Featured Articles
12:36 pm by D Kai Wilson, editor in Issue 1, Issues, Notes from the editor
Welcome to our FIRST issue of DigitalisObscura!
I just wanted to say ‘thank you’ to all of our submissions - each and every one of the submissions were amazing, and I’m delighted to report that everything we received was of amazing quality.
Our reading period re-opens on the 8th of November, so I’d really love to start seeing more submissions. And by issue 2, we’ll also have our own ISSN, and a new, more permanent site design.
Remember to grab YOUR copy of our PDF edition, and if you like it, feel free to head on over to our printers and order a copy - every copy we sell supports our writers and their honorariums directly.
10:00 am by D Kai Wilson, editor in Issue 1, Issues, reviews
Desire and Madness – a collected anthology from Gloucestershire University’s creative writing students.
Desire and Madness is a simple enough premise – and as themes go, its pretty well represented throughout the works of a diverse range of students. Eighteen separate, and sometimes disparate, yet compelling voices that cover prose, poetry, and one rather interestingly vignette style novella. As the introduction states, in 2005, the final short story submissions for the term, on the fiction course was ‘Desire and Madness’, as chosen by those students and was later extended to the creative writing department as a whole, and the anthology was born. From a modern retelling of Hamlet, to flash fiction, to modern and traditional poetry, the anthology, though relatively slim, holds a lot of interesting and riveting writing. (more…)
9:00 am by D Kai Wilson, editor in Issue 1, Issues, non fiction
TEN ZEN SECONDS interview with Eric Maisel
Rahul: What is Ten Zen Seconds all about?
Eric: It’s actually a very simple but powerful technique for reducing your stress, getting yourself centered, and reminding yourself about how you want to live your life. It can even serve as a complete cognitive, emotional, and existential self-help program built on the single idea of “dropping a useful thought into a deep breath.”
You use a deep breath, five seconds on the inhale and five seconds on the exhale, as a container for important thoughts that aim you in the right direction in life—I describe twelve of these thoughts in the book—and you begin to employ this breathing-and-thinking technique that I call incanting as the primary way to keep yourself on track. (more…)
7:00 am by D Kai Wilson, editor in Issue 1, Issues, reviews
Review – Blood
Blood, by Nigel McLoughlin is beyond words. Moving, deeply riveting, and most of all standing as both a marker (for lessons learned, in discussion of terrorism through poetry) and inspiration. (more…)
7:00 am by D Kai Wilson, editor in Issue 1, Issues, Poetry
The telephone rings
A small thing, a sound
Ordinary, and she reaches for it
In an ordinary way
She says hello
Her mind on the children
Her mind on the meeting
Her mind on the dinner on
Saturday night, his friends from
Kansas, she says hello
She says hello.
I love you, he says (more…)
5:00 am by D Kai Wilson, editor in Issue 1, Issues, Poetry
R–U–OK?
Yeah–Yeah
I txt back
before adding another dozen lines to my
essay. There’s a scrap of paper beside me (more…)
3:41 am by D Kai Wilson, editor in Issue 1, Issues, non fiction
The five top tips for the perpetually disorganized (cue chart count-down music)In at number five - Make a to-do list - It might seem odd, but you’re not going to be able get organized and plan your time without looking into what you’ve got to do. So, work out what you’ve got to work with, and then you can handle the rest more effectively. (more…)
2:00 am by D Kai Wilson, editor in Issue 1, Issues, Site news
Blogs of note
Mamaneedsabookcontract – Mama Needs a book contract is a really amazingly cool project where seven ‘mamas’, myself included, blog about all things writing, parenting, and life in general.
Terry Heath – a relatively new blogger on the scene, he’s a great writer and has many points that make you think – plus he’s a Nanowrimo participant to boot!
The last link
Today is November 1st – a day, traditionally reserved for the biggest hopes of writers everywhere in the writing community. Just in case you missed all the fuss, check out http://nanowrimo.org, and give yourself 30 days of hope, fun, revelation and most of all, amazing writing as an early Christmas present!
1:00 am by D Kai Wilson, editor in Fiction, Issue 1, Issues
I can’t see that thief that lives inside of your head
But I can be some courage at the side of your bed
And I don’t know what’s happening and I won’t pretend
I said my goodbyes years ago – when this all first started.
You were different then – brighter, yet…I don’t know – there’s a spark in you now that you never had. A purpose I suppose. You’ve got a reason for doing al this at last, putting us through this again and again.
Is it wrong to wish you dead? Is it wrong to wish you gone? After all you did, after all you DO. The dreams you stole, and shattered, because we weren’t what YOU wanted. The hearts that broke because we couldn’t do what you expected of us.
You asked too much – you drove your own children to alcoholism, and counselling and drugs, and od’s.
You pushed us to far.
Not that I’m not pushing back now. Though sometimes I find myself thinking that the phone ringing at four in the morning is still a harbinger of doom, and freedom, I still feel terrible – for the few breathless seconds when I realise its just Mattie phoning to ask if I’m asleep, if messenger is still on on purpose and I’m just not responding, He’s good humoured, even though he’s been pulled into this triangle but sometimes I wonder how much further his patience will stretch.
Whether he’ll leave, you’ll die and I’ll have nothing.
Its been eons since I was at your side at dawn – a while ago you described me as part of the courageous skyline beside your bed. The hospice lets me come and go as I please. That thief inside your head isn’t going to win, and when you’re gone, I’m going to sue.
I still don’t know why you did it. I mean, the nanobots were unstable, isotope reactive, their half life was…well….
I don’t understand it. I don’t pretend to understand it. But you thought you’d found the cure to cancer, and took it. Little did you know you’d coded it FAR wrong. And you’re not a computer – we can’t reformat and rebuild.
One more day and I let them switch off the machine. I don’t wish you dead, but I can’t bear to see you like this.
I love you mom.
Kassie.
D Kai Wilson is the editor of this site - her fiction can be found at BooksbyKai and is spending the month of November doing the Nanowrimo.
She also blogs at Languagedump.
Subscribe to our newsletter
We're HIRING!
Check out our Guidelines and Editorial calendar - we're looking for editors! Email me at editor at digitalisobscura.com for more information.Oldies, but Goodies!
The telephone rings
A small thing, a sound
Ordinary, and she reaches for it
In an ordinary way
She says hello
Her mind on the children
Her mind on the meeting
Her mind on the dinner on
Saturday night, his friends from
Kansas, she says hello
She says hello.
I love you, he says
The long and short of it is we’re going to be posting content on a first come, first served basis, with it all premiering on the 1st of November. It’ll be in the PDF AND online for discussion from then.
So, if you want your piece to appear first in the email newsletter, then feel free [...]
TEN ZEN SECONDS interview with Eric Maisel
Rahul: What is Ten Zen Seconds all about?
Eric: It’s actually a very simple but powerful technique for reducing your stress, getting yourself centered, and reminding yourself about how you want to live your life. It can even serve as a complete cognitive, emotional, and existential self-help program built [...]
You know, no matter how often I install Wordpress, the ‘hello world’ post always makes it ok.
Hiya - my name is Kai - and I’m the managing editor of this project. Over the coming few weeks, between preparing for university, I’ll be expanding on the information that’s available, but for the moment, welcome to the [...]
Hi guys!
Thanks for the overwhelming support for this project so far - I’m delighted that so many people have taken to it, and taken WELL to it.
I know that the honorarium is causing some consternation - if I could pay more, I would, and as soon as we can, I WILL. This project is not [...]
What's the dilly, yo?
Heart medicine - for writers
Categories
Archives
More Information
Our Friends