I am very pleased to share with you all that an exclusive magazine, The Coil, via Alternating Current Press, has chosen a poem of mine which I submitted to them in April of 2019. It takes a long time to hear back on poetry submissions, but they are so worth the wait to add credibility to your resume…so we poets submit and we wait and we hope.
I am excited to add this publication to my resume and share the post with you all here. Also this poem is a semifinalist for the Luminaire Award:
Your submission has been entered into the semifinalist round for the 2021 Luminaire Award, for a chance to win $100 and other prizes. Your submission will receive additional print publication if it is chosen as a Top-5 Finalist in the editor’s pick selection. We will be in contact with you further down the road when we are ready to lay out the forthcoming publication.
Alternating Current Press
Hop by there and see my work! The link is below 🙂
(That’s what I call my writer friends these days–out there nurturing your dreams and rising in the sun!)
If you are interested in promoting your poetry, your articles, your photography, then this is the post for you.
Where have I been lately? I have been on Medium, making a little money for my poetry and getting some exposure for my writing.
Medium allows me to post my poetry into “publications” which are like online magazines, which have one or many editors that approve your posts. Several of my poems have been published this way in the month I have been on Medium, and since I am in the Partner Program, I make a little money while I am at it. THANK GOODNESS.
Check these out! You may be impressed with the clean interface and impressive presentation of my poems as published on these Medium Publications:
***note that P.S. I Love You has over 120K followers!
So what to do first? Here’s what to do if you want to get involved with this and get your work moving, out there, seen…
Join Medium — I know, it costs. 5.00 a month. If you are worried about it then spend about 5 days on Medium just reading through things. (You will be limited on how much you can read if you are not a member.) Then you will most likely want to join.
Of course create a profile. This is a given.
Look for publications on the Medium homepage that have articles in your “lane” of writing–you are welcome to use the ones I listed above. they are great!
Join publications (follow them) and if you want to write for them be accepted as a writer for their publication. Look around the publication for “submission guidelines” and you will likely see the process you need to follow to become a writer with that publication. (I now write for 16 different publications!)
Next, study the format of other stories that are highly successful on Medium. Pay attention to length, spacing, use of white space, and by all means NO ERRORS in your work helps your article or poem to be approved.
And–FOLLOW THE DIRECTIONS on the publication for submission. Otherwise they will reject your story.
If you have any interest in promoting your writing, by no means do you have to leave your beloved WordPress blog, which gives you a lot of control over the appearance and design of your blog, but I would suggest, strongly, that you take a look at Medium as a lucrative income stream and avenue for self-promotion. I joined the site (for $5.00 a month) which gives unlimited readership and it has been well-spent. I spent much of my online reading time perusing articles, clapping for other readers, highlighting crafty sentences and phrasing that just speaks to me in some beautiful way, or shocks my soul into motion. I try to comment on as much poetry as possible and support other poets as well.
Come on over…the Medium water’s fun!
I’ll be back on soon when I am feeling better to post about my experiences with another acute-pain flare up this week. this one landed me at Duke University for an overnight stay and a bunch of tests and electrodes and…well, it was miserable. But the scary part is passed and I am on the mend. Doing a LOT of resting and a little writing today. Thanks for reading and I hope you have a wonderful day!
May your footprints in the moss leave whispers of good memories.–Christina
Your gifts, YOU BEAUTIFUL FIDDLEHEAD YOU, are meant to be shared with the world. So RISE, unfurl, stand in the sun,, and share your creative spirit with those around you and BE YOUR TRUEST SELF!
I am rising, unfolding A fiddlehead taking my place In the lower vascular canopy. Can you feel my presence? Alive. I am alive. I cradle my thoughts, Tiny spores lined up In patterns beneath me, Vowels waiting To be released. I share them With the sun. Can you hear my rising?
The name Fiddleheads & Floss has a meaning that is twofold, as the name suggests. Both are symbolic.
The first, deals with self.
As a poet, of course I had to choose something symbolic; but it had to appeal to the self, meaning — YOU.
Have you ever heard of a fiddlehead? In nature, this is a fern, curling in on itself at night, and then unfurling and rising with the sun in the morning. The vision is truly symbolic if you think of it. Think of folding in on yourself, turning inward, hugging–if you will–that which you have to give the world, all that you were blessed with, nurturing it, growing it, creating, designing—rising—unfurling–releasing—
The fiddlehead is symbol for the creative process, the healing process, the process of becoming the person you are meant to be, living in your truth, honoring yourself…fill in the blank for yourself…The fiddlehead is a symbol for being YOUR TRUEST SELF and GIVING your truest self to the world.
There are things deep inside of you that have been there since you were a child, that you have carried in your heart. Perhaps it was not nurtured. Perhaps it was discouraged. Perhaps a dream you thought was unworthy of following because the “world” tells you it was silly or unimportant or of little value.
It has value. YOU have value.
I am here to tell you that these seeds all have value. They are planted within us with a purpose and intention that only come to fruition when WE grow them .
Your seeds, your gifts, your inner contribution to the world is not meant to be kept folded under, kept subdued, despondent, oppressed, dismissed! These tiny seeds wish to germinate, take root, grow, flourish, and bloom into beautiful things in your life.
Your gifts, YOU BEAUTIFUL FIDDLEHEAD YOU, are meant to be shared with the world. So RISE, unfurl, stand in the sun, and share your creative spirit with those around you and BE YOUR TRUEST SELF!
So let’s get to that second part; FLOSS. What’s THAT about? Community. That’s the US part.
What connects us? It’s simple…
Very simple. And very delicate. Like floss.
We’ve already talked about a nature theme/symbol (one of my favorite things is nature) and now a cross stitching theme (also a favorite) is the embroidery floss, which is quite delicate sewing floss that comes in all kinds of beautiful colors and textures.
Think of all the different people of the world. All the communities and cultures of this wide and varied and fantastic planet we live on…the connectivity we all share is…well…delicate.
Our connectivity as humans is sometimes fragile and difficult for us to keep at the center of our focus …but it is always there.
The floss part of the name came from wanting to honor my love for a life long interest in cross stitiching but also ended up being very symbolic in a community kind of way.
Combine the two images, throw in some alliteration with f + f to satisfy my poetic mind (I also carried this over to Twitter and Medium with @Fnfwriter of Twitter, @Fnfwriter on Medium and Fiddleheads & Floss Poetry Publication on Medium) and there you have the birth of Fiddleheads & Floss; a name which I intend to have trademarked as soon as I am financially able. (I have already had someone threaten to use it—for the record. NO. I have been using this name since 2008.
Chirstina M. Ward | Fiddleheads & Floss Writing Services 