Writing Prompts: Cozy Mysteries
One of my favorite genres is cozy mysteries. They’re great for a low-key read on an airplane or road trip or before turning out the light at night. But writing them can be a little tedious and challenging, because, well, let’s be honest — there are only so many kinds of mysteries to solve.
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Morning. Noon. And night. The sleeves and legs ride high — a regular fit for an irregular frame. Still, it’s keen-o, he thinks. He hollers for a mirror and is obliged. Father D. should’ve seen these threads when he met me this morning.
Forgotten Veterans
A veterans’ home where aging grandmas tell their tales of serving when they thought women should have been at home preserving.
Music as Character: The Soundtrack of Cowboy Bebop
Kanno takes this concept and runs wild with it, creating one of the most original soundtracks in anime history and sparking the production of eight CD’s worth of music and a five disc boxset that is a must for any fans.
Thank You for Being a Friend: Celebrating 40 Years of The Golden Girls
It’s a reminder that friendship is a safe haven, where we can be ourselves in the company of those who understand and care about us, flaws and all.
Quarterly & Special Issues
Submissions next open from June 1 to August 31 2024
June 27, 2025
I first heard of Matcha when a friend’s friend from Singapore sent her a bag of the fine, green powder. Amazon was around by now, but things like this weren’t so readily available to Americans – nor did we seem to know to look for it.
When I married a man who’s intrigued with all things Japanese, Matcha returned to my awareness, especially when we wound up living across the highway from a Japanese market where Matcha could easily be purchased for a reasonable price.
June 21, 2025
Bold, thundering C-major chords seize the day with no room for doubt. It’s as if God is in the driving seat full of confidence and all is well. There are no obstructions on the straight and narrow, no one is being martyred, and though there are clouds in the sky, they look more like savory dumplings that might drop manna. The descending bass notes of the first three chords exude hope and a desire to get to the bottom of things. This is the hymn Bryn Myrddin; Welsh singing at its best.
June 20, 2025
The storm’s coming was awful enough. The cherries would be ripening in a few short days, and the last thing they needed in this moment was too much water. But I couldn’t do anything about it. It would pass and leave whatever wreckage it chose to leave and I’d clean up as best I could.
June 19, 2025
Trust me when I say, we do not wish anyone a moment of what we endure in these bodies. But like most things, you can’t know what this feels like mentally and emotionally, let alone physically, until/unless you walk a day in our chronically ill bodies – forget the shoes.
June 18, 2025
Miranda is a tall, beautiful oddball who doesn’t meet the magazine standards of physical beauty, elegance, or womanhood. This is harped on to an almost painful level throughout the show – and people who’ve always been “accepted” for their beauty probably won’t get what this is really about and why it matters so much. That’s okay.
June 18, 2025
And now, we’ve just completed the final season of The Fifteenth Doctor as depicted by the Rwandan-Scottish actor, Ncuti Gatwa, the most fabulous of them all!
June 17, 2025
Lively Bunnies, the animated kids show we'd worked on for the last six years, had its own kind of niche popularity with kids and their families; the ways in which it was part of everyday pop culture never ceased to amaze me.
June 16, 2025
can you see them on the air of summer? hint of wing, gentle glimmer a whisper, a suggestion on the wind…
June 11, 2025
When it comes to Rooibos tea, I am exceptionally picky. I have drunk many cups and determined that they were “okay” but not “worthy” of purchasing again. This includes both bagged teas and loose leaf offerings. A couple of years back, I found a rival for my previous favorite Bos Rooibos in the form of my new favorite loose leaf option: U.S. Wellness Naturals Rooibos.
June 10, 2025
One evening, readers were challenged to sit back, shut up, and listen. We were led to ask the Lord to speak clearly and listen to Him and trust that what He spoke would encourage and uplift us. As most of us know, keeping back a flood of thoughts in a quiet room can be rather challenging. But I somehow managed to still myself and my own thoughts, and soon found my mind resting in the space quietly.
June 4, 2025
As a teenager, my happy place was always Jones Beach, NY. I would arrive early before the toll, just as dawn was breaking. The causeway was empty of other cars, all was quiet on the beach, parking spots were plentiful and you could choose any field you’d like.
June 2, 2025
The most startling portions of Hell Town are true. Let that sink in. I am not easily made nauseous by true crime, but this was brutal. Casey Sherman’s writing style, and description of the events are both brilliant, and nightmare-ish.
May 31, 2025
One of my favorites is writing resources: I love finding books or articles that I can dive back into again and again to hone my craft and (hopefully) help others to hone theirs. With that goal in mind, today I’d like to share a little about five of the many, many useful books that grace my overstuffed shelves.
May 30, 2025
It’s silly, maybe, or sentimental, more likely. I first fell in love with this practice in 2002 when I did my first “big” international flight.
May 29, 2025
Review from Chris Hagberg on a film as relevant today as it was when the inspirational life moments happened: Suffragette.
May 28, 2025
Stopped over and over again!
Life has hurled me to break more than once.
The enchanted misery is the pain
That darts my excruciation in this paradisiacal island.
May 27, 2025
Love is a risk every single time. A worthy one. One I have by His grace been able to go all-in on. When we love, we jump. We risk it all for the hope, the promise, the forever.
It feels like a miracle to be able to do this when you have been hurt mentally, emotionally, and physically.
To me, it reveals God’s grace, his mercy, his healing, and the tenacity He created me with. I have been told many times that I have a gift of love. There’s a reserve within me with which only He could have gifted me.
May 26, 2025
Where does a story start? What are the rules for opening scenes, and why do they work? What makes a book a ‘good read’ from the […]
May 25, 2025
Overall, The Forger’s Forgery is an exciting, intriguing literary fiction novel that keeps a reasonably quick pace, as long as you’re not expecting an action or thriller. The characters are vivid and memorable (even after a couple month gap at one point, the characters were still extremely present for me, even if the plot needed reminders!).
May 24, 2025
You see, writing theology papers isn’t just a school task for me. It’s an exploration of what I’m learning, how I’m growing, how I’m changing, how I’m developing as an adult human. So much of youth was spent regurgitating rote memorization and trying to make a grade. But now, in seminary I’m synthesizing and expanding the knowledge I’m gaining. And it is an utter delight!