Mornings on Quatrain Fish

Quatrain Fish only publishes poems of four lines or less.  The site published my "Mornings" about a little girl on the beach.

If you like your poetry in morsel sizes, you should check out this site.

https://quatrain.fish/

Hark, Hark the Dogs of War Do Bark

Scarlet Leaf Magazine just published my short story "Hark Hark the Dogs of  War Do Bark."  I am writing a book Raising Rough Riders in the White House: Theodore Roosevelt and His Sons Archie and Quentin and Their Pony Algonquin.  While researching the death of Quentin during WW I, I discovered serio-comic maps as both art form and propaganda devices. Examining the 1917 map Hark, Hark, the Dogs Do Bark, I wondered what would happen if the characters could talk.

You can read this story and other pieces of great fiction at:

https://www.scarletleafreview.com/short-stories19/category/ps-nolf

Corvid Queen Publishes My Poem Night Troll

What a wonderful way to start off 2020--to be able to read my poem The Night Troll on Corvid Queen. Please take the time to read the other works on this site.  Sarah Chevalier identifies Corvid Queen as the space "to celebrate the magic of feminism and the feminism of magic.  I am so happy my poem found a home here.


https://corvidqueen.com/stories/night-troll-ps-nolf

"Showdown at the Strand" is a Podcast

Axe versus whale rib. Sword versus blubber. “Showdown at the Strand” is a retelling of one of the Icelandic sagas using American Western motifs. I wrote this story in honor of the heritage of my Icelandic horse Blessi. I planned to re-enact hunting stranded whales in Iceland by horseback around 1020 AD in a Society for Creative Anachronism event. But something happened so I wrote this story instead.

Chris Herron created an amazing podcast out of this story.  You can listen to the whale of a tale at Tall Tales TV, which one of the finalists for a 2018 Parsec Award.

Blessi's Poem Is Published

Crepe and Penn Literary Magazine included my poem "If a Pony Penned a Poem."  Guess who was the inspiration?  You can read it on page 66 of the following attachment.

Blessi also asked me to remind everybody that a peanut is a poem to a pony.

https://fc609d0f-8595-4c23-b944-d27c474cd9b4.filesusr.com/ugd/5f16d4_925ed3e995cb4b37b435c82879f3b670.pdf

Corvid Queen Publishing My Poem "The Night Troll"

Up until the past hundred years, most Icelandic horses had to survive on their own over the white, perishing Icelandic winters. Who knows what they saw under the white moon over Iceland?   I wrote a poem "The Night Troll" using that motif.  Corvid Queen is publishing it in January 2020.

In the meantime, here's some lovely film footage of Iceland at night under the moon.  Jakobina Ragnhildur sings "Moonlight Shadow" in Icelandic.  

"Why Do We Write" Published in Page and Spine

.

 Page and Spine has published my essay "Why Do We Write?"  As Anne Lemott explains, good writing is “telling the truth in an interesting way” which is hard, hard, hard to do “like bathing cats.”  But writers persist.

https://pagespineficshowcase.com/the-writers-table/why-do-we-write-p-s-nolfhttps://pagespineficshowcase.com/the-writers-table/why-do-we-write-p-s-nolf

Page and Spine to Publish My "Why Do We Write" on Oct 11, 2019

Page and Spine will publish my essay called

"Why Do We Write" on October 11, 2019.  This is the second piece of mine that the site has selected.  Here's the first sentence: 

"Bruce  Chatwin in The Songlines visualizes that primordial moment when the First Man on the African Savannah shouts out his first words “‘I AM!” to defy the terrors of the African Savannah, which is the beginning of all songs and all stories.  "

"Hark, Hark the Dogs of War Do Bark" to be published in January 2020

I am currently working on a narrative non-fiction book titled Raising Rough Riders in the White House: Theodore Roosevelt and His Sons Archie and Quentin and Their Pony Algonquin. 

While researching the death of Quentin during WW I, I discovered serio-comic maps as both art form and propaganda devices. I wondered what would happen if the characters could talk. 


"Hark, Hark the Dogs of War Do Bark" is the result.  Scarlet Leaf is publishing this satire in January 2020.

Crepe and Penn to Publish "If a Pony Penned a Poem"

The online literary journal Crepe & Penn is going to publish my poem "If a Pony Penned a Poem" at the end of October.  Of course, the poem was inspired by Blessi.  Many thanks to friends who persuaded me to attempt to write poetry and submit it for possible publication.  Blessi is getting treats today for being my muse.

 

Scratch and Sniff Test for a Dragon's Blood Tree

I am attempting to write a flash fiction short story "The Eve Recursion" set on Socotra Island in the Arabian Sea. Socotra broke off from Africa around 3 million years ago so one third of flora is endemic or found only on this island. At one point, the characters walk up to a Dragon's Blood tree. As an aspiring author, I though it would be cool to incorporate the scent--pine, cedar like, floral, whatever--into the scene. I did quite a bit of research but could find nothing about the scent of a Dragon's Blood tree or Dracaena cinnabari.

I found the Botanic Gardens Conservation International web site (BCGI.org) that has a worldwide database of plants. They sent out an email on my behalf to the 13 botanical gardens that have a Dracaena cinnabari specimen. (Told you it was a rare plant.) I love scientists!!!!! The Jardin Botanico in Madrid, Spain, answered my request. A worker did a scratch and sniff test on their young Dragon's Blood tree. There is no odor.

Interesting synergy that ended up in my short story. In Hieronymus Bosch’s triptych of “The Garden of Earthly Delights,” now in the Museo del Prado in Madrid, God and Adam and Eve stand under a Dragon's Blood tree.

Photo of Dragon's Blood Tree from Wikipedia courtesy of Boris Khvostichenko.
Photo of “The Garden of Earthly Delights” from Wikipedia courtesy of Museo del Prado in Madrid.

"Jack Spriggins, Villain" published in Bewildering Stories

In addition to blogging about my Icelandic horse Blessi, I write fiction and non-fiction articles for various publications.  E-magazine Bewildering Stories just published my fractured fairy tale "Jack Spriggins, Villain."  This exposé documents what really happened to the Geants of Cornwall and the impact of Brexit on this minority group. 

http://www.bewilderingstories.com/issue798/jack_spriggins.html 

You can check my other blog Pamela Nolf--Writing to A Muse for additional links to my work. 
https://pamelanolfwriting.blogspot.com/

My article "Blessi's mysterious nosebleed" in September 2018 Equus

My Icelandic horse Blessi really is my muse.  So far he has been mentioned in all three of my articles published by Equus magazine in the past year.  This month, "Blessi's mysterious nosebleed" is the EQ Case Report.  

"On the day before a holiday, a gelding's sudden nasal problem worries his owner as a veterinarian searches for the cause..."  

One day Blessi was discovered bleeding from both nostrils or exhibiting bilateral nasal epistaxis in medical terms.  Dr. Weeks, Blessi's vet from Gig Harbor, WA, became a medical Sherlock Holmes as he tried to make a diagnosis.  I learned lots of new words such as exercise-induced pulmonary hemorrhage, guttoral pouch mycosis, aspergillus....We learned from where the bleeding was originating but not the cause.  Luckily, the nose bleed stopped by itself after two days with no other consequences. 

I  noticed that the cross section drawing of the horse's nasal cavity used in the article looks like it was inspired by Blessi--flaxen chestnut, mealy nose, limited forelock that Blessi has in comparison to other Icelandics but luxurious mane, thicker neck, wide jowls, slightly raven (roman) nose which is also not a breed characteristic...hum looks familiar to me.   How many owners have individual, color portraits of their horses' nasal cavities? 

Please check out Equus magazine.  This month's featured articles: 
- Dr. Bennett's article "Working horses of the West" was enthralling--a wonderful combination of history, romance of the West, artwork, and education about conformation. 
- Plus a friend and I were just discussing how best to trailer our horses so "Prevent shipping fever" was very timely.  
- And the article on "Surprising findings about saddle design" was revelatory.  Finding saddles to fit Icelandics is always a challenge so any good info is welcome.   

You really should invest in a subscription.;-)

Equus will be publishing my article on Equine Epistaxis

Several years ago, Blessi experienced a spontaneous nose bleed or equine epistaxis.  He was dripping gouts of blood from both nostrils.  Even though there was no swelling and Blessi seemed to be in no discomfort, I called the veterinarian.  He described several conditions that could be causing the bleeding that ranged from a foreign body in the nasal passage to Exercise Induced Pulmonary Hemorrhage, to Guttural Pouch Fungal Infection, etc.

Dr. Weeks ran an endoscope up Blessi's nasal passage to find he was bleeding from the sigmoid area.  Best diagnosis was that Blessi had had some sort of stupid pasture accident and was bleeding internally due to blunt force trauma of some sort (not a horse kick since there was no swelling around the head).  The vet was not too worried and the bleeding slowed down and stopped in a few days with no further treatment.



I wrote up what I learned about equine epistaxis in a Case Study to help other horse owners.  Equus magazine informed me yesterday that they will be publishing my article in some future edition.

Poor Blessi!  You should have seen the expression on his face when Dr. Weeks ran a 16 inch endoscope up the nasal passage.  Blessi was surprised for the first few seconds but then settled down to see if there was a carrot reward involved in the process.

Determing Reading Level

For those of you who may be interested, I have published an essay on my other blog on how to determine the reading of level of your writing and compare it to other published books.  Do you know what the F-K Scale, Lexile scores, and ATOS are?

https://pamelanolfwriting.blogspot.com/2018/02/how-to-determine-reading-level-and-its.html

Musings -- Memories as Trigger Events

Just posted another essay "How to Start Writing" on my Musings on my Writings Blog. Your comments are welcome.

https://pamelanolfwriting.blogspot.com/2017/07/how-to-start-writing.html

ogspot.com/2017/07/how-to-start-writing.html

I Guess I'll Do the Book

Blessi does his best Steve
Martin impression.

You may enjoy reading my latest post on my blog "Writing to A Muse" about how Steve Martin,

http://pamelanolfwriting.blogspot.com/2017/12/i-guess-ill-do-book-lamott-wont-let-me.html
leaplings, and birds can help you become a better writer.

Blessi "Sitting Pretty" in Equus Magazine

Equus Magazine published my article "Sitting Pretty" about Blessi and his favorite cat Mittens.  Equus has a huge, national readership among the horse owning public in the US so this is great exposure for the Icelandic horse.  You can read their on-line version at the link below:

https://equusmagazine.com/horse-world/prettykitty

How an Invisible Rabbit Helped me see the pony in the Elevator

My latest posting on my blog "Writings to A Muse" is how techniques used in writing plays can help you write better fiction--or in my case non-fiction about the pony Algonquin owned by President Theodore Roosevelt's children.  Here's a link to the essay explaining how I wrote a mini play about Quentin Roosevelt taking Algonquin into the White House elevator to visit his sick brother.   Hum, I wonder if Blessi would like to play Algonquin in a Broadway musical?

https://pamelanolfwriting.blogspot.com/2017/11/how-invisible-rabbit-can-help-you-write.html

And for your viewing enjoyment here is Jimmy Stewart taking his six foot eight inch invisible rabbit Harvey out to the bar for martinis.

Bark Like a Puppy, Ooze Like a Stump

You can now read read my latest musing on the art of writing on my other blog "Writing to a Muse."  Find out how snarky I can be about why:

- Ann Lamott barks like a puppy, oozes like a stump
- Janet Burroway's inadequately defines writing transition as “authorial intrusion”
- Ann Dillard exaggerates beyond hyperbole in her story about the eating habits of the giant water bug
- Bruce Chatwin tells "not a half-truth but a truth and a half"
Or you can pass on the snark and just watch the video of puppies barking.


https://pamelanolfwriting.blogspot.com/2017/11/bark-like-puppy-ooze-like-stump.html