Writers Against Hunger
November 2, 2025 by marianne h donley in category Apples & Oranges by Marianne H. Donley tagged as Feeding America, Lyssa Kay Adams, The Confession of George Mullins, Writers Against Hunger
LONG time friend and one of my favorite writers, Lyssa Kay Adams, has organized Writers Against Hunger, and I am happy to participate.
Stories feed the soul. Food feeds the body.
This fall, writers across the country are coming together to do both.
Writers Against Hunger is a nationwide write-a-thon uniting storytellers, poets, novelists, journalists, and anyone who believes words have power. As SNAP benefits end and food insecurity rises, we’re using our creative energy to help fill plates across America.
From Nov. 1-24, writers will set personal writing goals ( from finishing a chapter to drafting an entire novel) and invite friends, readers, and fellow creators to sponsor their efforts. Every dollar raised goes directly to Feeding America, the nation’s largest hunger-relief organization.
Together, our words can do more than build worlds. They can build hope.
How it works:
If you’re a reader, fan, friend, family:
We hope you will donate to our team through out the month. You can do a one time donation, or find an author who is accepting pledges. Here is our team page:
https://teamfeed.feedingamerica.org/teams/7574 .
I’m not taking pledges, but would be grateful if you made a donation to MY page. The link is here:
https://teamfeed.feedingamerica.org/participants/Marianne-Donley.
If you’re writer:
- Join the Write-a-thon.
Sign up to be part of Writers Against Hunger. Whether you’re a published author, a blogger, or journaling for the first time, you’re welcome here. - Set Your Writing Goal.
Commit to writing for a set number of hours or words during the event. Share your goal on social media to inspire others. Don’t forget to use the hashtag #WritersAgainstHunger - Ask for Pledges.
Invite your friends, family, and followers to pledge a donation for every page, word, or hour you write—or to give a flat donation to Feeding America through our official campaign page. Don’t forget to donate yourself, too! - Write to Feed.
During the event, check in, share your progress, and celebrate every milestone. Every word you write helps put food on someone’s table. - Don’t want to write but still want to contribute? Make a direct donation!
You can join the team or make a donation at this link: https://teamfeed.feedingamerica.org/teams/7574
All month I’ll be working on my short story The Confession of George Mullins. I’ll post my I’ll post my update on both the story and the Write-a-thon.
****************
I’m 33% complete on The Confession of George Mullins for the first week of November. Five days remain until my first deadline.
Writers Against Hunger has already raised over $12,500 for Feeding America.
Four Ghosts and Fashion Week by Kidd Wadsworth
October 31, 2025 by Kidd Wadsworth in category Poet's Day by Neetu Malik tagged as fashion, Flying, ghosts, Halloween, kidd wadsworth
Four Ghosts and Fashion Week
I love runways and bangles and color and clothes.
With a sheet and two holes, I was ghastly not Vogue.
Is that Angel and Adalyn, Ava and Mags?
All in sheets and translucent, how stunning, how Fab!
One in front, on the left, on the right, one behind,
I am grabbed. Then we fly. This is blowing my mind.
Far below, Mom is handing out chocolate-nut bars
fruity Skittles and Twix, while I’m destined for Mars.
I must think really fast. With a loud mournful sigh,
I say, “Certainly fashion has bid you goodbye.
Your pale hue needs some blue, and your aura is plain.
Don’t despair. I can help. With my skills you will reign.”
To the first, I accessorize adding a hat,
then a glimmering belt, padded bra, she’s so flat.
To the second, a skirt, and a jacket with frills.
Would it be too cliché, can I say that she kills?
With a trench, and a pout, number three is Sam Spade.
With the fourth, I go goth, a black sheet, she’s decayed.
Transformations complete. I go home. My dad’s mad.
I’m so grounded. But hey, that’s okay, cause I’m rad.
©Kidd Wadsworth
After
Some of Kidd’s Stories
Midnight Snack
October 30, 2025 by Dianna Sinovic in category Quill and Moss by Dianna Sinovic, Writing tagged as dark fiction, Halloween, short fiction, writing
At the chiming of eleven bells, the retreat’s evening session began. Squeezed around the table, six people scooted chairs until no one brushed up against anyone else. The room’s reddish glow came from a candelabra on a nearby shelf, and the air hung thick with cedar incense.
Jana coughed into her hand and took side glances at the five others. Duvan, whose laughter burst out at the oddest moments; Metrie, whose face was as pale as the ivory cloth that covered the table; Tartas, who kept shifting among her multiple forms so that Jana wasn’t exactly sure who she was at any moment, and two others, whose names and peculiarities she couldn’t recall.
“This meeting, on Allhallows Eve, marks the time of year when we can at last show our true faces,” Metrie intoned, her voice just above a whisper. Somewhere in the darkened room came the slow ticking of a clock. “Place both your hands on the table, and please remain silent.”
Palms down, Jana let her gaze rove, careful not to engage with anyone. She had heard that one of the five—four, if she didn’t count Metrie, the leader—was a transformed cryptid. More precisely, the Pocono Polecat. Research had pointed her to this Pennsylvania gathering, on this night, when transformers slipped however briefly into their original shape.
A tiny camera, attached as a bead to her necklace, would capture the change when it happened. She hoped. Then she’d have the proof needed for the article she was writing for The Cryptozoologist.
Metrie recited a prayer in an ancient language filled with hard glottal stops and velar clicks. A breath exhaled through the room, bringing with it a rank smell that wrinkled Jana’s nose.
Polecat.
The seat where the black-haired woman wrapped in a white shawl had been sitting was now filled with a human-sized black-furred mammal, a thin white stripe down its nose. It laid its two long, sharp claws on the table.
“Welcome, Shkak,” Metrie said, in English. Duvan exploded in laughter, and Tartas blinked through three form changes in as many seconds. The sixth person at the table, the one with close-cropped hair the color of burnt leaves, collapsed off their chair with a moan.
Jana felt her necklace, rubbing a finger next to the embedded camera, hoping it had recorded what she needed. In response, Shkak bared her teeth at Jana, who gasped. The stomach-turning stench overwhelmed the smoke of the cedar incense.
“You’re real,” Jana croaked, trying and failing to hold her breath. Duvan and Tartas fled the room.
“Of course, she’s real,” Metrie scoffed. She held a lace handkerchief over her nose. “Be careful what you ask for.”
A low-pitched rumble vibrated the table as Shkak stared at Jana. It had to be a growl. The polecat’s claws tore through the table covering, making long slashes.
Covering her mouth and nose with her hands, Jana dropped her gaze. “I’m so glad to meet you … as yourself.” Taking a breath and holding it, she dug out her cell phone, opened her camera app, and turned to Metrie. “Can you snap a photo of the two of us?”
Shkak rose to her full height.
Metrie smiled and put her hand out to take the phone. “Be glad to.” She added, “You do realize that polecats are omnivores, not herbivores, right?”
Read More of Dianna’s Stories
Tracy Reed: Our October Featured Author
October 28, 2025 by marianne h donley in category Apples & Oranges by Marianne H. Donley, Featured Author of the Month tagged as Beautiful Men, fashion, Sophisticated Romance, the Big Apple, Tracy Reed
Tracy Reed: Our October Featured Author
A California native, novelist Tracy Reed pushes the boundaries of her Christian foundation with her sometimes racy and often fiery tales.
After years of living in the Big Apple, this self proclaimed New Yorker draws from the city’s imagination, intrigue, and inspiration to cultivate characters and plot lines who breathe life to the words on every page.
Tracy’s passion for beautiful fashion and beautiful men direct her vivid creative power towards not only novels, but short stories, poetry, and podcasts. With something for every attention span.
Tracy Reed’s ability to capture an audience is unmatched. Her body of work has been described as a host of stimulating adventures and invigorating expression.
Find Tracy on Social Media
Books by Tracy Reed
Haiga by Neetu
October 26, 2025 by Neetu Malik in category Poet's Day by Neetu Malik tagged as haiga, images, Neetu, poetry
Haiga by Neetu
Some of Neetu’s Books
Featured Books
NISHA’S JUST RIGHT CHRISTMAS TREE
Wide like an elephant and tall like a camel. That would be the perfect Christmas tree.
More info →
