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Marta Bacon

and the Paper Octopus Press

  • Contact Me
  • Questions
    • A Lot of Questions
    • About Central Florida
    • Bunnies. Why bunnies?
    • Influences
    • The Trouble with Hair
  • Stories
    • Devotion
    • Drifting Through Space
    • Her Loving Arms
    • Not Your Breakfast Club: a short story in 2018
    • Saving David Bowie
    • The Fear of Apples
    • The Longest Love Letter
    • The Sky Fell in Love
  • The Blue Jar: a debut novel
    • A Soundtrack
    • Book Club Guide
    • The Next Book?
    • The Origin of a Story
  • Things About Me
    • Cool Places

Author: mapelba

I'm a writer, artist, teacher, mother, wife, daughter, friend, coffee addict... What else? A success, a failure, a mess, a fan, a hater of housework, a lover of dogs, a liberal, an obsessive, and a bunch of other things that probably would never occur to me. I reveal myself in more ways in my writings and art than in any list of adjectives. And whoever you are, I hope most of all that you are a reader.

Imbolc and the Winter Season

On February 3, 2022 By mapelbaIn art, change, life, magic, newsletter, Patreon, time6 Comments

A day late, but Happy Imbolc! Perhaps your corner of the world is like mine right now--cold and coated with ice. Spring will arrive eventually, of course, but in the meantime, there's beauty in the snowy world. There's also dangers for the unhoused and all who must venture on the roads or who can't heat …

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Another Year in Space

On January 4, 2022 By mapelbaIn effort, life, New Year, resolution4 Comments

In the New Year I haven't made any resolutions. I happened to walk more recently than I usually do, but I started a few months ago walking regularly again, so this was just extra. I'd like to make it a normal thing, and as I pondered how to do so, my ratty over 15-year-old walking …

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And if you threw a party…

On December 31, 2021December 31, 2021 By mapelbaIn New Year4 Comments

Just before I sat down to write this, I saw the headlines about Betty White. I remember watching her in The Mary Tyler Moore Show. Then I loved her in The Golden Girls. She had a long and magnificent life. Of course, we all have to bow out sometime, and though it's a shame she …

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Heading toward the New Year

On December 24, 2021 By mapelbaIn birthdays, Christmas, gratitude, happiness, hope, life, New Year, time3 Comments

What are you looking forward to? I've had a hard time thinking of a topic that isn't gloomy, but I don't want to focus on gloom today. The Christmas lights are on. This year our tree is made of books, which are themselves made out of trees, so we're not far from tradition. Putting a …

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Thoughts on the End

On December 20, 2021 By mapelbaIn gratitude, happiness, life, magic, New Year, solstice, time2 Comments

I found myself sitting in the darkness of an abandoned church looking up at the moon alongside a best friend. The last month of the year has spilled out before us. We are tired but glad to be together in the magic quiet of a place we aren't supposed to be. When you look back …

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A Ghost Lives Here

On November 26, 2021 By mapelbaIn COVID-19, crime, death, Death Cafe, ghosts, grief, murder, NaNoWriMo, novel, writing2 Comments

I've finished NaNoWriMo! I have not, of course, finished the novel. It's a massive rewrite of a previous NaNo novel. I scrapped half the plot and took the story in a new direction. Now there's a ghost! No, it's not a horror story. The ghost has a lively (lively?) personality, but the story is really …

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Who’s likable?

On November 13, 2021 By mapelbaIn character, writing5 Comments

The other day in a conversation with other writers, I said something about wanting likable characters. Seriously. If I'm taking time out of my life to spend with people, fictional or otherwise, then I want to like them. This may sound hopelessly uncool or naïve or whatever, but as the conversation continued, I realized that …

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“There’s a chicken at the door.”

On November 9, 2021 By mapelbaIn UncategorizedLeave a comment

I've been obsessing over this chicken. Three evenings in a row this chicken made herself at home on this brick ledge near out front door. Why? Well, she has to be somewhere, right? Who knows what goes on the mind of a chicken looking for shelter. The spot she chose seemed fairly good. Not on …

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A Night in the Wild November

On November 3, 2021 By mapelbaIn art, Etsy, memory, mom, NaNoWriMo, Patreon1 Comment

I'm usually torn between being inspired and discouraged. When I was a kid, my mother believed in being honest. Perhaps her own mother didn't outright lie, but she certainly wasn't forthcoming. And after the divorce my mom did her best not to speak ill of my dad, but she did in a moment of anger …

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Happy Samhain!

On October 31, 2021 By mapelbaIn Halloween, NaNoWriMoLeave a comment

The bewitching season is coming to an end. I wish I'd done more to celebrate, but this second job gobbles up great chunks of time and energy. Tonight, I'll hangout with a neighbor at the end of her driveway. We'll give candy out to kids who walk by. Several families moved onto our street this …

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That Place

That Place

The Action Figures Everyday

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Find Art on Etsy

A Collection of Short Stories

Fox & Moon–my story in this anthology

My novel on Amazon.

My Novel

That Ghost Is Going to Cost You–stories for haunted nights

An Anthology
Follow Marta Bacon on WordPress.com

My art on RedBubble gifts.

My Art

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More Art Work

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Marta Bacon
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