Tag: writing

Valeria Eden’s Tender Teeth Explores Grief, Identity, and Healing

By Sophia-Joelle McDowell
Art by Kelcie McKenney

Valeria Eden is passionate, and it shines through her words and actions. She follows a vegan lifestyle, adores her pups, and loves to read whenever she gets the chance. And she funnels all that passion into her writing—both fiction and poetry. With a BA in psychology, Valeria is also pursuing an MFA in poetry and creative writing in colorful Colorado.

Tender Teeth is Valeria’s newest poetry book, and it’s packed with gripping poems inspired by the aches and pains found in death, grief, identity, love and survival. We spoke with Valeria about the journey life has taken her on thus far and got the scoop on her must-read poetry book.

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Learning to Heal from Heartbreak in Blindsided, a Time Travel Novel About Lessons from Your Past Self

By Stephanie Carey
Photos by Travis Young

What if you could sit down with your younger self? What would you say? What warnings would you give? After an agonizing break-up, I found myself wishing I could do just that—give myself all the wisdom I learned the hard way. Since time travel gummies don’t exist, I did the next best thing: I wrote a novel about it. 

Writing this story was a personal journey of distraction and healing after a rough breakup. Yes, I, a 46-year-old woman who has been married and divorced twice, found myself boo-hooing over a man I wasn’t even married to. I did not have “monumental heartbreak” on my 2024 BINGO card, but that’s where I found myself in March of last year. I honestly dismissed the validity of “just dating” breakups, thinking I had my battle scars from two divorces. Nothing could touch me. 

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Navigating the Complexity of Guilty Grief in The First Year

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By Bella Rainey

Writing about your own book is always a humbling experience, and it is also required when you write a book. 

Hey friends, my name is Bella Rainey. You may recognize me from KCtoday, but if not, it’s so nice to meet you. Outside of writing for KCtoday (or here for Catcall), I have a tendency to basically never stop writing. Whether it is a notes app entry or a full novel, I seem to never run out of words to say. 

That brings me to the aforementioned novel. Let’s rewind the tapes. 

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