If there were a Musepaper Charter School, “Death 101” would be mandatory. I’m envisioning field trips to veterinarians, nursing homes, hospitals, and cemeteries, as we all unburden and celebrate our experiences with death and the deceased.
The Musepaper Charter School may have to wait, but the sharing starts now.
WINNERS
Laura Maynard of Enniskillen, Ontario for Apples (story)
The Bosom Buddy, The Frenemy, the friends that become family, the friend turned lover. Friendships add the sparkle and drama our lives need and, for better or worse, can change us in ways we never thought possible.
Send us your stories and essays about the friends you can’t live without, the ones you’ll never speak to again, and every shade in between.
As Halloween approaches, we invite you to send stories and essays about the creepiest things you can imagine, or the most hair-raising experience you’ve lived to tell about.
Tell us about the things that go bump in the night, be they imagined…or remembered.
WINNERS
Ginny Lowe Connors of West Hartford, Connecticut for The Wolf in Me (poem)
The universal language – one that, in just a few bars, can lift our mood, move us to tears, and transport us across time, space, and possibility. How has music shaped you, guided your path, or even saved your life? What is music? And how does it move us so?
Ask your Muse and report back!
WINNERS
Kirk McDavitt of Bucharest, Romania for Tastes (essay)
Home may indeed be where the heart is, but the heart is a complicated beast, and home can be elusive.
Tell us how one makes a house a home: On the fly? With a carefully thought-out vision? Or the paint-by-numbers, family tradition edition?
Maybe home transcends physical location. Maybe it’s more about who we’re with. Perhaps, home is simply a state of mind. Give us a glimpse inside and show us the way home.
Everything’s in the rear-view, with no where to go but forward.
What kicked off this unstoppable trajectory and where might it end?
Let’s talk about the exhilaration, the terror, the sweet relief of knowing there’s No Turning Back.
For this Monthly Muse, send us your (1000 words or less) stories, essays, and poems about No Turning Back.
2.2 — Rituals
PROMPT: Ritual/Routine
DEADLINE: July, 31 2019 at Midnight
Comfort. Ceremony. Compulsion.
What doors can they open? What doors might they close? Are they magic?
Let’s talk about the inherent power of rituals and routines, the good, the bad, and the infinite ways in which they may be harnessed.
For this Monthly Musepaper, send us your (1000 words or less) stories, essays, and poems about Ritual or Routine.
2.3 — Pets
PROMPT: Pets
DEADLINE: August, 31 2019 at Midnight
The ones we’ll love fur-ever or the ones that drive us absolutely bonkers, be they feathered, scaly, furry, four-legged animals. But why stop there? Plants flourish under our loving attention, robot companions are on the rise, and the Pet Rock rolled its way into 1.5 million homes.
However they come into our lives, and whatever form they take, pets become part of our families, part of our experience, and, if we’re lucky, the best part of ourselves.
For this monthly Musepaper, send us your (1,000 words or less) story, poems, or essay about any and every pet worthy of the written word.
2.4 — Vacation
PROMPT: Vacation
DEADLINE: August, 31 2019 at Midnight
Ahhhhh, vacations — those brief windows designed to break up the schedules and routines of life.
Seeking rejuvenation, adventure, solace, contemplation, we set out… yet wherever we go, there we are.
Vacations can be geographical or all in the mind. A weekend jaunt, a cross-continent trek, or closing our eyes for a ten-minute meditative retreat.
From the picture-perfect honeymoon to the vacation from hell, from eureka moments of a clear head, a trip into another dimension all together, and the joy, or dread, of being back in your own bed.
For this monthly Musepaper, send us your (1,000 words or less) story, poems, or essay about the quest to get away from it all to find what we need.
2.5 — Fears & Fantasies
PROMPT: Fears & Fantasies
DEADLINE: September, 30 2019
As Halloween approaches, let’s begin our explorations of fear and/or fantasy!
Whether isolated, opposite poles of the human imagination, or inseparable, inescapably intertwined with reality, fear and fantasy are part of the human condition.
We all love a good scare, and everyone deserves an escape. It’s all fun and games and the monsters aren’t real..right?
For this Monthly Musepaper, send us your (1,000 words or less) story, poems, or essay about Fear, Fantasy, or both!
2.6 — You don’t know me, but…
PROMPT: You don’t know me, but…
DEADLINE: September, 30 2019 @ Midnight
A phone call out of the blue. An unexpected knock. A stranger on the street.
Is it an answer? An invitation? A warning?
For this Monthly Musepaper, send us your (1,000 words or less) story, poems, or essay about this unusual encounter.