Lately I find myself thinking a lot about a former self. Specifically, the younger Nicki who faced the results of the 2016 election with a fresh pit of dread in her belly as opposed to the haggard, seasoned dread that lives there now.
One mistake I made in 2016 was treating Trump’s presidency like a four-year sprint. If I just raged hard enough, wrote hard enough, worked hard enough, it wouldn’t matter if I had expended all of my energy on fury by the end of it, because if we all just fought hard enough, it’d be over for good. Like a four-year fever dream. A meddling interlude. A setback. A pause.
How foolish that line of thinking was. How privileged. How unforgivably naïve. This is a lifelong marathon, not a sprint. This is a long haul. Burning the candle at both ends doesn’t shed any more light; it just burns through precious resources faster. And moving through the world with a pit of rage at your core blinds you from seeing the good still left in it.
The person I am today, 2024 Nicki, is different than 2016 Nicki in so many ways. But one massive change is the value and respect I now place on rest. Rest, recovery, and sustainability.
Because rest is what begets sustainability. It is the thing that keeps us from depleting our resources and emptying our wells. It is what keeps us from sputtering to a stop when we still have so many miles left to travel. It is what will ultimately get us to where we need to go.
These are the thoughts guiding me as I enter a troubled, bleak holiday season. I am not interested so much in taking forlorn little items and wrapping them in crumpled paper to sit under dying pines. I’m asking, over and over:
How can I facilitate or provide opportunities for rest for my loved ones?
How can I give them nourishment and respite?
How can I grant them time to do what fulfills them?
How can I remove obstacles from their paths?
Maybe it’s a class, a subscription, a donation, an act. A spell of time or labor. Something made by human hands. Something achingly small and humble in the scope of this vast, spinning, burning earth, but loving all the same.
I hope you find your own loving things to move toward this season. I hope you catch the light. And I hope you keep writing as best as you’re able.
Keep writing what they wish you wouldn’t. Keep writing what needs to be said. Keep going, keep moving, keep putting words down, keep cleaning them up, keep sending them out. And then: Rest. Rest, grieve, breathe, hold joy close, give yourself what you need to thrive. Rest so you can do it all over again tomorrow.
Until next month—
Keep writing,
Nicki
Upcoming calls for submissions
Spotlight: Exposition Review: “Spring” submissions
Deep Wild Journal: Writing about “journeys to places where there are no roads”
EastOver Press: Submissions from BIPOC writers from rural or semi-rural U.S. locations
Spotlight Pick
Exposition Review: “Spring” submissions
For its 10th annual issue, Exposition Review welcomes submissions on a “spring” theme. “Springs are also life-giving sources—of water or, say, creativity. They’re elastic and resilient, snapping back into place with reverberating force. To spring is to bounce forward (or backward), to release from captivity, or to pay for drinks—always with a sense of energy in the transition from one state to another,” editors write. “So for Vol. X—a milestone issue for Expo—bring us your spring breaks, your spring fevers, your spring rolls. Tell us tales that spring a surprise or spring a leak or spring a trap. We’re looking for stories that well from the imagination, language that leaps off the page, writing that’s liberated from the constraints of genre and crackles with the energy of a spring storm.” For fiction, send stories or excerpts up to 5,000 words or flash fiction up to 1,000 words (“the shorter, the better!”). For nonfiction, send up to 5,000 words; for poetry, send up to three poems of any form. Scripts, comics, and experimental narratives are also welcome. Writers can submit for free on Dec. 3 and Dec. 10; otherwise there is a submission fee of $3.50. Payment is $50.
Deadline: Dec. 15 (Dec. 3 and Dec. 10 for free submission days)
Deep Wild Journal: Writing about “journeys to places where there are no roads”
Each annual print issue of Deep Wild Journal: Writing from the Backcountry publishes “work in all genres infused and informed by journeys to places where there are no roads.” Send up to three poems or one or more prose pieces up to about 3,000 words total, although editors will “consider longer prose pieces of exceptional merit.” Writers are free to submit work that has been previously published elsewhere. No payments.
Deadline: Dec. 1 for free submissions or until Dec. 31 with a $4 submission fee
The Other Stories: “Found footage” dark fiction
This horror/sci-fi/thriller fiction podcast, billed as “a modern take on The Twilight Zone,” is seeking submissions centered around found footage: “Bring us stories from lost tapes, forgotten diaries, old film, banned video games, or wherever else you might find strange echoes in lost media.” Send stories that are roughly 2,000 words (no need to record them – the podcast has its own narration team for accepted stories). Payment is £15.
Deadline: Dec. 1
Creation Magazine: “A Holiday Issue”
“The holiday season envelops us in a mix of warmth and reflection, a time when both joy and complexity come to the forefront of our minds,” Creation Magazine editors explain. “Amidst the flickering lights and gatherings, we navigate a landscape of memories that can be both cherished and bittersweet. This is a season where familiar rituals revive old traditions, yet also stir emotions of longing and loss. Volume 07: A Holiday Issue will explore the multifaceted nature of these experiences, examining the rich variety of multicultural celebrations, treasured customs, and personal narratives that reveal the depth of our shared humanity through the evocative lens of literature, art, and photography.” Send prose up to 5,000 words or up to 5 poems. No submission fees.
Deadline: Dec. 10
Superpresent: “Secrets and Mysteries”
For its Winter 2025 issue, the quarterly magazine Superpresent seeks submissions that have to do with its chosen theme of “Secrets and Mysteries.” Send up to three poems (one per page) or 500-2,000 words of prose (essays or short stories). No submission fees.
Deadline: Dec. 15
EastOver Press: Submissions from BIPOC writers from rural or semi-rural U.S. locations
EastOver Press welcomes previously published works of short fiction for the third edition of its annual anthology series, The EastOver Anthology of Rural Stories: Writers of Color. “The anthology will focus on BIPOC writers who live in or hail from rural or semi-rural locales in the United States and whose short stories feature characters living and/or working in rural or semi-rural spaces,” editors write. “In addition, we’ll also accept work from BIPOC writers who’ve spent a significant amount of time in rural or semi-rural locales and whose work might reflect those spaces.” Stories should have been published in 2022 or 2023 and should be no more than 7,500 words. Send up to three submissions. Deesha Philyaw will serve as the guest editor. Payment is $100 to $300.
Deadline: Dec. 31
Spectrum: Submissions on embracing failure
For its 68th volume, Spectrum asks writers to consider “navigating the artistry in embracing failure.” Send one piece of prose up to 5,000 words or up to five poems. Hybrid works are also welcome up to 15 pages, and contributors should not feel limited by genre: “If it can be printed in two dimensions, we will consider it for publication,” editors say. No submission fees, no payments.
Deadline: Dec. 31