Guest Blogger – Page 2

PILGRIMAGES, Ashe Vernon, “To the Girls Afraid of Dying” (3/6)

i. I know that look. / I know what it means to be that kind of starving— / to fling open your arms and dare the sky / to meet you. / I know the fear of the sky…

PILGRIMAGES, Ashe Vernon, “Self Portrait Dressed as a Self-Help Program” (2/6)

Two years ago, you were all white knuckle and grit. / You abandoned your softness in a cardboard box / on the side of the road…

PILGRIMAGES: Ashe Vernon, “Rewind” (1/6)

Ashe Vernon‘s poetry first came to my attention a couple […]

PILGRIMAGES: Mike Albo, “How I Work” (6/6)

“I’m not doing enough.” That sentence lurks in my mind often. That little shadow-being mumbling out that phrase every time I feel like I haven’t spent enough time writing or working or whatever it is that makes you…

PILGRIMAGES: Mike Albo, “The Ups and Downs of Self-Promotion” (5/6)

Whenever I have a friend or acquaintance who is about to release a new book, I tell them to let themselves fantasize that this book is going to be a sensation.

PILGRIMAGES: Mike Albo, “The Fluidity of Expression” (4/6)

I mentioned before that I believe ideas are energy. I’d like to expand on that and say that I also think they are gender fluid. I know that sounds weird but what I mean is…

PILGRIMAGES: Mike Albo, “Idea Paranoia” (3/6)

Yesterday, I mentioned one huge roadblock to creativity: doubt in yourself and whether your voice is worthy. Another obstacle is related but a little harder to nail down, because it appears to be real and…

PILGRIMAGES: Mike Albo, “Writing Through the Roadblocks” (2/6)

Recently I was taking a trip with two fellow journalists. We chatted about what we have been working on. I mentioned I have written two novels and I can’t believe they ever…

PILGRIMAGES: Mike Albo, “Breaking the Binary Literary System” (1/6)

Mike Albo is my humor spirit guide. To see Mike […]

PILGRIMAGES: Julia Douglass, “No Questions Asked” (6/6)

I had the lyrics for this song laying around for a long time. I wanted to write the saddest song in the world. To me, teenage car crashes are the saddest things in the world.

PILGRIMAGES: Julia Douglass, “My Boyfriend Is A Genius” (5/6)

I originally wrote “My Boyfriend Is A Genius” because a charming, brilliant cad I briefly dated at music school had implied that I was not smart enough for him, which was…

PILGRIMAGES: Julia Douglass, “Metaphorical Pilgrimage” (4/6)

During my four years in Minneapolis I went back to my musical roots, as well. I was a classical musician, I played the French horn for many years–I think around twenty or so…

PILGRIMAGES: Julia Douglass, “How a Minnesotan Thinks” (3/6)

Yes. Going back home is an old story. And it was not easy. My east coast, razzle dazzle, highly voluble husband was completely freaking out about the quirks…

PILGRIMAGES: Julia Douglass, “Black Watch Kilt” (2/6)

Yes. Sometimes one needs to visit the scene of the crime to finish something. The song “Black Watch Kilt” is about my friend Carol. I had been trying for years to write about…