Side Roads and Detours
Life is like a meandering path through a fantasy world forest. Amid the trees wildlife, monsters, and new directors could come at you, detouring your life plan, your hopes, your dreams. But not all side roads are bad things. Some could be wondrous moments that lead to delights and growth, others may simply bring you path to your truest road after a bit of wandering. After all, as our beloved Tolkien once put it, “Not all those who wander are lost.”
Michael
“You want someone to move into your world,” he says, “But, I want someone to move into mine.”
For the Forlorn on Valentine’s Day
Paper hearts, and roses red, for some, the day is filled with dread. Some spend the day with their “only.” Some merely spend the day lonely…
How You Know It’s Love
It’s the scent that lingers in those moments,
the breeze that carries their name
to you, when you’re feeling alone.
The Whisking Hour — An Advanced Review of Murder, Baked Goods, and Theatre
Now, when I say delectable, I mean it. Practically every page of “The Whisking Hour” drips with baked-in goodness in a vibrant, descriptive tone. For, you see, the narrator is Juliet Capshaw, the owner and head baker at Torte, a cafe and bakery in the small town of Ashland, Oregon.
Quarterly & Special Issues
Submissions next open from June 1 to August 31 2024
February 15, 2026
Life is like a meandering path through a fantasy world forest. Amid the trees wildlife, monsters, and new directors could come at you, detouring your life plan, your hopes, your dreams. But not all side roads are bad things. Some could be wondrous moments that lead to delights and growth, others may simply bring you path to your truest road after a bit of wandering. After all, as our beloved Tolkien once put it, “Not all those who wander are lost.”
February 14, 2026
“You want someone to move into your world,” he says, “But, I want someone to move into mine.”
February 14, 2026
Paper hearts, and roses red, for some, the day is filled with dread. Some spend the day with their “only.” Some merely spend the day lonely…
February 14, 2026
It’s the scent that lingers in those moments,
the breeze that carries their name
to you, when you’re feeling alone.
February 10, 2026
Now, when I say delectable, I mean it. Practically every page of “The Whisking Hour” drips with baked-in goodness in a vibrant, descriptive tone. For, you see, the narrator is Juliet Capshaw, the owner and head baker at Torte, a cafe and bakery in the small town of Ashland, Oregon.
February 9, 2026
My walking armor I wear to confront life, my seduction weapon that feeds staring eyes craving for beauty and feminity...
February 6, 2026
“Look, Emylle! My baby sits and stands on her own!”
Emylle replies with a smile that is just as bright and says, “Wow! She’ll walk before I do!”
February 3, 2026
So singular was their purpose — I wanted my friends to feel the weight of their
craving, but they were not present. They were hidden somewhere, pressed against a dark obsession with their position, they battled their worries from day to day.
February 2, 2026
He is stout and portly, as he tells the future shortly. He’s a bit of a coward, preparing to run when, at the Knob, he first sees the sun.
February 2, 2026
“everyone who works below
and who drives through dirty snow
hopes that once the plow’s relief is nearly nigh,
all their work won’t be undone”
February 1, 2026
Julia was only half listening. She was concentrating on her dad. Looking at the redness in his wrinkled cheeks, at his thin lips bent into a faint smile and at the sparkle in his small, sunken eyes as he continued to stare through the glass.
January 31, 2026
She had warm, round eyes and an oddly familiar smile, with the left side of her mouth going higher than the right. She reminded him of someone, but he couldn’t remember who. It would come to him, perhaps.
January 29, 2026
By the end, I was a bit conflicted, though, and so that’s why I thought I’d offer this quick take for those on the fence about watching The Wrecking Crew (2026).
January 28, 2026
“This is Brazil! This is Carnival!”
Confetti fills the floor as Emylle celebrates—until an unwanted interruption sparks a sharp, unapologetic response.
January 27, 2026
I’m sure there is some scientific explanation,
but the idea of the clouds needing to let it all out is nicer.
Even storms need to pause and rest awhile.
January 26, 2026
Although the book works best as a program, The Artist’s Way can also be used as a reference book filled with exercises to complete anytime a little creative push is needed, and I think it is a great resource for educators. As a writer, I found the exercises well suited to creative writing, but activities can be used or adapted for other kinds of art, such as dance or photography.
January 23, 2026
John A. Heldt’s book Indiana Belle was not what I expected. I saw the cover and thought that it was a historical fiction about a woman in the Roaring 20s rebelling against the norms of societal expectations. It is — but it’s also so much more. The unique tale contains aspects of science fiction, mystery, and romance, all while telling a compelling story using many genre tropes.
January 23, 2026
January 22, 2026
In our official wedding photo, my Prince Charming grins at the camera. He wears a white tux with satin accents and bell bottom trousers.
January 20, 2026
Deep Cuts — by Holly Brickley, published February 2025 — tells of Percy Marks, a music nerd who meets songwriter Joe Morrow in a campus bar. The journey follows her through her twenties as she jumps across the country and is defined by the songs — new and old — that inform her life. As Percy grows, Joe evolves, too, from a quiet student to a confident frontman.