Sta.sh
This article’s deviant spotlight: featuring the talented ~linaket. She has offered to answer a few questions as well, to tell us a bit about what inspires her writing and which piece in particular she favors.
This article's deviant spotlight: featuring the amazing `thorns. She has offered to answer a few questions as well, to tell us a bit about what inspires her writing and which piece in particular she favors.
Welcome to volume fourteen my Literature series, The Ladies of Lit!
The premise here is simple. Below you will find an assortment of Literature features from a selection of female deviants here on DeviantART, all of them suggested by you. In this article, you will also find a variety of other things of interest, including:
This article’s deviant spotlight: featuring the talented ~safia3. She has offered to answer a few questions as well, to tell us a bit about what inspires her writing and which piece in particular she favors. Additional information about our upcoming events, including a special critique Q and A session in our official TheLadiesofLit chatroom. And we also have a selection of other interesting Literature news links to share with you. Our “meet our contributors” section. Be sure to note me if you would like to volunteer your services or offer additional suggestions as to how to improve this series. Now – On With the Features!
~PixiesPoisonedPen
The Melancholy WordsmithThe melancholy wordsmith dreams in blackened silk
of sinister waterfalls
and tumbling
letters
forever out of reach
In her wake, blues guitar foot prints and mournful kisses to the wind
Stumbling through a carefree dance across a desolate dreamscape
the steps long since forgotten
A perfect tree amidst a broken scene, bearing perfect fruit
unguarded save for the shifting memories of fallen lovers
and shadows of shiftless strangers
grasping for fruit that only rots, is pu
We Were GodsWe were Gods
Stumbling, stupid
Selfish and beautiful
Oceans and mountains and rivers of fire
We are nothing-much-of-anything
anymore
we litter the world with
crumpled paper and ink blots
tear stained and torn
all memories and warped reflections
scorched and faded
a blank stare I can't quite remember
sun
Upon the ShelfRead my book slowly
Take your time to thumb the pages,
Savour the words and
Breathe in the delicious aroma of the line breaks
Blush at the wickedness if you like
Laugh long and hard at the comedy if it pleases you
Weep at the tragedy if you must
But keep reading
Perhaps you will become a recurring plot device
A treasured character, an addendum, a creature of style
Perhaps you will be the author of my crib sheet
Little rays of sunlight will illuminate my pages
and the dust on my cover will sparkle and dance
and seem mystical for a short while before
once again it becomes just an unkempt sign of age
My book is more than a dust ja
Suggested by: ~Mahi-Fish
“Bex is an absolute pleasure to read. She writes poetry that demonstrates both strength and the fragility - often within the same piece. She isn't afraid to experiment with poetic forms so each piece will almost certainly be different from the last. She isn't shy about admitting when a poem has moved her to tears, or to share a laugh with a friend. On top of it all, she is an absolute delight to know. ”
*leyghan
How much do you love?The day he came home with blood on his shoes, he'd been gone for almost a week. She looked at him with anxious eyes, his grim face and sad eyes and did not ask the question that trembled on her tongue. Instead she asked another question. "Are we moving?"
He almost broke then. Regret, self-pity, love, anger and despair warred for dominance, made a brief rictus of his beloved face. Then he nodded once, not trusting himself to speak.
"Okay, it won't take me long to pack."
He stared at her, noted the set of her shoulders and the look of resolve on her face as she shoved away fr
You Can Say That Again*Flash fiction Island style
I
Jesus saves! I cast you out in the name of Jesus! So screams the preacher man slamming his palm against foreheads to drive out demons. Not more than a few feet away from the pulpit, an eighteen year-old member of his congregation claps her hands and shouts hallelujah!
Jesus' name is again invoked a few days later as they lay sweating and groaning in the back seat of a rented car.
-See me and come live with me is two different ting
II
The girl is pretty in an unrefined way, brash and loud and totally unselfconscious.
Baby powder coats her neck, chest and back, vi
ThirstyThe evening sweats
a bottle
rum dark
throttled by
daddy's hands
small feet drags
thirsty heart
outside
to swig the moon
Suggested by: *xlntwtch
“The multi-talented *leyghan writes many forms of literature, all with her own particular, lilting, yet very focused style to show the world around her exactly as she see it..”
*KaitForest
anatomically flawedI'm bending over counterspace
trying to see the curves of my back,
marking my cartilage bone marrow and calcium,
ebbing in the lines and bumps of my structure.
and they
buldge
like cancerous tumors,
bones peircing through my skin
puncturable and breakable.
and when did god put together a beast like me?
one, two, three,
I can count my vertebrae to my neck lining.
it twirls and twirls,
like a ribbon tangling my body
and I
follow.
and when I meet eyes
peering out from the odd angles of my anatomy
the beast is looking back at me.
Suggested by: *SadisticIceCream
“*KaitForest sees beauty in the things that people usually shy away from: death, destruction, pain, the mundane bits of life. She has a way of drawing out the richness of graying landscapes without ever losing sight of what those things have become.”
~celticdragonfyre
Have We ChangedLove...
……………………
It's hard to hold onto. This is a world of superlatives and man tests the limits of daring every day, challenging the limits of endurance and skill. Every day the things that we ooh and ahh over change, as fickle as the oceans. Our idea of beauty changes with every new invention of man, every new scalpel slice.
So it stands to reason that our expectations of what love can be would change as well. That what we perceive love to be, what we want it to be would become as fluid as those oceans. That while the world changes around us, and those things that were important to us as children
questionsToday I have questions
questions which have no answers
but breed more questions
needs that have a voice
but cannot have fulfillment or sound
Today I have insecurities that pile innumerable
upon the lies that I sell myself
upon the dreams that I stand on shattered
and desires that I have forgotten to the wind
but do not have heat or warmth
Today I have pain
pain that I have nursed for many, many moons
of being an outsider, an insider to my soul only
I have cravings to be in the crowd
but do not have the same name or face
Today I realized that I am hurting
and for once the usual remedies,
the usual things I tell myself to make
We Dance AloneI watched slowly. The black flew, silent and flowing...formal and free.
Slow and fierce.
It flew in a dance that had been performed since war had been born in a man's heart that is since a heart first beat.
I watched slowly, absorbing breaths, beats of hearts and rhythms of agonies unnumbered.
I watched slowly to catch the grace of elegance, for in grief theirs was not careless abandon but fierce pride, a demand for respect for what was suffered, what was caged in hearts and minds.
I watched slowly.
I entered the circle quickly however, fear caging me.
If I waited, if I hesitated, I would not have the grace and pride that they
Suggested by: ~310508
“Rebecca's writing style reflects her ability to persevere, despite her many losses and the hardships she's encountered over the years. She's more than deserving of recognition -- though I fear that what information I can give may not be helpful -- despite whatever words I may use to describe her eligibility, anything I say, no matter how simple or profound would be lacking in the any respect.”
My Spotlight Deviant:
~safia3
The Cargo Man's Tale 1A bee crawled in aimless circles against the sheer linen that covered my window, deceived by the light it saw as freedom - the light that kept it trapped. Moving slowly, quietly, I tried to get it cupped and out the door before my mother saw it. My hands hovered over it, the way I had seen my father do it a dozen times before. I tried to keep them steady and not think about its stinger, cursing my mother for transferring to me her fear of these tiny insects.
I had to make myself do it, though. I didn't want my father to be bothered from his work. Not this time. Sucking in my breath, my hands inched closer. I hesitated a moment. With an angry
~safia3 has a wide variety of remarkable novel segments and short stories in her gallery well worth reading. She takes the fantasy genre and creatively morphs it into something fresh and exciting. Her stories offer a variety of unique, different plots that delve into the inner workings of her characters time after time that certainly leave their unforgettable mark.
She has also taken a few moments to share some of her own insights as a writer. I asked her a few questions:
Why do you write?I think I'm still a little girl at heart and writing is kind of my way of playing with dolls. It's just a fun outlet for a hyper creative mind.
Since you enjoy writing novels, what first inspired you to start?In high school I wrote and illustrated a 'Mary Worth' type soap opera comic and I'd pass it out each morning to my friends. With the start of the net, I moved the story to some online forums and just kept right on going. 'Swing Zone' was the first serial of mine that picked up a large scale audience, and the word's, 'This could be a novel,' started showing up in reader's comments with enough frequency that I took it to heart. I kind of realized then, that's what I'd been doing all along.
You have recently started the The Novel Tease Series. Are there any tips you might want to offer to other novel writers finding their footing?Novel writing is one of those things where you really do learn best by doing. Like anything else, practice makes perfect. Definitely take advantage of the net and all the writer's resources here on DA. There are so many great articles with advice that can help you polish your writing.
Writing novels isn't easy. Besides the need to put together a long, cohesive story that will maintain a reader's interest throughout, motivating yourself to complete it is a battle all it's own. Knowing someone is reading your work, having an audience, that's a great motivator. And that's what I'm hoping to bring to the writers featured in Novel Tease. Sometimes having single reader can be the difference between completing a novel and giving up on it.
What motivates you to share your writing on DeviantART?Well, I'm still a novice writer, so I'm always looking for feedback. It's important to know how your story holds up over the long haul, how well characters are developing, how the plot is being perceived. First chapters aren't so hard to gain comments for...but knowing how that 39th or 47th chapter comes across is key, and the novelist community on DA has been wonderful about giving that kind of feedback.
Which piece featured is your favorite and why? I think I'm most partial to “Swing Zone.”
Behind the surface romance, there's a very intense power struggle going on in this book between two city leaders, and it plays out like a chess game between masters. I love being able to sway the reader's opinion back and forth as to who the 'bad guy' in this story is. And it doesn't hurt that it's got a very large cast and I'm a nut for character development.
~safia3 will also be joining us in the our TheLadiesofLit chatroom for a special critiquing session for her wonderful literary work. If there are any critiquing tips you would like to offer her toward any deviations that you have seen featured here today or others that interest you – this is the place to be on October 16th at 7pm EST! (What time is this for me?) And as an extra incentive: for those of who offer ~safia3 the best critiques, there will be a few extra goodies in store for you, so don’t miss out!
Meet Our Contributors:
I want to express my gratitude toward everyone for all of the ongoing support of this project. I duly hope to see even more suggestions in the future. Also – those of you who did not see your deviations selected and posted in this article, they may be featured on the next one. We will have plenty of upcoming deviants to spotlight in the future. If you would like to be one of those, or to suggest others, feel free to note me and be sure to tell me what you love most about them and why these writers appeals to you. Do not be shy – get involved! The more suggestions I receive, the more writers that get featured. For now, check out our volunteers who sent in their features and offered assistance, and don’t forget to thank them!
Our Wonderful Suggesters and Volunteers ~Mahi-Fish
*xlntwtch
*SadisticIceCream
~310508
~safia3
~WorldWar-Tori
If this article interests you, be sure to check these out! `LadyLincoln’s previous issues of The Ladies of Lit. I, II, III, IV, V, VI, VII, VIII,IX,X,XI, XII and XIII.
`LadyLincoln’s 30 Writers You Should Discover: Volume IV.
`LadyLincoln’s Writers Welcome Wagon: Devious Feature.
^Beccalicious, `Halatia and `nycterent’s August Literature DDs and September DDs.
=DailyLitDeviations’ Daily Lit Deviations for October 6th.
~wyldhoney’s Writers With A Promise: Issue 9 and Issue 10.
!silverfleckedlullaby’s Striking Literature.
`dreamsinstatic’s Friday Night Features: XVI.
~DarkestCornersLIT’s Issue 15: Horror Literature.
#SixWordStories’ #SixWordStories Showcase: September 19-October 3.
Love,
`LadyLincoln
Thank you little fishy - you're a treasure.