Deborah Adams's Blog, page 2

b.read.crumbs: Prompting Thought

In case you missed Julie Herman’s most recent b.read.crumbs post, I’m sharing it here. It’s important.

I’ve been spending a lot of time offline lately. What a joy that has been. I’ve said this before, always fully aware that I’m saying it ONLINE. All I can say about that one, folks, is to acknowledge it and move right along.

My prompt today is LISTEN.

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My definition of LISTEN is: to still my own thoughts an...

$11 and Mileage

This essay first appeared in Litmosphere, fall 2024

ALLEGATION

During his opening statement, the prosecutor calmly lists some of the ways she’s been abused. We’ve heard enough during voir dire to know that worse is still to come.

BAIL

He can’t afford it. He’s been locked up for over a year while awaiting trial. No GoFundMe organized by friends and family. No lien against property to raise the funds that would allow him to roam free.

CRIMINAL ABUSE OF AN ANIMAL

Four counts. It doesn’t mean what you pro...

Finding My Own Way Into Stones River ~ M. F. (Mimi) Jones

Recently I read through my journals going back to the ‘70s when I was in college, and the major theme in them, along with a quest for true love, was my longing to write. The problem was, I didn’t know what to write. Truisms like Write what you know, show don’t tell, talent can’t be learned, were wet blankets I threw on my early efforts, stifling them.

So I became an editor, and loved helping writers develop their visions. In 2005 the magazine I worked for laid me off, along with most of the other...

Five of the Best Places I've Visited

1. MAGGODY, ARKANSAS

Where to eat: Ruby Bee’s Bar & Grill serves up downhome fare with a side of curiosity about you and your reason for being there. For quick bites, you’ll find burgers, fries, and a gaggle of teens at the Dairee Delish.

Where to stay: The Flamingo Motel…if your standards aren’t exacting

Things to do: Readers will want to check out the charming independent bookstore just down the road in Farberville.

How to get there: via the first book in the series, Malice in Maggody

What to expec...

Sometimes ya just gotta share the nonsense

I received this email yesterday:

“Hi Deborah,

First, let me say how much I admire your work. You bring a truly rare gift to the mystery genre: the sharp eye of a satirist, the rooted soul of a seventh-generation Tennessean, and the award-winning craft of a storyteller whose wit disarms while her mysteries intrigue. From All the Great Pretenders, which earned its place as an Agatha Award finalist, to All the Dirty Cowards and your unforgettable contribution “Psycho Santa’s Got a Brand-New Bag” in C...

Rita Sims Quillen ~ 3 Questions & a Poem

a replay of one of my earlier posts, containing advice from poet Rita Sims Quillen

QUESTION 1

What do you consider the three most important elements of a poem?

Sound, Sense, and Surprise:

A poem is not just prose broken up; it has to have an elevated sound and rhythm. My first love was music and it still is very important to my daily life, so I want poetry …

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10 places to submit your writing in October 2025

As far as I can tell, none of these require submission fees. All should be open for submissions at least through the coming month, some may be open longer. Check for deadlines.

1

Porchlight accepts fiction, CNF, and poetry “dedicated to lifting up Southern voices.”

2

Front Porch (don’t confuse this with Porchlight) is a literary journal out of Emerson Col…

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I don’t care that it’s 90 degrees outside—I’m ready for sweaters and chili

Fun With Prompts: I don’t remember where I saw this one, but the prompt was to open a book at a random page and use the last four words on that page as a title, then write to the title.

In the Autumn Meeting

They crossed paths in the park where most of the company’s employees ate their brown-bagged lunches when the weather was fine, and on this first day of October, it was exceptionally fine. These two people worked on different floors and in different departments, and always ate lunch at their de...

b.read.crumbs : Home is where the pen and paper are

My prompt this month comes from MTSU Writing Conference Wild/Home card:

“Did you move around often as a child, or did you live in one place? How did this shape your childhood and your sense of who you are now, as an adult?”

In pondering this month’s prompt, I realized that I think of myself as a vagabond, but in fact, I’ve lived in the same house since 1987 and in the same town since 1974. I began life in a county to the west of here, but from first through sixth grade, I lived in another state. I...

My brand new poetry chapbook is birthed!

This chapbook, Instars, contains poems that chronicle a woman’s emotional life-stages. Instars begins with the optimism of youth, moves through the glimpses of reality we see in our early adult years, the sometimes-crushing turmoil of midlife, and the topsy-turvy insights gained as we enter maturity. The 20-poem collection ends with a stage I think of as ‘wisdom age,’ but ten years on, I may laugh at that.

These poems are written in various styles, from found to free verse to traditional rhymed a...