Fresh FIction Box Not To Miss

Stephanie Bond | Writing Roots

September 3, 2007


Not very many people know (and the handful of people who did once know, have no reason to remember) that my first writing credit was in the December 1979 issue of ‘Teen’ magazine. The cover featured a pretty brunette model with blue eyes, her hair pulled up into a loose bun that looks Gibson-girlish, wearing a red shiny shirt with tiny black polka dots buttoned all the way to the top button. My, how fashions and hairstyles have changed! The theme for the magazine that month was “DAZZLE! Looks that sparkle!” The cover articles are “Party Pretties With Zip,” “Packages That Reflect You (easy gifts to make),” “Your Body (facts and fallacies),” Knockout Nail Care (complete hand book),” “Why You’re Shy (how to change),” and “Embarrassing Moments (celebrity blush up).” The entertainment section featured Dirk Benedict (Lieutenant Starbuck in Battlestar Gallactica), The Bee Gees, Charlene Tilton, and Michael Jackson (looking very different than today)! The regular columns in the magazine were Horoscope, Dear Doctor, Dear Jack, Dear Jill, Meet the Supersports, Flea Market, and Reader Write-On.

In the Reader Write-On column, readers could submit original poems. I did, and my poem was chosen for the above issue. And now, I am baring my 13-year-old soul to the readers of the FreshFiction blog:

A Stormy Thought
Hearing the storm,
Watching the rain,
Thinking of you,
Feeling the pain.

I was so young,
Unable to think,
Thirsty for love,
You let me drink.

Trusting in you,
I gave you myself,
Just when I found love,
You found someone else.

My dreams clouded over,
To resemble the skies,
The rain kept on falling,
And flowed out of my eyes.

My pride had been hurt,
My heart was now scarred,
“But next time,” I vowed,
“I won’t fall so hard.”

Pretty heavy stuff for someone who wouldn’t have her first boyfriend for another year or so! Do you think I was influenced by the romance novels I was devouring at the rate of one a day? Or maybe one of the country music songs that played on the radio that my mom kept on the top of the refrigerator (it was on 24/7). But I was so thrilled by that publishing credit—it was my first taste of seeing my name in print, my first experience thinking, “Wow, other people are reading words that I put together!” Through many moves and life changes, I’ve kept the issue of ‘Teen with my poem in it all this time. It’s yellowed and falling apart, I store it in a protective cover. And whenever I feel defeated about my career or a current project, pulling out that magazine never fails to give me a lift. Also, I’m wondering if any of the other four budding writers featured that month have gone on to have a career in publishing. Does anyone know these women (ages as of 1979):

Marcia Lusk, 16, St. Johns, MI
Ann Schlott, 16, Baltimore, MD
Judy McCrary, (no age given), San Deigo, CA

BODY MOVERS available now in paperback, large print, and e-book formats!

BODY MOVERS: 2 Bodies for the Price of 1 available now in oversize paerback and e-book formats!

HEAT WAVE anthology available now in paperback and e-book formats!

SHE DID A BAD, BAD THING available now in paperback and audio!

Check out the Open Book blog on http://www.stephaniebond.com/.

Stephanie Bond

One Comment

  • Juliet Montague January 16, 2011 at 8:42 pm

    Wow! Yesterday at an open house around the corner, I met Tammy Tarner. As is the usual, feeling safe and in the company of a “sister,” even though a stranger to me, I dumped out onto poor Tammy my broken heart—and the fact that I was correcting my 6th galley for my first novel, a romantic fantasy about a 60-year-old woman’s sexual awakening when a Persian Muslim twenty-two years her junior enters her organized celibate life to change her forever.
    Tammy told me your story and it has truly encouraged me to go for it!
    I am self-publishing, and The Year I Learned to Text; Why am I having sex with a Muslim in my basement? will be released on Valentine’s Day.
    I would very much like to read your first novel. What is the title, so that I order the correct book.
    Thank you for being out there!
    Kathy Taylor/Juliet Montague, Pseudonym