“You own everything that happened to you. Tell your stories. If people wanted you to write warmly of them, they should have behaved better” - Anne Lamott

Friends, WHAT a day. I have two CNF pieces out today in The Sandy River Review. They’re both about my dear friend Jessica who passed 18 months ago. I’d love it if you gave them a read 🧡🙏🏾💔 sandyriverreview.com/2026/07/03/h... sandyriverreview.com/2026/07/03/s...

We're looking for poetry, art, fiction, and nonfiction for our next issue! Submissions are open until 7/31 or until our cap is reached. Learn more at mudseasonreview.com/submit. #callforsubmissions

Murmuration of starlings: A natural phenomenon where thousands of starlings synchronize flying together to form stunning shapes.

The enchanted forests of Finland-based artist Ulla Thynell

Good morning ☕️

Yep. There is no such thing as an ethical billionaire.

The extremely rare catcopus.

Octavia E. Butler, 1998:

If you don’t stop in mid-sentence to check a thing and then three hours later you’ve learned the entire history of canned food but not finished the sentence, why even be a writer?!

the human body was not designed to know what the worst person in the world is doing every fifteen minutes

‘Hey’ came before ‘hi,’ and ‘hi' came before ‘hello.’ ‘Hi’ is most likely a variant of ‘hey.’ ‘Hello’ is not related to either. Goodbye.

i cannot believe i have to say this, but stop making burger ceo eating burger videos

A cartoon from the 1950’s that’s more relevant than ever 💔

“Discernment can make you the villain in rooms where denial is the culture”.

❤️

I miss having a legitimate government

it is a wild sickness to try and find evidence or reason for why someone's life should have value to the state. When lives are ended by cops in the street the defence is always that they were peaceful and law abiding, as if the opposite would mean they somehow deserved what bullets claimed them.

Kare 11 local news just read, in full, this statement from Michael and Susan Pretti, the parents of Alex Pretti. "Please get the truth out about our son."

"They say they're coming to save us from some evil? They're talking about our neighbors who take care of us ... Alex was murdered while he was helping. Mr Rogers said look for the helpers, & right now the helpers have a target on our forehead ... Mr Rogers would be here right now too, so I'm here."

they're executing moms and nurses in the street. they're using preschoolers as bait. they're stealing people's dads and grandmas and children. they're tear gassing babies. they're staking out schools. there is no remedy but abolition. any proposal that doesn't start there is an act of violence.

Minnesota is the best of us.

I guess I do think if you participated in the arrest of a five-year-old you are probably just fundamentally incompatible with society. That you are not a safe person for humanity to be around, generally

I wanna lay my head on his belly, but I know I'll regret it immediately

My first ever Pushcart Prize nomination! I'm so incredibly honored! Wow. Stunned and in tears. Thank you so much @mudseasonreview.bsky.social!

Anybody who is like “Piracy is activism!”—trust me, supporting your local library is about 1000% more effective activism, and it’s still free for you and authors still get paid!

Hey so “underage girls” are…children. The word you’re looking for is children. They’re not like, women-in-waiting or women-lite or whatever. They’re children. I think some of you are very uncomfortable with what that means for you but it is still true.

Seeing a lot of posts like "they want say we are angry, but we showed them we are all about joy" It's ok to be angry, too. Anger is necessary, actually.

Take note of all these people turning out for protests in small towns in red states. Remember them the next time you’re inclined to write an area off because “they voted for this.”

Unsolicited writing advice, no. 999: It’s not just the story that matters, it’s the person telling it. Your stories are filtered through your experience, your culture, your upbringing, your identity. Don’t be afraid to let it show. Those things matter. You matter.

Thank you so much, Jen! 😊

"I’ve read so many stories of other survivors throughout the years – they made me feel seen, gave me hope, and made me feel less alone." Creative nonfiction reader Jen Bryant interviewed author Heather Marie Cline about transforming pain into purpose for Mud Season Review. 🔗 in comments!

Very happy to see my nonfiction story 'A Way Out of Nowhere' included in this week's Memoir Monday roundup by Memoir Land! open.substack.com/pub/memoirla...

Issue #79 marks 10 years of Mud Season Review! 🎉 Featuring artwork by Jennifer Follman, poetry by Eli Karren, fiction by Summer Hammond, creative Nonfiction by Heather Marie Cline, and letters from MSR co-founders Rebecca Starks and Danielle Thierry.

"My mind had gone into auto-pilot, and it was as if my feet were moving of their own accord." Read "A Way Out of Nowhere" by Heather Marie Cline in our 10th anniversary issue (link in comments). 📸: "Winter's Wonderment" by Gael Blake

The most amazing feeling!

If the only people who can afford to dedicate their time to art are people who are already making a good living doing something else or independently wealthy you’re going to end up with a very limited selection of viewpoints and experiences.

A short story of mine, published last month by Bright Flash Literary Review. 🙂 #writing #writingcommunity

New here! Hello #writingcommunity!