Welcome to volume eighteen my Literature series, The Ladies of Lit!
The premise here is simple. Below you will find an assortment of Literature features from a selection of female deviants here on DeviantART, all of them suggested by you. In this article, you will also find a variety of other things of interest, including:
This article’s deviant spotlight: featuring the talented linaket. She has offered to answer a few questions as well, to tell us a bit about what inspires her writing and which piece in particular she favors. Additional information about our upcoming events, including a special critique Q and A session in our official TheLadiesofLit chatroom. And we also have a selection of other interesting Literature news links to share with you. Our “meet our contributors” section. Be sure to note me if you would like to volunteer your services or offer additional suggestions as to how to improve this series. We also have a new series format for this news article, due to recent DeviantART website changes. Deviants are still able to 
this journal, so please take a moment to do so, to continue to show your support for our devious writers.Now – On With the Features!
xthe-eleanorx
Dear MeHe might not wear a ring.
I am the WriterI am a protagonist,
An antagonist,
A minor supporting character
I am the investigator,
The liberator,
The prophetic narrator
I am your hero
Your villain,
Your forgotten sidekick
The creator,
The destroyer,
I am the writer
The LetterShe was sitting nervously at a small table when pulled the cap of the pen off with her teeth and began to write.
I don't know who will read this, but I know that it won't be you. I don't know what I want, but I did wish to tell you that I am leaving. I don't know how long and I am not going to tell you where. I'm very indecisive, don't you remember? I suppose that hasn't changed, perhaps it never will. All I am going to say is that it's far, far away from here, from you, from us. I don't need to "escape" anything but myself— it's terrifying seeing it written out like that.
I do miss you, more than I ever thought possible. I never got
Suggested by: SadisticIceCream
“xthe-eleanorx is a great emerging writer to watch because she already has the ability to imbue powerful emotions in the smallest details. I can't wait to see what she comes up with next.”
DottieOnTheMoon
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FingersTwo-inch long extension cords
With universes between them.
And they are young,
But they've tapped age,
Scraped weariness,
Slid their tongues across antiquity
With an ease my heart –
And my eyes –
Have always envied.
They are
The reaped and the rare.
I varnish them in paint and metal,
My swans draped in tar,
So that they dance
In beautiful despair.
Yet
Between the stretches of scar tissue
And frequent scabs
Come notes of music,
Gestures of humility,
Actions of grace;
A rising concerto of self-preservation.
My motley crew.
My winsome folk.
I do believe you are the heroes
At the journey's end.
Suggested by: dreamsinstatic
“Victoria is a remarkable writer whose work becomes more stronger and more profound with each new piece she scribes.”
Suggested by: Cassildra
“Her turns of phrase make me shudder with feeling, and her use of alliteration is brilliant. She uses language in ways that make me breathlessly jealous, and I am praying that some day, I will be half as inventive as this young lady.”
QuiEstInLiteris
The Melting PotThey sat me down on Easter morning
and said that I had to see
the dry-old-man-skin cracked photograph
in shades of fawn and taupe,
smiling faces, waterpaint pink, and blue eyes
over Polish noses, crinkled, laughing.
"He died in the woods."
Katyn (morning fog, red spray, small calibre).
"She died in the fires."
Warszawa (breaking bones, crumbled churches, yellow stars).
"They starved, alone."
Children in the shattering night (a crystal night, sounds so nice).
One blunt finger comes to rest
on a pretty face with a quiet mouth,
one I saw once beneath oxygen tubes
and crepe skin, still able to smile at ninety-eight years.
Hush-shu
Swordmaiden of the Moor - 11: The Solstice Child
The winter came early, the year I was born.
~
A shrieking north wind raked the moor with bitter talons, driving the snow before it in lances of stinging ice. It lowered the sky in iron-grey clouds, their billows cloaking the moon, and flayed the gorse and the dead brown sedges, riming the world with milky hoarfrost. The mud and sucking sands froze hard, their customary treachery exchanged for the new danger of slippery ice for the duration of the winter. Moor ponies slid and broke their legs, slipped through the ice into the wintry water beneath and died in the teeth of the gale. The cleverer of the fowls and beasts,
Of treesDeep ghost-groves of freckled aspen
burn white beneath the winter sun,
whisper hoary adulation,
canticles for the Holy One.
And in the trees, the spirits dance
betwixt the motes of starry snow
illuminated by the lance
of lightning flash and candle glow.
All lights within this place combine,
reflect in splendour, white on white,
and mingle in a trance sublime
that breathes in peace through winter night.
The lofty heads of stately pine
rear up and brush the lowered sky
as if they could, by straightened spine,
so please the God who built them high.
Their incense needles, fragrant, fall
in silence to the chapel floor
and still a
Suggested by: LadyofGaerdon
“QuiEstInLiteris is an incredibly gifted, multi-talented writer. She flits effortlessly bewteen free verse, rhyming poetry, high fantasy prose and more, and imbues all with her own engaging, signature style.”
aprilwednesday
wanderlust she was a s e v e n t e e n year old girl from nowhere [or was it everywhere?] with dark hair and long eyelashes and skin that was always pale white. when she was young she played in the poppy fields of greece and when she got older her tongue started yearning to speak italian and russian so that she could travel to other far off places.
she was born on a friday between two ice storms, and the first word she ever heard was b e a u t y. her mama told her that when she first opened her dark blue eyes, her pupil was surrounded by a ring of pure white. the blue stayed but the white turned to green [and from then
a bloodstained sort of love his tears dripped into jasmine tea, while
the stench of hopelessness permeated
his mind
and the rainy breeze blew gently through the window
and the voices in his head whispered that
real men never cry
but he couldn't stop
because everything he'd ever wanted was bleeding to death
under the table
and he could hear the sirens coming for him.
mornings sunday.
the croissant crumbles in my fingers
buttery flakes drift towards mismatched
china
and your lips are stained with
strawberry jam.
monday.
sleep clings to your eyes
like a shadow
and i watch you breathe, while
i trace your collarbone with
tired fingers.
tuesday.
we wake before the alarm
and count how many times the
neighbor's dog barks
before she finally lets him in.
your soft laugh blends perfectly into
the early morning sun.
wednesday.
your fingers trace the curve
of my spine
the old window rattles
in the wind
and i press my cold toes against your leg.
thursday.
half asleep
i mumble how the faded, flower
Suggested by: SilverInkblot
“aprilwednesday has a fantastic style, lending heaps of magic to everyday moments.”
My Spotlight Deviant:
linaket
LW 00: Shadow Heart“Only the dead have seen the end of war.” –George Santayanna
No one knows why the wars started. Or when. Or why. Just that they are.
I have been to every part of this universe. My feet have made the ice fields of Ilazki sing. I have felt the burn of the sun on Chromandae. I have spilled blood in the arena of Gegenes and washed my hands in the seas of Icaunus. I have haggled with traders in the bazaar on Adur and felt the thrum of the steam engine trains on Atarrabi. I have even stood on the steps of the Academy of Lugos and heard the hum of the electrified defenses mingle with the quiet chorus of night city so
Katelin’s amazing ability to bring her writing to vivid life is just one of the many reasons to read her work. She breathes a fresh perspective into everything she pins and tells her story in an unforgettable way. She also pays close attention to several beautiful visual details, as they add a remarkable depth to her writing.
She has also taken a few moments to share some of her own insights as a writer. I asked her a few questions:
Why do you write?I don't know how to not write. Writing is and probably always will be a defining aspect of who I am.
Your journal DA Lit: Who We Are has inspired several deviants old and new. In what ways do you think your suggestions and those of others have impacted the Literature community as a whole?I'm not exactly sure how my suggestions have impacted the community. I have to say that I only found the "movers and shakers" after I posted that journal. I would like to think that it inspired people to always represent the community in a manner that demands respect. I don't know if maybe I just hadn't noticed them before because I didn't have my eyes on the right people, but I also think I've seen a rise in intelligent, thought provoking editorials and discussions in regards to literature and the community as a whole. I like the fact that the Literature community sets an example for the tone that should be used to address major issues. We of all people understand the power of our words, and I guess, overall, we're beginning to exercise that power when needed.
That being said, there are so many others that deserve better thanks for impacting the community as a whole. Everyone that puts together weekly news articles and features, people that run groups, and even those who just comment and critique the works of others. There isn't one person that can be pointed at for making a change. That's the work of many. I wrote a journal, yes, but it was everyone that linked it, shared it, commented on it, and invoked discussion that made the impact. One person can speak, but that's nothing without others standing behind the words.
What things in your life aside from DeviantART keep you connected to your writing?I guess you would say that I eat, sleep, and breathe writing. I'm a graduate assistant at my University and working on my Masters in English (concentration of Creative Writing, of course) so I attend classes, conferences, workshops, and read constantly. My job is working in my University's Writing Center as a tutor teaching others how to write. When I'm not at school, I'm playing with my daughter and making up stories for her, or listening to her stories, or reading her stories. I'm constantly narrating the things that happen around me in my head, and on my hour long commute to campus and back I'm always turning over plot points or character scenes or giggling about something that someone said in my novel. And when I have free time I'm on DeviantArt or working on my own writing. (Actually, I'm on DeviantArt all day. I think I check my messages every hour.) Frankly, it would be nice if something would disconnect me from writing every now and then!
This might sound ideal to some people, but it really starts to wear you thin after a while. Especially reading and studying so much literature, it makes me wonder why I even bother because I'll never be as good as the people who wrote those books. It makes you more... disillusioned about what goes in to writing, and how much work is put into it. But it helps to know what you're getting in to, and it's also nice to have all of my fellow Graduate Student friends that are going through the same thing around. We prop each other up when needed, and knock each other down if the situation calls for it, too. We talk each other through nervous breakdowns and out of book flinging and table-flipping. I really wouldn't trade it for anything, even with all the stress, because I feel for once in my life as if I'm doing the right thing for me, not the right thing for someone else.
What motivates you to share your writing on DeviantART?The stress relief! I find it intimidating sharing my writing with people I'm in school with because I always think that everyone out there is so much better than me. I think the anonymity, the ability to hide behind the screen, helps me to get my work out. Then, when people like it, it's like a breath of fresh air. It feels like everything is worth it. And that's all I need to go on, really, just one person that loves what I do. I've never believed that I could change the entire world, but if I could just change one person, or lighten one person's day, or spark one person's imagination, then I feel as if I've succeeded.
Which piece featured is your favorite and why? Lifrasir Wars, it's really all that I've been thinking and dreaming about since I began writing it last April. My brain is trapped by it, and I've got a bad case of Stockholms. I'm using the novel as a space to explore one of my favorite themes, which is identity. What and who defines us, and what it takes to be a complete person.
linaket will also be joining us in the our TheLadiesofLit chatroom for a special critiquing session for her wonderful literary work. If there are any critiquing tips you would like to offer her toward any deviations that you have seen featured here today or others that interest you – this is the place to be on February 18th at 9:00 pm EST! (What time is this for me?) And as an extra incentive: for those of who offer linaket the best critiques, there will be a few extra goodies in store for you, so don’t miss out!
Meet Our Contributors:
I want to express my gratitude toward everyone for all of the ongoing support of this project. I duly hope to see even more suggestions in the future. Also – those of you who did not see your deviations selected and posted in this article, they may be featured on the next one. We will have plenty of upcoming deviants to spotlight in the future. If you would like to be one of those, or to suggest others, feel free to note me and be sure to tell me what you love most about them and why these writers appeals to you. Do not be shy – get involved! The more suggestions I receive, the more writers that get featured. For now, check out our volunteers who sent in their features and offered assistance, and don’t forget to thank them!
Our Wonderful Suggesters and Volunteers SadisticIceCream
dreamsinstatic
Cassildra
LadyofGaerdon
SilverInkblot
linaket
WorldWar-Tori
If this article interests you, be sure to check these out! LadyLincoln’s previous issues of The Ladies of Lit. I, II, III, IV, V, VI, VII, VIII,IX,X,XI, XII, XIII, XIV,XV, XVI and XVII
LadyLincoln’s 30 Writers You Should Discover: Volume VII
The Literature Community Volunteer’s January Literature DD’s
DailyLitDeviations’ Daily Lit Deviations for February 7th
dreamsinstatic’s Friday Night Features: XXXIII
SixWordStories’ #SixWordStories Showcase: January 9 – January 23
LiliWrites’s January Solution Sanctuary: Part I, Part II and Part III
Yours,
LadyLincoln
