Strategic Storyteller & Literary Host
I am honored to be participating in a reading with my mentor Elmaz Abinader and the talented poet Derrick Weston Brown at Red Emma’s on Tuesday, January 13 at 7:30 PM. Red Emma’s is located at 30 W. North Avenue, Baltimore. For more info: https://redemmas.org/events/236.
I have been fortunate to have the some great opportunities to publish in the past month. I just launched a new monthly vinyl record review column with AudioFemme. I will be reviewing new vinyl and vintage finds every month.
Here’s the first column! In it I review a comp of North-West grunge bands and a comp of psychedelic, James Brown-inspired bands from Benin and Togo.
No Seattle: Forgotten Sounds of the North-West Grunge Era 1986-97 (Volume One)
Compilation by Soul Jazz Records
The thing is, I really wanted to like this record. From the first song I heard — Thrillhammer’s “Alice’s Palace” — I knew that I would.
The majority of the bands on No Seattle never got record deals; they didn’t tour extensively outside of the North-West region and they didn’t achieve fame; therefore, their output was often raw and unpolished. The liner notes set the context for how tiny the rock scenes were in these small towns in Washington and Oregon, where the floor breaking from the walls at a house show could be a band’s biggest (or at least most memorable) gig — as it was for the band Pod.
Minus the Bear
O’Brother
Rock & Roll Hotel – October 19, 2014
“On paper, the match-up of O’Brother and Minus the Bear seemed odd. O’Brother is a sludgy, post-metal band. Minus the Bear is all jingly and jangly, rhythmic and pop-y. Those sounds don’t mix. Or, so I would have thought.
With three wailing guitars, thundering bass and ferocious drumming, O’Brother created a wall of sound. Lead vocalist Tanner Merritt’s vocals effortlessly swung between sweet, sweet falsetto to primal scream and back again. Jordan McGhin’s back-up screaming and harmonizing vocals gave the songs a pleasingly emo style, and guitarist Johnny Dang’s headbanging was a marvel unto itself.”
Read the full review at D.C. Music Download.
Here’s a video from O’Brother.
I am excited about two recent publications!
Of Matches & Men (fiction)
My short story (4,500 words) was published in Issue 5 of Words Apart, a social-justice themed publication from Emerson College.
Thursday, April 4, 1968. 7:05 p.m.
The Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. is shot in the neck as he stands on the balcony of Lorraine Motel in Memphis, Tennessee.
Thursday, April 4, 1968. 10:56 p.m. U Street, NW, Washington, DC.
A man standing in front of a drug store balls up a wad of paper.
He lights a match to the paper.
He throws it inside.
Thirty years later the fire was still burning and crackling through the air.
For Ángela, the young mother of an 11-year old boy, her only wish is to protect her son from that raging fire.
Untitled (queen) (poetry)
I published a poem in the fall issue of BlazeVOX.
Yippee! Read it here.
Days: 4 Wednesdays
Time: 7 p.m. – 9 p.m.
Dates: 8/6/2014 – 8/27/2014
The Writer’s Center at Bethesda-Chevy Chase Regional Services Center (4805 Edgemoor Lane, Bethesda, MD)
Register: https://www.writer.org/sslpage.aspx?pid=353
In this four-week class you will learn tips for interviewing artists and musicians; writing art and music reviews; and contacting record labels, publicists and artists.
Through weekly assignments you will learn how to build a professional arts and culture blog to serve as your portfolio, as well as how to market your writing and pitch ideas to publications. Students must complete 400- to 500-word writing assignments each week. You will be encouraged to launch your own arts and culture blog.
You know everything about the underground Finnish hip hop scene. You’re deep into the Angolan death metal scene. You love music and you get it. Now, get paid to write about it.
Join me for my “Breaking into Music Journalism” class next Saturday, July 12, at the Writer’s Center in Bethesda, MD.
This a full-day boot camp. We will practice strategies for reviewing music, conducting interviews, and pitching stories to editors.
You will learn how to land the interview, act professional and get the juicy quotes. We’ll discuss how to find your unique style and voice, how to build an engaging story, and how to work with editors. You will also learn how to create your own music blog where you can showcase your work.
Here’s the deets:
Break on Through: Breaking into Music Journalism
Saturday, July 12, 9:00 a.m. – 3:00 p.m.
The Writer’s Center (4508 Walsh Street, Bethesda, MD)
Open to All Levels
Register: https://www.writer.org/sslpage.aspx?pid=353
Get published. This is your time.
I stepped off the plane feeling sore and sick. My deep rattling cough had started a couple of days before, and now my dream vacation would be filled with phlegm. My body felt like it had been pricked with a thousand tiny needles, and I had spent the night twisting and turning, coughing and shivering under my new parka.
The airport seemed sterile in its precise cleanliness. Few people lurked about. Outside, I scanned the row of shuttle buses, searching for my assigned bus number. I looked up at the dark, sad, grey/black sky.
It was 6:00 AM and it was going to rain.
Here I was. Alone in Iceland.
As we rambled along the lonely stretch of road from Keflavik to Reykjavik I wondered if maybe I should have done more prior research. 
Along the highway, piles of jagged, moss-covered lava rock stretched out into the horizon. I saw no buildings, homes, animals or trees. The bus driver mentioned trolls and I understood. If there were ever a place where trolls would live it would be in the crevices of these rocks.
Why was I here? Was it divine intervention or just a good piece of marketing? Was I summoned by elves or pulled by a magnetic force to middle earth? Why was I called to this remote, chilly island?
Continue reading “Baptism By Fire and Ice: My Journey to Iceland”
It’s time to start making money from your writing! Please join me for one of my summer writing workshops at the Bethesda or Capitol Hill locations of The Writer’s Center!
How to Write A Lot Saturday, June 28, 9:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m. Location: Hill Center at the Old Naval Hospital (921 Pennsylvania Avenue SE, Washington, D.C.) Open to All Levels Cost: $50 Register: https://www.writer.org/sslpage.aspx?pid=353
Do you find it impossible to squeeze time for creative writing into your hectic life? Well, you can’t publish if you’re not writing. Writing requires discipline and commitment. Here, you will learn how to develop the habits of a successful writer, including how to set and track your writing goals, create a schedule and project plan, and use writing prompts to advance your story or generate new work. We also will do in-class fiction and non-fiction writing exercises designed to show you how to make the most of your writing time. There are no good excuses! This class is for all busy writers.
Saturday, July 12, 9:00 a.m. – 3:00 p.m.
Location: The Writer’s Center (4508 Walsh Street, Bethesda, MD) Open to All Levels Cost: $80 Register: https://www.writer.org/sslpage.aspx?pid=353 Are you interested in breaking into music journalism? Here you will learn how to score interviews with bands and work with record lab
els and publicists to review new records. You will learn tips for writing compelling feature stories, artist profiles, and live show reviews. You also will learn how to sell your writing for publication and how to build your own music blog to showcase your work.
(4) Wednesdays, August 6 – August 27, 7:00 p.m. – 9:00 p.m. Location: The Writer’s Center (4508 Walsh Street, Bethesda, MD) Open to All Levels Cost:$135 Register: https://www.writer.org/sslpage.aspx?pid=353 
Breaking into arts writing takes determination — and good clips. The best way to land your first paying gig is to have a portfolio of reviews and feature stories that demonstrate your skill and writing style. You will learn tips for interviewing artists and musicians; writing art and music reviews; and contacting record labels, publicists and artists. Through weekly assignments you will learn how to build a professional arts and culture blog to serve as your portfolio, as well as how to market your writing and pitch ideas to publications to sell your first story. Students must complete 400- to 500-word writing assignments each week. You will be encouraged to launch your own arts and culture blog.
Banff Centre for the Arts is a multidisciplinary arts, cultural and educational institution in Alberta, Canada. Artists from around the world journey to the mountain retreat to do what they do: make art.
What I made in Banff started a year ago.
I was awarded a self-directed Literary Arts residency at the Banff Centre for the Arts in Alberta, Canada, in September 2012. At the time, I didn’t know where Banff was exactly.
Banff National Park is about 2,600 sq. miles of dense forest, mountains and glacier-fed lakes in the Canadian Rockies. Once you’re inside the park gates, there’s the tiny town of Banff; Banff Centre for the Arts, which sits about ½ a kilometer from the town; and a couple of historic hotels. Banff National Park is Canada’s oldest national park.
I left home with about 100 pages of a rough draft of a novel manuscript, plenty of Steno pads, an ambition to write the rest of my novel by hand, and a desire to breathe fresh mountain air.
Unfortunately, I arrived late at night with my fear of wildlife, several types of allergy and asthma meds and a concern that I had made a bad choice.
I am very excited! I just published an essay about my Writing with Willona series in the University of Virginia alumni e-newsletter. You can read “Writing Better Together” here.
“I think what we need is more literature in bars.”
It felt like Andre Perry, co-founder of the Mission Creek Festival in Iowa City, was speaking just to me. He wasn’t.
Perry was addressing the packed room of writers gathered at a literary conference in Washington, D.C., and espousing on the topic of literary community. “If you see a gap,” he said, “Then fill it.” The lesson: build the community that you want to participate in.
Perry was right.
We did need more literature in bars.
Read the full article.
Willona M. Sloan 