Hocus Focus

Writing Is Magic

For those of you keeping track: I’m up to seven rejections for 2025!

Today Is MLK Day, and That Is What I’m Focusing On

“We need leaders not in love with money but in love with justice. Not in love with publicity but in love with humanity.” —Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

Nothing could be more timely today (January 20, 2025) than the above quote by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

And in the glaring absence of such a leader in the U.S. for the next four years, what can we do?

We can write. We can create.

We can resist.

Resistance Is Not Futile

Historically, writers have often penned their resistance, sparking change and awareness within the eras in which they lived. Such writing can be uncomfortable, sharp, and distressing.

And very important.

Why else would people ban such books?

One of the bumper stickers on my car: “Any book worth banning is a book worth reading.”

I recall reading Upton Sinclair’s The Jungle in tenth grade. Although I’d read some “classics” previously, I wasn’t yet a particularly sophisticated reader; metaphor, especially, was often lost on me. At that point in my life, I wanted to be a murder mystery writer, so I had read lots of Agatha Christie, but I was still immature enough to think the classics were “boring” or irrelevant. Reading The Jungle was something of a turning point for me in that I suddenly realized the impact that writing could have. How it could be more than just entertainment and escapism. It was in tenth grade that I abandoned the dream of becoming a murder mystery writer, deciding instead that I wanted to write books like I was beginning to read, by authors such as Faulkner, Wharton, Bronte, and Orwell. (The diversity of my book/author picks would improve by the time I was in college. Pre-internet, though, I mostly read books I’d heard of or which were recommended to me.)

Upton Sinclair, of course, is known for his efforts to expose corruption in both government and business. So many of the classics, in fact, are considered classics because of the power they hold. (Check out this list of commonly challenged or banned classic books.) And, of course, there are plenty of contemporary books that are challenged or banned (and very worth reading!) as well. In fact, one of my goals as a writer is to write a book that certain institutions would want to ban. That would indicate to me that I’d written something important and powerful.

Reading not only helps us learn about both the present and the past, but it also helps us to become better critical thinkers.

And better writers.

There’s a bookstore in Brooklyn called Books Are Magic. And it’s true.

Me in front of Books Are Magic in Brooklyn, NY, September 2018.

Writing Is Magic

Immediately after the election in November, I penned a draft of a dystopian story that unfortunately felt more real than fiction. My anger is evident in the story. It felt good to write it, but I also know that the piece needs work, that my anger needs to be showcased slightly differently. I plan to revisit this piece again, after I’ve let it set for a while longer.

In dialectical behavior therapy (DBT), there is a concept known as “wise mind.” As I understand it, “wise mind” is when you make choices based not just on a knee-jerk reaction (e.g., anger), but by considering facts and emotions, as well as your intuition/inner voice. When we say something in anger, without thinking first, we sometimes regret either what we said or the way we said it. We may alienate others or create animosities. If we stop and think, manifesting a wise mind first, our words and sentiments may be stronger, more powerful; they may be received better.

This is why I consider waiting to be an important part of the writing process. Because perception is fluid.

We Can Change the World

Today I’m choosing to focus on the fact that it’s Martin Luther King Jr. Day. I’m also choosing to focus on my work—both my editing work and my own personal creative writing. Because there is magic in the written word.

If, as writers, we spend the next four years focusing on what we have control over—our own writing—we can change the world.

Maybe not today or tomorrow. But maybe someday. I like to think about current and future generations reading my words, what they might learn or think. How my words might possibly spark something in them. Will my words someday spur someone into action, change a life? I, of course, don’t know this, but it doesn’t stop me from trying.

Just remember that regardless of what else is happening in the world, what you say matters. What you write matters. You matter.

Publishing News

I’m happy to share a few pieces of publishing news:

• My story “The Day I Went Missing” has been selected for Best Microfiction 2025. Although I’ve been nominated for Best Microfiction a few times, this is my first time actually having my work chosen for this annual anthology, and I’m thrilled!

• And in case you missed my Substack note last week, my story “Welcome to The Choice Is Yours!” won 2^nd place in Kathryn Kulpa’s fun Twelfth Night Contest. You can read the winning stories here.

• Lastly, I’m excited to have stories forthcoming in Milk Candy Review, South Florida Poetry Journal (SoFloPoJo), and Flash Fiction Magazine. I’m not sure of the exact pub dates yet, so stay tuned!