Tag: relationships

Eyelids: A Very Brief Tale of Spies and Madness

Tiffani Burnett-Velez

I live in a neighborhood where horses sometimes wander, and so do drunken old men and well-trimmed hobos dressed in L.L.Bean duck boots. The local township serves out “BEWARE OF GYPSIES!” newsletters at the eve of spring, warning us that “roving bands of strangers looking for work are known to Read more

Tiffani Burnett-Velez

Tiffani has been a freelance writer since 1996. Her short fiction and poetry have appeared in Toe Good Poetry, Nicean Magazine, and St. Anthony Messenger. Her nonfiction essays and narrative journalism have been published in Pennsylvania Magazine, Yahoo! News, Country Discoveries, The Times-News, and many other magazines and newspapers across the US. She is the author of three novels, Budapest (featured at the NY Book Festival), A Berlin Story (a #1 Kindle Free Book), and All This Time (featured in The Big Thrill magazine). She holds a BA in Cognitive Science and has studied English and American Literature at Harvard and the University of Pennsylvania. She is currently completing her MFA in Writing at Lindenwood University.

5 Signs You’re Dating The Wrong Person

Julie Anderson

Lust. Dating. Romance. Love.  (Sprinkle sex in between or at the beginning,) We all need companionship. Most of us start looking for love when our hormones peak during the goofy years of teendom. Who we end up with, casually or for the long haul, depends on what we believe we deserve. I kid 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.

This Man

Natasha Alexander

There’s this man He whispers in her ear his words turn her soul black he showers her neck with kisses those load her veins with acid It pains It burns her alive In the supreme climax of life, that’s where he finds her, his love his queen his everything In Read more

Natasha Alexander

Writer, always Wife and Mother first. Perfect is overrated, I am flawed and yet loved. Now that I don’t chase perfection, I can chase my dreams. I have completed a "Write a Novel" course in 2015 through S.A. Writers’ College and passed with a distinction. I also completed the Copy-Editing and Proof-reading course through them in March 2016. My first Manuscript of 60 000 words has been written and currently seeking a publisher. I have been writing poetry since I was 14 and the reason/inspiration behind all my writing is a stand against women abuse. It is a cause that I hold close to heart. Something that started as an outlet for feelings too ghastly to speak about has turned into my passion.

We Lost Our Rings But Not Our Commitment

Mary Novaria

My husband’s gold wedding band disappeared early in our marriage. My dad lost his as a newlywed, too, leaving it on a public restroom sink. I chalked up their carelessness to being men who weren’t used to wearing jewelry and, even though I was a bit disappointed in my husband, Read more

Mary Novaria

Mary Novaria's is a two-time Writer's Digest award winner whose work has been featured in Oprah Daily, Washington Post, Spirituality & Health, Cosmopolitan, Feminine Collective, FF2 Media, HuffPost, and elsewhere. She and her husband are empty nesters who live in the mountains of Colorado with their rescue dog, Rooney. She is currently working on a novel.

Crazy Girl Summer Camp

Dori Owen

“When I compliment her she won’t believe me And it’s so, it’s so Sad to think that she don’t see what I see But every time she asks me, “Do I look okay?” —Bruno Mars, Just The Way You Are When I moved back to Arizona from California, where I 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.

Liberal Mom (cw: 18+)

Emily Brout

He thinks it’s because she’s “a pragmatic” and he’s “an idealist” and that she just couldn’t keep up with his irrational pursuit of all things narcissistic. They really just had “clashing core philosophies” and how do you raise a kid with parents that have clashing values?

Emily Brout

Emily Brout was prematurely born in New York City's Beth Israel Hospital 21 years ago, alongside her two siblings who were taking up an awful amount of space in the womb. She was the lead singer of the rock band The Indecent and is presently the front person for the NYC Artcore group Ludlow Ejacula. She currently attends N.Y.U for practical reasons and writes for selfish ones.

How My Childhood Cat Ruined My Dream of Children

Natasha Diaz

All my life I have wanted children. Perhaps this was a product of my being an only child and dreaming of a world where my kids could play with each other rather than the weird games I made up. My favorite was a game I called ‘marriage,’ where my mom Read more

Natasha Diaz

Natasha Diaz is the real kind of born and raised New Yorker who has never been behind the wheel of a car and a recent Oakland transplant. Her screenplays have placed in prestigious literary competitions, such as the Austin Film Festival, and the Sundance Episodic Story Lab. Natasha is currently completing her first novel, a memoir.

I Remember this Feeling

Renee DeMont

I was nine when they drove away from my foster home. First, my parents. Then, four years later, my grandparents. Finally, it was me in the car, with my new mom, on my way to my new life. I was terrified into stillness. I was ten when a handwritten letter Read more

Renee DeMont

Renee DeMont is a SURVIVOR. She was born into poverty; spent much of her childhood homeless, living on the streets of Los Angeles, and in foster care. Renee learned early on: life is about adapting to adversity. The greatest gift she ever received? No one expected anything from her. By 18, she was ready to experience life on her own terms. First one in her family to attend college. After college, her focus and determination earned her a spot working at Paramount Studios, on the #1 show in television, "Cheers". At 29, Renee gave entrepreneurship a go and began a Biomedical engineering business out of her garage. Twenty years later, that risky venture grew into 8,000 square feet of success. She broke the cycle of poverty that plagued her family for generations. Recently, Renee turned fifty, filed for divorce (he declared WAR), and trudged through a debilitating nervous breakdown. Through therapy and writing, she reclaimed her sanity. Sold her half of the business to the ex, and now she has clarity and choices. Renee is personally and financially independent. With her new found freedom, she chooses to write in a sincere effort to reconcile her past with her present. Hopefully, through this cathartic process, the second half of her life will be led by her soul's desire, rather than by the fears and doubts of her first half. Currently, she lives in South Orange County with her teenage son and daughter, and her high maintenance yet lovable dog, Joe. Soon to be an empty nester, she plans to downsize the big house in the OC bubble, for a bigger life in the real world. Her days are spent gently launching her almost grown children into adulthood, and passionately penning her memoir. In the mean time, you can find her essays on pain, positivity, and empowerment at: onedropofgrace.blogspot.com