Because I knew Christie Bates, I am changed for good. Her wisdom, warmth, and unwavering presence shaped me in ways I am only beginning to understand. As I step into my Mary Oliver chapter of birding, stargazing, and paying attention, I carry her light with me, forever grateful for the gift of her friendship.

What do you do when your creativity is not confined to poetry, but includes prose, recipes, and memoir as well? You publish a hybrid collection that includes all of the above, as writer Nadja Maril has done! Let’s pop open the lid of this creative mind and peek inside.

When I struggle to find the right words—when my thoughts feel like a tangled ball of yarn—found poetry helps me unravel them. Whether through blackout poetry, erasure, or piecing together lines from old letters and newspapers, it’s a playful and meditative way to reconnect with language and rediscover creativity.

Writing is often seen as a solitary endeavor, which suits me well since I thrive on alone time. However, I’m no hermit—I still need human interaction. To strike a balance, I’ve looked for ways to build a writing community that blends solitude with connection. Here are a few ideas that might seem mundane at first glance but come with an introverted twist.

I’ve shared before that after a two-year stop-and-start with my cozy mystery book, I finally put the pedal to the metal this summer and finished the first draft. It doesn’t matter how many Agatha Christie books you’ve read, or dense texts about how to write a mystery, it’s daunting to jump into another entirely different genre of writing.

I had grand goals to write about fun writing exercises to play with bypassing the conscious mind, as is our intention in Bewilderness Writing. It’s one of my favorite subjects. I read up, made an outline, and sat down to write. And, then, I just couldn’t do it.

Creative blocks can be frustrating, but they’re a normal part of the creative process. Here, I explore 3 common types of creative blocks that I experience on a regular basis and share my strategies to overcome them and get back into your creative flow.

When I first considered writing a mystery novel, I followed my time-worn inclinations to learn and research everything in print or online. Of course, that was an impossible task and one fantastic basis for procrastination. When I returned to the novel almost two years later, I approached it entirely differently.

Ode to Sharon Olds’ “Ode to the Creature from the Black Lagoon” by Regina Dilgen

A brief insight into my latest writing journey embracing the unexpected path to writing a cozy mystery novel.

It’s not often that a girl gets married in June, then published in the New York Times in July, but that’s exactly what happened to my gorgeous new daughter-in-law, Christene Seda (Chris)! Here, I share her essay, “Psychic Who Predicted my Romantic Future”, with you, along with my interview.

I recently interviewed Morgan Golladay, a writer and artist who published her first book, The Song of North Mountain, in May. The path of a person coming fully into their creative life at a later age is rarely linear and usually filled with interesting stories. Morgan is no exception.

Featured Student Writing: The Answer is in the Question (in response to Margaret Walker's "Lineage") by Christie Bates.

I think ethics are worth considering whenever we write about someone other than ourselves, whether it is memoir, poem, or blogpost. This topic of “ethics in memoir” invites a wide range of opinions, so you must discern what works best for you.

As writers we naturally mine the depth of our own lives, both internal and external, for subject matter. Writing through your life experiences, trauma, or buried memories is often tough.

Ever since I began Bewilderness Writing in May of 2020, I have been astonished at the quality of writing in our groups. Whether experienced or beginning writers, we are all equal in our small group sessions, and doing the best we can to keep pen to the page in a guided free writing, prompted by a poem.

In order to write what I think of as a good poem, the poet has to “switch our lens” on how we see the world. I like the subject to be specific, as well as ordinary, and these women poets use the craft of poetry (feeling, story, language, line) to do just that.

Could we be open to the idea that the murky area lurking just below the conscious mind is wiser than the logical, planner-infested mind?

Port-man-teau: A large trunk or suitcase, typically made of stiff leather or a word blending the sounds and combining the meanings of others, for example “bewilderness”.

We’re celebrating in Bewilderness Writing with a month of one-line prompts for any kind of writing you choose, wherever the line might take you.