“Oui, oui… It’s still raining over here.” We made it! After painful months of scheduling, packing, selling, donating, and stressing about last-minute travel complications, my partner and I and our kitty finally relocated back to Brussels last month. After ten days in strict quarantine, we ventured outside at last. So cold and rainy! What a… Continue reading We Made It! by Mickey Brent
It’s Christmas! Probably the weirdest Christmas we’re going to see in our lifetime, but it’s Christmas all the same. If this year has taught me anything, it’s not to take those I love for granted and to make more of an effort to stay in touch with the people I care about. I sent cards… Continue reading A Neon and Kittens Christmas by Eden Darry
Change. Defined via the Google as such: make (someone or something) different; alter or modify.replace (something) with something else, especially something of the same kind that is newer or better; substitute one thing for (another). I like those definitions. I think many of us have been altered or modified by the events of 2020. I… Continue reading What changed in YOUR life? by Victoria Villasenor
A few months ago, a post cropped up on my Facebook feed. Like so many photos and phrases shared and reshared across social media platforms, the name of the person who first wrote it was long lost. Regardless, it was a witty and apropos comment about our current situation: I think we can all agree… Continue reading 2020 Plot Twists by Jane Fletcher
I spent my youth in sunbaked in Southern California, in shorts, tee shirt, sandals. It was a cheery time and I was a cheery adolescent, but I had a secret longing. (I mean, aside from aching for Esther Williams.) Snow. It looked so wonderful on calendars and postcards and in Christmas movies, in contrast to… Continue reading A Cold Craving by Justine Saracen
Perhaps you’ve heard about the celestial peace offering the universe will gift us as 2020 approaches an eagerly awaited end. On December 21st – yes, the winter solstice – the planets Jupiter and Saturn align close enough in the night sky that the conjunction will appear as one ultra-bright star. Such an astronomical anomaly has… Continue reading No Room at the Inn by David Swatling
Sometimes the world can seem a dark, depressing, and a never changing place, especially as you trawl your way through social and mainstream media. But as the old saying goes, empty vessels make the most noise, and so that can cloud your view of the world. Every so often I’m reminded, in small ways, that the… Continue reading Beautiful generational change by Jenny Frame
Several summers ago, I was in New England, attending a literary conference, and then doing readings up and down the East Coast for my newest book. Since my rented car would take me right past New Haven, I decided to stop into the Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library at Yale University… Continue reading Visiting My Papers at Yale by Felice Picano
In March 2020, I was coming back from a week in London with several friends. We’d arranged to meet there, although we live in different countries, and we enjoyed it to the full. Between two work conferences for me, we crammed in a musical, museum visits, a pub quiz, and a lot of coffee and… Continue reading Keep calm and carry on by Aimee
I seem to have been reading a lot of post-apocalyptic fiction lately: ‘The Day of the Triffids’, ‘I am Legend’ etc. These stories hinge on the idea that the world can change very suddenly. One sudden, calamitous event and all the things and people we take for granted, all our routines and certainties are gone.… Continue reading Where do we go from here? by Cathy Dunnell
