It's such a great feeling to have our first BRR issue out in the world this week and to also (the very same week!) accept our final piece for our second issue. The work we are receiving is just extraordinary.

Such a privilege and a joy for this issue to be released into the world today.

We are around 50% sold out. Our camp is for all members of the LGBTQ+ community. Thanks to generous sponsors, the cost of camp ($150) is significantly subsidized. We also have pay what you can options if that amount is still out of reach. More info and registration at: lezrollradio.com/camp.

Our first issue for @broadripplereview.bsky.social will be published this month. It is a testament to the generosity of the writing community that this is possible. I am grateful for the writers who trusted us with their work, as well as our staff for their endless energy for this project.

Our annual LGBTQ+ grappling camp is happening April 17th-19th in Fishers, Indiana and registration is now open at: lezrollradio.com/camp If you could please consider sharing news about camp, whether that is online, with your gym, or with your training partners, it would be greatly appreciated.

Every time I go on a cruise I print my entire novel manuscript, as if I am going to actually physically go through it and hand write edits. Will I print it this time? Yes. Will I do anything with it? Eh.

I used to think jiu jitsu and writing were totally separate. Lately I see the overlap everywhere—patience, repetition, failure, small wins.

My little bit of jiu jitsu news is that I went from teaching two classes of BJJ a week to accidentally helping launch an entire program. Now I am teaching 4X a week. The way this happened was so odd, yet it also was meant to happen and is 1000% for the best.

Being clear is not the same as being cruel. A lot of people were just never taught how to tell the truth without turning it into a weapon.

Sometimes community is one person saying, “I read your work. I really liked it.” That’s it. That’s the lifeline.

A lot of what gets called “visibility” is really just performance. The hard part is building something that lasts after the post goes viral.

If you are a coach and you cannot handle feedback, you are not building a community—you’re building a mirror.

Inclusion isn’t the end goal. It’s the bare minimum. What comes after is actual power-sharing.

The gym is not neutral. Culture gets built on who speaks up, who gets centered, and who leaves.

Submit here for FREE: duotrope.com/duosuma/subm...

A lot of people conflate “authentic” with “access to all of me.” That is not how it works. I can be transparent about my values without being emotionally available to everyone.

“Community” without structure becomes a popularity contest. If you're serious about inclusion, then you have to be serious about logistics, access, and accountability too. Otherwise, you're just vibing with power.

I love when a story takes a big risk and somehow lands on its feet. Let’s all be a little unhinged on purpose.

Community isn’t a hashtag or an event. It’s the person who sees you across the room and nods, “You can sit.” I’m so grateful to live here with chosen family and strangers who keep inviting me in.

You do not need to be the loudest voice in the room to lead well. But you do need to be accountable. That includes course correcting when people trust you enough to name harm.

While we are not closing for submissions, today is the last day for your submission to be considered for one of our inaugural prizes. FREE to submit. $200 prize for CNF and $200 for fiction.https://duotrope.com/duosuma/submit/broad-ripple-review-vGnmj

Hi - if you or someone you know may be interested, please share!

When a true dream publication sends a personalized rejection. 😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭

While we are staying open all year long, this is your last month to submit if you want your work to be considered for one of our inaugural prizes. $200 fiction and $200 CNF. It is FREE to submit. broadripplereview.com

Also, from a place of love and trying to genuinely help you: PLEASE STOP SENDING SNARKY RESPONSES WHEN YOUR PIECE IS DECLINED. Please, please, please. You're submitting for free. An actual human is reading your piece with care. I'm so sorry that rejection is disappointing but...

I complain about this incessantly, but I'm curious what people are trying to accomplish when they put something unkind in that field. It's baffling. It has the same impact as being rude in your cover letter. I'm not subjecting my team to problematic or disrespectful behavior.

This weekend we are offering free editorial feedback on a handful of entries. This is normally a paid service. If you're interested, submit in our open call category for free and just put a quick note in your cover letter that you're interested in editorial feedback. duotrope.com/duosuma/subm...

In jiu jitsu I’ve been tapped by people with worse technique than me. I’ve also won rolls I didn’t deserve. None of it adds up like people think it does.

When people say “kill your darlings,” they rarely mean the parts that flatten someone else’s story to elevate your own.

Stop putting transphobic shit in the pronouns field with your submission. Thankssssss.

The only bad writing is writing that harms people. Everything else is just preference.

I’ve aged out of wanting to feel included. Now I want to feel intact.

I struggle with people who hate writing, but romanticize being a writer. You’re allowed to want something else. Writing is hard. That's fine. But if you fundamentally find the process to be miserable, don't do that to yourself.

Being queer in a red state is less about courage and more about strategy.

I do not believe in writer’s block. I believe in avoidance. I believe in dread. I believe in the psychic cost of wanting something badly.

Rolling with a bjj white belt who goes too hard is a spiritual experience. You see your own past. You forgive nothing.

There’s a special kind of spiral that starts with “I should write” and ends with “maybe I never learned how to think.”

Reading submissions has made me more compassionate and also less tolerant of metaphors involving birds.

Get to know Lambda's new executive director J. Clapp, including her favorite queer books, fundraising achievements, leadership milestones, drag performance, and her vision for Lambda. 👀 (1/2)

B. Pietras considers the works of Sylvia Townsend Warner: “They are, in short, queer historical fictions—albeit ones written before the genre had a name.”

We are open for FREE submissions for prose. All work submitted by 7/31 will be considered for the Broad Ripple Review Prize in fiction and nonfiction. Submission Guidelines: www.broadripplereview.com/submissions Submission Link: duotrope.com/duosuma/subm...

Jiu Jitsu is just gay yoga with consequences.

Refreshing a submission manager is like patiently waiting on more friends to arrive.

My favorite part of Jiu Jitsu is making accidental eye contact while tangled in someone’s armpit and silently agreeing never to speak of it.

My sleep schedule is haunted. My dreams are weird. My bones feel like folklore.

I am once again crawling back to my draft like it is a god I don’t believe in but still fear.

Queer literature is not a genre. It is a lens that sharpens the world. Pride in publishing means backing queer writers all year, not just when it is marketable.

I am a very technical grappler if you define “technical” as deeply confused but emotionally committed.

My ability to tolerate for profit pride merchandise lessens each and every year.

I opened my manuscript, scrolled for two seconds, and said “nope.”