Women Writers We Love: Randi Beck Ocena

Randi Beck Ocena was born and raised in Oklahoma where she divided her time between bookstores and horse barns. Her love of art, writing, and a particular passage by Natalie Goldberg took her to New Mexico where she lived for 10 years, earned a bachelor’s degree in English and Philosophy, painted a few murals, and … Read more

An Interview with Jennifer Jordán Schaller

As we enter into April, we wanted to share this interview with creative nonfiction dynamo, Jennifer Jordán Schaller, who is Plume’s featured writer for May. I met Jennifer because we both teach writing at the same community college, and I have to say that she is as kind as she is talented. Recently, Plume had … Read more

Tea time, anyone?

A Love Affair with Tea Confession: I am obsessed with tea. I can’t remember when exactly it started. Maybe it was in college when I bought a 24-pack of peach Snapple to keep under my bed for late-night studying. Or maybe I was a tea dilettante until I had a baby and needed constant caffeine … Read more

It’s a Girl! Plume’s first featured writer

If you’ve talked to Melanie or me over the last few months, you know that Plume is ….  well, maybe you don’t know what it is other than something for women creative writers.  We’ve actually been refining our idea, researching the market, and we entered a business plan competition that we hoped would net us some startup funds.  Melanie wrote about those results in the previous post (hint: as writers, we know how to handle rejection).

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Anyway, the judges were so impressed with our plan and our competence that they decided we didn’t need their money (that’s my story and I’m stickin’ to it).

Onward!

The core of our subscription is that each subscriber will get a letter from a featured successful woman writer, along with a sampling of her work in the form of an essay, a short story, some poetry, or an excerpt from a larger work.  We have some amazing writers lined up and have been absolutely blown away by their generosity in sharing their writerly advice, and their creative work.

A Plume subscription will also include some encouragement, a writing prompt, some nourishment for your creative soul, and some magic from New Mexico…  join our mailing list so you don’t miss out on our inaugural edition coming soon to YOUR mailbox!

Meet Amy Wallen

Our first featured writer is Amy Wallen.  I’ve known Amy for many years, first as a fellow writer in various groups in San Diego, then as the founder of DimeStories (nee First Fridays).  In fact, when I applied to my MFA program, I asked her to write me a letter of recommendation…  first she asked me, “Do you really need to go to graduate school to write a book?”

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Best Holiday Gifts for Writers

If you have a writer on your Christmas list, finding the write gift can be pretty easy–there’s always the option of buying a gift card to Amazon.com, or even better to a local independent bookstore.  If gift cards aren’t your thing, here are some other ideas.

Writerly t-shirts, scarves, gloves, and more!

raven_tee_02_1024x1024One of my favorite places for literary t-shirts (not to mention fingerless gloves, scarves, and more) is Storiarts where classic literature becomes wearable!

I have The Raven (Edgar Allen Poe) fingerless gloves but the t-shirt has been on my wish list for a while.  Love this long-sleeved Raven tee. (pictured left). They also sell book-themed items from Anne of Green Gables, Pride and Prejudice, Alice in Wonderland, Little Women, The Secret Garden,
and many more.

Pop Poe coastersAnother great place for literature inspired products is Out of Print.  Continuing with the Poe theme, you’ll find Poe coasters, along with tons of fun products for the literary mind:  jewelry, tote bags, tea towels, and even books!

I can’t wait to start shopping for myself here!  There are some great banned books socks, fun bookish scarves, and a cat pin!

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