JoCoWrites

JoCoWrites is a place for you to share. No judges, no waiting. Put pen to paper, fingers to keyboard then submit at submit.as/jocowrites. Easy!

By Tim Brown

Birds have a hierarchy. Bigger usually wins. The Jay dominates until it's had its fill. Cardinals hold their own. Sparrows, who usually arrive as a team, can be formidable. But the diminutive Finch remains aloof, until it receives special invitation — the Finch feeder. It's a simple plastic tube with pint-sized perches and tiny holes, prefect for the Fiches' smaller beaks. Even they fuss with one another from time to time. Usually, there is no visible difference between the dominant and the subservient Finch to the naked human eye, which suggests that Finch personalities and attitudes may determine who's boss. Holding that idea up to the light makes me wonder how a creature who spends most of its days flying, eating and fouling my windshield has the time and emotional depth to develop a personality, let alone an attitude. I guess we must accept that idea but, you know, it doesn't make much sense. There food enough to go around, if every bird just took it's turn. That's a thought that seems beyond most birds, big or small. Vladimir Putin, too, for that matter.

By Jamie Lynn Heller

Civilized

When we need reminding, the wild vine will wind its way under the back deck, up through the gap by the mat and bloom. Drips of rain will squeeze themselves through cement and pool together in the basement.
Sparrows will move into the dryer vent. Ants will greet us on the kitchen counter.

-Jamie Lynn Heller

By JoCoWrites

Take some time out of your day to look outside and observe the melding of the natural world with suburbia. Do you see a family of squirrels living in your neighbors unused grill? Maybe some lizards have taken up residence in a retaining wall? In 500 words or less, tell us the story of nature's attempt to reclaim or coexist within the developed area you are observing.

Submit your response Here.

Read other responses here.

Happy New Year to you all and welcome to another fabulous year filled with writing. We are going to start this year off with a call for your fresh ideas!

Pitch us an idea for a story, it can be a synopsis or the opening narrative, or a sample of 2-3 poems for a collection. Keep it 500 words or less. Happy creating!

Submit your work by clicking the Apply button (Here).

Read other responses here.

By Sarah

Finished projects A terrifying prospect for someone who never finishes anything Who flits from hobby to hobby The debris accumulates Fallout from an unkempt brain

In knitting, they call them finished objects Something beautiful to brag about A phrase understood by those in the know

Knitting was a hobby once I finished an object Years ago It still sits on my couch But I lost interest So I stopped

Cooking was a hobby once Something delicious to share with those I loved I finished a meal And a cake And a pie Then the shame caught up to me And cooking lost its joy

Gardening was a hobby once Coaxing seedlings from the ground But sometimes they died Unfinished objects And the guilt caught up to me So I stopped

Shopping was a hobby once Searching for deals Combing secondhand stores I was good at it But the things accumulated In my too-small house And the stress caught up to me So I stopped

The only thing I’ve kept at Is life Because the only other option Doesn’t appeal to me I am not a finished project But I’m as finished as can be right now And that’s enough I’ll let my life catch up to me And keep going

By Christina Palm

Teacups

C.E.Palm

In times of family, An innocent childhood, I remember tea parties and with my stuffed animals. Playing in joy. An act like there's real tea in my cup, A big bird sings the alphabet. Remember the happiness of being a child.

Tea time! My favorite to spend with Mimi, Love of teacups, Beautiful china full of hope, A delicate tea kettle pours a hot golden stream in the cup.

How a cup of tea means home!

Once a Christian family during the holidays, Stand around a table full of food, Full of giggles! Coming from my cousins! Holding hands in grace.

One day my teacup broke, Spillover in the emotions of grief. I learned the bitterness of death. My Grandfather passed away, The ugly head of divorce shows its face. Breaking once a beautiful family.

Coldness cover my heart, The year, Portal of hell opens up!

As I watch my mother fade away in the hospital bed, All one gone with a broken teacup.

By Amy Saia

Upon seeing the element and archetype theme, I knew I was in the right place. Tarot and various forms of divination have been my norm for years now, perhaps in past lives too. Psychic tools get a bad rap, yet life has made it clear that symbolism occurs naturally and spans every breadth of our existence. Look up, the clouds form shapes and numbers; feathers, and faces. Look down, a coin can indicate an important year. Perhaps you see a leaf in the shape of an airplane. Thinking of travel? The universe knows. And we know, deep inside. Our higher self knows. I feel that creativity, writing, is a form of divination and manifestation, which is why the crime/horror genre will never interest me. One day I was writing a novel where a homeless teenager breaks into a woman's house. That night, someone cut the screen on my back window and tried forcing their way in. Another time I wrote about a teenager whose mother was diagnosed with diabetes. That next week I received a frantic call from my mother who had just suffered the same diagnosis. These are only a few examples, but what really plagues me is this: did I manifest or predict? Am I projecting through the art of writing, or soaking in the essence of future events not yet come to pass? This fear is not something I foster—writing would be dead if I did. Instead, I hold it back in the walls of consciousness as a small possibility. Writing has always been my thing, and it doesn't seem I'll give it up any time soon. The beauty of writing through intuition only confirms just how sacred the act is; how lush and forgiving spirit is within and without. To grasp words and sentences, ideas, and dialogue from a hidden realm, is beautiful. Magical. Healing. Comforting. So, I could never give it up. From a useful standpoint, it becomes a mirror. Over a decade ago, Morgan Robertson wrote a book titled “Futility” about a ship with similar size and proportions to the Titanic. In the book, a large ship called Titan hits an iceberg and sinks leaving many to drown. Like the doomed Titanic, it too did not hold enough lifeboats, and sank in April within the desolate, freezing waters of the Mid-Atlantic. Uncanny, yet this is how intuitive, creative writing works. We channel. We emote truths. The truth is, unless a person trusts their or anyone else’s intuition, they will not follow guidance provided by the Universe. Thus making our fiction, fiction. A mirror ignored.

Eons ago I wrote lyrics and music which entailed a similar process of culling words and sounds from an invisible source. This is where people get upset. ‘They’ wrote it. ‘They’ own it. It is ‘theirs’ and copyrighted through some egotistical need to possess that golden thread we all seem connected to. While it is healthy to acknowledge your own work and ideas, it would be ignorant to say you are an island. If you were, where would inspiration arrive? We are connected through daily, life interaction. We all suffer and smile. We all have pain and joy. That is life. Creation reflects life. I reflect you; you reflect me. To be an island means to have no source. And that is the point. We are connected and driven by the source of a creative muse; the source of an endless spring called the Divine. This is where we come to drink-whether we like to acknowledge it or not. It would be better to say, I am the water surrounding the island, and each day I lap at her shore. This would be a truer statement than going on with the solitary bent. No, you are not alone. Your creativity, and mine, all come from this thing called life—and the Divine.

Intuition through writing, that branch, the rod, the fire, the ego, the drive, the muse . . . it is all within and without. It is life and it is dreams. Each day we form a new leaf from that invisible branch from whence all grow and flourish. No more can encapsulate the essence or writing than the wands suite in the tarot. Yes, a sword and air archetype would be the ultimate wordsmith, but the process itself is fire. Phallic, and thus life-giving, we create. We conjure and copulate with the written word. Hello.

The Writers Conference is coming up in November! Register for the conference here. In preparation for this awesome 4 day event, we have four prompts to flex your creative muscles. Each prompt will be featured in a daily write-in facilitated by Polly McCann of Flying Ketchup Press during the conference. Each prompt is inspired by suits and their archetypes.

Aim for 1000 words for each prompt, and do not feel rushed to complete them right away, you will have the rest of October and all of November to submit your piece!

Thursday, November 4

Wands – Creativity and will: Write a scene, story or poem from the perspective of someone who believes in miracles, magic and the power of the creative mind.

Friday, November 5

Pentacles – Material body or possessions: Write a scene that consumes you or your MC's five senses- sight, sound, sense, smell, and taste.

Saturday, November 6

Cups – Emotions and love: Write about something or someone you or your MC desire, love and dream about and why they just can't get close enough to what they want. 

Sunday, November 7

Swords – Reason: Write about something you need to cut out, cut up, or conquer.

Post your response here!

By Cheryl

“Kintsugi”

He always answers the call.

If the doorbell rings, he opens the door.

If the phone vibrates, he reaches for it even if it’s robo.

If his heart knocks the tired song of what’s next, he waits for the trill to die down, deep in his throat, and slowly moves towards it, compelled.

When I ask him if 4, 5, 6 painters and 2, 3, 4 tree trimmers invading our space all at the same time along with a cacophony of two scared barky little chickens, our pups, troubles him, he says no and means it. He simply attends to the task.

Why can’t I?

After all, it’s what I do for work. I help the person in front of me. Maybe I should stand in front of a mirror and ask the reflection with a cheerful smile: How can I help you?

Like the artist, I seam the broken places, repair the damage, and trace the golden lines of my face with my fingers. My scarred history showing through.

And maybe, finally, like him, the trill deep down inside my heart will not arrest in place but will embrace the life that’s left.

September 12th is the National Day of Encouragement. We would love to hear your stories about the people in your life who have encouraged you over the course of your life and what kind of impact they made.

In 500 words or less (even though we know these individuals deserve a whole novels worth of thanks), tell us about the people or person who encouraged you to reach your goals and accomplishes great things.

Submit your piece here

and, Read other responses here