My life is always a little chaotic.  I don’t do well with unconstructed time and even while struggling with chronic illness, I try to keep myself engaged. The last few months; however, it has gone from a little chaotic to a lot of chaotic.  Kindra M. Austin and I launched our imprint Indie Blu(e) Publishing in September and almost immediately took on an ambitious anthology project, We Will Not Be Silenced, with co-editors Candice Louisa Daquin and Rachel Finch.  We are very, very proud of this project but it has been the center of our creative energy for several frantic months.

On the home front, a cracked shower pan and a leaking bathroom sink drain forced us to have our master bathroom gutted on October 30^th.  Although it is shaping up nicely, renovation continues.  Fingers crossed, we may have a toilet, vanity, and sink by the end of the week!

As home repair projects often do, this has snowballed into the rest of the house.  The slow leak from our master bath eventually took its toll on the living room below it, leading to significant plaster repair and the need to repaint.  Which means we have moved most of what was in the living room into our dining room, leaving three rooms in our house out of commission.

I have been joking with my family that the only place there is currently to set up a Christmas tree is our brand new shower, which will be door-less for at least three more weeks.

You can see why my thoughts have turned to the simple pleasures of the winter holidays as we start December. I have reached the age where I am getting a little tired of material possessions- well, unless it’s a book. There’s always room in my life for more books.  And I am already hustled and bustled out on December 3rd.  No matter what holiday you honor this time of year, I would love to read your writing about the things that don’t come with ribbons and bows that feed your soul (or that you long for) this time of year.

The Guidelines

1. Send me a 25 to 500 word original, previously unpublished piece (and by that, I mean don’t post it on your blog before I publish it on BraveandReckless) focused on the things that are truly meaningful to you this time of year. It can be poetry, prose, short fiction or even essay.  It doesn’t need to be happy or uplifting; just real.
2. Pick out an image to go with your submission
3. Write a brief biography (70 words or less)
4. Send the following to me at christine.e.ray@gmail.com no later than  midnight on Sunday, December 23 2017:
   • Your original piece
   • suggested image
   • brief biography including the name you write under
   • link to where you usually post your writing (blog, Facebook page, Instagram, etc.)
5. Submissions will be judged by me and at least one guest judge.  If you are interested in being a guest judge for this writing prompt challenge, let me know.
6. I will publish all submissions on Brave and Reckless as long as they are appropriate. You are welcome to reblog your piece to your own platform once they have been published on Brave and Reckless first. They will also get a plug on Brave and Reckless‘ Twitter and Facebook pages.

Please feel free reblog and post this challenge invitation on social media.