Featured Bits, Poetry

Catching My Breath

A free verse poem about dreams, fantasies, darkness, love, and the pursuit of one’s self. Though it ends (now) on a dark note, I don’t believe this to be the end of the speaker’s adventure. Pursuing one’s self takes time and is not always pleasant.

Au Naturel, Newspaper Articles

Black Lives Matter Community Mural

Around the world, murals contribute to the Black Lives Matter movement as performative statements, but they can hold much more power than that. Abi Mustapha, Taylor Reinhold, and Sean McGowen united their creative forces to lead an equity initiative in the heart of Santa Cruz County.

Au Naturel

Guest Author

I have some exciting news! This week I had the AMAZING opportunity to guest post on a fellow author’s blog. Not only is it my first time as a guest author, but it is also my first published piece of poetry.

Au Naturel, Newspaper Articles

Save the Bigfoot Discovery Museum!

Due to COVID-19’s incessant determination, the “temporary” closures of businesses seem to be looming towards more permanent closures, creating local devastation across the Santa Cruz Mountains. The Bigfoot Discovery Museum is one those wounded businesses during the ongoing, pandemic-imposed closure. Michael states that the museum faces extinction and, he needs the community’s help to preserve its unique display of the weird.

Au Naturel, Newspaper Articles

Wylder Space

On Tuesday, July 14th, the locally owned Wylder Space opened its doors to the Santa Cruz Mountains community, inviting food lovers to gather together in a creatively-driven restaurant. The owner (Molly Bravo) began as a private chef in 2004, passionately working her way through different fields of the food industry before sowing her creative seeds off Hwy 9 in Felton.

Au Naturel

Fan Fiction Piece Progress

I decided to pull this piece out yet again (writing only gets better with practice, right?) for fresh feedback and edits from my new community of writers. Have you read William Goldman’s The Princess Bride? I have, once. Have you watched the film adaptation directed by Rob Reiner? I have, about one thousand times (literally). The Princess Bride is my favorite movie of all time.

Au Naturel, Newspaper Articles

COVID Crafting

From full-time work to full-time rest, anxiety and isolation promptly made the human race their full-time job. To combat these mental atrocities during the coronavirus quarantine, people rose up to connect with their creative side.

Au Naturel, Newspaper Articles

Meet the Mountain Heroes

The events of Saturday, June 6th reverberated across the Santa Cruz Mountains with waves of fear. Amid the chaos, three strangers set aside their fears and risked their lives for the greater community to detain a shooter blasting through the Boulder Creek and Ben Lomond areas.

Featured Bits, Short Stories, Writing Contests

Warming the Mind

Time passed but the storm did not. The unruly blizzard grew increasingly worse as we fought our way through the knee-high snow. Our bodies froze to the storm’s will. It howled and screamed as it scratched at our exposed faces—reopening blistering wounds that had veined across our cheeks.