Three Poems By Tom Sheehan: For One Woman Raised on High (haibun) (or Love behind the Door)

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 (see 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.

A Poem By Jorge Vazquez Jr: We Are Defined By Our Shadows

I'm a Mexican American amateur writer/poet with the dream of being professionally published. I come from the small town of Whiting, IN in between Chicago, IL and Gary, IN. Through the help of my high school librarian, Jean Lovasko, I have been published by small publishers and I have received an honorable mention award for the Art & Writing contest of the 2013 year. Even if I never become as well known as J.K. Rowling, Stephen King, or George R.R. Martin, I plan on writing for as long as I can. ~Jorge Vazquez Jr.

Three Poems By Dr. Mel Waldman: My Father, Tell Me about the Afterlife

Dr. Mel Waldman is a psychologist, poet, and writer. He is a past winner of the literary GRADIVA AWARD in Psychoanalysis and was nominated for a PUSHCART PRIZE in literature. He is the author of 11 books.

Essay By Raymond Greiner: Falling Back To Butterflies

Raymond Greiner's writings include short stories and essays published frequently in various literary journals and magazines:  Branches magazine, La Joie Journal, Literary Yard Journal, Nib Magazine, Canary Literary Journal, Bellesprit Magazine, Freedom Journal, Grace Notes Literary Magazine. His book, a collection of fiction and nonfiction essays titled Hinterland Journal was recently published by Outskirts Press. Raymond lives in a remote area of southern Indiana in a cabin far off a lightly traveled road with his two dogs Orion and Venus. He is a frequent contributor to Indiana Voice Journal.

CNF By James Lawless: B-Boys In Milan, Italy

James Lawless, a north American English teacher, is a former co-editor of an underground college newspaper, a history graduate from a foreign university and a published author. He's currently living near Milan Italy.

"TOPROCK"

B-BOYS IN MILAN ITALY
By James Lawless


MAKE US HAPPY

  Breakers in Italy, like breakers all over the world, don't want to be called break dancers. "That's a media term; we're B-boys!," A breaker told me in the street near Duomo Square in Milan.

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.

Kika Dorsey: Three poems, including, "Yggdrasil"

Kika Dorsey grew up in South Bend, Indiana, and now resides in Boulder, Colorado. Her poetry has been published in numerous journals, and her chapbook, Beside Herself, was published by Flutter Press in 2010. Her book, Rust, is coming out next year with Word Tech Editions. 

Follow this link to read a recent poem published in the Dr. T.J. Eckleburg Review, "In Berlin":

http://thedoctortjeckleburgreview.com/product/poetry-in-berlin/

Lubaba Faisal: "The Mirror Play"

I can describe my self as an author by passion, just grabbed my pen and decided to become a writer. I have graduated from engineering faculty but never felt as an engineer sometimes I wonder why did I pick that major. So I decided to turn back the time because it's never too late. That's how I became a writer. My only published work is on my blog but I am currently sending to different magazines.

 https://thatvoicewithinme.wordpress.com/

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

Krista Genevieve Farris grew up a Hoosier, but now lives in Virginia’s Shenandoah Valley with her husband and three sons. She has an MA in Anthropology from Indiana University and a BA in English and Anthropology from Albion College.  

Links to her recent writing can be found at her writer’s website https://kristagenevievefarris.wordpress.com/ .

Allison Grayhurst: Three Poems, "Crystal dark"

 

Allison Grayhurst is a member of the League of Canadian Poets. She has over 450 poems published in international journals and anthologies. She has eleven published books of poetry and five collections, as well as six chapbooks and one e-chapbook;  www.allisongrayhurst.com   

Belinda Hubert: Four Poems, "Easy Mom"

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/

Christina Johnson: Three Poems, "The Soul"

Christina A. Johnson is an author living and writing in southern New Hampshire. She explores in her poetry themes of identity, alienation, and relationship.

Link to Website:

http://www.amazon.com/-/e/B00JRDFE70

 

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

Becca Lamarre grew up in Terre Haute, Indiana, and still grows nostalgic for the town's many railroad crossings and the distinct smell of it's paper mills. She holds a MA in Higher Education and a BS in Psychology from Ball State University and her fascination with human behavior and motivations strongly influences her writing. She currently lives in Chicago with her family where she is working on her first full-length poetry collection. A sample of her work is forthcoming in Poetry Pacific.

Jessica Wiseman Lawrence: Three Poems, "Lie"

Jessica Wiseman Lawrence lives in rural central Virginia. She has had work published in Silver Birch Press, and has poetry currently upcoming in Hermeneutic Chaos Literary Journal and The Activity Report. Her work focuses on relationships, motherhood, poverty, and nature through examinations of a central image or thought. She also has an interest in earth science and biology. 

Sylvia McCullough: Three Poems, "The Deer"

I am recently retired to the Traverse City area after an eclectic career of part time teaching, antiques dealing, and volunteering with the homeless in Phoenix, Arizona.  I have been married to a wonderful man for the past thirty-seven years, am an avid gardener, amateur photographer, great cook, and reader and writer of poetry. 

Carol Moon: "A Kiss That Surpasses All Understanding"

Carol Moon is a librarian and instructor of German at Saint Leo University. In her spare time, she studies creative writing, and hopes to do a doctorate in Poetry some day soon!

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

E.F. Schraeder's creative work has appeared in a number of journals and anthologies including Voluted Tales, Hoax, Haz Mat Review, Lavender Review, Corvus Magazine, Carnival of the Damned, and others. Author of a poetry chapbook, The Hunger Tree, Schraeder studied the humanities in graduate school and has an interdisciplinary Ph.D.  Find more online at www.efschraeder.com 

 

Cecilia Soprano: Two Poems, "The Rocking Horse"

Cecilia Soprano lives in Westchester County and makes her living as an organic gardener and artist.   Her poems and artwork have been published in La Joie magazine and UC at Santa Barbara among others.  Her artwork is often featured on the covers of Inner Directions magazine.

She is a member of the Greenwich Art Society and the Katonah Museum Art Association.  She has published three small books and has had several one woman art exhibits.  Her love of nature and gardening provides the space for uninterrupted inspiration.  Her intention is to make images and words that describe beauty and uplift the human spirit.   My art is about making the simple sacred and the ordinary extra-ordinary.  

"The reason why we exist is to remember why we exist and to realize our interconnectedness with all things."    WEBSITE:  www.Amichiart.com or CeciliaSoprano.com

Lisa Strohl: "A Secret Love Poem"

Lisa is a new graduate from Purdue University Calumet with a BA in Arts (Spanish International Studies). She is just getting her life started and writing is something she loves to do.

 

www.linkedin.com/in/lisamariestrohl11

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

Sarah Thursday is a advocate of local poetry, runs a Long Beach-focused poetry website called CadenceCollective.net, co-hosts a monthly reading and started Sadie Girl Press. Her first full-length poetry collection, All the Tiny Anchors, is available now. 

Find and follow her on SarahThursday.com, Facebook (FB/SarahThursdaypoet), or Twitter @thursdaypoet.

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

I am a blogger at RachelEWatson.com, and writer of poetry, fiction, and essays; I draw inspiration from my formative years spent in rural mid-Michigan, my evangelical Christian upbringing, and my current life in downtown Grand Rapids, Michigan, where I live with my husband and two rowdy cats.

My nonfiction work has been published in Campus Voices: A Student-to-Student Guide to College Living, Feathers & Leaves 2009: A Publication of the Cornerstone University English Society, and The Greenville Daily News in Greenville, Michigan.

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

Hiromi Yoshida is a winner of multiple Indiana University Writers' Conference awards. Her poems have appeared or are forthcoming in Clockwise Cat, Work Literary Magazine, The Rain, Party, & Disaster Society, Borderline, Evergreen Review, Bathtub Gin, Flying Island, and the Matrix anthologies of literary and visual arts.

Judy Beaston: "Selfies With Willa"

Judy Beaston lives in northwest Oregon where the weather and people suit her muse. She enjoys the challenge of flash fiction, weaving layers of experience between and behind the story told.

Her flash stories have appeared at WritersType, WOW-Women on Writing and The Writers' Mill Journal.

Blog - judybnotes.blogspot.com

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

Writing is both a passion and profession for Elizabeth Challinor who works as an anthropologist, with a special interest in Cape Verde. She is also co-editor and writer on an internet site called PopAnth which writes popular anthropology for everyone. You may see her articles here: http://popanth.com/people/elizabeth-p-challinor/



 

DH Hanni: "Training Day"

DH Hanni has been published in online magazines such Hidden Animals, the Copperfield Review, and the Bethlehem Writers Roundtable. Her work has also appeared in print in LocoThology 2013: Tales of Fantasy and Science Fiction anthology and in the upcoming First Contact Café anthology. Currently she resides in South Carolina. You can find DH Hanni at dhhanni.net or on Facebook. 

Gwendolyn Kiste: "Violet The Baker"

Gwendolyn Kiste is a horror and fantasy writer based in Pennsylvania. Her fiction has appeared or is forthcoming in numerous publications including LampLight, Danse Macabre, Electric Spec, 99 Pine Street, and Saturday Night Reader.

Her short fiction story "Tingo" can be found in the April issue of IVJ.

You can find her at www.gwendolynkiste.com and on Twitter (@GwendolynKiste).

Carolyn Smuts: "Thirty Years Gone"

Freelance writer Carolyn Smuts taught history at the college level before fleeing academic life to write fiction. Her work has been featured in SELF, Glamour, Creative Living, Ultimate Motorcycling, and Business Week. Her most recent fiction works were published by Akashic Books, Omnific, and Jitter Press. She lives in Los Angeles.

https://www.facebook.com/writtenandrewritten

http://carolynsmuts.com/