Piece published on Divine Caroline!

Just a quick post to let you know I have a piece published on the Ladies Home Journal blog "Divine Caroline" ... I'd love if you took a moment to check it out and, if you like it, click the "like" button at the bottom of the page to help it gain a bigger readership!

The piece is called "10 Simple Ways to Save Money on Date Night" -- read it here: http://www.divinecaroline.com/22065/129570-10-simple-ways-money-date

Hope you enjoy! :)

Story Published!

Exciting news! My short story "Ten Reasons" has been published in the latest issue of Women in REDzine, a multicultural literature and art magazine out of the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Here is the beginning of the story to (hopefully!) whet your appetite:

Ten Reasons

by Dallas Woodburn

1. The lacy red panties she discovers wedged between the back left and middle seats of the Jeep Grand Cherokee while reaching down to yank out the seatbelt that always disappears into the crack between the seats. Abe usually drives the Jeep, but this is LeAnn's week to drive Miles and his friends to soccer practice, so he took the Prius instead.

Her breath catches at the feel of the cheap silk lewdness between her fingers. What a silly, stupid cliché. She manages to ball up the panties inside her clenched fist and slip them into her purse without Miles or his friends seeing them.


2. When she buys a new dress on sale at Macy's, with a low-cut neckline and a flattering belt that cinches at the waist, and she puts it on and saunters up to her husband, stretched out across the couch reading the newspaper, and asks, “How do I look?” with a coy smile on her lips, Abe glances up for only a moment before muttering, “Fine,” and turning back to the newspaper.


3. “What's wrong?” she asks on a Tuesday night during dinner, noticing how he picks at his food like a child.

He sighs. “Nothing.”

“Don't lie to me.”

“Your mashed potatoes,” Abe says. “They're too lumpy.”

“I made them the same way I've always made them.”

“Maybe you should add more milk,” he says. “Next time.”

* * *

You can read the rest here: http://www.fictionaut.com/stories/dallas-woodburn/ten-reasons

This story stemmed from a writing exercise I was given in my undergraduate workshop with Aimee Bender to write a narrative using a list format. It's a fun prompt to try -- I challenge you to do so!

Flash Fiction Story Published

Exciting news! My flash fiction piece "Wedding Day" is featured today on the wonderfully zany new lit zine Dr. Hurley's Snake-Oil Cure. The goal of this literary journal is to "attack tedium in all its forms" and it is meant to be a "course of healing that will lead [readers] back to vitality, interest, health and youth." I am honored to have my story published by them!

Here is the opening of my story:

A bride, dressed in white gown and flowing veil, totters in high heels down the uneven pavement past Simone's Café. She holds a bouquet of red and orange chrysanthemums. Three men, wearing black tuxes, accompany her; one of them holds up the hem of her dress so it doesn't drag on the ground. 

"Congratulations!" I call out, raising my paper cup of coffee in a toast.

They stare at me, confused. Maybe they don't speak English? They are Asian, all of them, perhaps not born in America, perhaps immigrants from Japan or China, Taiwan or Korea. Or Thailand, maybe? Is Thailand an Asian country, or is it South American? My wife always had a thing for Thailand. Some friend of hers traveled there in college, for spring break or something, and wouldn't stop gushing about how beautiful it was, and ever since then Molly got it into her head that she wanted to go there...

# # #

You can read the rest at http://www.fictionaut.com/stories/dallas-woodburn/wedding-day. I'd love to hear your comments!

Two Blogging Awards in One Week!

Exciting news! I have been given two wonderful awards for this blog!

The first is the Stylish Blogger Award. Thank you so much to Karen Cioffi for honoring my blog with this award. If you haven't checked out Karen's blog before, do so now -- you're in for a treat!

Part of the gift of this award is that I get to pass it along to seven others. There are so many wonderfully stylish blogs out there that it was hard to narrow it down to only seven! But here they are, in no particular order -- my picks for the Stylish Blogger Award:

• Lisa Haselton's Reviews and Interviews: http://lisahaseltonsreviewsandinterviews.blogspot.com/
• Jana Gifford, I Picked Up a Pen and Wrote: http://janagifford.blogspot.com/
• Kathy Sena, Bad Ballet: http://www.badballet.com/
• Patricia Fry, Writing and Publishing News: http://www.matilijapress.com/publishingblog/
• Debra Eckerling, Write On Online: http://writeononline.com/
• Jill Jepson, The Ninja Writer: http://www.ninja-writer.blogspot.com/
• Jennifer Wilkov, Your Book is Your Hook: http://www.yourbookisyourhook.com/blog/

The second award I received this week is the Irresistibly Sweet Blog Award, from my lovely writing buddy and long-time Write On! supporter Virginia Grenier. Virginia runs a sweet and insightful blog "The Writing Mama" at http://thewritingmama.blogspot.com. All writers, not only moms, can benefit from adding Virginia's blog to their favorites list.

Here are the seven blogs I am delighted to pass along the Irresistibly Sweet Blog Award to (again, in no particular order):

• Sarah Dessen, one of my favorite authors: http://sarahdessen.com/blog/
• Lauren Cook, The Sunny Girl: http://thesunnygirl.com/
• Margaret McSweeney, Pearl Girls: http://margaretmcsweeney.blogspot.com/
• Deborah Reber, Smart Girls Know: http://www.smartgirlsknow.com/
• Toni Reece, The Get Inspired! Project: http://www.getinspiredproject.com/
• Sue Oliver, The Passions and Possibilities Network: http://www.passionsandpossibilities.com/blog
• Jessica Burkhart, Tween Author & NYC Girl: http://jessicaburkhart.blogspot.com/

The final requirement of both awards is to list seven things that you may not know about me. Here they are:

• I was born three months prematurely, and weighed just two pounds, six ounces at birth.
• My favorite writing spot is Simone's Cafe in my hometown of Ventura, along with a chai tea latte and a maple walnut scone. 
• When I was sixteen, my mom and I hiked to the top of Mt. Whitney, the tallest mountain in the contiguous United States. 
• My guilty pleasure TV show is Degrassi: The Next Generation.
• I met my amazing boyfriend when we both taught a writing class for senior citizens in Lafayette, Indiana.
• I love indie music! Some of my favorite artists are Amber Rubarth, Joey Ryan, Skyler Stonestreet, and The 88.
• I'm named after my grandfather, whose middle name is Dallas.

That's it for now! Thank you again Karen and Virginia for the honors!

Featured in the September issue of GLAMOUR Magazine -- on newsstands now!