Category: Featured

Gendered Self-Destruction

H.M. Jones

Your waste is
wine coolers, merlot,
minty, thin cigarettes—
set sexily in a delicate holder.

H.M. Jones

H.M. Jones is a mother, writer, teacher and poet. She is the author of Monochrome, the B.R.A.G Medallion dark fantasy about postpartum depression and the beauty of memories. Monochrome will be released,by Feminine Collective Publishing, marking the books third incarnation. Along with a few self-published poetry books, H.M.'s poetry will be featured in three different anthologies in 2015 and 2016. When she's not mothering, teaching, or writing, she is weaving, kickboxing, pulling in the canoe or reading.

Creating My Father’s Legacy: Martin Elkort’s Photography

Stefani Twyford

In the spring of 2014, I stepped up to a podium in the Brown Auditorium Theater of The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston. The place was full and the audience attentive, expectant. They had just seen my documentary, “Martin Elkort: An American Mirror” about my father, and I was unsure Read more

Stefani Twyford

President and Founder of Legacy Multimedia, Stefani Twyford has more than 18 years experience designing, developing and implementing award-winning video biographies and tribute videos. Prior to starting Legacy Multimedia, she built and headed a successful Houston-based web design, e-commerce and marketing firm. With degrees in design, psychology and social work, Twyford also shares her knowledge about the importance and process of creating a meaningful legacy with her engaging presentations to various organizations. Twyford excels at helping people craft their stories and share their memories. Her commitment to high-quality work and customer service, and her gift for putting people at ease help her clients capture their stories in a way that will endure for generations. Her firm commitment to the arts, to the technology community and to women in business has helped many others and served as inspiration for the next generation of talented professionals. In 2012 she turned the lens on her own family and her father’s profile as a known street photographer. Her documentary “Martin Elkort: An American Mirror” screened mid 2014 at the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston followed by other screenings around the US and has won a 2014 Gold Remi Award for Best Documentary from Worldfest International Film Festival.

The Day I Started Dating an Italian Named Giovanni

Jessica Abrams

Days passed, and romance blossomed. Of course, it wasn’t mine. Lee started dating Pietro, the round, balding member of the trio while Kathy, who already had a boyfriend waiting for her back home—making it even less fucking fair—was being squired around town by the blue-eyed Adonis. Daphne had found her Read more

Jessica Abrams

Like her character Louise Bice in KNOCKING ON DOORS (www.knocking-on-doors.com) Jessica Abrams is a writer-slash-actress-slash-dog-walker-slash-contributor-to-an-obscure-dance-blog (although truth be told, ExploreDance.com is neither obscure nor a blog). Also like Louise, she had a stint working for the government as a field interviewer, an experience that proved to be creatively fruitful, inspiring IN TRAINING, the stories published here, and KNOCKING ON DOORS, the web series she wrote, directed and stars in. Her plays have had productions and readings in various Los Angeles venues, with “The Laughing Cow” receiving Pick of The Week by LA Weekly. She is thrilled to be a part of this amazing network of talented women.

I Call My Daughters Pretty ALL the Time

Byron Hamel

I have two little girls, and I tell them they’re pretty all the time. I’m their daddy, and I think they really want me to see them as pretty. So I acknowledge that I do in fact think they’re pretty. I think they should grow to want to receive regular Read more

Byron Hamel

Byron Hamel was raised by a violent man who got the death penalty for torturing and killing a baby. As a result of his upbringing, Byron dedicates his life to fighting child abuse. He lives with Complex PTSD, Depression, and Anorexia. Despite his obstacles, he’s an amazing dad to his two lovely daughters. An award-winning Canadian journalist, and television producer, his documentary film, “A Breaking Cycle”, is a powerful journey into the world of tough bikers who protect abused kids. Byron is currently writing for his blog Trauma Dad, and his book "I Am A Killer", to be released in 2016 by the Gravity Imprint of Booktrope Publishing. This post is an excerpt from his work in progress. His writing challenges readers with both depth and simplicity. It’s raw and funny, but leaves you feeling hopeful and inspired.

To Anonymous A

Mary Wanser

I sat on the sofa, my back propped against paisley pillows, and my legs crossed at the ankles. My camel-colored clogs, the ones with the wooden heels that knock on the floorboards when I walk, hung from my feet over the square cushion’s corner. You, Anonymous A, sat across the Read more

Mary Wanser

Mary Wanser is a contributing author to the anthology My Other Ex: Women's True Stories of Losing and Leaving Friends and is currently revising for publication her memoir entitled Things I Wasn’t Supposed to Say. She earned her MFA from the University of Tampa. A Long Island native, Mary now lives where two rivers meet in Bradenton, Florida. Between tennis matches, she writes, edits, teaches, and accepts invitations to read her work publicly. Visit her at www.MaryWanser.com.

Phoenix Rising: Thriving With Depression

Julie Anderson

She always asks how I am doing. I rattle off a few tidbits, mainly professional milestones or interesting people who I crossed paths with over the past week, simultaneously picking at fluff that does not exist on her couch. She probes again “How are you doing?”   I always reply “I told you Read more

Julie Anderson

Julie Anderson is the Creator and Publisher of Feminine Collective. Julie was inspired to create this safe place for women to share their secrets, desires, triumphs and pain as the antithesis of what mainstream media offers women today. In her column Pursuit of Perfection, she explores the importance of rectifying the balance of inner and outer beauty through essays, poems and articles on self-esteem, shame, family, and self- acceptance.

Lithium, My Toxic Love Affair

Jacqueline Cioffa

***DISCLAIMER: The author of this piece is NOT encouraging ANYONE to go off of their prescribed psychiatric medicine. This is her story, her journey. Please remember that while enjoying her creative words. The glass inside the car felt cold and comforting as I pressed my damp cheek up against it, Read more

Jacqueline Cioffa

A retired, international model, and celebrity makeup artist. Co-Author of Model Citi Zen, the guide. Founder of http://modelcitizenmakeup.blogspot.com/. Author of numerous prose pieces in various literary magazines. Most recently published in Little Episodes Brainstorms the anthology, among esteemed artists Sadie Frost, Melvin Burgess and Todd Swift.

Why I Became a Showgirl in Italy

Jessica Abrams

In this creatively bleak époque, I was a modern dancer.

Jessica Abrams

Like her character Louise Bice in KNOCKING ON DOORS (www.knocking-on-doors.com) Jessica Abrams is a writer-slash-actress-slash-dog-walker-slash-contributor-to-an-obscure-dance-blog (although truth be told, ExploreDance.com is neither obscure nor a blog). Also like Louise, she had a stint working for the government as a field interviewer, an experience that proved to be creatively fruitful, inspiring IN TRAINING, the stories published here, and KNOCKING ON DOORS, the web series she wrote, directed and stars in. Her plays have had productions and readings in various Los Angeles venues, with “The Laughing Cow” receiving Pick of The Week by LA Weekly. She is thrilled to be a part of this amazing network of talented women.