Spit and Spaghetti #7

[The Stage is on Fire] is a page-turner in which, much like life, there are no easy answers and yet each step of the journey yields insight and hope. This work of heart must not be missed!

Melanie Faith

Creative Writing Teacher, Essayist & Poet.

Katie Steedly’s first-person piece [The Unspeakable Gift] is a riveting retelling of her participation in a National Institutes of Health study that aided her quest to come to grips with her life of living with a rare genetic disorder. Her writing is superb.

The Society of Professional Journalists

In recognition of receiving the Dateline Award for the Washingtonian Magazine essay, The Unspeakable Gift.

I thank you … It is the authenticity of your “class notes”; and it is the delicacy and skill with which you present the nuances of classroom life and the actuality of your students’ and fellow teachers’ lives.

Maxine Greene

Philosopher and Education Scholar

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Pitches from Wind and Wall

Ageist

Please accept my application for Editorial Lead.

I am a 54-year-old woman living the 100th or so iteration of my dream. I have taught high school drama, completed a Ph.D. studying wide-awakeness, authored profiles and articles for universities and cultural institutions, and written years of pieces for clients across the universe of opportunities. All that living, paying attention, and writing informs my capacity to connect curiosity and wisdom, create and build, and fall apart and back together more today than at any time in my life.

Speaking directly to the Editorial Lead role, I live fully ensconced in a 50+1 body/world that strives to be healthy, relevant, vital, wise, and soft. I build my newsletter, lead a writing group for folks 30-ish to 80-ish, and constantly explore what it means to “live the good life.” My questions get better every year and my commitment to “living the questions” grows moment-by-moment. I seek to understand the complexity and beauty and possibility of age.

Read entire letter here.

Democracy Docket

Please accept my application for a Weekend Journalist position. …

I am pro-United States Constitution. I am pro-domestic and international rule of law, and accountability for those who break the law. One does not exist without the other. I am pro-judicial reform, starting with the expansion of the Federal Court and the Supreme Court to reflect our current population. I am pro-public education at every level. I am pro-public health, including gun control. I am pro-public healthcare, including reproductive health. I am pro-affordable housing and food assistance. I am pro-legislative reform that affirms voting rights and addresses campaign financing.

Read entire letter here.

Bustle

The Story

The Challenge and Art of the Six-Word Memoir (because I could not stop at one six-word memoir)

Broken miracle beautifully duct taped together./ Depth breath. Two steps. Deep breath./ Star dust. Scar tissue. Steel rims./ Brick by brick. Stone by stone./ Let the river carry you home./ Full-hearted pilgrim planting seeds and singing prayers./ Seeking grace. Sipping Saki. Crying to Carlile./ Green Ford. Blue Mazda. Gray Lexus./ Control freak pescatarian. Empathetic cheese lover./ Comforted by rainbows, cats, kaleidoscopes, seasons.

Read entire pitch here.

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