An Author’s Rite of Passage

An Author’s Rite of Passage

by Rasmenia Comment Closed
I was selling some of my books at a local book fair when a cheerful woman walked over, scanned my table, waved her hand over my display then asked, "But do you self-publish these stories or did someone else publish them?""Both."With a squint and a head tilt, she asked me to elaborate. I explained that I publish some small books on my own, and they're a mix of things that have been published in various places and some that haven't.She nodded. "That's good."She clearly wasn't keen on self-published books. That's cool. I'm all for self-publishing, obviously, but don't disagree with her. Stories need to go through a gauntlet. So do their writers. I want control over everything, but I also crave the validation that comes from having my stories go through a gatekeeper. I like to mix it up. I don't want people telling me what to do. But I do want them to validate me. I want criticism and...
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What Is & What Will Be

What Is & What Will Be

by Rasmenia Comment Closed
“She was a published writer. I imagined how thrilling it must be living such a life, going around the world and making up things about it.” -E. L. Doctorow *** Well, not so thrilling, as it turns out. Interesting, yes. Fun, definitely. Boring... never. Most of the time is spent not zipping around the globe, but here in this corner, in this room, at this desk where I sit now. I scribble in notebooks, make faces at open documents in Word & lean my head on my hand as I read submission guidelines for one literary journal after another until my eyes go all googly. And research... entire days of reading, searching & asking questions. On really good days, I sit curled up in a comfy chair with my iPad while working on a piece of flash fiction. It's really not that thrilling, but it does make me feel glad & complete inside. I don't believe in sitting around waiting for "the muse" & I...
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Mr. O’Donnell & the Yellow Paper

Mr. O’Donnell & the Yellow Paper

by Rasmenia Comment Closed
"What is a teacher? I'll tell you: it isn't someone who teaches something, but someone who inspires the student to give of her best in order to discover what she already knows." -Paulo Coelho"It is the supreme art of the teacher to awaken joy in creative expression and knowledge." -Albert Einstein *I sat perfectly still in my seat at the back of the classroom, listening carefully as our teacher, Mr. O'Donnell, gave us our assignment: write a one-page essay explaining what you would do with only one day left to live.There, at my desk in the far back corner, next to the little sink and the pencil sharpener, in front of the poster of Prince & the Revolution, I tried to contain my giddiness. Sure, I had written boring essays for school before. I had written some stories, too... but no one had ever seen any of those."That's not all," Mr. O'Donnell said from the front of the room.  "After everyone's...
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