Author: Nadja Maril

Nadja Maril’s prose and poetry has been published in literary magazines that include Change Seven, Lunch Ticket, Thin Air, and The Compressed Journal of Creative Arts. She is the author of Recipes From My Garden, a chapbook published by Old Scratch Press that includes both poetry and creative nonfiction prose. Author of two children’s books illustrated with paintings by her father Herman Maril, as well as Who IS Santa? for which she did her own illustrations, Nadja is also the author of two reference books on antique American Lighting, published by Schiffer. A former journalist and magazine editor, Nadja has an MFA in Creative Writing from the Stonecoast Program at the University of Southern Maine. To read more of her work and follow her weekly blog posts, visit Nadjamaril.com https://nadjamaril.com/

Candlelit writing desk with handwritten pages, autumn leaves, books, and jack-o'-lantern

Flash Prose Submission Tips and October Publishing Opportunities

Published on October 1, 2026September 23, 2026 by Nadja MarilLeave a comment

By Nadja Maril, a founding member of the Old Scratch Press

It’s October, the month of the harvest when the leaves turn vivid shades of red, orange and yellow before falling to the ground. Scores of literary publications have call-outs for scary stories to mark the Halloween season.

The celebration, from which Our Halloween evolved, is the Gaelic holiday Samhain. During Samhain, the curtain between the living and the dead was lifted for one night. Dressed as ghosts, people celebrating what became known as Halloween would go door-to-door to ask for food. Trick or Treat.

Scary is the goal. The carving of malevolent faces into pumpkins and the display of anything creepy outside your home was intended to calm the ghosts roaming the earth on October 31^st. The creepier the better.

When it comes to submissions, many magazines including our own Instant Noodles Literary Magazine prize brevity. IF submission guidelines ask for stories less than 500 words, keep your submission below or as close to 500 words as possible. A short piece of fiction or nonfiction, should still be powerful and compelling to read.

Here are a few simple tips to get you started.

A close-up of a person's hand writing with a pen on a notebook, illuminated by soft light from a nearby candle. — Photo by furkanfdemir on Pexels.com

Begin close to or with action. In a short piece you don’t have time for backstory.
Write about one event, something simple but telling.
Limit your characters. In a short piece there is no time for character development and too many characters will confuse the reader. Stay focused.
Cut the adverbs. Look for all the words that end in “ly” such as slowly or carefully or quickly. You don’t need them. Choose a descriptive verb instead.
Eliminate any filler words such as: just, almost, really, but.

If you’d like to read an example of a good piece of micro fiction, here is the link to the story that won the Fractured Fiction 2025 Micro Fiction prize. “No Voltage on a Quiet Road” by Maxwell Orsen.

WRITING PROMPT: Think of a scene where something is about to change. A storm is coming. A thief is about to grab your protagonist’s wallet. How does the main character react? Are they changed by the experience? What made this situation explosive? What did they feel at the time? What were they thinking about?

At Instant Noodles Literary Magazine we are still reading submissions, but our “In Box” of fiction is getting full. Ditto for our poetry submissions. There is more room in the Creative Nonfiction category. To increase your odds of being published, I’ve put together a list of five more magazines you may want to consider submitting to via Duosoma this month. https://duotrope.com/duosuma/ You can go directly to the Duosoma website to look for opportunities, but I recommend reading the magazines first to see if the writing they publish is writing you admire.

Inkhorn Review (reading poetry and short prose).

Iron & Salt Press ( reading horror and mystery flash short stories).

Macrame Literary Journal. (reading poetry, fiction and micro fiction)

Bright Flash Literary Review (reading flash and short fiction)

Orion’s Belt (Literary speculative fiction: reading poetry, flash and micro fiction).

If your work is repeatedly rejected, consider revising. Read it out loud sentence by sentence. Does each sentence provide action, description or surprise?

Keep writing and thank you for reading. Please follow us here on Word Press and on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/OLDSCRATCHPRESS/

Check out our newest chapbooks by Beatriz Fernandez and R.David Fulcher.

Dolly Parton and Bob Dylan singing with guitars onstage

The Power of Oral Tradition in Songwriting

Published on September 1, 2026August 30, 2026 by Nadja MarilLeave a comment

By Nadja Maril, a founding member of Old Scratch Press Poetry and Short Form Collective

Before humans had pen and paper, or stone and chisel, they had their voices. The oral tradition of storytelling goes back to the days preceding recorded history. Repetition and rhyme aid memory. In many cultures, the story becomes a poem or a song.

I was thinking about this as I mourned the death of Dolly Parton. Not only was she an extraordinary performer and philanthropist, she wrote over 3000 original songs. Many of her songs, were inspired by her life experiences. Her song, “Coat of Many Colors” is really a mini memoir that shares a part of her early childhood.

The best creative nonfiction is written with honesty. Intuitively the reader can sense when the writer is inventing or exaggerating truth. Dolly Parton’s work comes across as genuine. I wrote in my personal blog about her authenticity as a human being. For the Old Scratch Press platform I’d like to further explore the art of songwriting.

In “Light of a Clear Blue Morning,” she shares her resolve that professionally following a path, minus her mentor Porter Wagner, is the right choice for her performance career. Listen to the first two lines of the chorus “Cause I can see the light of a clear blue morning/ I can see the light of a brand-new day’ https://genius.com/Dolly-parton-light-of-a-clear-blue-morning-lyrics

Most of us have family members who challenge our patience. In her song “Family” Dolly conveys her feelings that despite their differences “When it’s family, they’re a mirror/ Of the worst and best in you.”

Dolly is not the only great American Songwriter. I would be remiss if I didn’t give some space to Bob Dylan, another legend. In 2016 the Nobel Prize Committee broke convention by awarding the Literature Prize to Bob Dylan for “for having created new poetic expressions within the great American song tradition.” Yes, songs are poems. Here is a link to the complete speech.

It’s hard to know where to begin when sharing which Bob Dylan song is my favorite. The first one I learned when I started playing the guitar was “Blowing in the Wind.” The song that always brings tears to my eyes is, “Forever Young” and the one I find particularly nostalgic is “If You See Her, Say Hello.”

Before I ever started writing poetry, I was writing little songs inside my head because that’s what all toddlers do. I am not unique. I just remember.

If you are having difficulty writing a line or a sentence, try saying it aloud as a chant. Maybe you hear it accompanied by music. Maybe you don’t. Not every songwriter has a voice meant for performing, but the act of saying/singing/chanting phrases can provide a new approach to your creative journey. It’s worth a try. Writing includes experimentation.

If you’ve written a poem, song, or flash prose ( under 500 words) you are proud of, we’re still reading submissions for the Winter issue of Instant Noodles Literary Magazine. We accept multi-media submissions. Check us out and THANK YOU for reading. Follow us on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/search/top?q=old%20scratch%20press

The Struggle of Choosing the Perfect Title

Published on August 1, 2026July 28, 2026 by Nadja MarilLeave a comment

By Nadja Maril

A founding member of Old Scratch Press

A few years ago a short creative nonfiction essay of mine, titled “Lipstick” was published in Hare’s Paw Literary Journal. It took many attempts to find a home for this particular essay. On reflection, part of the difficulty was in deciding on an appropriate title.

In contemplating “writer’s notes” about this particular piece of writing, I remember thinking about how titles set up certain epectations.

During that lull, after I’ve sent out my work and for several months while waiting for a response, always there is self-doubt. Is the essay too short, too long. Did I mess up the tenses again. Is is too negative? Will readers find it disturbing? Will editors opposed to any type of make-up be turned off? Yes, a lot of weird thoughts were whirling around in my mind, and several of them centered on the title I’d chosen. I’d started to question my choice . Did I give I it the right title?

I felt I’d written something good. I’d workshopped it with some colleagues and received some positive feedback from editors who ”couldn’t find space for this particular piece in our upcoming issue, but please send us more work…” so I sensed I’d written something powerful, but had I chosen the right title?

Titles are hard. At least they are hard for me. I know they are important. As a former journalist, I know it is the headlines ie titles that people read first and maybe the only thing they read. Maybe if they see the title “lipstick,” I thought, they will literally think it is an essay about lipstick. Maybe I should have chosen a title that indicated it was about a fraught relationship between a mother and a daughter.

If a piece has been submitted to a magazine and it’s anonymously sitting in the slush pile, a reader/editor might barely read the work, if they decide they don’t like the title. After all, they’ve got a whole bunch of other stories waiting to be read. Maybe they shouldn’t even bother. Perhaps they are asking themselves, will this particular story interest me?

As a writer, not as an editor, I want my title to be appropriate. When I put on my editor’s hat, I’m thinking I want a title that will draw readers in and how does one do that?

As a writer, I try to draw on advice from other writers, who suggest choosing a poignant line from your piece and taking that line as your title, or as an alternative approach, selecting a moment that will evoke surprise as your title. For surprise I could have chosen, What I did when I Found Her on the Floor. For an evocative line I could have chosen, “The silence grows longer and longer.”

Often I start writing and I do not know what I’m truly writing about until my journey is coming to a close. Selecting a title can help me clarify what are the most important aspects ot the story.

I’m wondering whether this desire of mine to find the perfect title could be turned into a writing prompt. As the hot summer days seem longer forcing us to spend more time indoors and fellow writers are all looking for fresh approaches, here is an idea. Try writing your title first and specifically focus on a scene in the story that will create tension.

WRITING PROMPT: Think of a scene from your past, full of tension and conflict. Maybe it was the moment your boss handed you a pink slip or you were standing in the cafeteria line and realized you’d forgotten your voucher or wallet. What made this situation tense? How did you feel at the time? What were you thinking about? What were your physical responses?

You can do this with fictional characters and situations as well. The title, “The Moment My Boss Handed Me a Pink Slip” is obvious or maybe not. Perhaps the title will change depending on the actions that ensue. But it’s a beginning.

Picture the scene in your mind. Select a few important details that stand out. Try writing the same scene again for ten minutes with a different variation. Did you learn anything?

Thank you for reading and for your feedback. If you have a favorite technique for titling your work, please share. We’d love to post it.

Submissions are scurrently open for the final 2026 issue of Instant Noodles Literary Magazine. Check it out.https://duotrope.com/duosuma/submit/instant-noodles-O0jFm

How Weather Shapes Our Lives and Stories

Published on July 1, 2026July 1, 2026 by Nadja MarilLeave a comment

By Founding Collective Member Nadja Maril

In polite conversation, unlike politics and religion, the weather is a safe topic. Love that sunshine. Do you think it’s going to snow?

The weather, however, is anything but safe. It’s lack of consistency affects all of us in one way or another. We may think it’s going to be another hot humid summer, but an unexpected chill might ruin a farmer’s crops.

From a practical standpoint, the weather impacts the type of shelter we need, our household budget and our mode of transportation. It’s an indication of our moods. Whether we are suffering through a drought or an artic blast, the weather affects our daily lives.

In polite conversation, unlike politics and religion, the weather is a safe topic. Love that sunshine. Do you think it’s going to snow?

Weather Can Create Conflict and Provide Comfort

Setting, that catch all word for the description of where and when a story takes place, usually includes references to weather. A bright sun, the need for a warmer coat, parched grass are clues a writer might provide to set a scene. The mention of a light rain may seem small, but ultimately the rain in some way will impact at least one of the characters.

Depending on the narrative, a weather event may create the obstacle a character must overcome. Gale winds, high waves and rain cause a small vessel to sink and its passengers to fight for their lives. A tornado destroys someone’s home, causing them to seek shelter with family in another state and changes the trajectory of the protagonist’s future.

Last month I was reading a piece written by a writer friend and I was reminded that something as basic as a winter storm, can become a character. How strongly setting interacts with the various protagonists in a narrative is the writer’s choice. Anything—A animal, vegetable or mineral—can become a component of a well-crafted story.

Examples of the use of Weather in Narrative

A classic story I often think of as an example of weather as a character, is Jack London’s short story, ‘To Build a Fire,”

While many discussions of the story focus on the protagonist’s arrogance and his inability to fully comprehend his limitations, it is the cold weather that serves as his antagonist. The dog understands the situation, but must follow his master’s lead.

A reader unfamiliar with survival in extreme weather may assume the human will have the upper hand. Gradually as the story unfolds, the power of the artic is revealed.

In the twenty-first century, humans are faced with new challenges. Survival on a rapidly warming planet is the subject of climate fiction titles that include Ministry of the Future by Kim Stanley Robinson, Termination Shock by Neal Stephenson, and Weather by Jenny Offill. Weather has inspired many best-selling novels.

But maybe as a writer you’d like to start small. A piece of flash fiction, where the weather plays a strong role in the storyline, can make for a compelling read.

Most likely, if you’ve been writing for a while, you already think about setting, tone and mood when you begin writing a scene. I used to participate in theater productions both onstage and backstage. I remember the director choosing different lighting combinations, using colored gels to cover the spotlights, to emphasize the emotional tone of a scene. Yellow and orange were associated with warmth and happiness while the color green denotes nature and serenity. Red might be used to amplify the intensity of a fight scene.

WRITING PROMPT:

Photo by Quang Nguyen Vinh on Pexels.com

Imagine a day in someone’s life. What kind of day is it? What color would you associate with this day? Imagine the weather and focus on one part of the day. Perhaps it is the morning of a warm summer’s day, a day that heat and humidity will build in intensity, lightening will flash, thunder will sound and a heavy rain will follow. What role does this thunderstorm play in your story?

Imagine a different kind of day, a brisk but sunny day. Maybe the main character has been too cold to leave their home, but the beauty of the day entices them to step outside.

Or take the concept of “To Build a Fire” but substitute the fire with something else. Maybe the protagonist is trying to set up a tent but the wind is blowing too hard. Or inspired by the summer conditions in europe write about an individual without air-conditioning trying to survive in extreme heat. Create a weather-related challenge and see if the protagonist can solve the problem.

Writers if you have a story you are working on, read it with a particular thought towards how the environment in your setting helps convey the mood. I close with a link to a story I wrote a few years ago called “Winter Solstice” on page 8 of the pdf. Courtesy of Atlantic Northeast Magazine. I chose the setting of a small cabin on a Maine lake in winter to emphasize the chill and isolation felt by the protagonist who is valiantly trying to buoy his spirits. Weather is a useful tool. Use it wisely.

Thank you for reading and feel free to share your comments and any questions. Don’t forget to follow Old Scratch Press on Facebook. Every few days we post blogs and share writing news. You can learn about all the wonderful little books we’ve published here.

If you enjoyed this post and want to support my writing, consider purchasing my little chapbook filled with short essays and poems, RECIPES FROM MY GARDEN and check out some of my other books. Thanks again.

https://www.amazon.com/Recipes-My-Garden-Memoir-Poetry/dp/1957224347/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_product_top?ie=UTF8

Crafting the Perfect Poem for Father’s Day

Published on June 1, 2026June 1, 2026 by Nadja MarilLeave a comment

By Nadja Maril

June, the start of summer and the month of graduations and weddings has begun. It’s a month of beginnings and endings.

I’m someone who likes to plan ahead, particularly if gift giving is involved. The holidays this month are Flag Day, Juneteenth, Father’s Day, and Summer Solstice.

This year Father’s Day falls on Sunday June 21^st. I’ve been hearing advertisements for barbecue grills, power tools, personalized mugs.

But Father’s Day isn’t a day that has to be just about your father or the father of your children. And it doesn’t have to involve giving expensive items. It can be a good time to recognize the men in your life who have inspired you, as well as male friends and neighbors who have been helpful and caring.

As for gifts, the best gift is often a phone call, a card, the gift of time. From a writer, the best gift can be a story or poem.

Do not wait until the day before Father’s Day. I always find that my best work needs to sit for a while and undergo revisions before it is ready to be shared.

How to start. Everyone has their own technique. If I am writing a poem specifically to laud someone, I usually begin by listing everything about them I admire. We all notice different things. Details are important.

Or you can share an important memory and write it in prose or in verse. It can be serious or funny. Make someone laugh and you are halfway to penning something they’ll treasure.

You are writing your piece for one person. It does not have to be a masterpiece. One poet, who was popular in his time, was widely published in newspapers. His name was Edgar Guest and he was an English poet who lived a long life, 1881-1959. His poems definitely make me laugh. Here are two.

Father

By Edgar Guest

My father knows the proper way 
   The nation should be run; 
He tells us children every day 
   Just what should now be done. 
He knows the way to fix the trusts, 
   He has a simple plan; 
But if the furnace needs repairs, 
   We have to hire a man. 


My father, in a day or two 
   Could land big thieves in jail; 
There's nothing that he cannot do, 
   He knows no word like "fail." 
"Our confidence" he would restore, 
   Of that there is no doubt; 
But if there is a chair to mend, 
   We have to send it out. 


All public questions that arise, 
   He settles on the spot; 
He waits not till the tumult dies, 
   But grabs it while it's hot. 
In matters of finance he can 
   Tell Congress what to do; 
But, O, he finds it hard to meet 
   His bills as they fall due. 


It almost makes him sick to read 
   The things law-makers say; 
Why, father's just the man they need, 
   He never goes astray. 
All wars he'd very quickly end, 
   As fast as I can write it; 
But when a neighbor starts a fuss, 
   'Tis mother has to fight it. 


In conversation father can 
   Do many wondrous things; 
He's built upon a wiser plan 
   Than presidents or kings. 
He knows the ins and outs of each 
   And every deep transaction; 
We look to him for theories, 
   But look to ma for action.

Only a Dad

By Edgar Guest

Only a dad with a tired face, 
Coming home from the daily race, 
Bringing little of gold or fame
To show how well he has played the game; 
But glad in his heart that his own rejoice 
To see him come and to hear his voice. 

Only a dad with a brood of four, 
One of ten million men or more 
Plodding along in the daily strife, 
Bearing the whips and the scorns of life, 
With never a whimper of pain or hate, 
For the sake of those who at home await. 

Only a dad, neither rich nor proud, 
Merely one of the surging crowd
Toiling, striving from day to day, 
Facing whatever may come his way, 
Silent whenever the harsh condemn, 
And bearing it all for the love of them. 

Only a dad but he gives his all
To smooth the way for his children small, 
Doing with courage stern and grim, 
The deeds that his father did for him. 
This is the line that for him I pen: 
Only a dad, but the best of men.

The famous English poet Elizabeth Barrett Browning, 1806-1861, was encouraged by her father to write poetry, and thus it is no surprise that she wrote poems especially for him. Here is one penned for his birthday.

To My Father on His Birthday

By Elizabeth Barrett Browning


Amidst the days of pleasant mirth,
That throw their halo round our earth;
Amidst the tender thoughts that rise
To call bright tears to happy eyes;
Amidst the silken words that move
To syllable the names we love;
There glides no day of gentle bliss
More soothing to the heart than this!
No thoughts of fondness e’er appear
More fond, than those I write of here!
No name can e’er on tablet shine,
My father! more beloved than thine!
‘Tis sweet, adown the shady past,
A lingering look of love to cast—
Back th’ enchanted world to call,
That beamed around us first of all;
And walk with Memory fondly o’er
The paths where Hope had been before—
Sweet to receive the sylphic sound
That breathes in tenderness around,
Repeating to the listening ear
The names that made our childhood dear—
For parted Joy, like Echo, kind,
Will leave her dulcet voice behind,
To tell, amidst the magic air,
How oft she smiled and lingered there.

Now it is time to write a poem or story of your own, in your style.

Elizabeth Barrett Browning may not be your style. The birthday poem to her dad was written when she was 20 years old. It captures her feelings at the time and was published in her 1826 poetry collection. Eventually she and her father had a falling out. He disowned her when she married the poet, Robert Browning.

Sometimes the memory or experience of something special, can help to inspire you. Remember you are writing for just one person, or maybe in this case two people, yourself and the recipient. Let your ideas flow and don’t start editing until you’ve written down all your thoughts.

If you’d like to create a card and a poem at the same time, here is a prompt on how to create Collage Poems. Whatever you come up with, if you consider it successful in capturing the essence of your dad, check out this opportunity to be published in the upcoming issue of Instant Noodles Literary Magazine,

THANK YOU FOR READING. FOLLOW US AT FACEBOOK AT https://www.facebook.com/OLDSCRATCHPRESS

In Praise of Some Great Writing in the May Issue of Instant Noodles Literary Magazine

Published on May 1, 2026May 4, 2026 by Nadja MarilLeave a comment

By Nadja Maril

Whenever I’ve written something I feel really conveys what I was striving for, I want to share it. But often, it sits on the computer for a while. Until published, the words are out there but they are not being read. Enter the world of literary magazines, a wonderful opportunity to share not just your own work but to be part of a larger community.

In 2020, publishers Dianne Pearce and David Yurkovich launched Instant Noodles Literary Magazine. Six years later it is still going strong. As their business and projects have expanded, so has the Instant Noodles Literary Magazine team. While Dianne makes the final decisions, she has some help. Members of The Old Scratch Press short form and poetry collective serve on a rotational basis as Contributing Editors. We have a voice in choosing the themes and selecting work.

As a writer and poet who frequently expresses herself through the medium of (CNF) Creative Non Fiction, these are the submissions I’m most often reading. I read each piece submitted to Instant Noodles several times. I’m interested to discover how the writing responds to our theme. Most of the fiction and poetry I write is inspired by true life events. I am awed by writers who successfully blend reality, imagery and memorable characters into story. Not every submission sits squarely within one genre. Some straddle the line between reality and fantasy, between poetry and prose. We can’t offer payment, but we can bestow praise.

This issue, I’d like to gush about a certain piece I really liked. A piece I’d like the world to read and think about. It was submitted as CNF. In many ways it comes across to me as poetry. As with any short piece of work, every word counts. As a reader, that’s what I’m reading for, power in each word.

The 2026 issue May theme just released, is titled Planes Boats Cars Trains. When I suggested the theme, I envisioned all the ways transportation impacts our lives and how many exciting stories take place when a character is moving from one place to another. I wasn’t thinking about animals or freedom, but that is the beauty of words. We all perceive our world in different ways. A good artist can share their vision.

The piece is called, “From Cage to Street” and is written by Tamara-Lee Brereton-Karabetsos. It begins in the first sentence to take the reader to the Serengeti plains of East Africa where a line of trucks are transporting wild animals. You’ll have to use your imagination to decide whether these animals are zebras, tigers, gazelle or something else. What you do know is they have fur and ears that twitch.

“Engines hum. Metal shakes. Paperwork counts weight, not panic.

Inside, bodies shift where they can, small movements, breaths caught between bars.”

She contrasts the business of checking locks and papers with the vibrations of the shaking vehicle. The writer contrasts herself with the animals. She is walking free and unencumbered, Each selected image— a swing, running dog, a kite— echoes the contrast.

“The wind brushes my face, a dog darts past, a child’s kite catches the sun.

Each step is choice. Each breath is mine. Each glance is unbound.”

Her poem/essay shifts back to the unloading of the crates and in her telling she slows down time for me as she expresses the melancholy of the caged versus the free.

“Animals shift from one container to another. The journey continues, but choice is absent.

Instinct carries memory of plains, but the body moves through something imposed, not chosen.”

This piece creates a sense of place and communicates the author’s appreciation of the physical agency of walking and choosing your own destination. I am pleased we were able to publish it and I urge you to take the time to read it along with many of the other fine pieces in this issue.

Thank you Tamara and thank you writers for making ours such a strong community. The next theme currently being read is Al Dente. Think pasta cooked just so, not too soft and not too stiff. Do you have a piece of writing that meets that criteria? What does Al Dente mean to you?

Remember that Instant Noodles Literary Magazine believes in helping fellow writers by nominating their work for prizes. Please send us your best work.

Thank you for reading and please follow us here and on Facebook.

Nadja Maril is an award winning writer and poet who has been published in dozens of online and print literary journals and anthologies including: Lunch Ticket, Spry Literary Journal, Invisible City Literary Review, Instant Noodles and The Journal of Compressed Creative Arts. She is the author of Recipes From My Garden, published by Old Scratch Press (September 2024), a Midwest Review California Book Watch Reviewer’s Choice. An Anne Arundel County Arts Council Literary Arts Award winner, her work has been nominated for the Pushcart Prize and The Best of the Net. She has an MFA in creative writing from Stonecoast at USM.

Check out Nadja’s chapbook below and here.

Embracing Nature’s Beauty: A Morning Reflection

Published on April 1, 2026April 29, 2026 by Nadja Maril1 Comment

by Nadja Maril, a founding member of Old Scratch Press Collective

What a sight on a damp misty morning, a robin perched on a street sign preening its feathers. The orange red of its breast feathers contrasting sharply with the bright green and white lettered sign.

My cell phone was in my back pocket, but I didn’t snap a photo. I watched the bird fly away and listened to the other birds around me. The neighborhood was just beginning to awake. Down the road I spied a few dog-walkers taking advantage of the early hour temperatures.

A plump brown bunny nibbled on clover. I decided to take his photograph, but he didn’t pose for long and took refuge in a flower bed. My gaze shifted to the colors of all those flowers: purple, pink, yellow, blue and red.

The current “tropical rain forest” weather hovering over our region has been a boon to gardeners. Blossoms are lush. It’s been a boon to weeds too, but it’s too early in the morning for me to think about that.

It’s the first day of April and the start of National Poetry Month. I get inspired by nature: birds, new buds, bunny sightings. Other writers are inspired by the hum of machines or the echo of human voices. Whatever gets your mind engaged in the world around you, write it down.

Focusing on the Moment

I’m focusing on the present moment, a difficult task. My mind tends to jump forwards and backwards. I worry about what I need to do and replay what I might have done wrong. I recall happy memories and then remind myself the past is over and if I stay there too long, I’ll miss what is happening in the present.

This balance between present, past, and future is an interesting dilemma. Particularly because all is open to interpretation. What we remember as the past, is most likely different from our neighbor’s recollection. What we prioritize for the future is usually different too.

Politically, socially, environmentally our planet is at a crossroads. Some of us are just struggling to survive. Others of us want to change things for the better, but it can be a challenge to figure out how.

I read and listen to media reports, and hear different versions of the same event. I’ve heard the term “fake news” repeatedly bandied about. I hear leaders speaking outright lies. I hear people being described in ways designed to incite violence and hatred.

Overwhelmed by all the negativity I tune out.

Change happens slowly, in small incremental ways, I remind myself. Small acts of courage. Small acts of kindness. The arts, the federal funding of which is currently under attack, is a way to share beauty and foster connection. Arts in education provides paths for children to develop alternative learning styles that can deepen comprehension. Whether you volunteer your time, donate money, or support the arts by buying a ticket to a museum or a play; you’re doing something positive.

Writers are witnesses. Documenting the good and the beauty you observe is an important job alongside the documentation of injustice and cruelty. Writing a short fable can be one way to start. Remember Aesop’s Fables?

Aesop is thought to have been a storyteller, and possibly a slave, who lived in Greece between 620 and 564 B.C. Translated from Greek and Latin, and available in versions for adults and children online and in print, I share below one of my favorites.

The Bundle of Sticks

A certain Father had a family of Sons, who were forever quarreling among themselves. No words he could say did the least good, so he cast about in his mind for some very striking example that should make them see that discord would lead them to misfortune.

One day when the quarreling had been much more violent than usual and each of the Sons was moping in a surly manner, he asked one of them to bring him a bundle of sticks. Then handing the bundle to each of his Sons in turn he told them to try to break it. But although each one tried his best, none was able to do so.

The Father then untied the bundle and gave the sticks to his Sons to break one by one. This they did very easily.

“My Sons,” said the Father, “do you not see how certain it is that if you agree with each other and help each other, it will be impossible for your enemies to injure you? But if you are divided among yourselves, you will be no stronger than a single stick in that bundle.”

In unity is strength.

WRITING PROMPT: Can you write your own modern-day fable? Whether you use animals, plants, or people, think of something simple you observed that taught you a lesson. Brief and to the point, maybe your fable is a piece of flash fiction. Set it aside and read it again out loud two days from now. If you think it is good, share it. Maybe sharing means posting it online yourself, printing it out and sending it to friends by “snail mail,” or perhaps sending it to a literary magazine. Check out Instant Noodles Literary Review. Our current theme for submissions is Al Dente. For more information click here.

Thank you for reading.

Writers and Readers, don’t forget to forget to follow us on Facebook to get the latest news and learn about submission opportunities.

Check out Nadja’s chapbook below and here.

Exploring E.E. Cummings: Poems That Can Dance

Published on March 1, 2026February 28, 2026 by Nadja Maril2 Comments

by Nadja Maril,a founding member of Old Scratch Press Collective

Many decades ago, I choreographed a dance to accompany a poem. I selected a poem by E.E. Cummings, “In Just—” Which in my mind I titled, “In Just Spring.”

I picked that particular poem for its exuberance. I could imagine myself interpreting the verse with movements that were both fast and slow, languorous and springy. The challenge was to select movements that I could execute while reciting the words.

Photo by Jimmy Elizarraras on Pexels.com

[in Just-]

By E. E. Cummings (1894-1962)

in Just-
spring          when the world is mud-
luscious the little
lame balloonman

whistles          far          and wee

and eddieandbill come
running from marbles and
piracies and it's
spring

when the world is puddle-wonderful

the queer
old balloonman whistles
far          and             wee
and bettyandisbel come dancing

from hop-scotch and jump-rope and

it's
spring
and

         the

                  goat-footed

balloonMan          whistles
far
and
wee

This poem was written in 1923, over one hundred years ago.

Cummings was an experimenter who developed his own personal style. Although classically trained, with multiple degrees from Harvard University, he used punctuation as it suited him. Spaces on the page were seen as opportunities to spread out the pacing or to combine several words into one breath. Conjunctions were sometimes nouns and selected words might take on additional assigned meanings.

Hailed as one of the most influential and important poets of the 20^th century, Cummings embraced the concept of Visual Poetry. Words were placed on the page to create shapes and images that serve to reinforce the mood of the verse.

You can read more about E.E. Cummings in this article published on the Poetry Foundation website. https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poets/e-e-cummings

It was easy for me to dance the role of the goat-footed balloon man, after seeing the words establishing his presence “skip” across the page.

The line “whistles far and wee” is spread out, which enabled me to say the individual words with enough time to run from one side of the stage to the other side.

In writing poetry, thought is often devoted to line breaks and capitalization. Traditional or avant garde, the last word in a line typically takes on greater importance. By choosing not to capitalize the first word of a line, emphasis is softened.

Try changing the line breaks on a poem you are working on. How do your changes impact the poem? Try adding extra spaces between words or merging them together. Once again, how do these changes reshape a poem’s texture and meaning?

In contrast, when you write a prose poem using sentences, it is the order and sound of the words that must create the poetry. No one approach is better than another. It all depends on what you are trying to achieve.

Photo by Kampus Production on Pexels.com

In a few more weeks it will officially be Spring, here in the Northeast USA where I live. I look for birds returning from the winter vacation in the south and I hear “in-Just” recited inside my head. Crocuses begin pushing up through the muddy soil. Bicycles are pulled out of storage and pastel chalk pictures are drawn on the sidewalk. No balloon man, but it is the start of outdoor birthday parties.

The idea of adding movement to your recitation of a poem, may inspire you to choose different words when writing verse.

WRITING PROMPT: Try writing a poem about a season, place, or time. Maybe your piece is about a mood such as anger or maybe it is about a feeling such as being satiated. Often a poem focuses on the visual, but instead think about movement. Use active verbs. In Cummings short poem the wind and the balloon man whistle. The children run and dance.

What did you create? Maybe you’re on to something you like. Keep playing with the concepts and see where they lead you. Part of the enjoyment of writing, is discovering what works and what doesn’t work.

Read the work of other poets, and as March is Women’s History month, I am going to suggest three women poets:

Rae Armantrou ( B. 1947).

https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poets/rae-armantrout

Mina Loy (1882-1966)

https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/148476/love-songs-5bec636568b82

Gertrude Stein (1874-1946)

https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poets/gertrude-stein

Writers and Readers, don’t forget to forget to follow us on Facebook to get the latest news and learn about submission opportunities.

Check out Nadja’s chapbook below and here.

Explore Themed Writing Calls: Get Published!

Published on February 1, 2026January 30, 2026 by Nadja MarilLeave a comment

by Nadja Maril, a founding member of Old Scratch Press Collective

You’re looking for something to read and you go online and start googling. You enter words that describe what you find entertaining.

This is what editors and publishers do when they solicit submissions by selecting a theme. They try to narrow the number and types of submissions to zero in on what they’re seeking, based on what they think their readers will enjoy.

They choose a word, WATER, for example, and they announce their next issue theme will be WATER. Or maybe they choose a more specific description such as CHILDHOOD MEMORIES ABOUT BASEBALL. They request that writers submit pieces specifically related to the theme. If you send something outside the theme, it will be automatically rejected

Seize the Opportunity

The call out can be very specific. For example, this month Screams and Wails Anthology( deadline 2/28/2026) Screams and Wails Anthology is looking for “Horror stories with music or music culture as a predominant theme.”

A part of you may be thinking, I love the music scene but I don’t write horror stories. Or maybe you write horror stories but you have very little inside information on music culture. Are you going to give up that easily? A call out for a specific theme narrows the competition, if you are willing to do the homework. Plus, you may learn something new and have fun.

Here’s another theme call-out. Tokyo Poetry Journal https://www.topojo.com/

is looking for submissions for Volume 18 for their “Gather ‘Round Children—a special issue celebrating oral-tradition poetry and the timeless power of stories carried by the human voice. Specifically they ask for poems that “feel as if they could be shared around a fire: lyrical, narrative, rooted in memory or myth, and crafted to live strongly on the page.”

Maybe you do not consider yourself a poet but you love to sing to your children. Perhaps this call-out might inspire you to try writing a poem that you imagine as a song.

The quarterly online journal Way Words https://www.writersworkout.net/waywords

Is looking for stories, essays and poems that associate with the theme Habits. The Editor’s tip: Habits are things you do the same way every time, usually with the hope of a positive outcome.

We all have habits. Some we do to make us healthier, for example, I take a walk each morning. What is a habit you’d enjoy writing about? As a bonus you could write about someone else’s habit that you admire and your poem or could be a special gift to them, even if it doesn’t get published.

Taking a walk each morning is a habit you might want to write about.

Dragon Soul Press https://dragonsoulpress.com/shortstorycalls

is putting together an anthology of short stories and the theme is
Splash. The word splash provides a good deal of latitude. I can think of stories related to swimming, waterfalls, and jumping into puddles as well as the use of the word as a term for making an impressive and immediate impact. If you enjoy word puzzles, the challenge of all the different ways the word Splash can be used should yield impressive results.

Instant Noodles Literary Magazine https://duotrope.com/duosuma/submit/instant-noodles-O0jFm

has a theme call out: Planes, Boats, Cars, Trains. The request is for poems, short essays, memoir and fiction (under 500 words). The pieces are for publication online in Issue One of Volume 6 (Deadline 3/15/2026). The ideas one could conceive of that one could submit are fairly wide ranging. So if you are a writer, how are you going to make you piece of writing stand out from the crowd?

As one of the editors on the project, I thought I’d share what attracted me to this particular theme.

Most humans live a fairly frenetic life, often on the move. In the famous ancient Greek stories surrounding Oedipus, he is asked a riddle by the sphinx in exchange for safe passage and his life, “Who walks on four legs in the morning, two legs at noon and three feet in the evening? The answer “Man” has humans crawling as babies in the morning, walking on two legs as adults and needing a cane ( the 3^rd leg) in the evening. Mankind is always on the go. If not walking, we’re in the car, on a train, plane, or boat. (Feel free to include buses, helicopters, and subways).

Many of the best stories and poems involve getting from point A to point B via a car, train, boat, or plane. Are you up to the challenge? LET’S START WRITING….

WRITING PROMPT

Planes, Boats, Cars, Trains

Looking out the window, inside at the passengers or thinking about something? What happens when you’re on the move?

Interesting things can happen when you’re on the move and in a confined space. Plenty of murder mysteries take place on a boat or a train. The number of passengers are limited and there are places to hide.

The passenger looks out a window and see images that may bring joy or dread. They may be stuck sitting next to a stranger they find fascinating or an acquaintance they’d prefer to avoid. Create a scene, write down a memory, convey your feelings about a brief journey.

Then think: What if? What happens if the protagonist has lost their ticket or the car breaks down? Maybe it happened, Maybe you’re imagining it happening.

Here’s the hard part. Make it short. Every word should count. Read what you’ve written out loud. Each phrase/ and/or sentence should provide something essential. Whatever you can eliminate, start crossing stuff out.

Read it again. Let it sit for a week. Do another revision and make certain whatever and whenever you submit to Instant Noodles Literary Magazine or any other publication, you have carefully reviewed your work and it is ready for publication. Check over carefully for grammar, spelling, and punctuation errors.

Thank you for reading and please follow us here and on Facebook.https://www.facebook.com/OLDSCRATCHPRESS/

Nadja Maril is an award winning writer and poet who has been published in dozens of online and print literary journals and anthologies including: Lunch Ticket, Spry Literary Journal, Invisible City Literary Review, Instant Noodles and The Journal of Compressed Creative Arts. She is the author of Recipes From My Garden, published by Old Scratch Press (September 2024), a Midwest Review California Book Watch Reviewer’s Choice. An Anne Arundel County Arts Council Literary Arts Award winner, her work has been nominated for the Pushcart Prize and The Best of the Net. She has an MFA in creative writing from Stonecoast at USM.

https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/recipes-from-my-garden-nadja-maril/1145598579

Get Published: Submit to Instant Noodles Literary Magazine 2026

Published on January 1, 2026December 19, 2025 by Nadja Maril1 Comment

by Nadja Maril, a founding member of Old Scratch Press Collective

Happy New Year to readers and writers around the world. May your New Year 2026 be happy, safe, and productive. If one of your New Year’s Resolutions is “get more writing done” you’ve come to the right place. In our Old Scratch Press blog we will continue to discuss different kinds of short form writing, provide instruction and prompts, and share publishing opportunities.

First up is to tell you about our own publication Instant Noodles Literary Magazine. A member of CLMP (Community of Literary Magazines and Presses), we nominate for the Pushcart Prize and Best of the Net.

Planes, Boats, Cars, Trains is our theme for the Spring Issue 2026 of Instant Noodles Literary Magazine.

Maybe you love to travel or maybe you like to stay at home, but when you venture out— what kind of transportation takes you on your journey? Are you invigorated by the open water, frantic following road signs, anonymous on a plane, or comforted by the train station whistle? In the process of getting to your destination, how did the vehicle you’re traveling in affect the outcome?

We’re looking for flash prose (up to 500 words) fiction and nonfiction, as well as poetry, drama, visual art, and multi-media submissions. Deadline: March 15^th.

When you send in your submission, as you should with any submission, the piece should be polished and complete with no grammar mistakes and no misspellings.

Also included should be a brief cover letter. The remainder of this blog I’m going to talk about what I think is the appropriate cover letter for a Literary Magazine. (Each magazine is slightly different so always read their guidelines).

Editors at Literary Magazines generally use the cover letter that contains a very brief biography ( 50 to 75 words) as the same biography they use in the publication, if you are lucky enough to have your story or poem accepted. Thus, even if writing is a new found love or second career, you want to keep it “professional.”

Rather than listing everywhere you’ve been published, pick no more than three places. (ex. They’ve been published in Dawn Magazine, Sunshine Press, Dark Days and many other publications.) If you have never been published, that’s okay. Magazines are always looking for NEW TALENT.

In your cover letter, DO NOT SUMMARIZE the work you are submitting. Editors want to read it without preconceived notions. If it needs to be “explained” this is a red flag. DO NOT excessively brag about what a wonderful writer you are or exaggerate your accomplishments.

IF you have one interesting personal fact ( ex. They’re a champion parachutist.) you’d like to include, it can enhance a cover letter, but to tell the story of your life is not recommended. Too long a cover letter can be a turn off.

Links to a book you’ve published and/or your website or blog is always a good idea. If a reader wants to read more of your work it is helpful.

Always be polite and kind in your dealings with other writers and editors. Everyone is working hard and many are volunteering their time because they love the art of writing.

Never give up, if you think you’ve written something good. Often pieces, particularly in a theme call, are rejected because they are not a good fit for a particular issue. Always work to improve unpublished work by revisiting it and revising it, when appropriate. Read and submit to multiple magazines.

HAVE A GREAT WRITING YEAR and keep perfecting your craft. LEARNING is part of the journey.

Thank you for reading. Please sign up to follow Old Scratch Press here on WordPress and on Facebook.

Nadja Maril is an award winning writer and poet who has been published in dozens of online and print literary journals and anthologies including: Lunch Ticket, Invisible City Literary Review, and The Journal of Compressed Creative Arts. She is the author of Recipes From My Garden, published by Old Scratch Press (September 2024), a Midwest Review California Book Watch Reviewer's Choice. An Anne Arundel County Arts Council Literary Arts Award winner, her work has been nominated for the Pushcart Prize and The Best of the Net. She has an MFA in creative writing from Stonecoast at USM.

Check out Nadja's chapbook of flash memoir and poetry below.

https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/recipes-from-my-garden-nadja-maril/1145598579