberly Ann Priest.

LEFT: Frank Paino in August 2020 when he first started writing “Here in this churchyard where you’ve kept watch…”. Copyright 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’m a taphophile, which means I spend…… Continue reading #392 Backstory of the poem “Here in this churchyard where you’ve kept watch…” 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 was writing what became my first novel, DOVELION: A Fairy Tale for Our Times (AC Books, New York, 2021). The novel’s primary protagonist, Elena Theeland, is a poet. When…… Continue reading #391 Backstory of the Poem “The Return of DoveLion” from the fiction novel DOVELION: A FAIRY TALE FOR OUR TIMES by Eileen R. Tabios

What is the date you began writing this memoir and the date when you completed the memoir? I wrote it over about two weeks for Timber Ghost’s submission call and it was done just in time for the 2021 Halloween online readings with the Rhode Island Chapter of the Horror Writers Association. Click on the…… Continue reading #064 The Magnification of One Memory in Memoir the short story “Spooned by the Dead” from the short story collection OUT OF TIME: TRUE PARANORMAL ENCOUNTERS by L.E. Daniels (Lauren Elise Daniels)