Hi All! As always, for those of you who have been with me for a while, welcome back! And for those of you here for the first time, welcome! I'm so happy you're all here!

Like many of you, I listen to podcasts. Last year, I finally found a podcast that I absolute love - Literary Disco. It is three very literary-minded people who read books and talk about them. Yes, it’s that simple, and yes, it’s amazing.

I am in the process of listening to all of the episodes from the beginning, which will take a while since the podcast is over 6 years old. In an episode I listened to recently (Episode 18, originally aired December 3, 2012), the main topic of discussion was Object Lessons: The Paris Review Presents the Art of the Short Story , a short story anthology. What I found interesting was that one of the trio was talking about how dissatisfied he was when it came to short stories, that they almost always had disappointing endings, and that short stories were simply a medium of literature that did nothing for him.

I have to say, I disagree. At issue was the fact that the podcaster felt that short stories weren’t stories, and from what I understood, felt they most often were incomplete. To the latter point, I actually do agree. Short stories are short, and often don’t tell a full story. One of the other podcasters made the comparison that short stories were sort of like art, that you look at it and have an interpretation of an artist’s moment in time. I think this is close, but I would say short stories are more like photographs, a literal snapshot in time. In my opinion, that’s what makes short stores great. They are snapshots in time, part of a greater narrative that we aren’t meant to know.

In yet an earlier episode (Episode 7, originally aired June 18, 2012) the group reviewed John Knowles A Separate Peace, a book that I tracked down and read following the podcast. But, while I was waiting for the library to get a copy of the book, I found out that A Separate Peace is based on a short story written earlier by John Knowles, titled Phineas, containted in this collection of John Knowles short stories. I read the short story before I read the full-length novel and here’s what I took from the experience: while both were good, both were very well written and both earned the praise they’ve received over the years, I found that the magic of Phineas was tempered after I read A Separate Peace.

At the end of Phineas, I had questions, I wondered about the characters, I wanted more. It is this magical wondering that makes me feel like I’ve been a part of something special, something singular, and something so fleeting it must be enjoyed, like a fond memory that one would capture in photography. The photo triggers the memory that only very few share with you, making it something exclusive. I believe the short story does the same.

As readers, we are a part of the story; we’re watching and experiencing. In a novel length book, we are there for the whole journey. In short stories, we’re only there for a short time, for a short look, for a quick picture. The reading becomes special and I feel honored to be allowed to view that specific moment in a bigger narrative that the author is choosing not to tell. Reading John Knowles short story, then following up with the novel, sort of cheapened the scarcity, the immediacy, and the magic of that brief and privileged moment.

The ultimate point, a point which another member of the podcast pointed out, is this: if you read a short story expecting a novel experience you will be disappointed and frustrated. If you go in knowing it’s going to be a special snapshot of a larger story, I think there’s a lot of satisfaction and enjoyment to be had, and in the end, a larger and more satisfying reading experience to be savored.

Here's my update for this month:

Since we're talking about short stories, now is a great time to tell you guys that I've taken to reviewing short stories over on my book review blog, Kristine's BRF! As of this newsletter I've received 80+ submissions from writers asking me to read and review their work, and I couldn't be more excited! What started out as a month-long idea will now go until I no longer have short stories to review. If you have something you'd like me to read, please reach out on Twitter, Facebook, my website, or via email.

I am still waiting on the results from The Write Practice’s Summer Short Story Contest. I submitted my story on June 10th and I will likely hear back in the next two weeks or so, but sometimes it takes longer. As soon as I know the results, you'll know!

Editing is ongoing for my work in progress, The Things We Keep From Others. I am more motivated than ever to finish because I've had a character and a premise that were existing as two separate entities coalesce into a coherent story that I'm excited to start working on. Hopefully I'll be able to get started by summer's end, when TTWKFO will be out to beta readers. If you want to be a beta reader, reach out via email or social media and let me know!

Photo for this section courtesy of Aaron Burden via Unsplash.

Ok folks, you know what's next...the Peer Highlight!

I absolutely love reading the responses to my interview questions for each month’s peer highlight. It gives me a very special understanding of my fellow writers, an insight that I do not take for granted. Each interview is a gift, and it brings me so much joy to share it with all of you!

I need a new synonym for excited, but since I don’t have one right now (suggestions welcome!) here it is. I am SO excited and so very privileged to present my good friend Kristi Lowe! She is one of the kindest, wittiest, most hilariously observant, and self-deprecatingly delightful people I’ve ever met!

I met Kristi – you guessed it – at the Writer’s Digest conference last year. I was coming out of my pitch slam and wishing the writers going in after me good luck and she stopped me and asked me if I was the person posting positive things in the Facebook group for the conference (I was). In that moment, we were instant friends!

Kristi has been writing her entire life, beginning as many of us did with a sparkly pink diary, including lock, followed by the spiral bound notebooks favored by angsty teens (her words, not mine), and later evolving to blogging as she entered adulthood, motherhood, and marriagehood (trademark Kristi Lowe). Her first inkling that writing would be in her life in more than just a diarist capacity was in the early 90’s, when broiling oneself in a slather of Crisco and Sun-in was considered normal. Her best friend said the exact words that I can remember a friend saying to me: you should write a book.

Now, in addition to her friends, Kristi’s primary audience is “the woman…praying she doesn’t lose her mind somewhere between folding laundry she washed a week ago, listening to the Pitch Perfect soundtrack coming from Princess’s room for the eleventy-hundredth time this week, and ordering pizza (again!) because she forgot to thaw a roast.”

But Kristi’s writing isn’t exclusive. Drawing on life experiences, she is also able to find the right chord with almost anyone. Her writing often includes themes of struggle, redemption, love, faith, and hope – things almost anyone can relate to. Kristi says, “Everyone walks through difficult seasons, and it seems that’s when we feel most alone. Hope is in short supply these days, you know? I’ve got deep joy these days, but man…I remember the dark [days] all too well. So when I write, whether fiction or non-fiction, I want to laugh and cry with you, and always – always – offer hope.”

In addition to writing, Kristi is also an accomplished real estate agent, helping others buy and sell residential property for nine years. As her successes in business increased, her love of writing grew alongside, and Kristi now has the best of both worlds. When someone asks, she says, “I have one toe I the writing world, and the other in real estate, and I’ll happily do both as long as I can. If I’m forced to choose someday, I will. But until that day comes, I’m going to enjoy both.”

I asked Kristi what she was most proud of accomplishing in her writing career, and her answer may come as a surprise. In 2018, she challenged herself to a year without alcohol. A self-proclaimed heavy drinker, Kristi chronicled her journey as a completely sober person. She says, “What began as a challenge by an albeit hungover woman on New Year’s Day, totally flipped the script on my life. I think there’s something in it for many women.” She’s currently pursuing an agent to represent her and her documented journey as she navigates the publishing world.

Kristi also shared this with me about her journey: “No, I wasn’t an alcoholic. I was a heavy drinker, certainly, but not addicted. I haven’t had a drink in 2019 (and, no, that’s no lie). I don’t know if I’ll ever have a drink again. Maybe, maybe not… But lest you worry…the shenanigans still find me. I just wake up without the hangover now! #winning!”

What shenanigans is she talking about? She laughs and says, “It’s those random hilarious things that ya just can’t make up. Like on the Fourth of July when I lit a firecracker and thought it was about to blow (it wasn’t) so I panicked (like a crazy lady) and ran away so fast I tripped and fell into the drainage ditch. Sober. Totally, completely sober. We were all laughing so hard at my epic fall we almost forgot to watch the firework explode!” Considering that my life is just a series of mishaps in between each time I trip over something (or nothing), it’s no wonder Kristi and I are friends.

One of my questions to everyone who I interview for this section is what the person would like others to know about their life outside of writing. Kristi’s answer is so beautiful that I simply cannot paraphrase it. “I have been married to John for 18 years and we have two children, Meredith (15) and Cameron (13). Those three are, far and away, the greatest gifts ever. We live in West Texas where the cotton grows, dirt blows, and sometimes at night we mistake oil derricks for constellations on the horizon. But man, nobody has sunsets like we do. Open skies where you can see for miles. I love this place and these people.” Anyone want to take a road trip to Kristi’s house with me?

When asked what her mantra is, Kristi goes immediately to a verse in Galatians 5:1: “It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery.” Kristi adds, “I memorized this in 1999, during a particularly challenging season of life (that’s code for, my life was a dumpster fire). I had known and loved Jesus for a long time at that point, but that verse was a nugget of hope that changed the trajectory of my life.”

If nothing else, Kristi is a source of positivity, honesty, and perseverance. Knowing her makes me happy and grateful, and I’m so lucky to get to see her next month! This talented woman’s humor and hope remind me, and I’m certain everyone she comes into contact with, how wonderfully joyful being human is.

You can connect with Kristi on Twitter @KristiGLowe, on Facebook at Kristi Lowe, and by email at KristiGLowe@gmail.com. Her website, www.KristiLowe.com, is currently undergoing a makeover, but is still active and worth checking out as well.

Know someone you'd like featured in the Peer Highlight? Send me a recommendation by clicking here!

When I started doing this newsletter, I knew I wanted to include a section where good was recognized. I wanted to spread kindness, love, and hope as much as I could. So each month I scour the internet to find those stories that are uplifting, heart warming, and enjoyable. This month I found a real doozy!

In a time where most headlines are negative, confrontational, sad, and mean, Mary Latham is on a mission. After discussing with her mother two events in her day - one in which a co-worker related that a person in front of him at a coffee shop purchased $100 worth of coffee for the patrons behind him, the other coverage of the Sandy Hook shooting - Mary's mother suggested she keep focus on the story of kindness. This phone call led to The GrAttitude Project, wherein Mary and a friend would find stories of kindness and love and share them on Facebook.

Disaster struck the week of the launch, though, and Mary found herself in the difficult situation of losing her mother. But Mary refused to surrender to hopelessness and dispair. To honor her mother, Mary set out on a cross-country journey to further seek out acts of kindness of all shapes and sizes around our nation, in her late mother's stickered Subaru. Mary travels on the kindness of strangers, thus giving her More Good mission another layer. So far she's been to 43 states, stayed in 136 homes, and travelled 38,000 miles. She documents her adventures, discoveries, and stories on the internet!

To catch up with Mary and all the good vibes she's documenting and sending into the world, find her at her website More Good Today, on Facebook at More Good Today, on the More Good Today Instagram page, on Twitter @MaryLath, and on Tumblr at moregoodtoday.tumblr.com.

Photo for this section courtesy of Clark Tibbs via Unsplash.

If you have a good news story you’d like me to feature, I’d love to hear about it! Click here to send me a story!