Yellow Arrow Publishing Blog
Writers in Real Life: Laura Hazan
Yellow Arrow is pleased to introduce our fall Writer-in-Residence, Laura Hazan. Laura is a librarian with the Enoch Pratt Free Library where she runs the weekly read and critique group, The Light Street Writers Exchange. She completed her first novel, Little Boxes, and is seeking representation for publication. She has a B.A. in communications from American University, a M.L.S. from the University of Maryland, and attended the “Your Novel Year” program at Arizona State University’s Piper Writing Center. In addition, her work has been published in Natural Bridge, Kirkwood Patch, Sauce Magazine, and Not A Pipe Publishing’s #yearofpublishingwomen anthology Strongly Worded Women. Laura is a resident of Baltimore and lives with her son, her husband, and their one-eyed dog, Boh.
We asked Laura a few questions as she prepares for the residency.
YAP: What do you love about Baltimore?
LH: Walking along the promenade around the harbor at sunset shows Baltimore at its best. I also love the history of literature and reading that makes up the fabric of Baltimore. There's Edgar Allen Poe, HL Menken, Ta-Nehisi Coates, Laura Lippman and so many others. Tying all those folks together is the Enoch Pratt Free Library - the first system in the US to have branch libraries.
YAP: Who has inspired you the most in your writing journey?
LH: I have favorite authors, as we all do; they're inspirational but they are not the first people to come to mind when I think about this question. Those who inspire me most are the folks at the opposite end of the spectrum from the famous writers. Those diligent writers who work at it everyday never knowing if anyone else will ever read their work. The newbies that attend a writing critique group for the first time and nervously share their stories or poems. The colleagues who generously offer to beta read a manuscript, or organize a workshop, or volunteer for a conference. Frankly, the writing community would not exist without the hard work and efforts of the thousands we will never know.
YAP: As you continue in your process of finding a publisher for your novel, do you have any advice to offer someone embarking on that venture?
LH: When you have completed your first manuscript you are a novelist - published or not - don't let anyone tell you differently. Prepare yourself for a mountain of rejections - it doesn't mean your work is no good it just means you haven't found the right agent/publisher that loves it as much as you do. Track those rejections on the spreadsheet you keep for your submissions and move on. Prepare yourself for days of self-doubt - every writer I know goes through impostor syndrome at least once. Myself, I've felt like an impostor on and off for years. Remember there are about 342 steps to getting your book from draft to published - it takes time, especially for the first novel, but keep at it.
We look forward to seeing Laura around Highlandtown this fall. Please check out her website for more on Laura: www.laurahazan.com
Writers in Real Life: Kerry Graham
We are happy to welcome Kerry as our first Writer-in-Residence. You can find Kerry at the Highlandtown First Friday Art Walk in April, May, and June and hear her read her work at Yellow Arrow's August 2nd reading.
Kerry spent the first few years of her life in Baltimore, but was raised in Baltimore County. After going to college in Southern Maryland, attending grad school in England, and being a full-time volunteer in Nigeria, she moved to Baltimore in 2009. She lived in Pigtown for two years, but has been in the Patterson Park area since then. Almost three years ago, she bought a house in Highlandtown/Patterson Park, and couldn't be happier about being part of this neighborhood.
About her experience in Baltimore, she writes, "Sometimes, I describe myself as being hopefully devoted to Baltimore. My entire professional career, I’ve served some of Baltimore’s most marginalized populations: the HIV+, homeless, and its youth. While I have the fortune of being able to enjoy much of Baltimore’s charm, I care about hundreds of people who have been traumatized by Baltimore. I recognize that to be in this position–someone who gets to experience some of the best of Baltimore, but also understands the depths of its worst–is relatively uncommon, which is why I am committed to writing, and story sharing, and using language as a way to unite those who might otherwise never have found one another. I believe I would have been a writer regardless of where I live, but Baltimore has made my writing meaningful."
Kerry’s vignettes have appeared, or are forthcoming, in borrowed solace, The Citron Review, Crack the Spine, and Gravel. She is a regular contributor to Role Reboot, and runs a collaborative weekly newsletter called In This Together.
from gravelmag.com
Promise Him Pencils
Kerry Graham
I cannot tell which day I mark him absent, again, is the one I know he will not be back. He stops coming to class—mine, and apparently algebra, and biology—but still comes to school. In the halls, he holds his back straighter than he ever did in my room; his eyes shine brighter. Here, it does not matter that he never has paper. Pencils. Whenever we pass each other by the stairwell, he stops laughing long enough to vow, “Ima be there tomorrow!” The next day, I tell myself: he meant it at the time.
Soon, he stops coming to school, but I still see him sometimes. Now, instead of by the stairs, I pass him on the street, wondering how far he is from home. The sun shines on him here.
In my car, even with just glimpses of him, I am reminded of how he would look in the hallway. Every time I see him, it is at the same corner, too far—and too late—for me to promise him pencils. Driving past, I know all the reasons he will not realize I am there. I shout anyway.
This morning, the streets only trickle with traffic, and I can tell that today is the one he will see me. Again, I shout his name. Watching him grin at me as he lifts his hand above his head to wave, I want to press the brakes on my car. On time.
Writers in Real Life: Ariele Sieling
Yellow Arrow Publishing friend and board member Ariele Sieling has a book launch coming up on March 28, so we wanted to introduce her and her work to you. Ariele is a prolific author of science fiction, kids books, and urban fantasy (13 books so far), and has short stories published in a number of journals, anthologies, and magazines. She has become a go-to expert in self-publishing and uses Patreon to help readers find her and support her work.
We sat down with her and asked a couple of questions of local interest, starting with: what do you like most about Baltimore so far?
She replied: “We moved here about two years ago. I think my favorite part of Baltimore so far is honestly the people. Of all the places I've lived, the people we've met here have been the most friendly, welcoming, and helpful, which makes it much easier to make such a significant adjustment from a small New England town to a large city.”
How did you get involved with Yellow Arrow Publishing, and what has that been like for you?
“I met Gwen at a craft fair and she asked me if I would like to help her run a reading series. I had been thinking about getting involved in doing volunteer work again, so I figured it was a good opportunity and perfect timing. We ran the reading series together last year and it was extremely successful, and then we started a workshop series. Now I'm the vice president of the board, and super excited about watching the organization grow!”
Tell us about your book. How did you come up with idea?
“My most recent book, being released on March 28th, is called Tentacles and Teeth. It is a post-apocalyptic sci-fi filled with monsters. I’ve always been intrigued by apocalyptic stories—specifically the idea of an empty world mixed with the desperate need for survival—and I’ve always wanted to write one. But I felt that a lot of post-apocalyptic stories have already been told and told again—zombies, flood, nuclear war, environmental collapse, aliens. I wanted to write something a little different. So after mulling it over in the back of my mind for quite a while, I realized I hadn’t ever read or watched something with monsters. And that’s where I started.”
What the day-to-day writing life look like for you?
“I am a full time writer. I split my time 50/50 between doing freelance writing (mostly web copy, copy editing, and independent publishing consulting) and writing and marketing my own work. On an average day, I get up and work out or go for a walk, then sit down and do three or four hours for my clients, have lunch, and then switch over to my own stuff and spend another three or four hours writing or marketing. And of course, I fit in all of my volunteer work for Yellow Arrow too!”
What do you think is the best thing about being an author?
“I love telling stories. I’ve always indulged in stories, reading, making them up, imaginary friends—and now I love the fact that I get to tell them all day every day.”
We love telling stories, too—and sharing stories and supporting women telling their own stories. Thank you so much, Ariele, for your time. We are looking forward to checking out your work, and we appreciate all the hard work you do for Yellow Arrow!
We’re so happy to have Ariele as part of the Yellow Arrow team. Click here to order a copy of her newest book, Tentacles and Teeth! You can also visit her website to learn more about all the work she’s doing.
The book will be live on March 28th, and Ariele will be going live on Facebook that night on her author page at: https://www.facebook.com/arielejsieling/
Other ways to find Ariele online:
Writers in Real Life: Carol Clupny
We’re so happy to announce that Yellow Arrow contributor Carol Clupny, whose essay “Bus, Burros and Broken Beer Bottles” ran in Vol. 1, has a book coming out this month! Carol lives in Oregon, so we conducted an email interview with her.
What is your inspiration for writing?
Having Parkinson’s Disease is like having Robin Hood become part of your life. He steals from the rich part of you the things that make you alive; your ability to move, your facial expression, your tone of voice, your handwriting, your smell and taste and on and on. When your spirit has become poor, and there is not much left of you, he sees the poverty in you and brings you gifts. The gifts are quite unexpected. Some people with Parkinson’s can’t see their gift at all.
The three words “You have Parkinson’s” either shuts you down hard or opens you up softly. When you can see past those words, and they are only words, you become the definition.
The gifts help us define our new selves: a canvas and oils, a guitar, a sense of service, a potter’s wheel, poetry, compassion, or wisdom to share with the newly diagnosed.
The gift that came to me was a surprise. Writing! Up to this point in my life I had only written technical reports and a few brief articles for professional journals. I began to share my travels via social media. The more I wrote the more encouragement to publish came my way. When the subtle encouragement felt more like a hard push I gave in. I found someone to look at my short pieces of writing and she saw the much bigger story. To bring together hundreds of posts and blogs and letters into a cohesive memoir was a huge task, yet one I felt compelled to complete as Robin (aka Parkinson’s disease) kept sneaking in the back door to take away more and more of me.
I have to use this gift. I have to let people know they can laugh at their challenges. There is hope ahead in that tiny light at the end of the dark tunnel. There is adventure to be had, friendships to be made and hopefully a cure to be found. I want to tell the world about it.
Where do you write?
I have composed pieces from the stoker’s seat on our tandem bike and walking down a trail eating the dust of the person dragging their feet in front of me, visualizing typing and seeing the words on the screen so I can recall just how it happened when I can get to a word processor. I have plunked away with my stylus on my tiny phone keyboard in an albergue with 20 snoring pilgrims and in a tent in someone’s front yard in small town Iowa in rhythm with the splattering rain. I have edited late at night and in the early morning hours when I should have been sleeping like the rest of the pickers at a blue grass festival. Although most of the book was written as I traveled, it was put together in a spare bedroom turned office in our house. I sit at a dark wood computer desk with piles of papers and a window where I can look out at my two old horses. I type on my son’s gaming computer, with a fancy lit up keyboard and a mouse that accidentally gets set in motion by my trembling right hand. This computer is also a gift as I have lost the ability to hand-write anything legibly. It has to be absolutely quiet when I am at the computer. Even my husband’s breathing at his desk a few feet from mine distracts me.
Carol was kind enough to share an excerpt from her book, The Ribbon of Road Ahead: One Woman’s Remarkable Journey with Parkinson’s Disease
It started in the pit of my stomach as a queasy feeling and worked its way up to tighten my throat. I tried to ignore the sensation and keep hiking. The trekking pole on the end of my right arm clinked on the pavement. My left foot moved forward. I reached my arm out with the left pole. My right foot didn’t want to move. It was as if my foot had been inserted into a boot of quick-dry cement. Not only did my right foot not want to cooperate, but also the sweat on my face now turned into a running stream of sunscreen stinging my eyes. The sun heated up the surface of this black asphalt country lane out of the village of Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port. The heat was stifling. A car approached from behind, and the groups of people with their colorful backpacks moved to the sides of the lane to let it pass. The vehicle lost its momentum on the steep incline as it slowed for the walkers, and it had to back down to take another run at it. My throat felt tight and very dry. Hot, steep, stinging eyes, leg won’t work … Oh … my … God. If the rest of this Camino is anything like this, I am in for it! There’s no way I am going to be able to walk the five hundred miles to Santiago de Compostela. “My men,” as I thought of them, were all ahead of me now. My scream was stifled before it got out of my mouth, but I still had some tears left. They rolled down my cheeks as I tried to catch up with the guys. “Charlie,” I squeaked out, then “Charlie,” a little louder. He turned around, and as I saw him look at me, I crumpled right there on the hot pavement: backpack, hiking sticks, and all. Nearby walkers rushed to me. By the time Charlie got there, I was a sobbing mess of panic.
How to purchase the book: Presale begins March 11
You can order directly from Carol at https://ultreiablog.org
The paperback and e-version will also be available on Amazon.