Essay By Tom Sheehan: A Salutation to Saugus, Embassy of the 2nd Muse

 Sheehan has 28 Pushcart nominations. In the Garden of Long Shadows and The Nations (Native American fiction collection) were recently published by Pocol Press with solid reviews in Serving House Journal. Now in the Pocol production cycle are Where Skies Grow Wide, Cross Trails, Between Mountain and River and The Cowboys, the last five titles from Pocol Press are all western short story collections. In addition, a new collection, Sons of Guns, Inc. was just released (print and eBook) by Nazar Look Books in Romania and is on Amazon.

Essay By Kathryn Streeter: What Shakespeare Taught Me About Family

 Kathryn Streeter’s writing has appeared in publications including Mamalode, BLUNTmoms, elephant journal and CSMonitor. The Briar Cliff Review, Volume 26 includes Streeter’s essay, a finalist in their Creative Nonfiction Contest. Connect with Kathryn on her website or on Twitter @streeterkathryn.

 In January, our family left our charming Mass Ave condo in Indianapolis and now reside in Austin, Texas.

A Novel Excerpt By Author A.D. Ellis: Decker

About the Author

A.D. Ellis is the author of A Torey Hope Novel Series and a new series titled Torey Hope: The Later Years. Her 2014 debut novel, For Nicky, was voted #3 of the Top 50 Indie Books of 2014 by ReadFree.ly readers/voters. She is a member of the Romance Writers of America and the Indiana Romance Writers of America.

Fiction By Liz Flaherty: Roll Back The Clouds

About The Author

I'm Liz Flaherty. I live in the cornfields of Indiana with my husband of—gasp—40 years and I write romance. The genre has changed over the years, as I have, and my writing feels more like Women's Fiction to me than straight romance, but the truth is I always have a heroine, a hero, and a happy ending. When I'm not writing, I sew, making quilts for my grandkids, the Magnificent Seven.

Liz is a multi-published author with Harlequin, The Wild

Rose Press and Carina Press. 

Visit Liz on the web here.

Check out Liz's books here.

Fiction By Jason Constantine Ford: A Choice Between Two Rivals

Jason Constantine Ford is from Perth in W.A, Australia. He works at a book shop and has over ninety publications of poetry and fiction in various literary magazine, ezines and journals from around the world. Edgar Alan Poe and William Blake are his main influences. 

Fiction By Sharon R. Hill: Life in Silhouette

Life in Silhouette

"You'll never amount to anything anyway." her father told Patsy when she was just six years old. She’d been told he was drunk, but she was too young to understand what that meant. Patsy regretted allowing herself to be noticed by him and yearned to instantly return to her solitary life as a shadow, or a mere silhouette, in the life of her father, Max Willett. Her pint-sized physical frame absorbed the callous delivery of each word and the intended fear and shame.

Flash Fiction By Belinda Hubert: Paul

In addition to writing fiction and poetry, Belinda Hubert is currently working on a novel, titled Shrink Wrapped and a collection of short stories about life in the Midwest. She works as a clinical psychologist in a private practice in Lowell, Indiana. Belinda is a frequent contributor to Indiana Voice Journal.
http://buelasprairiepractice.blogspot.com/

Fiction By Jim Kjeldsen: The Giant Gila Monster

M.J. Kjeldsen writes under the name Marvin Redblood. He is author of the non-fiction book THE MOUNTAINEERS: A HISTORY and the fiction book A FLASH ON THE RIVER, as well as numerous novels and short stories. He lives with his we-wife and dog in Red Wing, Minnesota.

Fiction By Alex Mantel: An Apologia For Boarding School

Alex grew up in New York City and attended University of Virginia's Young Writer's Workshop. He has been previously published in the Winter Poetry Anthology of Jaded Ibis Press.

Fiction By Sunil Kumar Poudyal: Hardship

Sunil Kumar Poudyal is a poet, writer and journalist from Nepal (Country of Mt. Everest-South Asia).

Hardship

 

It was the middle of the first month of fall drizzling outside with a gentle breeze. The leaves of some trees had slowly started to change their color.  Squirrels were not busy jumping, playing and collecting nuts. They were hiding somewhere. Few birds were seen in the sky. Suddenly an idea clicked in my mind. I wanted to eat meat.

Fiction By Charles E.J. Moulton: Leaf In The Wind

Previously published pieces of mine have been published in Skirmish, Socrates, Aphelion, The Woven Tale Press, Idea Gems, SNM Magazine, TWJ Magazine, Shadows Express, 365 Tomorrows, Shadows Express, Redhead Magazine, Aquarius Atlanta, Vocal Images, Cover of Darkness and CLR India. I am the Chorus Master of a Chorus in Germany, a big band vocalist, an operatic baritone and an exhibited artistic painter.
 

Homepages: http://www.reverbnation.com/charlesejmoulton/ 

http://about.me/cmoulton

Fiction By BB Riefner: A Brush With Reality In The Key Of B-Flat Minor

 B. B. Riefner wrote with chalk on blackboards; then, with a 1918 typewriter on tailgates and picnic tables in South America, Europe and Africa.  Today he and his wife live near Washington D.C. with a canine muse and a computer which must be fed daily.

www.bbriefner.com 

www.travelswiththebear.blogspot.com

Fiction By Barbara Kinsey Sable: He Made Me Laugh

Barbara Kinsey Sable: Retired professor from the University of Colorado, College of Music. I have published many academic articles including a text book: The Vocal Sound, poetry over many years and short stories.

Fiction By Steve Slavin: The Wedding Date

A recovering economics professor, Steve Slavin earns a living writing math and economics books.

 

The Wedding Date       

Diane is one of my best friends. We hang out, talk on the phone, go out to dinner occasionally, but that’s it. So don’t go getting any ideas. Yeah, she’s very attractive, smart, a lot of fun to be with, but we always been and always will be strictly platonic.

#ThanksDave and Happy Retirement David Letterman

"The Kings" A Poem By Blues Guitarist DB Cox In Honor Of BB King

Legendary Blues Guitarist BB King

the kings

there’s a decaying piano

in “the graveyard bar”

that nobody plays

whenever i feel

like i’m starting

to disappear

into the chorus

of gray-faced patrons

mumbling conspiracy claims

into their beer

i wander over

to the keyboard

& bend my ear

toward the strings

INDIANA VOICE JOURNAL MAY 2015 ISSUE #10

Anna Pavlova as a Bacchante,  by John Lavery 1911 PD

 Grit and Grace. I am captivated by the emotional depth, strength, and honesty expressed in the thirty-two features embedded in this issue of Indiana Voice Journal. The stories, poems, and artwork, all created by women, add to the richness with which we can explore our inner lives, our fears, our faith, our connectedness. As storytellers, and as women, we've been given a great gift and an even greater responsibility. To teach, nurture, heal, protect, and love. To touch hearts, to change lives, and to stand united against social and cultural injustices in our societies, circles, families, and tribes.
 

I deeply regret not being able to use every piece submitted for this issue, mostly because of space requirements, but keep singing. Keep submitting. Keep telling your stories...♥

~Janine Pickett, Editor
 

“There’s no greater agony than carrying around an untold story inside yourself.”
— Maya Angelou

FEATURED CONTENT:

POETRY

Prerna Bakshi: Three poems, "A Tale Of Round Rotis "

Elizabeth Brooks: "You may applaud now!"

Cara Losier Chanoine:  Three Poems, “Elegy for Boots”

Kika Dorsey: Three poems, "Yggdrasil"
  
Lubaba Faisal: "The Mirror Play"

Krista Genevieve Farris: Three Poems, "First Grade Secret Santa Gift from a Boy I Might Have Loved"

Allison Grayhurst: Three Poems, "Crystal dark"

Belinda Hubert: Four Poems, "Easy Mom"

Christina Johnson: Three Poems, "The Soul"

Becca Lamarre: Three Poems, "Every Time I Push Through a Door"

Jessica Wiseman Lawrence:  Three Poems, "Lie"

Sylvia McCullough: Three Poems, "The Deer"

Carol Moon: "A Kiss That Surpasses All Understanding"

E.F. Schraeder: Three Poems, "Creative Thought"

Cecilia Soprano: Two Poems, "The Rocking Horse"

Lisa Strohl: "A Secret Love Poem"

Sarah Thursday: Three Poems, "What I Mean When I Say Run"

Rachel Watson: Three Poems, “Dinah’s Dream”

Hiromi Yoshida: Three Poems, "Last Supper in Terre Haute"

FICTION/FLASH 

Judy Beaston:  "Selfies With Willa"

Elizabeth Challinor:  "Seasons" and "A Tale From Inside"

DH Hanni: "Training Day"

Gwendolyn Kiste: "Violet The Baker"

Carolyn Smuts: "Thirty Years Gone"

Carroll Susco: "Jane Seymour (Henry VIII’s wife, not the actress)"

Doni York: "The Sunflower Artist"

A NOVEL EXCERPT

Patty Fischer: A Novel Excerpt  "Insect Politics" 

CREATIVE NONFICTION/ESSAYS

J.C. Elkin:  Memoir "Encore"

Nancy Lane: Essay "My Mother's Crown"

Amanda Noble: CNF "Kasamas"

Michelle Reinhold: CNF "You Hope"

Carol Smallwood: Essay "Old Black and White Films"

Cecilia Soprano: Nonfiction & Visual Art  "Lincoln The Crow"

~Scroll down to browse~

Prerna Bakshi: Three poems, including, "A Tale Of Round Rotis "

Prerna Bakshi is a sociolinguist, research scholar and writer of Indian origin, currently based in Macao. She has contributed essays and articles to a variety of publications including The Hindu, CounterCurrents, Amar Ujala, and Desh Bandhu to name a few. Her poetry has been published in Linden Avenue Literary Journal, Indiana Voice Journal, Red Fez, peer reviewed journals such as Muse India, Postcolonial Text and is forthcoming in Hysteria, Grey Sparrow Journal, and several publications.  

She could be reached at: [email protected] or found on Twitter: @bprerna

Elizabeth Brooks: "You may applaud now!"

Elizabeth Brooks is originally from Trinidad and Tobago. She is a lover of life, family, friends, a good book and lots of laughter. 

Cara Losier Chanoine: Three Poems, Including, “Elegy for Boots”

Cara Losier Chanoine is a poet, fiction writer, and teacher from New England. She is a four-time competitor in the National Poetry Slam, and her first collection of poems was released by Scars Publications in 2013.  You can visit her website at www.carachanoine.wordpress.com.