When Straight Enough was published in 2021, I felt an enormous sense of pride. And relief. For the first time in seven years, I was free. I no longer possessed a manuscript which needed to be read, re-read, edited, and re-written over and over. My time was mine once again, I could do anything I wanted to do. Which sounded more glorious than it genuinely was. If I’m honest, I was a little sad. A bit lonely. More than a tad uncertain about what to do next. The most obvious idea was to begin work on a second book. As the excitement of my first book began to dim ever so slightly, I began to think more seriously about that second book. But the words, ideas, inspiration, well it just wasn’t there. I of course set straight to panicking. Full on over-the-top jump off a bridge without a lifejacket stage panicking. What if I didn’t have anything else to say? What if I was merely a fraud? Not a writer at all… and so I floundered. In 2023 I decided enough was enough. I was going to enter at least one contest every month of the year. I’d enter short pieces, maybe even poems. Never mind that I wasn’t a poet…

Here we are finishing up the year and I am happy to report that I entered twenty contests in 2023. Of those twenty, five were accepted, nine were rejected and six are still pending. I’m most proud of the fact I was published in two anthologies and a book of poems. Have I begun work on book two? Nope. But I’m no longer freaking out about it because I’m a writer who is writing.

Thank you for your support and encouragement along the way. I appreciate all of you. Happy 2024!!

Sincerely, Lorinda

ANTHOLOGY

Spring and All

Red Wheelbarrow Writers put out a call for submissions to their fourth anthology, Spring and All inspired by William Carlos Williams’ volume of poetry of the same name. Williams is often considered an uplifting voice amid the harsh realities of the world, and that is our vision for this anthology.

In response to the call for pieces embodying a sense of uplift (an elevated condition of the body, mind, or spirit), Lorinda’s story “Show Them Love” sees a group of drag queens shut down a group of protesters at a gay pride parade. “Let’s show these boys some love!”

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ANTHOLOGY

Mothers and Mentors

The Art of Nurturing

Real Women Write Vol. 22

Lorinda’s poem, “My Mother, Her Mother, and Me,” is in response to a call for submissions from the Story Circle Network for pieces reflecting on the varied ways we mother or are mothered, and on the significance of giving and receiving mentoring guidance and care. 

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POETRY

Matter (edition 3)

Spectacular! This highly intimate collection of poetry will warm your heart and intrigue your mind! Exactly what great poetry is meant to do. Enjoy the ride through heartache, mystery, and triumph as you gain new perspectives from our 2023 Award-winning poets.

Before being published in the poetry collection, Matter (edition 3), Lorinda’s Poem “Forgive the Rainbows” was originally published in the Story Circle Network 2023 online journal in the True Words from Real Women section. The theme was forgiveness. 

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BLOG

Starting Again

“The living mother-daughter relationship, you learn over and over again, is a constant choice between adaptation and acceptance.”

— Kelly Corrigan, Glitter and Glue

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