I’m writing this blog post on Sunday, although I don’t intend to publish it until early Monday morning. I want to write about my walk this morning while it’s fresh, but I have stuff going on after I write it. Now that it’s warmer in Phoenix, it’s more refreshing to walk in the morning, so I went out at ten, wearing a sundress and brimmed hat. It’s already getting too warm for long pants, and I don’t wear shorts. The temperature, slight breeze, and all-around perfection made me feel so grateful to be living in this climate at this time of year. Nothing more beautiful than April and October in P ..read more

Poetry Treasure 4: In Touch with Nature, Blog Tour, Day 2 ..read more

Welcome to the WordCrafter “Poetry Treasures 4: In Touch with Nature” Book Blog Tour I’m blessed to have poetry and a few photos in this delightful collection, alongside these other wonderful poets ..read more

Four years ago the gardener and I visited Costa Rica. The pandemic started while we were there. In our hotel room, someone who cleaned our room left a small bottle of sanitizer. I remember being so grateful as I cleaned our airplane trays, etc., on the way home. While in Costa Rica, I heard some stories that have inspired my own writing. One of my stories, a 50 word dribble called “Aftermath of a Childhood Accident,” was published in 50 Give or Take (hint: it has howler monkeys in it): https://preview.mailerlite.com/l6x1f4e6p3/2432770394009115561/n3s1/?fbclid=IwAR0L4NZHoQy1TRHvXEWTOFmNj7R5U69K ..read more

Editor Jeff Harvey at the brand new really hot lit journal Gooseberry Pie published one of my stories. The journal only publishes six sentence stories. Try to write one if you haven’t. They are really fun. And You Thought it Was Just a Headache Another thing going on is that Mad Swirl journal has published their annual anthology, and along with many stories and poems, they have featured the work of four artists. One of those is me, if you can believe it. Two of my collages. The anthology is available on Amazon. It sounds like I’m busy, and I am, but mostly with taking care of my baby grands ..read more

Editor Barbara Harris Leonhard has published my Remedios Varo inspired flash fiction story, “The Past Holds No Reality for Me,” at Masticadores USA. More surreal fun!!! “The Past Holds No Reality for Me” by Luanne Castle I would love it if you comment over there, if you have time. Turning off comments here. Hope you are having your best kind of weekend ..read more

The famous-for-flash Flash Boulevard has published three of my flash fiction stories. A big thank you to Editor Francine Witte, who is a well-known flash fiction writer. I’m very excited to have my stories published at Flash Boulevard because they publish the best flash fiction writers, so to think that my stories are keeping company over there is dreamy. The first two stories are inspired by Remedios Varo stories. The third was written after seeing Frida Kahlo’s “Wounded Deer” painting, although the story is not itself ekphrastic. Instead, it is about living with a variety of illness and heal ..read more

My 100-word story, “Uncatitional Love,” was one of nine winners at the Writer Advice Flash Micro Contest. I won $30, which is quite extraordinary! This story was inspired by all the cats who have ever been part of my life. My story is listed first of the nine when you go into the link, but enjoy some of the others while you’re in there. Image is from Pexels, not one of my cats. https://writeradvice.com/the-contest-winners-are/?fbclid=IwAR0uz3jLk53BTkkVF7Us3eR5IQlz224QJaMTwKQgd2v0QGPpHsfJi90hrEg I’ve been very migrainatious for the past week or more, so I didn’t participate in #TankaTuesday la ..read more

In this post I forgot to mention a reading that Storyteller Journal had this past weekend. I read one of my poems from Kin Types, a poem I’ve never read aloud before. Here’s a link if you’re interested. My poem is at the 20 minute mark. The challenge for 24 Seasons Syllabic Poetry Challenge, No. 21 is Early Spring, Part II. I wrote a Butterfly Cinquain because I liked the name and the idea of it for early spring. I have bolded the kigo words, “coming of spring.” The Weather Has Shifted Toward Spring Today I celebrate the coming of spring days the sun has turned up its wattage I smile without ..read more

The other day I finished reading Britney Spears’ memoir, The Woman in Me. It was my daughter’s book, and she read it first. I have a few thoughts, but first thought I would share the NY Times review. It does a great job of describing the meat of the book–what Britney says she has gone through with her family, career, love life, and mental health. It doesn’t mention the quality of the writing. Leave that to me ;). If you find a paywall in the following article and would like to read , email me at luanne[dot]castle[at]gmail[dot]com. *** https://www.nytimes.com/2023/10/19/books/review/britney-s ..read more