By CH Summie
In her lyrical prose, Bills shares her landscape of loss and survival in chapters that are deeply moving, sometimes humorous, and memorable. Continue reading
Category Archives: Excerpts
The Importance of Place
In Lost Without the River, Barbara tells of her life on a small farm in South Dakota as her parents struggle to recover after the concurrent years of drought and the Great Depression. Continue reading
“I Became an Actress at Thirty-Nine,” by Jill Kargman, from On Being 40(ish)
by Jill Kargman
We become balsamic reductions as we age—our very best parts distilled and clarified. Which is why they make needlepoint pillows that say aging is great like wine or cheese—and not like bananas, but that’s besides the point. Continue reading
The Freedom of Flash: An excerpt from Caroline Bock’s CARRY HER HOME
by Caroline Bock
Some days, [it] burns into a complete story, and my writing goal is achieved. Some days, the story stretches into much longer pieces. Word count becomes irrelevant. I am unbound by time, hungry and not realizing why. Continue reading
A RIVER OF STARS: An excerpt
by Vanessa Hua
“No one in this world understood the journey she’d taken, the threats and disappointments she’d overcome, and how thin the line between survival and failure.” Continue reading
“The Heart Is a Pump”: An Excerpt from Paul Seward’s Patient Care
by Paul Seward
It is not simply that its construction and mechanism permit this single small pump to push our entire blood supply through our lungs, then through our body and back again. It is also that, beginning well before we are born, it does that exercise approximately once every second for our entire life. Continue reading
“Ike, Sharon and Me”: An excerpt
by Peter Ferry
After the fire that burned her house to the ground … there had been some unspecified problems with the insurance and also some questions about smoke detectors: had they been operational? Had they failed? Why hadn’t they awakened the family? Or had they perhaps awakened the children? They didn’t remember. Continue reading
