A Marvelous Microfiction Anthology 🤗📕

Thrilled to have my work included in this anthology of rad 50-word stories among so many awesome flash fictionists.

The book will officially drop in November by Vine Leaves Press @vine_leaves_press , with pre-ordering now at Amazon.

But this book for your writing, for your favorite writer, and/or for your fiction class or workshop--they'll love it and find inspiration for their own flashes.

Amazing Music: Friday, September 17th: Link 🎶🎼

So honored that several poems from my collection, This Passing Fever, will be set to music and sung during this amazing performance.

Please tune into the livestream next Friday, September 17th at 8:15 Eastern or 7:15 Central. The livestream link:

Recital Hall Webcast | Department of Music and Theatre (iastate.edu)

My Poems Set to Music and Voice! 🎶🎼

I’m super excited to announce that selected poems from my collection, This Passing Fever, have been set to music and voice by the incredibly talented composer and musician Jodi Goble and will be performed by an array of professional vocalists and musicians at Iowa State University on Friday, September 17th at 7:30 pm (Central)/ 8:30 pm (EST).

Through the magic of the interwebs, there will be a livestream which I will link closer to the date. Mark your calendars now—I’ve heard clips and these folks are amazing and first-rate! It’s an honor to have them perform my work.

Portable Muse Cards: Relaunch! 📓🖊

One of my fun summer projects has been this box redesign of my Portable Muse cards. This time, I used my own photography for the box front and back and chose another, clearer font. Ta-da! The Portable Muse.

Same great prompts to get your Muse moving! The perfect gift for you and the writers in your life.

More deets below:

“Are you a creative writer whose Muse has gone into a sputter? Wondering: "What should I write about today?" Or are you a teacher with a classroom or workshop filled with eager scribes who need fresh prompts? Wonder no more!


What are they?
• A series of 30 prompts on handy-dandy, beautiful cards. One varied prompt per card. Some include quotations, some situations, others a title or a setting.
• Sure to inspire fiction, essays, poetry, and more!
• Very portable! Slip into your pocket, purse, backpack, or tote and carry them with you to write in cafes, waiting rooms, on your commute, or wherever the day takes you!”

Check out these and other fine products at my Etsy store: WritePathProductions.

✨On Developmental Editing: More of the Scoop at …But I Also Have a Day Job ✨

Photo Courtesy of Laura Chouette, unsplash.com

Wonder how a developmental edit works? The answer by super talented writer and fellow Daria aficionado Ian Rogers at …But I Also Have a Day Job. @IantheRoge 🙌

While you’re there, read his insightful interviews with inspiring writing advice from cool writers, such as Gina Troisi.

Also, check out TRAM, the awesome indie zine out of Toyama, Japan that Ian co-edits.

Also, get ready for his debut novel, MFA Thesis Novel, dropping in April 2022 at Vine Leaves Press @VineLeavesPress --it's fantastic and funny. I’m excited for readers and fellow writers to get their hands on this literary gem. 📘📚🖊

Photo Courtesy of Laura Chouette, unsplash.com

❄Featured in Snowflakes in a Blizzard ❄

Pleased to share that my craft book, Photography for Writers, is featured this week in Snowflakes in a Blizzard, a wonderful book blog.

Learn more about the blog as well as check out their other great featured books here and here.

"Within Reach"--Ekphrastic Work Featured Today 📓🖊📸

I’m thrilled to announce that a poem I wrote, “Within Reach,” based on a fantastic photograph by talented film photographer Martí Blesa was published today as part of Film Shooters Collective’s NATIONAL POETRY MONTH, DAY 5.

***

Check out all of the posts each day during April at Film Shooters Collective!

***

Within Reach
by Melanie Faith

It is, indeed,
something

good to be
one and small

Photo courtesy of: film photographer Martí Blesa

of many who are
one and small.

It is, indeed,
filled

with gray
potential,

elemental
to advance

in ordinary sandals
against cement.

More and more
rectangles

await our future.
Stacked lenses

mirrored,
so when we wave—

that pleasant
pain bloomed

there in the back
of the neck—

we wave back
looking up.

🌟National Poetry Month Ekphrastic Project 📸🖊

Know what’s just around the corner?

National Poetry Month. (Making April everyone’s fav month for 25 years and counting.) 😊

Know what else? I’m thrilled to say that I’ve been asked to take part in Film Shooters Collective’s rad project that pairs film photographers’ work with poets’ verse each day in April. That’s right: I’ve penned a poem based on the amazing art of a fellow photographer. Stay tuned! 📸

Be sure to check Film Shooters Collective’s Insta and website each day for your daily dose of delicious inspiration.

***

Care for some sweet poetic inspiration in the meantime? Check out my book—filled with oodles of tips and prompts created with poets in mind:

Poetry Power

Now also available in the 3-book series for e-readers!

Signed copies available at: WritePath Productions, my Etsy store

My Poem, "Wobbly," Featured ☕📚

So pleased to announce that my latest poem, “Wobbly,” was featured tonight as part of Lee Ann Berardi Smith’s wonderful series on Facebook of poetry videos during the pandemic, with the hashtag: #poemdemic.

Check out Lee Ann’s amazing video reading (clickety links above), my poem text (below), as well as other excellent videos of Lee Ann sharing verse from many inspired poets.

“Wobbly”

 

the stack of books

beside the nightstand

beside the bed

got wobbly again

I wouldn’t know why—

 

I only added three new

hardcovers last week

to the tippy-top

 

so I sat on the floor

this morning

on the carpet

with the tea stain

 

my knees tucked in a way

that would let me know

when I stood up

that they loathed to be tucked

that way, and I sorted

and pulled two or three mid-stack

 

volumes of softcover poetry

to send to an out-of-state poet friend

and a thick historical novel

that had been so-so

but a swap with another friend

 

and the memoir

about the 1980s painter

to toss into the free

book box by the gift shop

the next time I go past

 

and the rest,

like elementary-school

friends, I set out

for indeterminate recess

 

I let them group together

still holding hands

beside the printer

 

I know, despite my efforts

at any minute,

they might sing that song,

 

might play that game,

that goes

we all fall down

Photo Courtesy of Alfred Kenneally on unsplash.com

✨ "3 Suggestions on a Saturday Night" ✨

I have the pleasure of guest blogging today at Nicole Pyles’ wonderful blog, World of my Imagination.

Check out my “3 Suggestions on a Saturday Night” for some literary, movie, and audio amusements.