Holly Walrath's Blog, page 27

NaPoWriMo Day 5

I’ve been playing around with Instagram lately, adding images to photo. It’s fun to try out. This one was inspired by Blade Runner and K’s Baseline test.

NaPoWriMo Day 4

This is a short piece that’s part of a larger chapbook of Very Small Poems I’ve been working on. The violence here is an extension of my own struggles with depression and violent thought patterns.

Day 3 of NaPoWriMo

For this poem, I was struggling to get something down. So I picked up the New York Times in my coffee shop and made a found poem using phrases from articles.

I like the result. It’s a fun method to break out of my normal phrasing.

NaPoWriMo Day 2

one of the reasons I like doing poetry challenges like #NaPoWriMo is that it shows we’re all human. This one has all kinds of scratch outs but it will get revised later and be awesome, I can just feel it sizzling.

NaPoWriMo Day 1

I’m posting this late due to the fact that my schedule is basically insane right now. Enjoy this creepy ode to Shelley Jackson’s Patchwork Girl.

New Subscriber-Only Post at Curious Fictions: Odd Jobs and Past Selves

I've been posting some subscriber-only content on Curious Fictions, a new platform similar to Patreon. You can read them by subscribing to my author page. 

This latest is about the odd jobs of writers and how we negotiate our past selves. Hope you enjoy reading! 

New Curious Fictions Story!

I have a new reprint up at Curious Fictions: Mermaid Hunt. This story first appeared in Pulp Literature. It's a flash fiction based on a world where gender roles are flipped, featuring a bad-ass lady submarine captain. 

Stay tuned - I'll be updating this story to my website in free audio and text versions soon! Also be on the lookout for the glorious artwork that I commissioned to go with this story.  Read Mermaid Hunt

Upcoming Events in 2018

Below is a list of events I'll be participating in this year! Hope to see you around. Please come say hi - I love meeting other writers. 

April: 
Chapbook pre-orders start for my chapbook from Finishing Line Press, Glimmerglass Girl!
Futurescapes Workshop 
LA Times Festival of the Book
Bay Area Book Festival

May: 
Writefest (Panelist) 
Comicpalooza (Panelist and hosting the SFPA Poetry reading May 25th)

July: 
Readercon (Panelist) 

August: 
Flash Fiction Retreat Breckenridge
​August 22nd: Writespace Writing Life 101 Workshop
August 25: Writespace Speculative Poetry Workshop

Interviewed By Kathy Fish

I was interviewed by the queen of flash fiction, Kathy Fish! Read my interview over at Flash Fiction Retreats. I'm excited to be joining Kathy for a retreat this Summer, and you'll want to check out their amazing offerings. (Wish I could go to Costa Rica!)  Read the Full Interview

Coming Your Way: GlimmerGlass Girl

Yesterday I announced that Finishing Line Press will publish my first-ever chapbook of poems, GLIMMERGLASS GIRL this year. 

Y'all, I literally don't know how to process this. I've known since earlier this year, but I was waiting to announce until I sent off my contract. Then the I realized that I had to get all my materials in for the book by March 15! So I've been busy working on that. The responses to my announcement have blown me away. Thank you to everyone who has left me a kind thought and shown their excitement in my work. 

It's so strange, I never really thought I would be a person to publish a book. I sent GG off to FLP on a whim. I thought, I wonder if I can make a chapbook. I chose some older poems that seemed to fit into a theme and create a narrative and was very much surprised when my acceptance came back. Guess I learned my lesson. 

Perhaps the weirdest feeling is resurrecting these poems. Some of them are from as far back as 2013 and before. In fact, I distinctly remember writing one of them in college. It's almost like resurrecting a ghost of myself, the ghost of a young woman who I feel somewhat distant from. Revising and prepping the manuscript has reminded me about that person who I was. 

Glimmerglass Girl is a negotiation of the world of women as other. It is about womanhood, but that exploration is merely through my own lens. My Glimmerglass Girl asks no questions, she flits through the fairy-tale world on broken bottle glass. I hope you will take her gently into your hands.

I have more news and updates about Glimmerglass Girl coming your way soon, including a preview of the stellar and weird cover, awesome pre-order bonus gifts, and more, but for now, please join me in celebrating this exciting new adventure!