Word for Word: Etching

I’m in a writers’ group that meets on Zoom, though before the pandemic we met in person. Every week, we do a writing prompt: someone gives a page number, and our organizer picks a word from a huge dictionary. We write for five minutes. In this example, the word is: etching.

Born to be Posthumous: The Eccentric Life and Mysterious Genius of Edward Gorey, by Mark Dery

I opened the yellowed antique book, and a scrap of paper fell out. At first I thought it must be as old as the book. When I picked up the scrap of paper, I saw that it featured an etching, further suggesting it was Victorian. But… I recognized Edward Gorey’s style. The etching was an illustration of his fantasy creature Figbash wearing a long, flowing scarf.

Where I’ve been published this year:

• My poem “Bonsai Tree” in the webzine Grim & Gilded, September 2022 issue.

Special Issue One - Grim & Gilded - A Literary Journal

• My story “Theater Patron” in Kaleidoscope — A Queer Anthology, published by Cloaked Press. Proceeds for the latter go to The Trevor Project.