Writing, for me, is like gardening would be to a master gardener who enjoys weeding, feeding and watering her creations as much as she enjoys the planting. The process, from idea to first draft to revision, is as important as the product. Publication affirms the process and the product.
I encourage my students to read at open mics, submit to literary journals, contests, magazines, blogs, and literary agents. Here are a few reasons why I think submission is important—
- Sharing their work is what writers do.
- Submission deadlines help us to finish and polish our work.
- While preparing a manuscript, we can learn to love revision.
- Rejection, which I call “regret,” is one thing all writers have in common.
- Publication is a sweet experience!
I have been published in journalistic, academic and literary venues since 2000. Here are a few of my favorite published pieces.
Here are journalistic samples from my 10 years freelancing for Todays Woman Publications
“Skin in the Game: A Journey into White Privilege,” in Medium.com, July 2020.
“Flashing Lights Still Make Me Wince,” a contest finalist in the Inspired Writer publication on Medium.com, July 2020.
“Down Here: A View into Old Louisville,” from The Louisville Anthology (Belt Publishing 2020), edited by Erin Keane.
“The Heart Beneath the Robe of the Earth: A Memory of Yellowstone,” (August 2020) published in HrStry
The Boom Project: Voices of a Generation (Butler Books, 2019) edited by Kimberly Garts Crum and Bonnie Omer Johnson.
“Along Came the Spider” from The Louisville Review, Spring 2016. Also included in The Boom Project: Voices of a Generation.
“eXpressive Arts,” The A to Z Self-Care Handbook for Social Workers and Other Helping Professionals, (The New Social Worker Press, 2016), edited by Erlene Grise-Owens, Justin Miller and Mindy Eaves.
“The Most Difficult Conversation: Please Stop Driving.” Today’s Transitions Magazine, Summer 2015.
“When I Find Myself in Times of Trouble,” a contest finalist in the New Southerner literary magazine, December 2014.
“Slouching Toward Self-Actualization,” by Kimberly Crum, published in 2014 by 94 Creations literary magazine.
“Falling,” by Kimberly Crum, published February 2013 in Today’s Woman Magazine.
