Literary Mama

Having trouble getting into your writer’s seat this summer? Hopefully you’re off making amazing memories that will inspire future essays and stories, but if you do find yourself at a coffee shop with a couple luxurious free hours, here are a few writing prompts to get your pen moving. 1.CNF/Journal: Write about your favorite 4th […]

It was one of those moments that is hard to describe. An email arrived in my inbox in December 2018 from Felicity Landa and Colleen Kearney Rich, then fiction editors at Literary Mama, about the acceptance of my flash fiction. Oh, the joy! An acceptance does that every time to a writer. What’s more, Literary Mama has been […]

The Literary Reflections department is looking for original first-person essays about the intersection of parenthood and the creative process, and we welcome perspectives from all genders. For the September/October issue, we are interested in completed essays between 1,500-3,000 words about books our children are reading – or not reading – in school. This could include […]

Summer approaches, which means it is time to find the books that you’ll keep in your bag that you take to the pool or day-long sporting events for the kids or to the beach or mountains on a family trip. Our staff is always happy to share some of the authors and books that they’ve […]

I thought my first Mother’s Day was going to be blissful. I’m someone who loves my birthday (and being spoiled!), so I thought Mother’s Day would be another opportunity in the year to feel special and be treated like a queen. That first year, I quickly learned that while you might be treated nicely on […]

Type. Think. Type again. Delete, delete, delete. Type. Delete, delete, delete. Ask “Why am I even doing this?” Fold laundry. Take a walk. Have a brilliant idea. Forget the brilliant idea. Take a shower. Remember the brilliant idea. Type, type. Delete. Go to bed. Eight hours later– Take a sip of tea. Read yesterday’s words. […]

Mamas, May is our month. Literally, we get a whole day dedicated to us this month. Take advantage of people wanting to spoil you by asking for some time to yourself to simply write. Need a little inspiration to get the pen moving? Play around with one of our May writing prompts. 1.CNF/Journal: Write about […]

When I was a kid, our family of four lived in a home with one bathroom, and I recall deciding, whenever my mother was in the bathtub, that I needed to speak with her at that moment about something highly important. I remember sitting on the toilet lid, chatting away to my captive audience. I […]

My youngest, who is almost nine, sits at the kitchen table with her math notebook, working on multiplication tables. I sit beside her, my hands wrapped tightly around a warm mug of tea, waiting for her to ask for help. She can do most of her assignments on her own, but feels more confident with […]

Once upon a time, I wrote for two hours a day. I woke up before the sun and worked on a manuscript while my coffee was hot and my brain was firing on, filling my mornings with my favorite thing to do before heading in for work. These are not those days. Today I still […]

If you’re like me, typing is faster than writing by hand. Often I get stuck staring at a blinking cursor. Recently, I discovered a trick to get the words flowing.  Print the piece you’re working on. Close the computer. Find a notebook and pen. Let your mind wander on the page. Write for ten minutes. Don’t […]