Holly Walrath's Blog, page 17

New Poem at Mirror Dance: Farewell Dead Men

I have a new poem up today at Mirror Dance called Farewell Dead Men. I also talk about why fantasy is a genre I love: 

While science fiction is based in science, mystery is based in the pursuit of a question, and horror is based in evoking an emotion of fear, I believe that fantasy is the only genre which is purely pulled from the author’s deepest dreams and imaginings. The ability to dream up fantastical beasts and worlds seems to me to be a peculiarity of the human condition—one that even the most mundane of minds can learn to cultivate. Where did the idea for a dragon first come from or the hero myth? They are deeply ingrained paths that we continue to walk, following our ancestors through the mists of imagination.

Read my poem "Farewell Dead Men" here . . . 

March 2019 News from the Ansible

I have a new update for Interstellar Flight Magazine today. As Managing Editor, I’m excited to share with you some of our news for this month. We are working on building a staff of editors, slush readers, and writers! As a new indie press, it’s a lot of work getting started.

Read my March Round-Up  here . . .

Submitting Short Fiction: Literary/Realism Edition

I have a new post up at Medium that's a comprehensive guide to submitting literary short stories! Find out how to tier your submissions, keep track of them, what multiple and simultaneous submissions are, and more!

Read the full post here . . . 
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NaPoWriMo: A Poet’s Challenge

I have a new post at Medium about April and NaPoWriMo! National Poetry Month was inaugurated by the Academy of American Poets in 1996. It’s also NaPoWriMo (National Poetry Writing Month)— an offshoot of NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month). During this month, magazines, workshops, radio shows, news sources, and readings showcase poetry in all its forms. Writers participate in the challenge of writing one poem a day during the month of April.

Read my full post at Medium . . . 

New Guest Post at Dream Foundry: The Cone of Silence

I wrote a guest blog post at Dream Foundry on whisper networks and breaking into the SFF community. 

Dream Foundry wanted me to write a guest post aimed at new creatives, and it got me thinking about how I got my start in the SFF world. It wasn't an easy journey. When I look back at my early years trying to find my own voice and place, sometimes I cringe. Because I'm not perfect, and the community isn't perfect, and to be honest, things could be better. There's a lot of emotion wrapped up in those memories. 

I am writing from personal experience, but a lot of the experience I've had has been hurtful and hard to process. Which is to say, I am not perfect and I do not represent all experiences. Everyone has their own story about how they got into the SFF community, and those stories range in their measure of negativity/positivity. 

I'd like to thank Dream Foundry for letting me talk about this important topic. Also, if you're a new writer or new SFF community member and you want advice/help/support/to chat, please know that I am here. I'm always willing to talk to new folks and help if I can. 

Read the guest post at Dream Foundry . . .

New Reprint in Flash Fiction Online

Artwork inspired by my story, by Houston artist Marlo Saucedo, as part of the Color:Story 2019 exhibit
I have a reprint up at Flash Fiction Online this month of my little boney, witchy story "knick knack, knick knack." This little story has seen a lot of love since it first appeared in Fireside last February 2018! It also appeared as part of a local art exhibit, Color:Story. The above artwork is the piece that Houston artist Marlo Saucedo made after reading this story.

What I love about this story is that so many people have different interpretations of it. I first wrote it inspired by the kodama in Japanese film Princess Mononoke, and also the idea of wanting to tell a mother/daughter story about aging. Marlo interpreted the story as following the tradition of the Mexican holiday Día de los Muertos. The idea of skull spirits is not central to one culture, but many. We put a lot of weight in the dead as humans, and I've always been fascinated by the different myths we create about the spirits who guide us. So I'm grateful that people continue to enjoy this little flash story. 

Read the story at Flash Fiction Online . . .

Defining Art

I have a reprint essay over at Medium today! This is a reworking of an article I wrote for ARTHouston magazine a few years ago. Just as relevant today, it asks how we define art and our legacy as artists. 

Read the article here...

Submitting Short Fiction: Science Fiction, Fantasy, and Genre Edition

I have a new article up on Medium today for writers of short fiction who want to submit their work to Science Fiction, Fantasy, and other Genre publications! This is meant to be an exhaustive, detailed, step-by-step guide for new writers. 

By the way, I've published this for members on Medium, but if you're not a member and you'd like a copy, please let me know and I'll send you one. I'm also teaching an online workshop in May with Writespace about this very topic! Registration is open now at $190 until April 27.

Read the article here . . .

Poetry: Break of Day

I have a new post up at Medium with a poem reprint. This poem originally appeared in Page & Spine (2016).

Head over to Medium to read it...

February Poetry Challenge

In February, I'm doing a poetry challenge where I write one tiny poem a day. Thank goodness for tiny post-its! I got this idea randomly and decided to roll with it over on my Instagram page. 

But you can also follow along here if you don't have Instagram. 

It's funny because you'd think that compressing a big concept into a tiny space would be really hard, but I've actually found it to be quite compelling. There's a reason haiku are so popular!
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