Intensely and Mysteriously Inspired
Honoring tradition
Hi Friends:
Because writer’s block isn’t necessarily diabolical, this issue includes:
A sip…
When a Bad Name becomes a moniker, neutrality dictates that the muse lean toward the positive…
Hi paid Subscribers!
A shout out…
Although it’s commonly agreed that a debut often applies to an author’s first published book, the term originates from French, where “débuter” means the first
strike in a game. When referring to Jessica Johns, the latter meaning is more appropriate.
A proud member of the Sucker Creek First Nation and author of the horror-thriller Bad Cree, she is also a community advocate, editor, interdisciplinary visual artist, and poet. An alumna of MacEwan University (BA, 2014) and University of British Columbia (MFA, 2019), she is also a co-organizer and advisory board member of the Indigenous Brilliance reading series.
Praised for her willingness to disregard bad writing advice, she intentionally weaves stories about resource extraction and the displacement of Indigenous peoples into her works, and credits cultural respect for the power of dreams with her ability to incorporate her craft into her everyday life.
A recipient of the Journey Prize (2020), the ALA Alex Award (2024), and the MacEwan Book of the Year Award (2023/2024), she was also on the 2024 CBC Canada Reads longlist and is the Indigenous Initiatives Lead for the Funding Indigenous Resurgence in Edmonton (FIRE) at Edmonton Heritage Council.
A chaser…
Daybreak Star Radio presents Jessica Johns: Dreamwork, Horror and the Art of Storytelling
A sentence…
Prompts inspired by Bad Cree:
“I’m silent at the simplicity of the statement. How easy belief in my truth comes to her.”
“Behind the bright dome of the kitchen, grief still stretches like bruises into dark hallways.”
“Sadness is not so far from anger anyways. It’s a flip of a switch. A trickle of water diverting from one pool to another.”
“How cruel that we can’t even hurt in peace, that we have no time to try to heal. We can’t even grieve without something coming for us.”
“I know what it’s like to be made into something, to not be sure if the hole in me was always there or if it was carved out over the years.”
“I wonder if this is our family tradition—tamping down dreams before they have a chance to take shape, cutting off a part of ourselves once the fear sets in.”
“I think about all these secrets we’ve all been holding tight to our chests like a bad hand of cards, trying to bluff our way out of losing it all. How did all of these dreams lie between us?”
“I have so much love I’m sick with it. But there will always be bad living alongside it, etched under my skin. Living with bad doesn’t make me bad, though, it’s just there like everything else.”
“It’s the bad that has been passed down and passed down and passed down, that weaves itself in the marrow of our bones. A bad inflicted on us, one we have no business carrying. And we’re all just coping with it in the ways we know how.”
“An Indian dying is like a balsam fir getting chopped down. Trees for mile and miles feel the pain under the soil. They send their reserve nutrients through the root network to the stump, which closes over with bark like a scab. Eventually, the stump turns into a nursery, a home for new growth, for something else to take shape. This isn’t the same as healing or being reborn, but it’s the closest we’ll ever get.”
A snack pairing…
Fry bread is not native to all Indigenous tribes; however, Bannock, a form of quick bread with roots in Scottish and Irish culture, from which fry bread derives, is widespread among many Canadian First Nations, Metis, and Inuit cultures.
A sweet melody…
First Nations music encompasses the diverse and rich musical traditions of Indigenous peoples worldwide, characterized by drums, flutes, and call-and-response vocal forms in prayer and ceremonial songs.
A unique blend of traditional sounds, rhythms, and the soul of an Indigenous pow wow, First Nations music intersects with genres such as rock, blues, jazz, reggae, and hip-hop.
An expression of cultural storytelling, it’s a recognized genre that includes award-winning tracks like:
A book list…
A few titles with grief being the impetus behind confronting and reconciling legacy:
White Horse, by Erika T. Wurth
Lone Women, by Victor LaValle
Bone and Bread, by Saleema Nawaz
Bad Medicine, by Christopher Twin
The Round House, by Louise Erdrich
Indian Horse, by Richard Wagamese
Five Little Indians, by Michelle Good
Reservation Blues, by Sherman Alexie
Son of the Trickster, by Eden Robinson
Sister of the Lost Nation, by Nick Medina
Manmade Monsters, by Andrea L. Rodgers
Mapping the Interior, by Stephen Graham Jones
Moon on the Crusted Snow, by Waubgeshig Rice
A literary freebie…
The Booker Prize 2025 Longlist
A literary listicle…
Nestled between the US and Canadian Rocky Mountain ranges, Alberta is a province that includes the territory where Jessica Johns calls home. The 3rd most diverse major geographical and political entity within Canada, its inspiration includes:
Fly fishing on the Bow River;
Hiking at Thanksgiving Ranch;
Drumheller -aka the Dinosaur Capital of the World;
West Edmonton Mall, the largest in North America;
The crumbling and cursed ruins of Bankhead Ghost Town;
Crescent Falls, the series of two waterfalls on the Bighorn River;
Immersion into the history of life on earth at the Royal Tyrrell Museum;
The naturally eroded land formations known as the Hoodoos of Drumheller Valley; and
The huge spherical rocks in the middle of the prairie known as Red Rock Coulee Natural Area.
A few useful tips…
On writing about and through grief:
Avoid cliches;
Be vulnerable;
Name the emotion(s);
Avoid generalizations;
Parse the inexplicable;
Understand your audience;
Practice self-care throughout;
Incorporate unresolved feelings;
Express the unresolved and unsaid;
Authentically express raw emotions;
Enhance the dialogue with body language;
Incorporate themes of love, hope, and resilience;
Be respectful of cultural and personal differences;
Describe the person and the circumstances in detail;
Incorporate sensory details to portray the moment(s) vividly;
Remember, the story needs a goal; it can’t simply be about despair;
Write from the perspective of one of the seven emotional stages of grief; and
If a character is experiencing grief, know that readers do not yearn to see the door to healing swing open automatically.
A few contests…
The ALCS Tom-Gallon Trust Awards
Dinesh Allirajah Prize for Short Fiction
The Commonwealth Short Story Prize
Evaristo Prize for African Poetry
Latino Voices in Children’s Literature Writing Contest
Glenna Luschei Prize for African Poetry
Poetic Justice Institute Editor’s Prize for BIPOC Writers
Preservation Foundation Essay Contest Travel Nonfiction
Raleigh Review Flash Fiction Contest
Sillerman First Book Prize for African Poets
John Updike Review Emerging Writers Prize
U.S. Naval Institute General Prize Essay Contest
A few creative resets…
September 30th
October 1st
October 5th
October 6th
Multi-Date Options
Awaken & Align: Navratri-Inspired Journey of Calm, Clarity & Joy
A few fee-based accountability/retreat/workshop opportunities…
Single Session
October 4th
Memoir for the Apocalypse with Melissa Febos ($150 - $275)
October 8th
October 15th
Triangular Relationships as Engines for Tension and Conflict with Anca L. Szilágyi ($65)
October 16th
Short Stories for Spooky Season: Techniques and Theory of Horror Fiction with Stephanie Feldman ($50)
October 17th
Burning Down the Haunted House (Troupe) with Atina Hartunian ($40)
October 18th
October 25th
Act Like a Writer, Think Like an Editor: Getting Your Manuscript Ready with Christine Pride ($75 - $85)
Act Like a Writer, Think Like an Editor: The Road to Publication ($75 - $85)
October 26th
Obsidian & Snakes: Formation and Transformation with Jun Maruyama ($30 - $90)
Series
October 7th – October 28th
Fall: Exhausting Metaphor: A Generative Creative Lab with Domi Shoemaker ($100 - $350)
October 13th – December 8th
With New Eyes: Deep Revision in Any Genre with Anndee Hochman ($500)
October 15th – November 19th
Writing the Supernatural with Caroline Stewart ($380 - $395)
October 22nd – November 12th
What If We Blurred Genre in This Speculative Nonfiction Class? with Emilly Prado ($250 - $450)
October 27th – December 1st
Jumpstart Your Novel with Mike Zendejas ($380 -$395)
November 3rd – December 8th
Novel Planning: Build It and The Words Will Come with Lori Goldstein ($460 - $475)
November 6th – December 4th
The (Almond) Joy of Writing: How to Jump Start Your Creativity with Steve Almond ($355 -$370)
A few fellowship/grant/scholarship opportunities…
American Antiquarian Society Fellowships for Creative and Performing Artists and Writers
Journalismfund Grants Investigation Grants for Environmental Journalism
The McGraw Business Journalism Fellowship
One Story Adina Talve-Goodman Fellowship
The Open Notebook Early Career Fellowship Program
Neal Peirce Foundation Journalism Travel Grants
John Updike Tucson Casitas Fellowship
A few retreat/residency opportunities…
Anaphora Arts Writing Residency
The Breakthrough Writers Retreat
Micro-Residency at Bischoff Inn
A few freelance opportunities…
Mental Floss is seeking new voices to write about history, science, entertainment, language, pop culture, art, or beyond.
New Lines North Africa is seeking pitches for stories from Algeria, Morocco, Burkina Faso, Mali & Mauritania.
Sixty Inches from Center seeks pitches for content in Spanish, Southeast Asian languages, Native languages, and Polish.
Streets.mn is looking for writers, storytellers, and photographers to research and write articles for the Minnesota Historical Society grant.
Voquent seeks UK-based film, TV, and video game writers and critics to produce features, opinion pieces, and interviews on voice acting and voiceover.
A few submission opportunities…
Flash Frog seeks flash fiction under 1,000 words.
River Styx Magazine seeks fiction, poetry, non-fiction, and visual media.
The Seneca Review seeks original essays on poetry.
A few sessions & workshops…
September 30th
October 1st
Black Literature’s Creative Rebellions, with Roger Reeves and Esi Edugyan
October 2nd
Fill the Gaps: Point of View Basics
October 3rd
October 4th
October 5th
October 6th
Legacy Writers Vault Publishing – Writing Workshop For Aspiring Christians
October 10th
Multi-Date Options
Bronx Memoir Project Workshop Series: Inherited Memories
Fiction Writers Prompt & Critique Group
Friday Evening Shut Up & Write! Session
Infusing Activism into Writing Workshop Scriptwriting Course
Neuro-Myths: Creative Writing Workshop
A few open critique groups/open mics/shared readings...
Multi-Date Options
A few virtual artist/author/creative events…
October 1st
Pamphlet Launch Event: The Man Who Made Up Trees by Michael Greavy
October 2nd
Author Talk with Faith Erin Hicks
B&N Midday Mystery Virtually Presents: S.D. House’s DEAD MAN BLUES!
Manjeet Mann and the British Library celebrate National Poetry Day
October 3rd
October 5th
October 14th
Soul Codes: Empirical Poems on Survival and Hope in Law’s Shadows with Monica C. Bell
A few virtual book/script clubs and discussions…
Brightlane Book Club – A Place Called Home, a Memoir
I.G. Book Club: Someone’s Gotta Give by Alisha Fernandez Miranda
May Contain Lies: Neuro Nook Book Club
Spooky Readers Book Club Discussion – Cathrine House
And a final thought…
Hi there,
In honor of the Indigenous children who died while forced into residential schools, tomorrow is National Day of Remembrance for Indian Boarding Schools / Orange Shirt Day.
And because this is essentially my online platform, please acknowledge that the Catholic Church sponsored the schools, the trauma, and the intergenerational effects of displacement, sexual assault, and physical violence inflicted on Indigenous children. Also, please recognize that the Catholic Church facilitated forced displacement into residential schools in Australia.
Yes, I am aware that some say there is a special place in hell for me; to that, I declare that with how the world is turning, I won’t be lonely.
As usual, this posting contains embedded links. If you are so inclined to purchase a book, I will earn a tiny commission.
Have a great last of September / beginning of October.
Take it easy,
