Tying Up Loose Ends

Oh, my goodness, the last “Tying Up” I did was back in October! I use these posts as touch points to review the different processes of creativity I’ve explored and they behaved almost as a small exhale. Clearly, I’ve had a lot of sharing happening without much of an exhale lately! To rectify that, here we go:

Recap Questions:

Here are some questions I’ve raised in past posts you can come back to when contemplating your own creative process—

• How have you been generous as a creative? To other creatives? To yourself? To those that are your creative audiences?

• How has others’ creativity fueled you?

• What stands between you and your creative pursuits/projects?

• How do external and internal validation impact you as a creative?

• How do your creative pursuits connect you to place?

• How can you befriend imposter syndrome and make its messages work FOR you?

What I’ve Been Reading:

A dear friend gifted me Jarod Anderson’s Something in the Woods Loves You for my birthday—it’s been on my “to read” list for a long time!

Poet Warrior by Joy Harjo (along with reading her poetry)

Layli Long Soldier’s Whereas (along with watching her read her poems online)

Albert’s The Hazel Wood—current fiction indulgence from my oldest son at Christmas

Suleika Jaouad’s The Book of Alchemy – which I recommend for anyone who is a writer.

and ARC’s (Advanced Reader Copies) of Neolithic Imaginings: Mythical Explorations of the Unknown which will be coming out (hopefully) next month:

You may notice, I have been blessed to have my art on this cover. I am four for four poetry covers with my art on it and it is such a blessing to be able to share not just my words, but this part of my creative life as well.

What I’ve been creating lately:

A winter scarf (in time for the beginnings of spring)—when you run out of wool because you miscalculated, you simply add a different color and embrace the mistake

Four shawl pins—two mushrooms and two fern fronds out of white cherry from a dear friend’s brother who stopped carving a few years ago (Thanks, Pete!).

A lot of artwork with some embroidery—my winter palate has consisted of mostly greens, oranges and greys.

Finishing up winter poems for a micro chapbook; here’s a segment of “Winter Witch” zine, complete with deer skull. There are seven poems so far.

Organizing two different poetry manuscripts right now that may see the light this year.

Editing my nonfiction book: this will be the year of unbounded grace and a lot of mistakes so I can begin to learn the process of this style of writing (any advice is welcomed).

What’s been getting submitted and published:

I’m submitting packets of poetry, as always—55 so far as of this post.

Fifteen poems have been accepted in 2026 and I’ve had 22 rejections so far. (I’m putting in the work.)

I’ve submitted 6 packets of art with no acceptances or rejections and I had one photograph published in February along with one of my winter poems: Yule.

Lastly, I’ve got one poetry manuscript out in the world right now: “Not a Father, Not a Daughter: A Poetic Memoir”. I’m hoping within a few years it will find its home.

Collaborative Energy: Luz Schweig is an amazing poet and we shared a table recently at the Williamsburg Book Festival earlier this month. She has a debut collection of poetry, The Half that Runs, which focuses on her family’s immigration from Mexico to California, as well as an anthology she’s edited Somos Xicanas which focuses on the new and enduring Xicana identity (Sandra Cisernos and Ada Limon are two writers featured). We’ve known each other for a few months and when given the opportunity to share a table, we did! It felt wonderfully supportive when we were able to field questions for each other while one was occupied speaking to an interested customer.

Copy Editing Services

Quick plug: $30 per hour for copy editing. I’m a pretty quick turn-around and am offering a small project for free to try me out. If you want to see if we’re a good fit, I’m offering a 1-3 page sampling of my services. If you are interested, just email me: loraleeclarkcreative@gmail.com.

Free Write Prompts:

• my real name is….tomorrow it will be…

• I have forgotten

• Where do you really come from?

• Write about a childhood memory. Rewrite it and omit the past tense and any “I remember”

• uncovered hush

Thank you to everyone for reading and helping me create community around our creative processes. If you are interested in hearing my take on any particular topic, feel free to reach out; the last topic (imposter syndrome) was one suggested by a reader. Take care and welcome spring, Loralee