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Caution: Mermaid Crossing
This blog (including pages of interest as an author/speaker/workshop presenter)
is a companion to my upcoming collection of essays titled,
Caution: Mermaid Crossing, Voyages of a Motherless Daughter - Passing through a sea of adversity,
she overcomes a life unimaginable by crossing into the world of ethereal beauty and mermaid magic.
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Limbo, Chaos, and Cats
Lucia Fortuna Since I was a very little girl, cats have been my refuge and a source of deep affection. After losing my mother at the age...
Valerie Anne Burns
Mar 27, 2022
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Where is the Muse and Better News?
There's a reason life has been known to be a roller coaster ride. It certainly has been that for me. I find the muse, I find the joy, and...
Valerie Anne Burns
Jan 14, 2022
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The Journey to Being Published in Chicken Soup for the Soul Series
One of the more difficult things for a writer to do is hang in there, to persevere amongst all the rejection. The percentage of rejection...
Valerie Anne Burns
Oct 21, 2021
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What the Hell is Happening?
(End of August blog with a strong build-up need to express!) How does one take it all in? Oh how I yearn to be a Pollyanna by nature. But...
Valerie Anne Burns
Aug 21, 2021
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Sorry, No Longer Accepting Breadcrumbs
It took such a long time to realize that I deserve a lot more in life than breadcrumbs... an embarrassingly long time. It was in therapy...
Valerie Anne Burns
Jul 14, 2021
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Your Bed
For this month's blog, I'm sharing a published essay in HerStry Literary Journal from my book, Caution: Mermaid Crossing, Voyages of a...
Valerie Anne Burns
May 21, 2021
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Reminiscing About Italy Has Been a Favorite Way of Distraction During Covid
Reminiscing About Italy Has Been a Favorite Way of Distraction During Covid Lerici in Liguria, Italy--October, 2019 (Poem about returning...
Valerie Anne Burns
Mar 8, 2021
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Amber Glow
For this month's blog, I'm posting an original poem (plus a bonus poem) from my City College Creative Writing Class. Amber Glow is...
Valerie Anne Burns
Feb 24, 2021
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How Do We Stay Sane in Trying Times, Especially Solo?
Lilly Pond Zen Moment--Summerland, CA I'm still trying to figure this out every day. There seems to be a perpetual delay in major areas...
Valerie Anne Burns
Nov 20, 2020
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Birthday Blog 2020 ~ What a Difference a Year Makes
While I won't reveal my age, I can say life is passing by faster than I'm comfortable with. Last year on my birthday, I was in Firenze...
Valerie Anne Burns
Oct 6, 2020
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Endlessness of Current Times and the Comforting Endlessness of the Sea
There is a feeling of endlessness in my orbit...perhaps felt in the world, very likely in this country and perhaps by you. I'm in a...
Valerie Anne Burns
Jul 20, 2020
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Is Anyone Listening?
Does anyone else feel as if the world has been flipped on its axis? Does anyone, perhaps those that are in self-quarantine completely...
Valerie Anne Burns
May 24, 2020
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Masked and Zooming
By Tuesday night (4/14) after excessive Zooming, Google meetings, WhatsApp face-time for far too many hours and far too many weeks, a...
Valerie Anne Burns
Apr 18, 2020
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My Nine and a Half Lives
I can’t help but ask the higher power, the gods, or the departed why I’m still orbiting with our Mother Earth. What makes one soul...
Valerie Anne Burns
Feb 27, 2020
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Not Everyone Had a Place to Be on Christmas
The holidays are an intimate occasion, which can bring joy and connection to most, but at times, laced with stress and/or loneliness....
Valerie Anne Burns
Dec 28, 2019
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The Bells of Italy Continue to Ring
It is the bells of Italy that stays with me as if absorbed in my body since returning home the end of October from my month-long...
Valerie Anne Burns
Dec 11, 2019
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"Gulf Stream Awakening" out-loud
Instead of a written blog this month, below you'll find a literary reading with Out Loud Santa Barbara (sponsored by Arts Fund) where I...
Valerie Anne Burns
Nov 18, 2019
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Written Word Manifesting in Real Time
Photo of me in Florence at age 19 Writing essay after essay without ever thinking it would become a book has finally brought me to a...
Valerie Anne Burns
Sep 21, 2019
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A Valium and A Cookie
The photo above depicts my sentiments most pointedly after discovering that three weeks of writing work was lost. I received the red edit...
Valerie Anne Burns
Aug 11, 2019
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Encouraged and Discouraged
Dualities of Life Ah, the dualities of life: Encouraged/Discouraged, Sad/Happy, Peaceful/Anxious, Healthy/Unwell,...
Valerie Anne Burns
Jul 9, 2019
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