As I get ready to hop into "the cave" for the first time in a month or so, I thought I'd invite you try it out, too. It's been a LIFE saver for someone like me who struggles with focus. With my CaveDay referral link, you can get one month for one dollar: www.caveday.org/try?via=donna

Next on STORIES ON SUNDAY (3/16, 7ET): Hear Shannon Luders-Manuel read from The One Who Loves You: Growing Up Biracial in a Black and White World. Between readings we'll chat with Shannon about her memoir, writing process & and publishing journey. Details: hippocampusmagazine.com/event/storie...

If you were to write a thoughtful, well-researched opinion piece for a local/nat'l paper, what timely or evergreen issue would you discuss? That's exactly what we're talking about in tonight's (1/28) How-To Tuesday w/ Kelly Caldwell & Hippocampus Mag. Details: hippocampusmagazine.com/event/how-to...

Reminder! Our first How-To Tuesday of 2025 is tomorrow (1/28 @ 7ET) and it's all about writing and publishing opinion pieces (op-eds). Come learn with us and the brilliant Kelly Caldwell. (It will be recorded if you can't make it live!) hippocampusmagazine.com/event/how-to...

The new "forgetting you made coffee" for me is "forgetting you made instant ramen." I'm here for you, Dear Noodles, even if you're a bit bloated and soggy.

Next week! Come outline an op-ed with me, and let's talk about how to share our opinions more effectively, in this @hippocampusmag.bsky.social How To Tuesday event! hippocampusmagazine.com/event/how-to... #WritingCommunity #WriteTip

Our We Love Short Shorts Contest for #FlashCNF returns for 2025. Basics: No theme/up to 250 wds/$250 grand prize/$100 to two runners-up; all 3 will be pub'd in April. Submit through Feb. 1-28. Full guidelines, submissions tips & links to last year's winners: hippocampusmagazine.com/2025/01/we-l...

You should not legally be able to fly unless you are a decent human being.

Empathy. Have it. That’s the post.

It's me. But it's likely because I have a tendency to put things back when I find them where they don't belong. Or turn a box or jar so it's facing the right way.

Just registered for the 2025 American Crossword Puzzle Tournament! Looking forward to being in Stamford, seeing puzzle pals, playing lobby games and, of course, two days of crosswords. #ACPT #ACPT2025

Our first issue of 2025 will hit the virtual newsstand the week of Jan 6th. Until then, there's so much to explore in our November-December issues (and the archives!). Happy reading!

If you're like me and looking for greater focus in 2025, I HIGHLY recommend Caveday, a virtual co-working platform and community. It's not only game-changing; it's life-changing. You can try it for one month for only $1 using my affiliate link: www.caveday.org/try?via=donna

Just me, walkin’ to the office wondering why things typically closed on Mondays are open today….

My only resolution this year is for it to be the year $hit**gets done. **The $hit that’s been put off far too long. Only I can change it. ⚡️⚡️

I just woke up from a nap and was having a dream where the term “industrial space” was the name for the second space after a period (from typing days of yore).

I don’t know why but seeing this pumpkin on a fire hydrant while it was flurrying made me happy. Had to go outside to capture it. But does someone want to tell the pumpkin it’s illegal to park there? #lancasterpa #citylife #citystreets

Left a work timer running during my Thanksgiving road trip. Oops! Thankfully from Google Drive timestamps I can get a read on when I actually stopped before leaving last Tues. 🤣

For your #CNF reading pleasure this weekend.

Someone I went to elem. school with just made a "2 truths & a lie" post on FB and I'm like: I still never forgot how you bragged in 2nd grade that not only had you been in an airplane before, but also that you TASTED A CLOUD. [A BFF and I laugh about that to this day whenever we fly together.]

The sleep option on my desktop power menu has been missing for a week now, and if that's not a metaphor for November 2024, I'm not sure what is.

My downstairs neighbor yelled at her puppy to down three times and now I have “Ring of Fire” stuck in my head.

OK, I'll play. Introduce yourself with: One book 📚 — The Glass Castle One movie 🎥 — The Goonies One album 💿 — Damn the Torpedoes One TV show 📺 — Severance #writingcommunity #higheredmarketing #creativenonfiction

Such BS that retail performance reviews rely on reviews. Ex: Hubs texted pic of a "0" rating he just got that basically said: "Nothing wrong w/ store or service. I just refuse to recommend a store unless they're going to pay me to advertise for them." Like, you weren't paid to write THAT either.🤦

Me: Breathing a sigh of relief after finishing a season of a show, promising I’ll stop with TV get back to reading more at night. Also me: **starts Kaos.**

Lost my mom 13 yrs ago today; she was 51. I'm 46 and as our ages get closer to meeting, it's harder to grapple w/ just how young she was. Grief is there every day, but milestone dates hit hard. Here's a pic of her as a DJ in '82 in the Poconos. I share it every year, but first time on BlueSky.

Happy accident. The empanada baskets weren’t in front of the right labels so instead of ham and cheese I got pizza — and this pepperoni is AH-mazing. I will def order this again. (in hindsight, the baskets seem to have just shifted down one to account for an empty space in the lunch rush.)

This is great. We also put together a kindred one for small magazines: bsky.app/starter-pack...

Good mail day!! PAX Unplugged badges have arrived! (This is a massive board/card game con, and it will be my second year, but this time Kevin’s coming and we’re doing the whole weekend.)

One of the things I miss the most about the heyday of Twitter was OH (Overheards). Can we please bring that back into the ether?

Made a nonfiction pub starter pack, but there’s a minimum of accounts so I added a few editors for now just until more solely-CNF mags, pubs, podcasts & events join BlueSky! go.bsky.app/ALZoHKu

BOARD GAME PUBLISHER starter pack! Official accounts. go.bsky.app/DSNtxDE

Hi new folks! It *really* helps if fill in your bio. The way usernames are truncated (I can only see a few letters), it’s hard to tell who someone is w/o need clicking on each link. It’s also a best practice bc it helps others know the value they’d get from following. :) Tell your story!

Logged in here for the first time in 10 months. I leaned toward Threads when we were all exploring alts to X because it was super quiet here. But I’ll try again. Kinda not enjoying Threads anyway as it seems to mostly be AI bots asking dumb/mildly debatable questions (aka engagement bait.)

It's not too late to register for tonight's How-To Tuesday from Hippocampus Mag, "Writing Hard Stories: Navigating Trauma, Family & Other Difficult Topics in Memoir" w/ Melanie Brooks at 7pm ET. It'll be recorded if you can't make it or want to rewatch! hippocampusmagazine.com/event/how-to...

It's often hard to find words for how grateful I am for the amazing team that helps usher CNF into the world as part of this community, but here's @hippocampusmag's '23 recap that puts some numbers & reflections on the good (completely volunteer) work we do. hippocampusmagazine.com/2024/01/2023...

Sharing from my blog archives bc it's a new year & I'm seeing lotsa resolutions/intentions for '24 that include more PLAY & WONDER. When I originally wrote this I was thinking: “…the only thing I’ve been wondering lately is why I don’t wonder as often as I used to.” donnatalarico.com/2021/12/02/o...

Just quickly scanned my inbox and combined two subject lines so I thought one said: "Congratulations! Your Payment is Due!"

The thing about walking around slathered in Vick’s VapoRub is that lots of things smell like peppermint this time of year.

Thank you to all who attended this evening’s How-To Tuesday! We hope your brains are as full as our hearts! More to come next month! Our upcoming schedule is at www.hippocampusmagazine.com/events.

What’s a mnemonic device you learned in school that has never left your mind? I know the diff btw further/farther bc “car” rhymes w/ “far” so that one means distance. And 4th grade SS teach Ms. Gleim said easy way to know diff btw rural/urban is to think “cURB.” Yours?

At Lancaster Amtrak station. Philly-bound for the board game con Pax Unplugged! It will be my first time.

For the creative nonfiction writers I'm connected to here, here's Hippocampus Mag's latest CRAFT column: You’re Writing for Search Engines, Too: SEO Tips for Writers hippocampusmagazine.com/2023/11/craf...

Like an OLD, I'm printing off a train ticket for tomorrow. What? I just like tangible things. I also may be doing Wordle with the conductor comes around. [going to PAX Unplugged in Philly, just for the day!]

Just got a shipping update that an item will arrive on Nov. 27 and I was wondering why it’s going to take so long—that’s not ‘til the end of the month. But it meant it’s arriving tomorrow. Tomorrow is the 27th. What even is time?

I know I'm showing my age & I know gift cards have their place, but I generally try to do local/handmade for most folks on my holiday gift list. But the young'ns just want gift cards to big boxes. DAMMIT I WILL STILL work in some thoughtful surprises despite this request.

I have a Tiny Love Story in the NY Times this week, which celebrates my mom's hope via an item I found in her purse after she died in ’11. The image haunts me still. I'm using a "gift article" to share: www.nytimes.com/2023/11/21/s...

Reminder: Hippocampus Mag's first How-To Tuesday is TONIGHT! And it's all about flash creative nonfiction -- true stories told succinctly. Learn how to do it and what editors are looking for w/ Rae Pagliarulo & Wendy Fontaine. hippocampusmagazine.com/event/how-to...

Happy book birthday to Athena Dixon's The Loneliness Files: A Memoir in Essays!! Athena is one of the kindest people and best literary citizens I know and a damn fine writer. I hope you scoop up a copy of this new book, maybe for you, maybe for a reader in your life! Order yours here:

Usually the silly greeting card/social media holidays & observances don’t get to me—but being an adult-orphan on national daughter’s day is especially hard today for some reason. Missing mom. Big time. Am I even still a daughter?