With that phrase lodged in your brain, you are invited to check out my recent conversation with Millie Chapman now available via our aaduna website:    http://aaduna.org/conversations/ (c) 2014 Millie Chapman (photo provided) It is always special to get to know someone at the onset of a promising writing career so you can watch that person develop  and chart a path that engages a wide spectrum of the reading public.  So, I am not just tossing a phrase around when I say, "Catch a rising star."   And if my chat with Millie does not spark you to want to know more about her, read or re-read her story, "Peony" as published in aaduna's summer 2014 issue.  You will soon see what I initially saw when I read her story for the first time. And just remember, it is always fun to put a "star" in your pocket! Help us increase Aaduna Inc. page likes on facebook, click below - our goal is to reach 500 likes ...

Words have a fluency and lilting quality that illuminates the consciousness when properly aligned and crafted.   Art takes us from the realm of the ordinary to the frontiers of imagination and wonderment.   Persecution Avenue and Chrystal Berche understand how to elicit magic that sparks the human spirit and impels us to think through what we feel after reading and/or experiencing art. Persecution Avenue bobs and weaves his words similar to a cagey, seasoned prize-fighter who knows when to jab and when to float, when to throw the hook and when to rest on the ropes…here is a brief, teaser excerpt from his piece, “ This Little City ” This little city, my little city with the siren soundtrack: where the B-more Black- birds smoke and mirrors lend the opium outcasts a purple hue; the opaque outrage at the state of the avenue. A city again lost when they lose and so we choose to get tossed   in the latent lavender suited lies of our pink politicians. Forgetting th...

Here are a few unedited [mostly] excerpts from Gillick , Murray , and Backer …three intriguing writers coming to the aaduna readership in the summer 2014 issue:   from Matt Gillick’s “Swim Practice” Dad was supposed to pick me up on time but he didn’t.   He was late again. He’s always on time right at five.   Mom said he sometimes took a long time putting on his green clothes and be late for his flight when he left.   I kind of wished he lost them so he could stay longer and tell me jokes.   They’re funny jokes like: “J.P., what happens to a…”   I forget the rest but I always laugh at the end.   The way he tells jokes is funny but I’m not laughing at him.   He just tells them well like I knew I would understand if I were smarter.   Mom told me not to laugh at kids at swim practice, so I laugh at them in the locker room.   One of them cried and I felt bad and I stopped for a bit.   She didn’t come back so I couldn’t say so...

Fiction writers have a way of transporting readers to different realms of consciousness and unimagined explorations of emotional highs and lows and hidden secrets.  Millie Chapman , TD Flenaugh and William Bretton Hodge are offering creative delights to nourish our spirit and motivate us to want more.  These writers along with their fiction colleagues in the aaduna summer 2014 issue will inspire.  Here are brief excerpts from each of these writers’ work: From Millie Chapmans’ “Peony” It stood twisted and arch-backed like the mangled fur of a stray cat.   It’s shadow, elongated by the low-lit window behind it, sliced mercilessly through the smooth surface of the unsuspecting white sheets. As the sun began its daily death, the shadow gained strength, spilling over the side of the bed and skipping down the ruffled bed skirt. It slithered across the hardwood floor toward the door and a young girl who stood with her back pressed firmly against it.  ...

There are writers and poets who craft intriguing stories and verses that find a vacant space in our brain; crawl in oh so quietly; just sit there…without sound or movement …enabling us to feel our latent reactions; shape argumentative opinions, and wish we could hear more words from them.   Here is [Jasper’s] Austin Morgan’s short story excerpt taken from “Julie Templeton and the Automatic Orchestra,” followed by a snippet from [ Cincinnati ’s] Joyce Miller’s poetry and closing out with an excerpt from [Levittown's] Olivia Lin Deluca's "Pure Bliss."   Enjoy! Austin shares,             H e could nearly feel himself flying, as if he would look down and see the tips of his sneakers levitating from the pavement.   Heart on flight in his boney chest, excitement oh-so riveting, unlike anything he had ever felt before.           Maybe it had been the sunrise that h...

"My Reaction to Despair Volume I" - Digital Book by Jeffrey Lee Graham, aaduna featured artist Volume 4, Issue 2    The aaduna family continues to mourn the tragic passing of Robin Williams, a stellar comedic and dramatic talent and exemplary human being. We do not believe or support pandering or hitching our wagon to a situation that should remain private and sacred. With that said we are taking the rare position to share our decision and behind the scenes talk as we decided to publish an intriguing piece of creative work. Our decision-making timeline is critically important for our readership. On March 29th, Mr. Graham submitted his work to aaduna, and Keith Leonard, our submissions manager, responded, “…I find your work to have a residual power, lingering presence and intriguing affect and have sent it on to our visual arts editor, publisher and a few other reviewers. [Yeah, I jumped started the process.]” On March 31st, Keith once again communicated with Mr. Gra...

Natalie will have her work in the Second Anniversary issue.  Here is one of her poems: Climbing the Coaster I walk up dwarf-steps, mud-specked Nikes curling over the edges of the platform above these trees. Cruel spikes cling to the soles, in case of danger: plummeting into the Red Queen’s garden below. Human touch foreign, chips of cobalt blue from the metal railing chafe my hand. Onto a ramp, feet shake   me towards the steel caterpillar. Captives fidget and stare on the track   in double rows like school children. Sun reflects off the sleeping caterpillar, gas waves distort summer. Rider’s hair steams from sweaty glances.   Over the railing is the wonderland, green and metal. Sugar orbs   of baby pink and blue cotton candy float beside tiny heads. Vicious growls pass the platform,   metal below my feet rattles and hesitates. A cat...

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(Click above to enlarge view) YOU ARE INVITED ! Participate. Hear the written word. Experience the art. Come and meet the creative artists. Refreshments served. Be there. Don't miss it. Christine Green lives in Brockport, NY and her writings are graceful and eloquent reflections of her world and those places yet to be experienced. A published writer, Ms. Green is pleased to join visual artists in the Opening Reception for the High Falls Art Gallery exhibition, “Thick and Thin.” Christine will read: “At the Lab” (poetry) “Ekphrasis I: Powder Blue” (creative non-fiction) “Ekphrasis II: Nude Descending a Staircase” (creative non-fiction) The Center at High Falls and its historic neighborhood are highly recommended for first time and returning Rochester visitors, as well as area residents. The Center is accessible and friendly to all: http://www.centerathighfalls.org/art.htm