Welcome!

Most recent update: 11 July 2024.

Greetings and Salutations! 👋🏻

I'm delighted you're here. Vocal is my place to write, and this Welcome article exists to help new readers of my work navigate my Vocal catalogue.

Everything I write has a kernel of truth and a vestige of varnish.

Readers of a particular Category (horror, fiction, poetry, etc.) also can use Vocal's filters to help you sort through my online content. Navigate back to my page and then use the provided filters to sift through Communities.

*** My Vocal Challenge Placements ***

Vocal sponsors Challenges for prize money and bragging rights. To date, Vocal curators have selected the following pieces as Runner's-Up:

1. Mother Mine 🏅 for Vocal's Love Unravelled Challenge
2. Penny Candy 🏅 for Vocal's Snacktime Sonata Challenge
3. Vexed 🏅 for Vocal's Poemosaurus Challenge
4. Waterlily 🏅 for Vocal's 3 AM Challenge
5. Never Alone 🏅 for Vocal's Dialogue Poetry Challenge

*** Top Stories ***

It's an honor any time Vocal curators select a writer's story to grace the front page. My Top Stories include:

• Backyard Skulls 🥳 Horror story ☠️ -- Not written for a Vocal Challenge. My first stab at the horror genre.

• Creating: My Bliss 🥳 This nonfiction essay features photos and stories about several of my hobbies (painting, wand craft, jewelry, photography, sewing...).

• Effervescence 🥳 Written for Vocal's The Dragon Beside Me Challenge, this poem is inspired by and written in honor of my grandmother.
• Jax 🥳 microfiction written as inspiration for my first-ever hosted unofficial challenge.

• Master's Piece 🥳 This poem was written for Poppy's Prompt #5, May 2024
• Never Alone 🥳 The poem was written for Vocal's Dialogue Poetry Challenge, June 2024
• Reaching Out 🥳 A quick paced, heart-wrenching story.
• She loves me 🥳 microfiction written for Belle's unofficial challenge, Inside the Animal's Mind.
• The Eye of the Beholder 🥳 An Inverse Poem. The poem is read top to bottom and then bottom to top (one line at a time). Such pieces require the reader to consider two perspectives in one poem.
• Thursdays with Josh 🥳 Nonfiction article -- not written for a Vocal challenge. This piece celebrates the writers' room.
• When Pennies Rattle 🥳 Chock full o' action!

(Note: If you're inclined to know more about Pennies, read Lola after Pennies. Spoiler alerts apply if you read out of sequence.)

*** Vocal Challenge Entries ***

Here are pieces I've written for Vocal Challenges organized by the Challenge:

Vocal's 3 AM Challenge

Waterlily | Man of My Dreams

Vocal's Poemosaurus Challenge

Dust to Dust | The First Queen (inverse poem) | Vexed

Vocal's Travel Snaps Challenge

The Magic Bus - worth checking out if only for the pics and music videos

Vocal's In Eclipse Challenge

Crisis Averted? | Every Time You Fall | Evolution | I See What You're Doing | Tattletales | Wonder 💛 (my fav entry for this challenge)

Vocals' Love Unravelled Challenge

Into The Woods | Intensive Care | Wet Signature | 🏅Mother Mine (placed Runner's-Up)

Vocal's Whispering Woods Challenge

Origin | Sacrificial Limbs | On My Way 💛 (all three are strong pieces but my fav is On My Way)

Vocals's Snow Micro Challenge

Overland Pass 💛 (heartfelt emotional fav)

Vocals's (No) Regrets Challenge

Spring Break 💛 | I Can Be A Damned Dummy 💛 (both are personal favs)

Vocals's Misplaced Challenge

Twisted String 💛 (another personal fav - emotional writing here)

Vocals's Just a Minute Challenge

When Pennies Rattle 🏅 Top Story, April 2024 | Ash (emotionally difficult but beautiful read) | On The 8th Day | Reaching Out 🏅 Top Story, April 2024 | Street Boys

*** My Unofficial Challenges ***

I've been inspired by other Vocal writers' unofficial challenges, so I've hosted one of my own.

Munson's Microfiction - My Tears Need a Minute

Jax 🥳 (Top Story May 2024) | The Painted Nail

Check out the winners' circle and all the amazing entries here: And the winner is...

*** Other Unofficial Challenges ***

For each unofficial challenge, the sponsor introduces a prompt (e.g., March Madness, a poem structure or format, fractured fairytales, a word cloud, a poem retold in a short story, a found poem, etc.) and then Vocal writers like me write accordingly.

The Conviction (sponsored by Belle)

Two Rubies

Ask Me In December (sponsored by Babs Iverson)

Yours Forever (poem) 🥇 (first place winner!)

Never More (acrostic poem -- also read Until We Meet Again, the 15-minute expansion of the poem) | Season of the Sneeze (lyrics) | Your Mission (Haiku)

Prompted #4 (sponsored by Randy Baker - convert a poem into a fictional short story)

Until We Meet Again (15 min read - one of my all time favs 🤩💕)

Prompted #5 (sponsored by Randy Baker - word cloud)

Open Road (for my husband, speaks to Covid-19) | Reckoning

Unscrambled (sponsored by Heather Hubler)

Consequences | Double Fisted

The Story of Humanity (sponsored by Kayleigh Fraser)

when it had ended 🥇 (first place winner!) | god's prayer (personal fav) | I Give You The World | Us and Them | In the beginning

Gothic Stories (sponsored by Kenny Penn)

Dance Card (one of my all-time favorites!) ❤️ | Outside the Lines

F'd Up Fairytales (sponsored by L.C. Schäfer)

Doc Is In | Feelings for the Monster | One Gruff's Enough | The Long Con

Write Club (sponsored by RM Stockton)

March 2024: The Butcher's Daughter 🏅 Selected as Top 10 - March 2024 | Good Boy

April 2024: Lab Rat (one of my all-time favs 💛)

We'z Walking on... Anything But Sunshine! (sponsored by Proud ViM Productions)

Sky Walker (Haiku) | Blood Orange Zombie (microfiction) | Pour Art (microfiction) | CRUNCH (acrostic poem)

Villanelle (sponsored by Mike Singleton - Mikeydred)

May Queen (reads like song lyrics - another fav)

Strangely Art (sponsored by Kodah)

Lily Awarded first place! 🥇

Found Poems (sponsored by PViM's Friday Challenge via Facebook)

Whatever (my spin on Radiohead's Creep) | Sunday Spirits (pulled from Cassy Dunn's "Cocktails to Drink Before Noon")

Poppy's Prompts #5, May 2024 (sponsored by Poppy)

Master's Piece - earned Top Story May 2024! 🥳

Text Thoughts (sponsored by Belle)

The Plan

*** For The Love of Writing ***

The following were not written for a challenge, official or unofficial. These pieces exist solely for my love for writing. I've grouped these pieces by Duration, then Community (and or Format), then Alphabetically.

Less than 1 minute reads

Poets Community

Poem Type: Fib (read about the structure here)

Listen

Poem Type: Haiku

Beyond the Pale | Dogwood | melt with you | Not Here | Pi Day | Power of the gods | prey | Punks a series of Haikus | Rake | Spiders

Poem Type: Inverse

The Eye of the Beholder 🏅 Top Story February 2024 | The First Queen

1 minute reads

Poets Community

• Apartment 10B Social commentary
• A Remembrance of Willow's 💔 Haunting, rhyming poem on the devastation of Alzheimers. Innocent lines hide the tumultuous world the narrator endures.
• Ballerina All she wants for Christmas
• Broken Angel 💔 Heartbreaking. True story, but not my true story.
• Cherry Blossoms Memories mixed with dreams
• Concentric Circles Surreal poem about mental illness.
• Did She Go A short, lightly sad poem for my late friend, Christine, who introduced me to the fine arts of wandering and letting go.
• Fawn For my father. Written before Vocal allowed writers to add Warnings. Not suitable for all readers.
• Final Act of Innocence Haunting, honest, tender, sweetly heartbreaking -- about the costs of aging.
• Fire Shadows Me Magnet poetry!
• Frog Dig the layers.
• Human Are we not.
• Jamaica A lyrical piece. My husband spurred me to write something "happy" -- this is the result. Me, completely out of my comfort zone.
• Jenny not indulgent -- for a real child and the parent who sees her.
• Last Christmas 💔 a haunting free style poem -- the narrator finds a hidden gem.
• Lost Piper of Dirt Town free style poem that peers over the shoulder of a character who has been knocking at my door for a long while now.
• Love's Wake 💔 A tale of love turns tragic. You won't see it coming, and neither does the narrator. Its impact won't soon leave you.
• Mourning 💔 True story, but not my true story. For Tim, and the woman who loved him.
• Sailors' Dream My first sonnet! Wrote this poem as a 9-year-old 4th grader. It earned an A+. Been hooked on poetry happily ever after. Inspired, sort of obviously, by Gordon Lightfoot's song, Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald. RIP.
• Sounds of Boyhood The innocence of youth expressed through in sound.
• Stoned Triple entendre playing with the word "stoned"
• Targeted Not suitable for all readers -- contains description of an assault.
• The Dance Untamed short poem that spins its way into the reader's heart. It's dazzling if I say so myself.
• The Great Barrier A surreal poem. Not suitable for all readers.
• The Memory of Elephants Remembrance of African adventures. Not my adventures, yet, but one day.
• (Unspoken) 😇 😢 ❤️ in honor of my late father-in-law, for whom no elegy suffices.
• Waiting The narrator finally has something to say.
• White Mountains 💔 The last night before news gets broken.
• You Honoring all non-bio moms out there

Fiction Community

• Rain One of my new favorites! ♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️

2 minute reads

Poets Community

• Last Time (Promising Esmerelda) Packs a powerful punch. Written before Vocal allowed Warnings. Not suitable for all readers.
• Ode to a Swing Set 1970's style. True story. In honor of my first, truest childhood love.
• Onward A fine poem about real love. Fact or fiction? Yes...

• Precipice ☠️ Revenge fantasy -- happy reading! Yeah, maybe not suitable for all readers. ⚠️
• Shimmy The narrator isn't me, but reminds me of my younger self. The "father" is loosely based on my father and his father.

Fiction Community

• Ostriches in Autumn Satire

Horror Community

• Pack Animals (posted to Fiction, but should have been Horror...) ⚠️

3 minute reads

Beat Community

• My Life as a Roadie True story, but not the whole story because that would take a lifetime. RIP Tim.

Fiction Community

• Foreclosure A haunting, fictional account of a mostly true story about the loss of so much more than the family farm.

Wander Community

• Adrift A breezy nod to sailors and the mermaids who love them. Includes a shout-out to the band Great Big Sea.

4 to 6 minute reads

Fiction Community

• Even Assassins Get the Blues 4 min read. A fun piece that reminds us all that even assassins start somewhere. The title is inspired by Tom Robbins’ Even Cowgirls Get the Blues. Thematically unrelated. Cuz nobody can do Tom Robbins but Tom Robbins.

• Last Year's Cake 6 min read. Not so much about cake. Candy maybe... as in arm candy. Read to find out.
• Limited Run 4 min read. Subtle nod to Ernest Hemingway's Hills Like White Elephants. The reader has to tease out what's really going on. Can you see it?
• Starting Line 5 min read. One of my all-time best. 💕
• Vulture ⚠️ 5 min read. Called "atmospheric," "nasty," and "visceral." I kinda dig this style of grunge. And the heroine is fascinating.

Futurism Community

• The Pairing 6 min read. Published to Futurism years ago. Were I to post it today, I'd post it to Fiction. Might not be suitable for all readers. ⚠️

7+ minute reads

Fiction Community

• Bookbinder's Bag 12 min read. (a Six Sisters' Legend--a planned series in the works! Stay tuned.) Fun fantasy fiction featuring a wizard and a spot of magic, maybe.
• Lola 11 min read. Continues When Pennies Rattle (5 min read). ⚠️ If you plan to read Pennies and Lola, to avoid spoilers, start with Pennies and then read Lola.
• Until We Meet Again My version of a fae tale, sprinkled with fae magic, Gaelic and Glaswegian languages, and romance 🥰

Horror Community 💀

• Backyard Skulls 7 min read. That this one is posted to the Horror Community should be your first clue. Not for the faint hearted. Rather proud of this gem.

• Old Fear 12 min read. Reader discretion strongly advised! This one is Pure horror, and I don't say that lightly. ☠️ One of my finest, if I say so myself. ⚠️
• Rack 'em up 8 min read. Terrible title but I was exhausted when I posted it. I'd change it to "Racked" if I could. But Vocal doesn't allow it. Another dark horror short fiction. ☠️ Horror lovers, you're welcome! ⚠️

*** Recommended Vocal Creators ***

The following writers inspire, uplift, inform, and thrill. Enjoy!

Alex H Mittelman | Alyssa Nicole | Anna | Barb Dukeman |

Caroline Craven | Caroline Jane | Cathy Holmes | Conor Marko |

Dana Crandell | Dharrsheena Raja Segarran | D. J. Reddall |

Donna Renee | ema | F. Cade Swanson | Gargie S Anand | Hannah Moore |

JBaz | Joe O'Connor | John Cox | Josiah Nwoko | J. S. Wade |

Kay Husnick | Kayleigh Fraser | KB | Kendall Defoe | L.C. Schäfer |

Matthew Fromm | Mike Singleton - Mikeydred | Naveed |

Patrick M. Ohana | Paul Stewart | Phil Flannery | Randy Baker |

Randy Wayne Jellison-Knock | ROCK | Rowan Finley | sleepy drafts |

Stephen A. Roddewig | Suze Kay | zulfi bux

🤩 Top Recommendations:

1. John Cox has written two exceptional must-read series: Last Daughter of the Gods and Sins of the Reaper. Tremendous, thought-provoking writing.
2. Suze Kay has written an exceptional series Women Who Stay. Block time on your schedule now. Cozy up with a warm mug of yum. Get to it. You're welcome.
3. Caroline Jane writes with a magic quill. Everything she puts to paper is captivating and lush. Start anywhere.

*** Supporting Writing & Writers ***

If you enjoy what you read (mine or anyone else;s's), please click the ❤️ . Gives the writer such joy! When you read, like, comment, subscribe, tip, and or pledge support, you make a Vocal writer's day, week, month, or year! And you bring fractions of a penny their way, and I promise you, every bit counts.

I also recommend checking out older posts on writers' pages. Take a risk. Dig a little. Tons of great writing awaits you!

*** Shout Out ***

I offer thank-you's to the Vocal writers who inspired my Welcome article:

• Donna Renee for Welcome Start Here Please
• Hannah Moore for The Contents Page

• L.C. Schäfer for Index
• Matthew Fromm for My Magical Library

*** Final Thoughts ***

Thank you for reading! 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻

I reciprocate with Comments on other Vocal writers' work as often as I can. Should I read but not comment and or ❤️ your piece, please know that life is super busy and in no way reflects the quality of your content.

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Copyright © 04/25/2024 by Christy Munson. All rights reserved.