Welcome to volume twenty-seven 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 anapests-and-ink. 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 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!
straybutterflies
love is coming home--i don't write about God.i don't write about God because it's writing about love, it's writing about faith, it's writing about trust and hope and belief and pain, the kind of gut-wrenching betrayal you feel when you've given up and you're waiting for someone to save you, only nobody ever does.and who else are you going to blame?it's easy to write about a God you don't believe in. it's easy to pour out all your hate and anger and hurt and deepest, darkest broken fears and fling them from your fingertips and scream, this is not God! it's easy to believe in nothing.it's not easy to believe. believing is opening yourself to the pain. it's le...
let me believe october--october, you roll in on warm summer breezes and leaves with tips painted brilliant gold. you sweep in on pumpkin-spice promises and dreams of perfect under warm evening rain and tuesdays made of afternoon gold from sunrise to sunset, dreams so breathtaking they steal every tear right off your lashes.october, you're made of memories colored bittersweet by old time. you paint heartbreak right next to hope on the tattered canvas of my heart and whisper words that will pass the same lips only when i close my eyes and listen to your sickeningly soft winds that taunt with a smile.october, you are the magic thirteenth month hidden between the ...
saltwater toes and breakups--i. it took so much courage to write those words down for you, like pulling ink from the very fabric of my soul drop by drop and painting it meticulously across the pristine white pages for you to read, for your heart to splinter and crack. it took so much courage to give you everything i had in seventy six lines and who knows how many words and it took so much strength to close my eyes and hand it to you with quivering fingers, my heart and throat and stomach playing jigsaw pieces in all the wrong places, to write out every feeling i couldn't even speak coherently in two sentences or in twenty. for hours of doubt and chewed fingernails and...
Suggested by: SilverInkblot
“straybutterflies writes some of the most beautiful prose-poetry I've ever come across on dA. Her imagery is magical and often heartwarming.”
Suggested by: beeswingblue
“scatteredwords writes in extraordinary images. Her poetry is both beautifully crafted and emotionally honest.”
KarlyNoelleAbreu
You'll never know, dear."Rachel! I'm awful glad you're here." Mag quickly ushered her in. "I swear it's gettin' darker and darker out there." Rachel shook her head, her hair thick with sweat and flattened with humidity. Mag's old Southern Gothic house was dark, candles lit in only a few rooms. "Dark as it ever is." She said. "Right, right." Mag shut and locked the door. "I swear, lookin' up at the sky all black these days makes me as nervous in as a cat in a room full of rocking chairs." The windows at the end of the hall were boarded up. The room was thick with stuffy, humid air. A slight aroma was on the air. Rachel's empty stomach growled. "There ain't been su...
BreadcrumbsOut of the forest we were so hungry. But inside, the growling started in the pit where we raise our butterflies.Crumbs on the ground, well I ate them up, and still the ache that grows in a foreign womb she hated to carry us when we criedfor breadcrumbs and cakes and houses where the walls were pure sugar because the witch stayed inside, and never showed us her true face.
UndertakenI should have looked for snakes when I went hunting for the dragon And when they dragged me through the streets I saw Saint Agnes holding her branchI was not under it, but saw her eyes, tears lingering, then nothing but pools deep in the earththe roar of the earth swelling in my earsblinking at the creatures, softly sleeping, Father Time's chest rose and fell,and I into that hole, deep in the ground, where rabbits dwell, at least until spring.
Suggested by: SadisticIceCream
“KarlyNoelleAbreu has a talent for touching on the eerie and uncanny without making her writing gimmicky. Both her poetry and her prose are worth a look.”
Shannon-Sweeney
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Suggested by: Jade-Pandora
“Shannon-Sweeney is a talented writer from Ireland. Perusing her gallery, I was able to appreciate how her writing style and expression has evolved, getting a sense of her direction. She has such potential even she may be unaware of it, but I've always had a soft spot for Irish artists; the music, and the writing.”
williamszm
Sonnet XVII: The TreeA tree grows in our courtyard; let it bloom-- Let branches reach to curl around the sun And cast their sooty boughs in shadowed gloom Across the cobblestones. Let light still come To blush a little, warm the cracking bark 'Neath draping leaves, trailed veils across the sky; Let moonlight still imbue the waking dark With dimming flame--until the morn arrives.Then sun glows o'er our courtyard; yet it fades As greenery embowers all the light Entrapping rays within its quiet shade 'Till day and dawn become another night And we can rest upon the stones below And watch the tree, with all its darkness, grow.
EurydiceHis voice enveloped me, and I became Myself again--I heard it in the song: A mordent on a note he held too long; A stutter in his voice. I heard my name In these and felt a happiness the same As when I saw him first. Oh, I had longed To hear him sing again, but this last song-- It was so beautiful. And it remains The best of human works, though none shall hear Its sorrowed notes; the lyre's meand'ring tune Through vast arpeggios and Death's expanse Except the dead. It will not disappear 'Till all the world's destroyed, and hell's exhumed-- Such music must be worth a backwards glance.
I did not save her from the sea.The pond was small, the cattails fair; The algae drew a shining veil Across the waters waiting there For her to come while wandering And stare beyond the dreary pale Expanse of fog and starry glare Upon the pond within the dale Where she had ventured, ponderingThe many dreams she'd had of late Of sandy-shores and broken shells Upon a beach along a strait And of the ocean shimmering She heard the wave's cathedral bells Come crashing with a dreadful weight 'Till she, afraid of violent swells, Could no more see the glimmeringOf pearly foam, nor shining seas But only turbid tempest-doom; No more the fragrant, salt-laced breeze That over all ...
Suggested by: LadyofGaerdon
“williamszm is an absolute master of traditional poetry forms. Her verse reads like that of the great poets of old, yet her style is fresh, never stilted, and always relevant. If writers like her are the modern face of fixed form poetry, them its fate is promising indeed.”
My Spotlight Deviant:
anapests-and-ink
7am on a Roof in SeoulWe watched the sunrise turn Namsan Towers pink-purple-orange. The sour-warm smell of pickling kimchi mingled with our coffee. Carmine dragonflies floated on the low rumble of early traffic and the softly strident notes of Für Elise played on the piano, across the street.
Mature Content
Morning LightLove, I dreamt about Wyoming again. It was cold this time. We walked barefoot over a frozen field, frostbitten straw scratching the soles of our feet. The horizon was vast and never-ending and I missed you, even though you were holding my hand, even though our steps fell in sync and our breaths matched, twin plumes in the crisp air. Do you know what that is , you asked. That's condensation . And we laughed, because I thought you'd said 'condescension' and wasn't that a more fitting word anyways?Your lips were pale and blue and oh, so lucid.Your laugh crinkled like the straw under our feet and because it was a dream, and dre...
She has a flawless way of writing through honesty and beauty, and every single piece continues to take my breath away. Her writing never fails to prove to me again and again that the elegant journey is worth taking. (This amazing deviant was also suggested by SCFrankles.)
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?You have to start with the tough ones, don’t you? It’s really hard to say. Sometimes it’s because no one else has written the story I want to read. A lot on the time it’s because there’s this image stuck in my head and it’ll just keep gnawing at me until I can get it out. It’s kind of an impulse. I don’t think I could stop if I tried.
If you had one writing dream you could live out, what would it be and why?I would always write at my highest standards. In October, I would have also said that I want to be able to write novel-length works, but I actually completed NaNoWriMo! What I wrote definitely doesn’t match up with my first wish, but it has to count for something, right?
I also have this fantasy where I write a novel that becomes such a big hit that I can live off of writing whatever I want from then on. I’m pretty sure most writers share that one.
Whenever you feel inspired to write, what are the first few things that come into your mind as you are writing?There are two parts: the image or experience or whatever that suddenly makes me need to write and the opening line. They tend to come very far apart, though. So I guess it would depend on which half of the process you’re talking about.
What motivates you to share your writing on DeviantART?Getting critique! There are so many talented writers here; I love getting their feedback. Whether it’s hearing what worked or what really didn’t, I try to build on it all. My writing has improved immeasurably since I started posting on DeviantART.
Which piece featured is your favorite and why? Trip is the piece I have been working on the longest. I’ve grown very attached to the characters. I’ve also gotten some of my best critique on it!
anapests-and-ink 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 December 9th at 7pm EST! (What time is this for me?) And as an extra incentive: for those of who offer anapests-and-ink 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 SilverInkblot
beeswingblue
SadisticIceCream
Jade-Pandora
LadyofGaerdon
anapests-and-ink
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, XVII, XVIII, XX, XXI, XXII, XXIII, XXIV, XXV and XXVI
LadyLincoln’s 30 Writers You Should Discover: Volume XII
The Literature Community Volunteer’s November Literature DD’s
DailyLitDeviations’ Daily Lit Deviations for December 6th
wyldhoney’s Writers with a Promise: #15
Sammur-amat’s Sundae Treat: Sunday Feature
Mrs-Freestar-Bul’s A Heart of a Poet
Cheers,
LadyLincoln
