The Burning Hearth July 2021

Welcome to The Burning Hearth. We are halfway through 2021 and I need to give a big shout out to the guests that have helped make 2021 a stellar year so far.

In March, The Burning Hearth hosted guest blogger Jeannee Sackenin, and in June I interviewed Meg Pokrass.

In Conversation…has been on fire: writer and director of Red Oak Writing, Kim Suhr in January; writer, Nancy Bauer-King in February; writer and managing editor of New Flash Fiction Review, Al Kratz in March; Romance novelist, Jennifer Trethewey in April; writer and my fellow Flashtronaut! (more on that in a bit), Audra Kerr Brown in May; and in June, writer and publisher of Hidden Timber Books, Christi Craig. And, I cannot forget my friend and fellow writer, Myles Hopper, who was my guest for the launch of In Conversation…in December of 2020.

I appreciate all of my guests for their time and willingness to be a part of my blog.

Now on to The Flashtronauts! Friend, fellow writer, and fellow editor over at New Flash Fiction Review, Audra Kerr Brown approached me several weeks ago about doing a YouTube Channel. Yet, another one of those things I said I would never do. So, you guessed it, we launched our first episode of The Flashtronauts! on Sunday, July 11, 2021. We talk about all things writing and flash, both fiction and non, and will be launching The Flashtronauts! Channel Mag in August. You can learn more about all of these things and watch our maiden voyage on our trusty ship the P. Muticus by clicking here.

Onto this month. I am so excited to be joined by Eric Scot Tryon in a reading of my story “A Paranormal Dialogue” published June 1, 2021 in Janus Literary. Eric is a published writer (click on his name to be directed to his website), and is the founding editor of Flash Frog Literary. Flash Frog has super cool stickers, as seen in the picture of it on my journal. New to the scene, Flash Frog is already making quite a splash. The journal is nothing short of stunning. Eric explains what makes Flash Frog so special before we start our reading, so I will let him tell you all about it.

But before you push play, a note on “A Paranormal Dialogue.” This story found its beginnings way back in the 1960s when the picture of a dead boy was found in the attic shortly after my parents moved into my childhood home. That, and the fact my mother did indeed have my father hang it above our fireplace, and the fact I felt constantly haunted by him are the only non-fictional elements of this story. The rest of the story comes by way of my imagination attaching a story to why parents would leave a portrait of their child tucked into an attic corner upon moving. Of course, this reason must to be dark and unspeakable. It must be worthy of secrets and ghosts that are hidden in attics.

The impetus for the story came from attending a Bending Genres workshop taught by Dennis Sweeny in 2020. Drawn to an exercise he offered focused on storytelling through dialogue, I penned the rough to what would become “A Paranormal Dialogue.”

I hope you enjoy my reading with Eric.

Thanks for stopping by. If you have a chance, please stop by Sledgehammer on July 27, 2021 and read my poem “Spaghetti Lives: Eldon, IA 1976. It is my first published poem. Also, the end of this month I am so excited to pack up my writing gear and head off to Write On, Door Co. for a week long residency. I highly recommend Write On to any and all. If you’re in the Door Co., WI area, I will be teaching a class on memoir on Tuesday, July 27, and giving a kids’ program on Saturday, July 31. More information can be found here at their website.

That’s all for now. I hope you will stop by on July 20, 2021 for my In Conversation…interview with Tara Stillions Whitehead.