Publishing
Successes and Failures That Are Successes
It dawned on me that it’s October, and it’s been about a year since I had a story published in Boudin Literary Magazine. It was actually published on Halloween, as it was a special Halloween issue. I was excited to have gotten published in this publication which is one of a few affiliated with McNeese State University. And it felt pretty special to get published on Halloween. A holiday publication?? What’s that, like extra bonus points or something? (It was basically on Halloween, anyway.)
By Stephen Kramer Avitabile3 days ago in Writers
Notes from the Mind Palace.
I don’t want a hero for the sake of having one. I don’t need saving, and I don’t want someone who thinks I do. I’ve carried myself through storms that would have drowned softer hearts. I’ve rebuilt myself more times than I care to admit. Strength has been my armor, my identity, my survival.
By Syl De'Vil4 days ago in Writers
Notes from the Mind Palace
I am a woman made of words, but don’t mistake that for someone who can be won with them. Words are my playground, my refuge, my rebellion — but they are not my currency. I’ve heard too many promises spoken with honeyed tongues and hollow hearts. I’ve watched too many men decorate their intentions with poetry while their actions whispered the truth.
By Syl De'Vil4 days ago in Writers
If Only
There are women who learned love the hard way, women who stitched themselves back together with stubborn hope and quiet magic. Women who walk through the world with a softness that looks effortless but was carved from storms. Women who survived what should have broken them and still somehow learned to laugh again.
By Syl De'Vil4 days ago in Writers
Before Reading or Listening to Peter Thwing (AI Intro - Grok). AI-Generated.
(This reader’s guide was drafted by Grok, based on a sustained examination of Peter Thwing’s complete published work and shaped through extended conversation about how the essays, stories, series, and podcast function as a connected body of thought.)
By Peter Thwing - Host of the FST Podcast9 days ago in Writers
The Worry.. Content Warning.
I didn’t mean to write thirty‑seven stories. It just… happened. One minute I was sitting there on September eighth thinking, “Hey, I’ll enter this challenge,” and the next thing I knew, I was knee‑deep in plot ideas, caffeine, and whatever leftover brain cells my kids hadn’t stolen from me. I blinked, and suddenly I had a whole damn library of stories published.
By Syl De'Vil17 days ago in Writers
Licking Love From a Blade
I can still feel the night everything shifted—the night I got the phone call that my ex Nick had died. It hits me in the chest every damn time, like someone reaching in and squeezing something I didn’t know was still alive. I was at a bar in Kenosha, Wisconsin with a Turkish friend, pretending I was fine, pretending I wasn’t about to make some really bad choices. I was a version of myself teetering on the edge of something stupid, and instead I fell straight into a pit of self‑pity and regret. The atmosphere of that time was desolation. Nothing else fits.
By Syl De'Vil17 days ago in Writers
Why Your Paralysis Is Lying to You
Let me paint you a picture. You're standing at the edge of something - a new career, a difficult conversation, a gym membership you've had since January that's been collecting more dust than results. And instead of moving, you freeze. You overthink. You scroll. You convince yourself that the "right moment" is just around the corner.
By Narghiza Ergashova17 days ago in Writers
“I’m Looking for that Heat” in San Antonio Review
When it comes to publishing short stories, you go long, long periods of time without getting something published, and then… WHAM! You find out you’ll be getting a few things published. But it’s not only that, you find out THAT you will be getting stories published, but not always WHEN they’ll be getting published.
By Stephen Kramer Avitabile17 days ago in Writers
