If summer seems far away already to you, you’re not alone. Much of the country has donned its winter coats and woolen sweaters, like the gals in our cover photo, a floating art installment by Hilary Zelson called “Who Wears Wool,” a tribute to the wool industry of yesteryear in Fort Point, Boston. The sculpture eerily reminds me of a Trojan Horse – a wolf in sheep’s clothing or in this case perhaps a shark in sheep’s clothing – floating toward an unsuspecting city. Speaking of sharks and sheep, consumers this holiday season may be interested in this new invention to prepare for the winter ahead. But I digress… Here are our December Submissions to celebrate the solstice. This month’s fiction comes from Lloyd Prentice, a novelist whose gritty crime fiction caught our attention in…

Continue reading →

I step into the din that is opening night of “Abstracted” at UFORGE Gallery, and am instantly struck by the energy of the small space on Centre St. in the artsy Jamaica Plain neighborhood of Boston. The brightly lit white walls scream hospital sterile, yet the patrons paint the room vibrantly colorful. This is not the pearl-adorned SoWa crowd of those warm, careless summer days. No, the crowd here is salt-of-the-earth artists and art admirers, chatting away about process and inspiration as much as about personal interests and weekend plans. The sheer volume of artwork strikes me. Thirty artists are featured in this exhibit with one to three pieces each, making the walls close in a little and the people stand nearly shoulder to shoulder throughout the room. As I make my first pass through,…

Continue reading →

Calling All Authors – you don’t want to miss this opportunity to hear wise and experienced author-consultant Jason Brick today! He’s being interviewed on the Author’s Academy, a service of Wheatmark Publishing. Last month, two Wheatmark pros  brought listeners up to speed on the basics of social media. Now it’s time to take it up a notch, and discover how to use social media to sell more books! The featured guest will be Jason Brick, top-shelf business writer, writing coach, speaker, ghostwriter, and business writing coach extraordinaire. Jason owes the success of his series of self-published books to a strong social media presence and his use of Tactical Social Engagement. Jason will explain how to identify the three kinds of people who can help you sell your books, as well as how to develop three levels of strategy…

Continue reading →

Sometimes, we find art in the strangest of places, like in an overturned driveway marker. Other times, we find art right where we are looking for it, like at an art exhibition. In either case, it’s in those quiet, fleeting, open-minded moments that we see the depth of beauty in the world around us. This month, we invite our readers to take a moment to acknowledge the art in their lives – whether it’s on a walk through the neighborhood or on a trip to the museum. For a little inspiration, we offer you our November Submissions. This month, we’ve got submissions from a new acquaintance, an old friend and an FC regular. First up, we have Erica Nazzaro’s hauntingly evocative mixed media art. She paints scenes that bring abstraction and reality together to create…

Continue reading →