Hate Mail: Thank You for Reading

At times illuminating, haunting and downright funny, Hate Mail: Thank You for Reading unveils the experiences of female journalists in the US by transforming one journalist's reader emails-or hate mail-into poems. The pieces in this collection ask you to think about the state of journalism in the US, the role of female reporters, and the enduring culture of online hate.

Humor & Entertainment

Robertson, Michelle

Humor

Vine Leaves Press

Small Forgotten Moments

Literature & Fiction

Crawford, Annalisa

Genre Fiction

Sixteen-year-old honors student Ernest Benoit has always followed the rules. But when his best friend drowns on Cape Cod, he begins to question his family's devout Catholicism, and he disrupts an Advent prayer service at his Catholic high school. Now his life will never be the same. 
A blizzard leaves Ernest stranded in a depressed western Massachusetts mill town after he boards a bus to Manhattan to avoid being sent to a Jesuit boarding school. It's the beginning of a months-long journey that leads him to rescue a young girl from an icy river, into the bed of a lonely middle-aged widow, and to the woodland cabin of Roland Laliberté, a recluse who can shoot with the accuracy of a sniper. 
When the widow falsely accuses Ernest of rape, Roland smuggles him over the Canadian border where they settle into life on the New Brunswick farm where Roland grew up. Ernest takes a job in the Lalibertés' sawmill, and falls in love with the girl next door. But it's not long before the local police start asking questions and his return home seems impossible.

The River is Everywhere

Provost, Emilie-Noelle

Marooned at a backwater college and hungry for more, Athletic Director Scott Darrow plots his ascent to a better job at a better school. 
He has the talent, charm and Machiavellian nerve to go far, but when he hires a famous coach to run his basketball program, the coach proves to be unstable and possibly insane. 
Now, to escape professional oblivion, Darrow must maneuver and manipulate this coach, and manage the town's intensifying suspicions. No measure is too drastic. No tactic too cruel. But complicating Darrow's work is his own unsettled history, and in wrestling with this history, Darrow begins to understand his frail coach with jarring personal clarity. 
Perhaps the two men aren't as dissimilar as they'd seemed. And perhaps Darrow's future-even if it's triumphant-will mean not banishing his ghosts, but living forever in their company.

The Sea Lanterns

Sports & Outdoors

Nickol, Ben

Coaching

For the first time in a lifetime, Angelina and Will can choose again. After twenty-two years with children at home, she has no idea what she wants and is counting on the empty house to figure it out. 
But he already knows-he wants her, all to himself. 
Nine days into their child-free life, he quits his job and announces he's home to stay. So Angelina announces she's returning to nursing, this time in home health care. 
In his new basement workroom, Will enjoys making boxes, but the quiet house sends him in search of music, where he meets Stella who reveals more than the magic of iPods. 
Meanwhile, Angelina's first patient is an unpredictable woman named Lucy who reveals a particular magic of her own, as does her billboard-painting son John Milton. As Angelina and Will's life together becomes increasingly tense and their days apart become increasingly comfortable, it looks like Will may be the one to get the empty house. 
Love Like This drops you inside a long-term marriage, where you'll be screaming either stay or go-as you weigh the value of sticking with the familiar versus the value of venturing into the unknown.

Love Like This

Newberry Martin, Cynthia

The Best of Vine Leaves Literary Journal 2012

Literary

Bitter Like Orange Peel

Bell, Jessica

In late 2011, Jessica Bell and Dawn Ius founded Vine Leaves Literary Journal to offer the vignette, a forgotten literary form, the exposure and credit it deserves.  The vignette is a snapshot in words, and differs from flash fiction or a short story in that its aim doesn't lie within the traditional realms of structure or plot, instead it focuses on one element, mood, character, setting or object.  The journal, published quarterly online, is a lush synergy of atmospheric prose, poetry, photography and illustrations, put together with an eye for aesthetics as well as literary merit. The annual print anthology showcases the very best pieces from across the year.  Each vignette merges to create a vivid snapshot in time and place. Prepare for big stories in small spaces, between and beyond the words.  Read one at a time.  Taste them. Savour them. Live them.

The Best of Vine Leaves Literary Journal 2013

*Includes fifteen BONUS! writing exercises that you will not find in the original series. In "Bird by Bird", Anne Lamott says a writer needs to focus on short assignments to avoid feeling overwhelmed. She refers to the one-inch picture frame on her desk and how it reminds her to focus on bite-sized pieces of the whole story. If you focus on one small thing at a time, the story will eventually come together to create a whole. The same applies to learning writing craft. If writers focus on one aspect of the craft at a time, the process will seem less daunting, and piece by piece, it will come together.With more than ten years' experience as an editor and writer of English Language Teaching (ELT) materials for various ELT publishers worldwide, I know that "breaking down" language into smaller focus areas is an effective learning method. After much experimentation on myself, and volunteer aspiring writers, I discovered it is extremely effective with creative writing too. And so the "Writing in a Nutshell Series" was born. This book is the all-in-one edition of the three "Writing in a Nutshell" workbooks: "Show & Tell in a Nutshell: Demonstrated Transitions from Telling to Showing"; "Adverbs & Clichés in a Nutshell: Demonstrated Subversions of Adverbs & Clichés into Gourmet Imagery"; and "The Six Senses in a Nutshell: Demonstrated Transitions from Bleak to Bold Narrative".  In each book, I guide you through a variety of "before" and "after" writing examples demonstrating the transition from weak to strong writing, and encourage you to follow my example through clear and simple self-teaching steps.Not only is this all-in-one workbook an excellent addition to any creative writing course, but also a great primary learning tool for aspiring writers. Even if you're an established writer, the exercises in this book will keep you at the top of your game. What are you waiting for? Get cracking on improving your writing craft!

Writing in a Nutshell: Writing Workshops to Improve Your Craft

Reference

Words, Language & Grammar

The food of coastal Africa has long nourished the bodies and fed the spirits of many as it moved along with a people, from its original continent across seas. "Harvest" echoes this original journey as it follows a young girl recalling childhood, and discovering adulthood, all while navigating different spaces and times. Amanya Maloba's debut collection of contemporary African American vignettes is told in a voice that echoes generations of these stories, but is resolutely her own-personal and raw. Maloba has watered the soil of her imagination with laughter, tears, and centuries of wisdom, and the harvest she has brought forth is every bit as rich and rewarding as those nutrients promise. Perfect to savour one at time, but you may find yourself devouring these sweet and sour vignettes in one sitting. *Grand Finalist of the 2014 Vine Leaves Vignette Collection Award.*

Harvest

Maloba, Amanya

United States

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