No Place Like Home

By Jennifer Simpson | October 1, 2020
Dorothy and Glenda the Good Witch from Wizard of Oz movie

At the end of the Wizard of Oz while Glenda the Good Witch waves her magic wand Dorothy clicks her ruby red slippers and chants these words: “There’s no place like home.” “There’s no place like home.” “There’s no place like home.”It’s a beautiful scene. It speaks to learning the lesson of appreciating home even if it’s a black & white Kansas… as Dorothy says, “… if I ever go … Read more

An Interview with Danielle Hanson

By Melanie Unruh | September 24, 2020
black and white photo of Danielle Hanson

Our featured writer for October is Atlanta-based poet Danielle Hanson. I met Danielle in the spring at the AWP Conference in San Antonio. It was such a strange, upside-down time at this event that was half-empty as we straddled the line between before and after COVID really took hold in the U.S., so it was a treat to meet someone like Danielle. She’s one of those writers whose affability and … Read more

What the heck is a metaphor anyway?

By Jennifer Simpson | August 28, 2020

A metaphor is symbolic of something else. It is definitely a great literary tool to describe something. Sue William Silverman talks about finding the metaphors of your life and in her latest memoir, How to Survive Death and other Inconveniences she likens that time in life as a road trip…. I would say for me, taking my first ever writing workshop and walking into a room of other writers and … Read more

An Interview with Donna Miscolta

By Melanie Unruh | August 18, 2020
Donna Miscolta outside in a blue tank top

Photo credit: Meryl Schenker Donna Miscolta is Plume’s featured writer for September! I’ve never met Donna before, but I had the absolute pleasure to meet and talk with her on Zoom a few days ago when we chatted with her for our podcast. Stay tuned for that great talk at the beginning of September! We are so excited to share her work with you. Please enjoy the interview that follows … Read more

I Think That I Shall Never See

By Jennifer Simpson | August 17, 2020

A poem as lovely as a tree….I’m always fascinated by words, how a word, even one we think everyone will understand in the same way, in a different person will recall a certain image unfamiliar to you. I grew up near the beach, for example. For me, a tree means a palm tree or a coconut tree. Not a ponderosa pine. But this is really not a post about trees … Read more

Protected: August 2020 Vol. 26

By Jennifer Simpson | August 13, 2020

There is no excerpt because this is a protected post.

Metaphor for Your Business

By Jennifer Simpson | August 13, 2020

Hopefully you’ve seen our contest to win Sue William Silverman‘s new book How to Survive Death and Other Inconveniences. I think you will find her work, and her stories, really speaks to women writers. And listened to our podcast featuring Sue. If you’re like me, you may have really started to think about metaphors… and how you can use metaphors to support your life as a writer. What is your … Read more

What’s your metaphor? A philosophy & a contest

By Jennifer Simpson | August 4, 2020

This month our featured writer is Sue William Silverman. In fact, episode 3 of our podcast features our chat with Sue! And our Plume Petite Patreon supporters will receive our August digital edition with Sue’s letter of encouragement and some of Sue’s creative work. If you’re not familiar with her as an author and teacher, you’re in for a treat! I’ve decided to dub her the Metaphor Maven and you’ll … Read more

Online In the Meantime: Gila Green

By BadMouth | July 24, 2020
Author Gila Green

Rebecca Aronson of Bad Mouth writes: Canadian Gila Green is an Israel-based writer and editor and mother of five. She writes from her converted bomb shelter overlooking the Judean Hills and loves transporting her readers in time and space from Ottoman Palestine to Ottawa, Canada to Johannesburg, South Africa. Her novels range from a novel-in-stories to adult to young adult and include: No Entry, White Zion, Passport Control, and King of the Class.  Find out … Read more

Podcast Episode 2 with Suzanne Richardson

By Jennifer Simpson | July 21, 2020

On this episode of Plume: A Writer’s Companion podcast, Melanie & Jennifer dig into the infamous Harper’s Letter; share a book review of Men We Reaped, Jesmyn Ward’s memoir; chat about Stacey Abrams’ new book; and discuss their current writing projects. They also chat with Suzanne Richardson, a talented writer who is working on a memoir about addiction, as well as putting together an anthology about Dungeons & Dragons. They discuss everything … Read more

Plume: Now Digital

By Melanie Unruh | July 21, 2020
Short-haired woman wearing glasses and a mustard sweater, sitting on a white bed, holding a book and looking at laptop screen

It has been a strange and scary time to be alive for a while now, but particularly in the past four months. I try to think of the last time I hauled ass from work across town to pick up my son from school or the last café where I ordered a chai and wrote or the last late night movie I went to see by myself when I was … Read more

Writing, Interrupted

By Melanie Unruh | July 14, 2020
pen resting on a mostly blank notebook in light and shadow

I’m someone who needs to get lost in a task or project. I need time to mull, to drift, to dig in and forget about everything else in my life. I put on music, fix myself some tea, and get in the zone. This is particularly true when I write. Once I had kids, this became challenging, to say the least. Now that we’re in a full-blown pandemic, forget about … Read more