Pies On The Sidewalk: A Gift Of Confidence From A Mother to Her Daughters

My mom never knew she had actually prepared me the best way possible. She died thinking she had failed as a parent who should have protected her daughter. Because of her, I guarded myself and my daughters from a future of abuse, failure, and lost dreams. As a single mom, I didn’t have much to give my girls, but I gave them the confidence to become strong, determined women who have the courage to leave pies on the sidewalk when that’s the only option.

Dianne Blomberg, Ph.D.

Dianne Blomberg is an author/speaker living in Colorado. She’s published in HerStry, Feminine Collective, Across the Margin, Button Eye Review, Alpha Female Society, Dove Tales-Abrazos, Volney Road Review, Krazines, American Writer’s Review, and more. Her essays are in “Best Of” publications and anthologies, she’s authored two children’s books. She is the former President of the Denver Woman’s Press Club. Her work is featured on podcasts. Dianne’s relationship research is cited in Good Housekeeping, The Wall Street Journal, USA Today, Family Life, Newsday-New York, The Denver Post and more. Dianne is working on a book of essays, What Else You Got, Girl? And co-writing a sitcom TV-pilot, “Happy Landing.”

He Was A Man Of Few Words

I was in Target today and purposely ignored the huge display of Father’s Day cards. These days they seem to appear right after Mother’s Day with no break in between. I scurry past with my head down. Father’s Day cards are lava. If I don’t see them, I cannot step Read more

Dori Owen

Dori Owen is a storyteller, writing from small town Arizona, after living a few decades in California as an LA Wild Child, with a brief stop in Reno. She settled into grownup life as a project manager, collecting an MBA and a few husbands along the way. She is a shown artist and her favorite pastime is upcycling old furniture and decor she finds from thrift stores. She lives with the cat who came to visit but stayed. The love of her life is her grown son who lives in Portland, Oregon. Her essays and poems have been published in RAW&UNFILTERED VOL I, StigmaFighters Vol 2, and Love Notes From Humanity. Her blogs have been featured on The Lithium Chronicles, Open Thought Vortex, Sudden Denouement, and The Mighty.

Press Start

I don’t remember fighting over first player. I remember needing more controllers, quicker reflexes, a softer excitement /thicker walls (whichever lets mom sleep). You remember most of the combos, cheat codes, and having to hide in the bathroom (the only door with a lock). I try to be a good Read more

James Wolf

James Wolf is an aspiring teacher from Maryland’s eastern shore. He works as an assistant in a Pre-K classroom, using the quiet of naptime as an excuse to write things in the dark. His work has been featured in GFT Presents: One in Four, Sixfold, and Gyroscope Review, and is forthcoming in Vine Leaves Literary Journal.

For Better of Worse

It was a Sunday when the new recliner flew off the Ford, Daddy having failed to latch the tailgate before he roared onto the southbound, following a semi and an argument with Mother on the finer points of the Sabbath. Sunday is a day for rest, not a day for Read more

Jennifer Wheelock

Jennifer Wheelock's poems have appeared or are forthcoming in many journals and anthologies, including Post Road, Lake Effect, Stone River Sky: An Anthology of Georgia Poems (Negative Capability Press), Flycatcher, Diagram, Quill’s Edge Press, River Styx, Atlanta Review, New Millennium Writings, The Inflectionist Review, and North Atlantic Review. She lives and works in Los Angeles and is also a painter.

Of Waves of Reminiscence

I swear I heard the sun burn something alive under the ocean. I heard a scream just as I lit the matches to a wooden coffin with no body inside to keep it warm. My sister’s hair was always braided, and when those brown strands came undone, so did my Read more

Paakhi Bhatnagar

Paakhi Bhatnagar is a student from India and an avid reader of historical fiction. She is a passionate feminist and blogs about current politics and feminist issues. She also possess the uncanny ability of turning everything into a debate.

Floating the Day Away

Tell me something good You look so pretty with your long, blond mane tied back in a ponytail So stop racing around the track Tell me something new Your eyes sparkle when I see your linen dress swaying by the bar Dancing alone barefoot and keeping time with beat As 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.

Come, fall upon me

Come, fall upon me like rain from tumultuous clouds and wash the filth and grime of all the years passed… where I was hunted and haunted by nasty demons from the deepest depths of hell. Coming in contact with them has marred not only my body but the soul within… Read more

F.K. Jadoon

F.K. Jadoon is a girl who likes to dream and her dream is to become a recognised writer someday. She has recently done her Honours in English Literature. She's an avid reader of literature and is most likely to be found with her nose in one book or another or just writing away in her little diary which is always kept close to her heart. In a society where creative writing is mostly not considered a serious enough field, she has battled her way through a fair amount of grumbling, disappointment and being taken lightly. And yet, she has never let her inner fire die as she keeps on pouring the gasoline of passion and determination on the dying embers of her inner voice. She has succeeded so far and hopes to do so in future.

What We Hold Inside

(for the Goddess & Kay) The scent of cinnamon, brown sugar, & sweet butter slide up my nostrils like an entire childhood. It is the closest thing to heaven I can think of. I disappear into high school days, God searching days, free verse days. I disappear on my old Read more

Kim Sisto Robinson

Kim Sisto Robinson is a mother, lover, poet, writer, educator, obsessive blogger, lover of cats, cheese puffs, chocolate chips cookies, Sylvia Plath, addicted to books, women’s stories, walking with audio books ( Lolita was off the charts!), and powerful, transformative words. Her work has appeared in Scary Mommy, Bella On Line, Glass Woman, Migrations, Rebelle Society, and Feminine Collective. She created her blog, My Inner Chick, to honor her sister, Kay, whom was murdered by her estranged husband in 2010. Her mission is to give “Voice” to all women without one. She was honored the "Men As Peacemaker's Award" in 2015 for her work with domestic violence.