My Photo Published, "Moment Series--Wish and Shadow" 😎

Thrilled to say that my photo, “Moment Series—Wish and Shadow,” was published today in the art gallery of Songs of Eretz Poetry Review.

Check out a few reflections I made about my photo as well as the work of the amazing poets, such as my dear friend Charles A. Swanson, and artists featured in this Summer 2021 Love Issue.

✨On Developmental Editing: More of the Scoop at …But I Also Have a Day Job ✨

Photo Courtesy of Laura Chouette, unsplash.com

Wonder how a developmental edit works? The answer by super talented writer and fellow Daria aficionado Ian Rogers at …But I Also Have a Day Job. @IantheRoge 🙌

While you’re there, read his insightful interviews with inspiring writing advice from cool writers, such as Gina Troisi.

Also, check out TRAM, the awesome indie zine out of Toyama, Japan that Ian co-edits.

Also, get ready for his debut novel, MFA Thesis Novel, dropping in April 2022 at Vine Leaves Press @VineLeavesPress --it's fantastic and funny. I’m excited for readers and fellow writers to get their hands on this literary gem. 📘📚🖊

Photo Courtesy of Laura Chouette, unsplash.com

📸 My Photography Featured in Fatal Flaw 📸

Super excited that three of my photos have been published today as part of Fatal Flaw’s Ritual-themed Issue #4, among many talented writers and artists.

Please check out the issue as well as my film photograph (included here) as well as two digital compositions.

I used Kodak Gold 200 film on a ‘90s Canon to make this photo; I love that grainy film feeling and the way this film plays soft with light. 🤩📸

Great News: Beyond Words Literary Magazine Second Printing

So pleased that this issue of the stellar international literary journal, Beyond Words Literary Magazine, from last June has now gone into a second printing! 😍📸

I have photography in the June 2020 issue as well as in their current May 2021 issue.

Get your copy/subscription today @beyondwordsmagazine . Also, consider submitting your words or art.

Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference.

My Poem, "Aim," Published 🖋📓

So pleased to announce that my poem, “Aim,” was published in the current (December 2020) issue of Songs of Eretz. It has a refreshing “Spring” theme— more on that in the editor’s note.

The issue contains the poems of many very talented poets to savor, including meaningful poems by my dear friend, Charles A. Swanson, who is a featured poet in this and many other issues. Check out his poignant elegy to his beautiful granddaughter, Addi. It is an honor to share this issue as “contributor twins” with this steadfast friend from my grad-school days. Here’s to many more of his publications.

Read the complete issue at: Songs of Eretz.

“Aim”
Melanie Faith 

That was the night we sped barefoot
down the embankment
across the rolling lawn
past the fountain outside the dining hall, past
Diana the huntress

her bow and arrow pointed perpetually
skyward. Her aim: a silvery spattering of almost-
summer stars. Our aim: celebrating the end
of semester. Our aim: disruption. Each shimmer
of water from rotating sprinklers

a world within a world we had yet
to step into, landed light
and wet on our bare
shoulders. We were a spinning
folly before equilibrium, the best kind.

The brick-tower clock struck two. Someone
squealed from the impact of the cold,
another someone shushed, but it was half-
hearted, against the mirth. Diana
and her bow, at the top of the hill, steady

she kept watch, peering the other way,
head tipped upward to her map of constellations:
ever-aiming into the many night spoils.
Enough stars to gather and gather again
in our open arms.

Photo courtesy of Gaimard on Pixabay

Photography Published in Molecule :)

Check out the latest amazing issue of Molecule, which features one of my black-and-white film photographs as well as excellent short poems, prose, and even a play. Here’s to issue #3!

The bottle was a find in my dad’s workshop— it’s glass, with a wonderful heft, and the letters on the bottle are raised/embossed. I love the font and how the bottle’s inscription includes a place on it.

Interview :)

Great news! I was interviewed by writer Annalisa Crawford. We dish on writing, new projects, and more. Check it out: interview.

Enjoy Annalisa’s amazing book: Grace and Serenity.

Also, check out Photography for Writers and my other writing craft books to get that inspiration flowing: Books.

Image by Nacho Capelo on unsplash.com.

My Photos Published in Burgundy Balloon :)

Pleased to announce that I have some photos (including this one, called “Next Steps”) published today in Burgundy Balloon.

Check out all of the images and some stellar creative writing, too (and consider submitting your own work) at: https://burgundyballoon.org/ .

Poetry in a Time of Pandemic

It’s my honor to have a poem published in the St. Charles Arts Council’s project, Poetry in a Time of Pandemic. My poem, “Quarantine III,” was just published. May these poems bring comfort, insight, and hope to us all as we wait out this terrible virus.

“Quarantine III”

I cracked open a window, to be touched

by chilled arms: shrill April winds better

than nothing. Sister says she’s started

having nightmares about social distancing.

She wandered through a hall, body shaking,

shaking a fist at duos in sweaters carelessly

entwined in chaste hugs. Last night, I dreamt

of an anniversary party in a giant ballroom.

I asked at every festooned food table for

pretzel rods. I was that specific; they weren’t

just pretzels. The punch was Hawaiian red but

all I could scoop into my cup was pale pink,

square ice pellets that tasted of run-off and

blankness. Not even water could quench

as it vanished.  I took more anyway.

Photo Published in Aji Magazine

My black-and-white photo was recently published at Aji Magazine on page 102.

Check out the whole awesome issue, with work by over 50 artists and writers, here. They are also currently reading submissions for their fall issue, for anyone interested.