Linda K Sienkiewicz

Writing life, line by line

How to Find Calm after Trauma

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Cheri's recovery process My friend and fellow poet has been working on acute anxiety and trauma recovery by painting colorful watercolor birds and boldly posting her work on Facebook. The images intrigued me because, in my experience, watercolor is not an easy medium. It does not forgive. There are no do-overs. So how did this help anxiety? For Cheri, however, that's exactly the point. I … [Read more...]

Soul to Soul: Faye Rapoport DesPres

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It’s all about connections: Faye Rapoport DesPres is a multi-genre writer whom I’ve long admired. We met in the early 2000s through the same small press that published her memoir, Message from a Blue Jay, and my novel, In the Context of Love. Both of us have also published a children’s book (except Faye published an entire series!). We’ve had some of the same mentors, too, like the late Michael … [Read more...]

The Little Pill and Deanna’s Big Story to Tell

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You know the TV commercial... And it probably annoys the heck out of you because after you hear it, the tune plays in your head on endless repeat. I bet you could sing it in your sleep. That's the power of a good jingle. Whenever the Jardiance ad aired, I looked away. If I couldn't mute the TV, I stuck my fingers in my ears and said "nanananana." I asked my husband "Look at her! Who IS this … [Read more...]

I Came, I Sewed, I Pillaged: Winning Ocracoke’s Pirate Costume Contest

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Apparently, I pirate better than people half my age: Well, I don't mean to brag or anything, but guess who won Most Authentic Adult Female Costume at the Blackbeard's Pirate Jamboree on Ocracoke Island? Sewing skillz. I thank my momma. I had fierce competition against women half my age, some of them wearing short polyester striped skirts, bustiers and fishnet hose. Which is … [Read more...]

What, Why, How: Andrew Collard

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What: I write poetry! My first book of poems, Sprawl, won the Hollis Summers Poetry Prize and was recently published by Ohio University Press. Sprawl is about life in the metropolis of southeast Michigan centered on Detroit. It attempts to evoke the complex relationships between various people and places within that metropolis, as well as Detroit’s relationship to other places. The opening … [Read more...]