Tag Archives: flash nonfiction

by | January 5, 2026 · 7:00 am

COVER REVEAL FOR SCRAP: SALVAGING A FAMILY

I saw that my publisher has the cover for my hybrid flash memoir up on their website! So without further ado here is the cover for my book, due out March 20, by ELJ Editions. Preorders will be available in a couple of weeks!

The artwork and cover design is by collage artist and writer Lorette Luzajic, the EIC of The Ekphrastic Review and The Mackinaw. Typeface by Keith Powell and Lorette Luzajic.

I commissioned the art from her. Every tidbit in the collage is something from the book itself. Lorette did a wonderful job of excavating the images.

Here’s a book description to wet your appetite.

The hybrid flash memoir Scrap: Salvaging a Family explores the stain of childhood fear and anxiety on the adult spirit and the experience of reconciling with an aging or dying parent. A daughter has grown up in a household with an angry and abusive father. He keeps the secret of his biological father’s identity from his daughter for decades. When the elderly man faces his mortality, he finally names his father. The more the daughter learns about her father’s early life and origins, the more she understands him which leads to forgiveness for the past.

I really hope that you’re going to enjoy the structure of the book which is made up of short micro or flash pieces, a longerish (hahaha) central piece, a few poems, and some dedicated glimpses of reflection.

P.S. You might be wondering if there will be a cat in the book. Yes, and there is an image in the collage on the book cover. Look very closely at the bottom right, and you will see a little black cat.

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Filed under death of a parent, Flash Nonfiction, Memoir, Publishing, SCRAP: SALVAGING A FAMILY

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by | October 20, 2025 · 5:20 am

Those Elusive Smells

Now that the days are not as hot in Phoenix–more like 85 than 105–I started up my daily walks again. I had to stop when my hip got so bad, but now that I’ve had the replacement there is nothing stopping me. I love the smells outside, although the last two days there has been an unfamiliar funky odor (possibly bobcat pee) in the air, as well as the usual perfume of flowers, grass, leaves, and sun-kissed concrete.

 

The intensely blue sky during my walk

Not being able to “show” you the smells annoys me. I can take photos and write words and even post audio if I want to. But I can’t post scent. That’s not to say that I don’t enjoy adding olfactory descriptions in my writing; however, sometimes I’d just like to share how something actually smells. Or smell something my nose can’t reach.

This brings me to what I was thinking when I woke up yesterday. I’ve always loved history and as a kid used to wonder what it would be like to have lived in a different time period. Or to visit, even invisibly. Choose a time period. How about 1515 CE? What would it have stank like? I think even if I arrived in my time shuttle inside a palace that I would be gasping for air. I’d be holding an entire bottle of Gris Dior up to my face. I’d have to keep a little puke bag handy. I’m sure I’d be begging to come back to the present time. And that’s with palace peeps, not inside the hut of a poor person.

Yes, this is the kind of thing I think when I wake up in the morning. Maybe because I’m not writing every day. If I do write daily, then I’m apt to think of a story or poem while I’m still in bed. But I have finished my Remedios Varo-inspired ekphrastic chapbook. Gosh, I hope I can find a publisher for it. It’s hybrid, being both fiction and poetry, so that makes it harder to find publishers to submit to.

And, in other news, my hybrid flash memoir, Scrap: Salvaging a Family, should be available from ELJ Editions in March! Watch for cover reveal and so on in the future. If you are a blogger and would like to participate in a blog tour this spring, send me an email at luanne[dot]castle[at]gmail[dot]com. You can post a review or I can write a companion post to my book for your blog. I can get you a pdf. Here’s a link to publisher’s page: ELJ Editions forthcoming.

On the cat front, it’s been all puke/pee/poo/puke/pee/poo. If you plan to have multiple cats, try to space out their ages a bit so you don’t end up with all seniors at the same time. (just kidding, sort of)

In less than a week my grandson will be 21 months old! I can hardly believe it. He’s such a delight. He went on vacation to the beach and loved every moment.

 

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Filed under #poetrycommunity, #writingcommunity, Blog Tour, Cats and Other Animals, Ekphrastic, Flash Nonfiction, Grandparenting, Memoir, Poetry

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by | October 11, 2025 · 2:45 pm

Introducing Kathi Crawford and CONSIDER THE LIGHT

I’m introducing a new poetry-slash-flash nonfiction book by a debut writer, Kathi Crawford. I had the honor of writing a blurb for the back of the book.

Kathi Crawford’s debut chapbook Consider the Light, hybrid memoir in poetry and flash, shines a beam into the liminal spaces of a woman’s life. The collection examines transition periods and disruptions as Crawford recreates herself and her future at each of these junctions. As the child of working-class parents, she muses, “I need to save my family,” but as she grows older and must deal with her own problems, she takes what she can learn from others, such as self-discipline from her beloved Nanna, while forging a fierce independence. Crawford’s distinctive voice and story take the reader on a unique journey while offering whispers of familiarity to many who have faced similar hurtles. You won’t want to miss this engaging new voice.

Here’s the Amazon link. What a gorgeous cover, am I right? CONSIDER THE LIGHT – AMAZON

The cover artist is Brooke Summers-Perry. Here’s her Instagram:

https://www.instagram.com/brookesp_studio/

I think you will really enjoy this one, even if you tend not to read poetry. Here’s the book description:

consider the light is a hybrid memoir in poetry and flash nonfiction that traces one woman’s journey from her 1960s Rustbelt upbringing to a life of creative and professional fulfillment in Texas. Born into a working-class family shaped by grit and sacrifice, Kathi Crawford navigates decades of transformation-personal, cultural, and emotional-while forging her own path toward career success and lasting love.

Through moments of grief, reinvention, and unexpected grace, this collection illuminates the resilience required to see the best in each situation and in each other. With language that is spare, evocative, and deeply felt, Crawford invites readers to reflect on what it means to belong, to endure, and to choose light even when the shadows linger.

This debut book speaks to anyone who has wrestled with identity, loss, or longing-and found, in the struggle, a deeper kind of beauty. It’s a testament to the power of memory, the strength of women’s voices, and the healing potential of story. A compelling read for fans of women’s memoirs, personal transformation, and poetry about grief, hope, and resilience.

And you can read a little about Kathi here:

With a career spanning decades in organizational development, Kathi Crawford founded People Possibilities, LLC in 2008. She is an IAC-certified master coach who has worked with hundreds of clients one-on-one through leadership, career, and life transitions.

Alongside her business career, Kathi actively writes poetry and flash creative nonfiction. Her work has been featured online and in print in a variety of literary journals. Her chapbook, consider the light, is available from Finishing Line Press. This mini-memoir invites readers to embrace their flaws, honor resilience, and cultivate empathy for themselves and others, offering yet another avenue for Kathi to foster understanding and connection.

You can find Kathi on Instagram or LinkedIn @kathicrawford and subscribe to her blog @ kathicrawford dot com.

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by | August 15, 2024 · 5:15 am

Sixteen Years and Done

I had some really exciting news recently. Some of you might know that I started writing a memoir about my father (my story, how it relates to him) in 2008. Some of you might be sick of hearing about this mythical project haha. It took many many shapes over the years, but I ended up with a hybrid form of memoir-in-flash called Scrap: Salvaging a Family. I wrote at least 400,000 words over the past sixteen years, although the final manuscript has about 10% of that amount.

My book is finally being published by ELJ Editions in 2026. So grateful to ELJ and editor Ariana D. Den Bleyker and to the many readers who have lent their skills to help shape this story. It really is worth it to just keep on keeping on, in case you needed to hear that today.

 

Coincidentally, yesterday the stunning journal Your Impossible Voice published a new flash story by me—thanks to Managing Editor Keith J. Powell—inspired by my father.

https://www.yourimpossiblevoice.com/when-you-were-still-too-young-for-school/

This story is a sort of introduction to my memoir.

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I have had some publications I forgot to share here, including two collages by Raw Lit.

https://rawlit.weebly.com/5_5.html

https://rawlit.weebly.com/5_7.html

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Filed under #amwriting, #writerlife, #writerslife, #writingcommunity, Books, Creative Nonfiction, Flash Fiction, Flash Nonfiction, Memoir, Writing

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by | July 27, 2024 · 2:02 pm

Mama Isn’t Always Right: 2-minute podcast

Gosh, it’s been a month or more since I’ve posted on here. That’s because it’s now been five months that I have been taking care of the baby like a full-time daycare :). I am dropping down to part-time in a week (also :)) because he’s getting heavy for me, and I need to catch up on stuff.

Before I’m back to blogging regularly, I thought you might enjoy hearing me read a two-minute flash memoir story on Guerrilla Podcast. There are two other writers reading as well, Ethan Goffman and John Stanizzi. My story is in between theirs. Hope you like them all!

https://thesongis.blogspot.com/2024/07/podcasts-bite-sized-nutrition-for-mind.html

In case you’re in doubt of where to go, once you click the link you should see this view (my screen shot). The podcast is right below the titles of the stories and the author names.

The image is from a later era than my story, but it’s the same park as in the story. About ten years after the events of this story occurred, Kalamazoo was hit with a tornado that took out a lot of the gorgeous old trees that had been there in Lincoln’s day. Since this photo was taken at a date after the tornado, you can’t see how thick the trees were “back in my day.”

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by | June 24, 2024 · 2:03 pm

Prose Garden Reading on June 29

Curious or passionate about Flash Prose and Prose Poetry? Join us on zoom this Saturday, June 29 at 2PM Eastern time to hear some engaging and very brief stories. I’ll be reading two or three of my own. A big thanks to Meg Pokrass and Francine Witte for hosting these Prose Garden readings. Hope to see you there!

Here’s the zoom link: 

https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZ0lcuGqpz0jH903sZlmZbuON6MxM6uv8eEy?fbclid=IwZXh0bgNhZW0CMTAAAR3zUiFbHpI2ENtwraaEgaKUJaSzOfRNC6qpUxP8sWcqNHsz-xbzxtLCMvQ_aem_vNZzafOYRve1oNjboNPUxg#/registration

 

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by | April 29, 2024 · 9:06 am

Three Stories in MacQueen’s Quinterly

What a lovely surprise this morning. The fabulous EIC of MacQueen’s Quinterly, Clare MacQueen, has published three of my stories in the new journal issue. This is one of my favorite lit mags because Clare has a very eclectic taste, so the magazine offers so much variety, including funny stories and syllabic poetry.

Here are links to my stories:

Very micro humor story: http://www.macqueensquinterly.com/MacQ23/Castle-New-One.aspx

Surreal flash story: http://www.macqueensquinterly.com/MacQ23/Castle-Mountain-Painting.aspx

Creative nonfiction/memoir childhood story: http://www.macqueensquinterly.com/MacQ23/Castle-Haunted-Childhood.aspx

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Filed under #amwriting, #AmWriting, #writingcommunity, Essay, Family history, Fiction, Flash Fiction, Flash Nonfiction, Memoir, Microfiction

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by | November 16, 2018 · 9:51 am

When the Family Home Burned Down, 1902

I’m so jazzed to have an article about the aftermath of the fire at my relatives’ home in 1902 up at the wonderful creative nonfiction magazine, Broad Street! It’s week 4 of the 6 week series. This is the only piece featured that is flash nonfiction, rather than poetry, although I am hoping you can find some “poetry” in it.

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Filed under Family history, Flash Nonfiction, History, Kin Types, Poetry, Publishing, Writing

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by | September 10, 2018 · 5:20 am

What’s Past and The Promise of What Lies Ahead

Today begins the Jewish holiday of Rosh Hashanah, the beginning of the new year. I’m wishing you a good (and sweet) year, whether you celebrate or not.

 

If you were reading my blog three years ago, you might remember that spring and summer were the seasons of the hummingbird mother and babies, my father’s illness and death, and the passing of my oldest cat Mac.* These events swirled together, as life’s events often do, and I ended up writing a lyrical essay called “Ordering in Four Movements.”

That fall the essay was published in Phoebe (45.1), a beautiful print journal. If I ever put together a collection of prose pieces, maybe this one will find a “book” home. In the meantime, though, I wanted to share it with more readers via an online journal, so I submitted it as a reprint to Ginosko Literary Journal where it was subsequently accepted. This weekend the journal went live. I hope you will enjoy this piece. It means a great deal to me since it covers emotional issues that preoccupied my mind at the time.

Ginosko Literary Journal — “thumb through” to page 33

* The links in the first paragraph are to the original posts I wrote about these events. The one about Mac tells his life story ;).

I’m still working on my gun essay, but I was challenged to try it from a different angle, which has taken me down a muddy and tangled garden path. Oh boy.

May you have a sweet week ahead. And a happy birthday to poet Mary Oliver!

 

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Filed under #amwriting, #AmWriting, #writerlife, #writerslife, Cats and Other Animals, Creative Nonfiction, Essay, Flash Nonfiction, Literary Journals, Memoir, Nonfiction, Writing, Writing Talk

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by | May 15, 2018 · 1:46 pm

Exciting News about Kin Types

After Monday’s post was published, I learned that Kin Types was a finalist for the prestigious Eric Hoffer Award. It’s in stellar company. This recognition validates the work I did on the book and on my family history blog, too. Best of all, the book gets a gold foil sticker for the cover ;).

It will kind of look like this when the sticker is put on the book (only not such a large sticker).

If you click through the link to the Amazon page, the book can be ordered for a real deal right now; check it out. To order through Barnes & Noble, try this link.

If you want a sticker for your copy, send me a selfie of yourself with Kin Types that I can use on this blog or social media (in case I decide to do that) with your address, and I’ll mail you a sticker when they arrive.

My father passed away three years ago this past Monday. My first book, Doll God, had just been published so he was able to read it (and be very proud) before he died. He never got to see Kin Types, although his mother and grandmother are featured in the book.

I’m closing comments because I don’t want you to feel you need to send me congratulations; I just wanted to let you know about the exciting news!

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Filed under #AmWriting, Book Award, Book contest, Books, Creative Nonfiction, Doll God, Family history, Flash Nonfiction, History, Kin Types, Nonfiction, Poetry book, Poetry Collection

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