December News and 2023 Roundup

NOMINATION 

I am pleased to share that my poem, “Knowing You,” was nominated for a Pushcart by Gnashing Teeth Publishing. Thank you to Karen Cline-Tardiff for this honor. Not a bad way to close out the year!

 

2023 ROUNDUP

This year, 38 of my pieces appeared in 18 publications, including short stories and poems. (A few of the covers are included in the above collage.) I was a featured storyteller for the May 2023 Truth in Comedy event in Kansas City, MO. Additionally, I published four books, including:

• Midnight Glossolalia (with Scott Ferry and Lillian Necakov), Meat for Tea Press, February 2023
• Morels, Voice Lux Press, May 2023
• Moonlight and Monsters, Gnashing Teeth Publishing, July 2023
• Points of Light: Poems to Express Gratitude for Nurses During the COVID-19 Pandemic, July 2023, (editor and contributor)

I had work nominated for two Best of the Nets, a Pushcart, and a Rhysling Award. I continue to serve as an editor at Gleam, and wrote blurbs for each imaginary arrow (Scott Ferry) and The Very Special Dead (Christian Livermore). If you haven't read those books, I can't recommend them enough. 

I’ve had years where I’ve had more publications, but then, this is the first time I’ve published four books in a year, so sometimes success is kinda hard to quantify. Publishing four books meant a pretty hard marketing push for readings, podcasts, and events. Otherwise, 2023 was a soft hiatus for me. For the first time in recent memory, I did not write every day. In fact, I barely wrote at all. Besides health problems, my husband and I purchased a house, which has needed a lot of time and attention. But most of all, I was burned out. Submitting and publishing can be an absolute grind, and I was just all out of spoons and all out fucks. I’m just now trying to get back into a writing routine, and trying to find a better work-life balance. To all who have supported me, this year and every other, you have my sincerest gratitude.

 

OTHER NEWS

I am now on Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/laurenscharhag.bsky.social

I just got the invite code on December 22, so I still haven't really figured it out yet, but I hope to get proficient soon, and get off the sinking ship that is the platform formerly known as Twitter. 

Hope you all had a safe and happy holiday season, and wishing you all the best for '24!