A Writer's Life
As I’ve muddled my way through and, at times, flowed through my writing life, it’s obvious that I’m on a roller coaster. Rejection,...
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Caution: Mermaid Crossing
This blog (including pages of interest as an author/speaker/workshop presenter)
is a companion to my upcoming collection of essays titled,
Caution: Mermaid Crossing, Voyages of a Motherless Daughter - Passing through a sea of adversity,
she overcomes a life unimaginable by crossing into the world of ethereal beauty and mermaid magic.
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Valerie Anne Burns
- May 9, 2022
Revision for Hope in Spring Carries On
Spring arrives regardless of a dead-dry drought Even as gusty winds ignite imposing flames. April only knows to bring hope into our...
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Valerie Anne Burns
- Mar 27, 2022
Limbo, Chaos, and Cats
Lucia Fortuna Since I was a very little girl, cats have been my refuge and a source of deep affection. After losing my mother at the age...
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Valerie Anne Burns
- Jan 14, 2022
Where is the Muse and Better News?
There's a reason life has been known to be a roller coaster ride. It certainly has been that for me. I find the muse, I find the joy, and...
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Valerie Anne Burns
- Oct 21, 2021
The Journey to Being Published in Chicken Soup for the Soul Series
One of the more difficult things for a writer to do is hang in there, to persevere amongst all the rejection. The percentage of rejection...
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Valerie Anne Burns
- Aug 21, 2021
What the Hell is Happening?
(End of August blog with a strong build-up need to express!) How does one take it all in? Oh how I yearn to be a Pollyanna by nature. But...
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Valerie Anne Burns
- Jul 14, 2021
Sorry, No Longer Accepting Breadcrumbs
It took such a long time to realize that I deserve a lot more in life than breadcrumbs... an embarrassingly long time. It was in therapy...
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Valerie Anne Burns
- May 21, 2021
Your Bed
For this month's blog, I'm sharing a published essay in HerStry Literary Journal from my book, Caution: Mermaid Crossing, Voyages of a...
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Valerie Anne Burns
- Mar 8, 2021
Reminiscing About Italy Has Been a Favorite Way of Distraction During Covid
Reminiscing About Italy Has Been a Favorite Way of Distraction During Covid Lerici in Liguria, Italy--October, 2019 (Poem about returning...
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Valerie Anne Burns
- Feb 24, 2021
Amber Glow
For this month's blog, I'm posting an original poem (plus a bonus poem) from my City College Creative Writing Class. Amber Glow is...
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Valerie Anne Burns
- Nov 20, 2020
How Do We Stay Sane in Trying Times, Especially Solo?
Lilly Pond Zen Moment--Summerland, CA I'm still trying to figure this out every day. There seems to be a perpetual delay in major areas...
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Valerie Anne Burns
- Oct 6, 2020
Birthday Blog 2020 ~ What a Difference a Year Makes
While I won't reveal my age, I can say life is passing by faster than I'm comfortable with. Last year on my birthday, I was in Firenze...
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Valerie Anne Burns
- Jul 20, 2020
Endlessness of Current Times and the Comforting Endlessness of the Sea
There is a feeling of endlessness in my orbit...perhaps felt in the world, very likely in this country and perhaps by you. I'm in a...
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Valerie Anne Burns
- May 24, 2020
Is Anyone Listening?
Does anyone else feel as if the world has been flipped on its axis? Does anyone, perhaps those that are in self-quarantine completely...
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Valerie Anne Burns
- Apr 18, 2020
Masked and Zooming
By Tuesday night (4/14) after excessive Zooming, Google meetings, WhatsApp face-time for far too many hours and far too many weeks, a...
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Valerie Anne Burns
- Feb 27, 2020
My Nine and a Half Lives
I can’t help but ask the higher power, the gods, or the departed why I’m still orbiting with our Mother Earth. What makes one soul...
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Valerie Anne Burns
- Dec 28, 2019
Not Everyone Had a Place to Be on Christmas
The holidays are an intimate occasion, which can bring joy and connection to most, but at times, laced with stress and/or loneliness....
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Valerie Anne Burns
- Dec 11, 2019
The Bells of Italy Continue to Ring
It is the bells of Italy that stays with me as if absorbed in my body since returning home the end of October from my month-long...
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Valerie Anne Burns
- Nov 18, 2019
"Gulf Stream Awakening" out-loud
Instead of a written blog this month, below you'll find a literary reading with Out Loud Santa Barbara (sponsored by Arts Fund) where I...
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Valerie Anne Burns
- Sep 21, 2019
Written Word Manifesting in Real Time
Photo of me in Florence at age 19 Writing essay after essay without ever thinking it would become a book has finally brought me to a...
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