Stream of Consciousness
Author's Notes: Puss's Boots
Puss's Boots. This story is over ten years old, over 475 years old, and over thirty years old. As a child, I fell in love with a picture book of Puss-in-Boots; I loved the simple, colourful, elegant faux-Medieval art designs even more than the story. Years later, I studied history thrive fashion, and this one book still lives with me. I wrote this story three times; it was my first original fairytale, and my first original queer story.
By Dionearia Redabout a month ago in Writers
Author's Notes: Little Snow-White
"Snow-White, Rose-Red, will you beat your lover dead?" "But Little Snow-White is still a thousand times fairer than you." Two women white as either snow or roses, two sisters that loved and stood together rather than attack each other, and a princess whose "dead body" was nearly sold and then given to a strange prince. These stories begged to be put together in a way that offered the romantic love of a fairytale as well as the familial love that is so often missing from them.
By Dionearia Redabout a month ago in Writers
Author's Notes: Sleeping Beauty
Take one Meddling Fairy (colour: Lilac); one cursed Princess who knows she is cursed, thank you very much; two loving but, ultimately, clueless parents just trying to do their best; two siblings willing to brave a curse for (what they sincerely hope will be) freedom; and two nobles looking for love: what do you get - Sleeping Beauty.
By Dionearia Redabout a month ago in Writers
Does Being OCD Help or Hinder My Writing?
Eight years ago, I was diagnosed with a mild obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). I denied it; I was not crazy! OCD is an anxiety disorder. It involves frequent, intrusive thoughts, along with repetitive and ritualistic actions. There is a long list of symptoms. The main ones I exhibited, and, if I am honest with myself, still do to a certain degree, are:
By Calvin Londonabout a month ago in Writers
One Story Below Is True
Anne Bernays and Pamela Painter — What If? Writing Exercise for Fiction Writers prompts The Exercise — In two or three sentences, write down three unusual, startling, or amusing things you did or that happened to you. One thing must be true; the other two must be lies. Use details. Read them to a group, and they may ask questions to help them guess which one is and which ones are not. The Objective - To understand how we can exaggerate events in our lives, appropriate the lives of others - friends, enemies, strangers - or just plain out and out lie. All these are ways of using what we see and experience to produce fiction.
By Denise E Lindquistabout a month ago in Writers
Tarot Cards Meaning: Understanding What Each Card Really Tells You. AI-Generated.
You know that feeling when you choose a tarot card and discover its meaning for the first time? It’s weird. Your hand just sort of… knows which card to pick. I’ve watched people do this hundreds of times and it still gives me chills. There’s something about the way someone’s fingers hover over the cards, hesitate, then land on one specific card that feels anything but random. Tarot gets a bad rap as some kind of carnival fortune-telling gimmick, which honestly bugs me because it’s so much more useful than that. Think of it more like a visual therapy session or a conversation with the wiser part of yourself that you usually ignore because you’re too busy scrolling Instagram. That’s also why so many people prefer to choose a tarot card and discover its meaning intuitively instead of memorizing rigid definitions. The deck has 78 cards, and each one is basically holding up a mirror to something happening in your life right now. Some of these cards have been around since the 1400s which is a long time for something to survive if it didn’t work on some level. When you start learning what the cards actually mean beyond the spooky stereotypes, you’re picking up a whole language. Not one you speak out loud, but one your mind understands through images and symbols. It doesn’t matter if you bought your first deck last week or if you’ve been shuffling cards for years getting a real handle on tarot cards meaning makes everything feel clearer. Life’s confusing enough without trying to figure it out blindfolded.
By Clara Starlightabout a month ago in Writers
Andreas Szakacs: Building Cinema With Precision, Purpose, and Creative Leadership
In a film industry often shaped by speed, visibility, and short-term momentum, Andreas Szakacs has taken a more deliberate route. His career as an actor, producer, and creative leader reflects a commitment to precision, intention, and sustained artistic development rather than constant exposure. Over time, this approach has positioned him as a figure increasingly associated with thoughtful storytelling, technical discipline, and collaborative leadership.
By Andreas Szakacsabout a month ago in Writers
Notes from a Quoting Mind: On Language, Power, and Repetition
Homo Citans: The Quoting Man Against Originality Homo citans names the human as a quoting animal, a being who speaks by repeating, citing, echoing, and rearranging the words of others. Every sentence enters the world already inhabited: by traditions, concepts, metaphors, and rhythms that precede the speaker. To cite is therefore not an exception of scholarly life but its default condition. Researchers, writers, and thinkers are links in a chain, not origins; they validate knowledge by showing where it comes from, how it travelled, and whom it passed through. Citation is thus not merely a technical practice but an ethical acknowledgement of interdependence, a recognition that thought emerges collectively rather than individually.
By Peter Ayolovabout a month ago in Writers
Uneasy
The flickering lights seemed to bounce my legs up and down. I was feeling uneasy in this room full of old magazines and a wall that seemed to have seen generations of people. There was no smell that was distinct but the queazy feeling went up to my nose and for some reason queasiness smells like the icy cold air in the morning. Everyone around me was on their phones but my mind was too busy to be looking at mine. I wore a formal outfit and I thought this kind of outfit would make me feel more confident but instead, it made me feel less than. I tried to enlarge myself in my head but it felt like trying to stretch out a rock - it was impossible. I tried deep breathing but I felt like for every anxiety I breathed out, the more anxiety I breathed in. Then someone walked in and called my name. It was now time for my job interview.
By Marianne Leeabout a month ago in Writers
