The cicadas have just begun to sing in West Virginia, yet for many students and teachers in the U.S., it’s already “Back to School” time. In some ways, getting ready to go […]
Back to School, 2023 Style
Suzanne Heagy
Suzanne Heagy is a writer, teacher, and the fiction editor of Kestrel, the art and literary journal at Fairmont State University. Her first novel, Love Lets Us Down (2015), was recognized as a finalist in the 18th annual Foreword Reviews’ INDIEFAB Book of the Year Awards. Her short stories have appeared in The Anthology of Appalachian Literature, Schuylkill Valley Journal, and Pleiades, among others. Her story, “A Liberating Effect,” was nominated for Best of the Net 2017 by Schuylkill Valley Journal. Suzanne is a member of the women’s collective, The Gloria Sirens, and writes a monthly column for their blog at https://thegloriasirens.com/.
Care is Just a Click Away
The beauty of therapy is having someone to talk with when our problems, conflicts, sadness, insecurities, and general unhappiness overwhelm us. My ideal therapist would be someone with compassion who can lead […]
The Pleasure of Typing Fast
When I type, my fingers fly across the keyboard making musical clicking sounds. My task this time is to transcribe an eight-thousand-word printed manuscript into a Word document for editing. My fingers […]
Witnessing and Waiting in “The Sound of Holding Your Breath”: A Book Review
Natalie Sypolt’s standout collection of short fiction, The Sound of Holding Your Breath, was published in 2018 by West Virginia University Press, and I regret not reviewing the book sooner. The heart […]
Scammed and Spammed by Mystery Mail
When you live in an Age of Scams, it’s hard to know who or what to trust. Opening an email, or answering a phone call, or accepting a social media invite could […]
Living in the Marigny, February 2023
If you’ve ever wanted more parades in your life, New Orleans is the place to be, especially during Carnival season. I personally love parades and consider myself somewhat a parade expert. I’ve […]
Living in the Marigny, January 2023
Gold, green, and purple have replaced Christmas trees and decorations. The house across the street on Dauphine is bedecked like a rainbow float with fantastical giant flowers. The Krewe of Chewbacca parade […]
Life in the Marigny
My long-held dream to live for a winter in New Orleans is finally coming to pass. We moved into our rental on Dauphine St. on December 3, 2022, a sunny seventy-degree day. […]
Writing and the “Glue” of Point of View
I’m often a people lover and have a Venn diagram of friends. In a few of my friend circles, we joke about which one of us is the “glue.” The “glue” is […]
An All Hallows’ Eve Tale of Crime and Horror
Few women are more infamous than the Countess Elizabeth Bathory, a famous noble from the Kingdom of Hungary who lived from the mid-16th century to the early 17th century. Labelled the most […]
The Gloria Sirens 