Category: Art and Humanity Framed in the Photofeature Story

From BOTTOM LEFT to RIGHT: Matthew Hittinger in April of 2022. Co-Editors of I WANNA BE LOVED BY YOU POEMS ON MARILYN MONROE Susana Case in April of 2022 and Margo Taft Stever in 2020. Can you go through the step-by-step process of writing this poem from the moment the idea was first conceived in…… Continue reading #366 Backstory of the poem I AM NOT A MYTH by Matthew Hittinger.

What is the date you began writing this memoir and the date when you completed the memoir? I started Not a Poster Child in 2009 but did not start writing regularly on the manuscript until 2013. I finished my 18th draft in 2017, and then began the editing process. It was published in mid-2018. From…… Continue reading #47 THE MAGNIFICATION OF ONE MEMORY IN MEMOIR “Not a Poster Child: Living Well with a Disability—A Memoir” by Francine Falk-Allen

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 1990 Chris Green, who is now the director of Berea College’s Appalachian Center, conducted a series of interviews about the beginnings of the Southern Appalachian Writers Cooperative to be…… Continue reading #365 Backstory of the Poem “Interview” by Pauletta Hansel.

What is the date you began writing this piece of fiction and the date when you completely finished the piece of fiction? It’s not always easy to pin down when I begin a book because the way I sometimes write is that I’ll get an idea for a character, or a first line—never the plot…… Continue reading #303 Inside the Emotion of Fiction “Canary in the Coal Mine” by Charles Salzberg

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? “Four Days at Payne Whitney Psychiatric Clinic, 1961” is part of my most recent collection An Insomniac’s Slumber Party with Marilyn Monroe which won the [PANK] Books Poetry Prize and…… Continue reading #364 BACKSTORY OF THE POEM “Four Days At Payne Whitney Psychiatric Clinic, 1961” by Heidi Seaborn

What is the date you began writing this piece of fiction and the date when you completely finished the piece of fiction? To be totally honest, Among the Shadows actually began as a “drawer novel” called Death Watch. It took me two and a half years to write that terrible manuscript, but I learned so…… Continue reading #302 INSIDE THE EMOTION OF FICTION “Among the Shadows” by Bruce Robert Coffin

LEFT: Allan Johnston in 2020. Copyright by Allan Johnston. Can you go through the step-by-step process of writing these poems from the moment the idea was first conceived in your brain until final form?  Probably around 1996 an opportunity (which fell through) arose that might have had us move to Eugene, Oregon.  That possibility sparked…… Continue reading #362 and #363 Backstory of the Poem(s) “Clear Cut” and “Potato Farming Near George, Washington, 1975” by Allan Johnston

LEFT: Cathy Mayes in May 4, 2022. What is the date you began writing this memoir and the date when you completed the memoir? Research began over 30 years ago, though at the time no thought of writing! Start and completion 2014 – 2021. I began writing books in 2012, my parents had both passed…… Continue reading #46 THE MAGNIFICATION OF ONE MEMORY IN MEMOIR “Out of the Quill Box Came secrets of a family I had never known” by Cathy Mayes.

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 Scarlet Oak, a magical realism novel, in September 2017. After suffering a concussion in 2018, I had to take a break from the novel to recuperate. During that time, I…… Continue reading #301 Inside the Emotion of Fiction “Scarlet Oak” by Angie Weiland-Crosby

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 told about the Marilyn Monroe anthology by one of the poets, Suzanne Sigafoos. Suzanne is in a poetry critique group with me. Since I completely recall Marilyn Monroe’s…… Continue reading #361 Backstory of the Poem “A Whipped Cream Torte” by Leanne Grabel

What is the date you began writing this memoir and the date when you completed the memoir? Honestly, I began writing Without Saints in earnest about 15 years ago. It started as a traditional memoir and not the collection of linked essays it is now, (I was in love with Nick Flynn’s Another Bullshit Night In Suck City at…… Continue reading #45 The Magnification of One Memory in Memoir the essay “The Night Faerie” from the essay collection WITHOUT SAINTS by Christopher P. Locke.

MIDDLE: Katy Munger in March of 2022. Copyright by Katy Munger. 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 Fire and Rain in early 2017 and it was finished in mid-2019. This is primarily because I had some…… Continue reading #300 Inside the Emotion of Fiction FIRE AND RAIN by Katy Munger.

LEFT: Emilee Kinney. RIGHT: The field next to Emilee’s childhood home in Michigan. Credit and Copyright by Emilee Kinney. 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 initially set out wanting to write a poem about a…… Continue reading #360 Backstory of the Poem “Beyond the Field” by Emilee Kinney.

What made you decide to write this non-fiction work? My childhood and young adult memories of how “hometown” communities were devastated by murders happening so close to home inspired me to write their stories. These same communities welcomed me back to share with me their loved ones’ tales. An unsolved case that entered my life…… Continue reading #008 The Fascination of One Fact in Non-fiction SMALL-TOWN SLAYINGS IN SOUTH CAROLINA by Rita Y. Shuler

What is the date you began writing this memoir and the date when you completed the memoir?  In the spring of 2016, I started writing down random memories from my past. After about eight months, I wasn’t sure if what I’d written was actually a book. My husband suggested I hire a writing coach, and…… Continue reading #44 THE MAGNIFICATION OF ONE MEMORY “Untethered” by Laura Whitfield

What is the date you began writing this piece of fiction and the date when you completely finished the piece of fiction? My newest release, coming out April 1, is a cozy mystery called The Unwelcome Wagon, Book 1 of the Book & Mug Mysteries. It started out as a romantic suspense series, tied together…… Continue reading #299 Inside the Emotion of Fiction “The Unwelcome Wagon Book 1” by Michelle Levigne

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? “Spectral Evidence” was first drafted in May of 2016 and it is the poem that triggered my book, “Her Kind.” Cindy Veach in April of 2016. Copyright by Cindy Veach.…… Continue reading #359 Backstory of the Poem “Spectral Evidence” by Cindy Veach

What is the date you began writing this memoir and the date when you completed the memoir? I began in 2013 and completed the book in 2020. The editors that that worked on “Why Is Everybody Yelling? Growing Up In My Immigrant Family”. LEFT: Margaret Ferguson. RIGHT: Wes Adams Where did you do most of…… Continue reading #43 THE MAGNIFICATION OF ONE MEMORY IN MEMOIR “Why Is Everybody Yelling? Growing Up In My Immigrant Family” by Marisabina Russo

RIGHT: Millicent Accardi in April of 2022. Copyright by Millicent Accardi. 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? Oh my goodness. I was studying abroad in Prague reading work by Czech authors from World War II. The…… Continue reading #358 Backstory of the Poem “Portrait of a Girl, 1942” by Millicent Accardi.

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 NECESSARY DECEPTIONS in July 2018 and finished the draft manuscript in March 2020 with critique input and a final edit completed by July 2020. Pamela Nowak in September 2018. Copyright…… Continue reading #298 Inside the Emotion of Fiction NECESSARY DECEPTIONS by Pamela Nowak

MIDDLE: Claudia Gary in April of 2022. Photo Credit Nathan Leslie. Copyright by Nathan Leslie and Claudia Gary. 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 reason I used the Villanelle form was that I had recently…… Continue reading #357 Backstory of the Poem the Villanelle “The Topiarist” by Claudia Gary

MIDDLE: Trisha Faye in April of 2022. Copyright by Trisha Faye. What is the date you began writing this memoir and the date when you completed the memoir? I had the idea for Mothers of Angels around 2013 or 2014. Unfortunately, for several years all I did was talk about it and run ideas about…… Continue reading #042 THE MAGNIFICATION OF ONE MEMORY IN MEMOIR Short Story “The Son of My Heart” by Trisha Faye from “Mothers of Angels Living and Loving After the Death of a Child”compiled and published by Trisha Faye.

MIDDLE: Patti Hornstra in March of 2022. Copyright by Patti Hornstra What is the date you began writing this piece of fiction and the date when you completely finished the piece of fiction? I started working on Unholy Scandal in 2006 and completed it in late 2021, so it took 15 years start to finish.…… Continue reading #297 Inside the Emotion of Fiction UNHOLY SCANDAL by Patti Hornstra

Jude Pastor. Copyright by Jude Pastor. 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 this is a very old poem of mine, I cannot remember the step-by-step process of creating it. However, I remember a few things.…… Continue reading #356 Backstory of the Poem “Gray” by Jude Pastor

What is the date you began writing this memoir and the date when you completed the memoir? I began writing in the fall of 2008, and finished in spring 2019. Two of those eleven years were a complete pause though; I lost confidence and couldn’t write. But the book kept nagging at me to finish.…… Continue reading #041 the Magnification of One Memory in Memoir “Crash: How I Became a Reluctant Caregiver by Rachel Michelberg.