A Million Thanks

Dear readers,

It’s May, this is crazy! Sometimes I feel like I write to you every day, the weeks go by so fast! Wherever you are in the world, I hope you’re okay.

A lot happened on Scribe in April! Well, I’m not going to teach you anything if you read the letter every Sunday, but here’s a little summary just for you.

First of all, I would like to thank from the bottom of my heart the first seven patrons of the publication. The support program was born just a fortnight ago, so it’s just incredible! Bradley J Nordell, Samantha Lazar, Edis Rune, Venessa Yeh, Erika Burkhalter, Gail Walter, and Iris M. Crawford, thank you so much for your trust and support. Be sure that thanks to you, Scribe will go even further. You’re at home here!

At the very beginning of April, I launched the “We’re Living It” initiative with a page for each of us, the confined, to tell our confinement in our own way. Many of you have written poems and stories related to this new life we have been forced to lead. And it’s not over yet! I will leave the page active until the end of May when we should have resumed a somewhat free life.

In the middle of the month, I offered you a new writing prompt to show our love for the elderly and isolated during confinement. Beautiful letters from Agnes Louis, Samantha Lazar, Lee Ameka, Kat of Magik, and Farah Egby were born, which you can find on the “We’re Living It” page.

A little later still, Scribe passed the 8,000 followers mark, a sign that our writers are writing stories and poems that resonate with a growing number of readers. And it’s absolutely great!

On that subject, I will digress for a moment. The publication is growing at its own cruising speed, without panicking the counters, and I’m satisfied with that. Some editors on Medium boast daily about the incredible growth of their publication, whether in terms of followers, number of views, new writers, number of stories published per day.

Some publications, still young, even publish more than 100 new stories a day (I counted), sometimes with several pieces from the same writer. It’s good assembly line work with no value to me. And the craziest (and most fucked up) thing is that in some cases, the editor writes quite naturally that he values the writers and what they write!

I’m not interested in that at all, because as you all know, I always put quality over quantity. What I care about is writing, what makes each writer unique, it’s the emotion and the magic that writers manage to bring, each in their own way, through words.

I don’t see writers as a good way to inflate statistics and my ego. In this sense, Scribe is different and will remain so. All right, I’ll close the parenthesis!

This month, Fiction took an important place in the publication, carried by the exceptional pen of Bradley J Nordell, and his story Fireflies at Dusk, distributed by Medium in Poetry and Fiction. You can find the other short stories on the page dedicated to Fiction.

If you don’t know it yet, I have the pleasure each week to highlight a writer by reserving him a privileged place on the home page of the publication. Take a moment to discover or rediscover our talented pens who have been making the show all April! Simran Kankas, Kat of Magik, Breanna Lowman, Melinda A Smith, and Bradley J Nordell, thank you for writing during this week that was dedicated to you!

From today until next Sunday, Erin is in the spotlight! Take the opportunity to delve a little deeper into her poetry. Erin writes some of her poems first on her Smith Corona Typewriter, which is very poetic!

Above all, I like to take care of and support writers who are already published on Scribe. But in recent weeks, talented people have been knocking at the door of the publication and it is with great joy that I published their first stories. Melinda A Smith, Breanna Lowman, Michelle Wilkins, FILZA CHAUDHRY, Erin, Bradley J Nordell, Jean Carfantan, Anna Rozwadowska, Aspen Blue, Giulio, Lee Ameka, Rainman, Melissa Speed, Tasheal Gill, Deb Ewing, Lydia Klemensowicz, Shristi Jaiswal, Edis Rune, Iris M. Crawford, Nanette Schieron, Marie, Hope Ramotar, Jessica Lee McMillan, Emily Wild, and Emma Laver-Scott, welcome again to all of you and I hope you’re already enjoying the trip!

I have also noticed that more and more of you are reacting to the stories, writing responses, supporting the writers you like by explaining each time why in a few words. That’s really great, and I think that’s how writing helps us all move forward and grow.

Here’s what I can tell you to start the month of May. As always, here is a small selection of emotional stories that were published on Scribe in April.

You can find them again on the home page of the publication or dive into the April archives to read and reread all the other equally wonderful stories.

Take care, and keep telling your stories. ♥︎

— Thomas

This month, Maeli Santos wrote several poems, including one about love, where the sea air makes itself felt. Summer Breeze.

Kat of Magik felt good at home. “A shelf of books looks like an intriguing privilege. The simple beauty of my living room with its strong light and sensing greenery takes on new meaning.” Rosemary Grief and Lemon Joy.

Erika Burkhalter and her husband survived the COVID-19, and she told her story. I had COVID-19 for a Little Over Two Weeks, and When I Woke up the World had Changed.

Trisha Traughber wrote a poem, a promise, of better days. Promise.

Samantha Lazar published a lovely thought for the elderly and lonely in confinement. A Letter to the Isolated.

Aspen Blue wrote an emotionally charged piece. Orchid Mantis.

Elle Rogers told us how she felt when she entered the heart of the forest. Into the Woods and Wild.

Simran Kankas wrote a wonderful poem. When a Blessing Becomes a Curse.

If you are looking for an extremely talented French writer, read the stories of Walter Ferrer, like this one: 19 | Alter Écho.

Marianna Saver is a talented poet. She wrote this beautiful poem: Half a Heart.

Edis Rune published his first poem on Scribe. Waterfall Mirror.

Venessa Yeh wondered about the meaning of dreams. She wrote a poem. You Make Me Feel Things.

Iris M. Crawford wrote a short story inspired by Bob Marley and The Wailers’ 1970 Soul Rebels Album. Cornerstone.

Gail Walter wrote a long poem, dedicated to the country where she was born. My Country All Tattered and Torn.

Emma Laver-Scott made her debut on Scribe with a poem. The Fountain.

Want to join Scribe as a writer and reach an audience of more than 8,100 engaged readers? Here is how to submit. Want to know more about our writers? They say hello. Want to support the publication and help it touch the stars? You can become a special partner!