Hello poets…let’s talk about your summer writing.

I love the summer season for its sense of creative play. For me, that’s a little time at the beach with family and tackling the TBR pile. And every summer, the poems seem to float in on the breeze.

If you’ve got summer drafts of poems, now’s a good time to send them my way!

SUMMER SALE 2026
I’m opening a short editing special for the end of summer!

◻ ONE POEM EDIT: $35 (regularly $50)

A full edit of one poem, up to 2 pages. You’ll get line notes, structural feedback, and a polished version back.

◻ THREE POEM BUNDLE: $105 (regularly $150)

A full edit of three poems, up to 2 pages each. Good if you’ve got a handful of drafts from the summer or are putting together a small collection.

How to order:
Message me here, attach your poem document (Word or G-doc only), and mention “SUMMER SALE 2026” so I can include your special pricing!

This offer is for a limited time. If you’ve been sitting on a draft, send it over and let’s tap into the heart of your work.

Happy writing!

Christina~

***I can also help you polish chapters, books, memoirs, and other creative writing projects!***

If you work for yourself or own a business, you may know—there’s no such thing as an unpaid hour, only a wasted one.

Unbillable hours pay in immeasurable dividends like:

• Skillset development

• Building & maintaining connections

• Staying on top of managerial tasks (like workflow management, calendar, emails, socials, tax records)

• Looking for growth opportunities & new partnerships

• Conducting market research

• Building a digital footprint, shaping your brand image

• Improving efficiency and workflow

• Honing self-discipline & building trust equity with others

• Chasing down or generating leads

In Field of Dreams, Kevin Costner’s character, Ray Kinsella, hears a mysterious voice coming from the corn field. The unnamed voice is famously misquoted in the line, “If you build it, he will come.” Most of us casually insert “they” instead of “he,” but the sentiment holds.

Ray Kinsella didn’t wait until players lined the field—baseball hats adjusting, dirt kicking, bats thwacking. No, he envisioned the game alive and filled with moving parts. He anticipated the work needed to prepare for that vision. Then, he got to work.

This type of work is often unpaid and filled with challenges. You may find yourself doing tasks with which you are unfamiliar. Like working with software you don’t understand (yet) or researching legalities that bore you to tears. Beyond the unbillable minutes and hours ticking away, you may also easily veer off track.

With that, here are my favorite tips on managing unbillable, unpaid hours:

1. How you view these unpaid hours says a lot about your hustle. Griping and complaining about them doesn’t make the work go away!

2. It’s easy to rabbit-hole during this time. Provide a framework (timer, task lists, Pomodoro, etc.) to help you stay on task.

3. Prioritize tasks to balance productivity with inspiration (fuel for your passion). Just as important as more tangible tasks, like clearing out your overflowing inbox, are tasks that inspire you, prevent burnout, and nurture your passion and purpose.

What, in my mind, separates the successful from those who have big dreams but little progress? It’s how they work on “building it” between their paid hours.

How are you investing in your future today? Are you making wise use of your unpaid time? Take a little time today to embrace the hustle.

And “they” will come.

If you’re working on a creative project and need editorial support, I can help.

A few years ago, I wrote a post about living with chronic pain — ten tips, a little humor, a lot of honesty. This week, I went back and updated the post to reflect what I’ve learned as a health and wellness writer, and to provide more practical guidance.

I’m currently also navigating a cancer diagnosis, and it’s shifted how I think about pain, rest, and what it means to take care of yourself without guilt.

In the updated piece, I’ve included some of the coping tools that have genuinely helped me, and discussed some of the conflicting internal messages that can impede our care. If you’ve ever been told to “just deal with it,” this one’s for you.

If you’ve faced chronic pain in your life, I hope this post will give you hope and maybe a few new strategies to improve your quality of life.

10 Tips for Managing Chronic Pain

Christina Ward is a writer and editor in North Carolina and the owner of FFWS. She's spent years writing health and wellness content for businesses, alongside her own experience living with chronic pain and, more recently, cancer. If you're navigating a hard season and need help telling your story, or just need a writer who gets it, she offers writing and editing services.

Writing prompts are often mundane, like “write a poem about the color yellow”. Fun enough, but this type of surface-level writing rarely inspires you to chase a poem across the lawn. (Evasive little jerks.)

Bland writing prompts do little to inspire. To whisk your mind away from the adulting you begged for as a kid, but then noped at immediately upon arrival. Escape the horrid blinking cursor and doomscrolling doldrums with this utter nonsense.

It’s only nonsense, until it works.

#5 Your Fridge Goes Rogue (It’s Utter Chaos in There!)

In 1917, Viktor Shklovsky defined the concept of defamiliarization, a literary technique of turning the ordinary into something strange. It shakes up your automatic perceptions, opening up a wellspring of creative flow. Renewed perception fosters conscious engagement, spurring inspiration for poetry, art, or other forms of self-expression.

T.S. Eliot’s The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock creates bizarre urban scenes, bending reality. Imagine, as he did, a fog, catlike, rubbing its back on the windowpanes. A modern example is Christina M. Ward’s Misunderstood. The poem examines the sense of self through bewilderment about the natural world.

Poetry Prompt:

Tap into this weirdness—your fridge contents have lost their minds. The eggs hatch conspiracies, the broccoli has grown huge, tree-like arms, and the condiments have drawn their swords. String cheese bands into a rope and plots to escape the crisper. Open the fridge door and describe the chaos and symbolism.

#4 Sock Lore Writing Prompt

Consider the sock drawer. Something is amiss. One British study on the missing sock phenomenon found that the average Brit loses 15 socks a year, or about 1,264 socks a lifetime. Science explains the mundane reasons your socks seem to prefer the single life. They fall behind the machines or get left behind—a prism of how careless the simple act of laundry can be.

But what if the real truth were a bit more fun?

Writing Prompt:

Explain the missing sock phenomenon. Imagine a parallel realm to which they flee, tumbling through dryer portals to magical sock utopias. Imagine galactic hitchhikers, sent to gather intel by static-clinging their way across cities. Underground sock raves (invitation only). Or take your creativity in a darker direction—sock theft, urban legends uncovered, hashtags and headlines made.

#3 Mine Recurring Dreams for Inspo

Dreams are notoriously weird. If your creative flow burns brightly when you sleep, dedicate a dream journal for jotting down what you can remember. Brief snippets of imagery, emotive responses, weirdos who make appearances. Don’t worry about interpreting the dream, but siphon the creative energy from every detail.

Science still argues about why it is that we dream. Whether it’s neurological chaos or messages from the ancestors, we can all agree the dreamworld knows no bounds. Samuel Taylor Coleridge’s Kubla Khan dominates literary syllabi as a dream-like poem. Perhaps you have your own Xanadu you visit each night?

Epic Poem Prompt:

Recall a dream and capture its weirdness in epic verse. Epic poems detail long journeys and are told in heroic couplets. Turn your wildest dream into an epic journey for your reader. For inspiration, check out Beowulf and The Epic of Gilgamesh. I wonder if those started as dreams?

#2 Absurd Island

Absurdity breaks the functional fixedness state of pattern recognition, where we only see things as they are. While pattern recognition functions as a survival mechanism, we humans crave curiosity. Have you ever seen a deer or a squirrel gawking, wondering at the sky? Nope. Like your nervous system, they are set on survival.

Survival’s great and all, but it can drain our creative energies. We get bored into roboticism, reactivity, and rumination. If your work, your play, your daily grind is boring you to tears, try this twist on the “island” prompt.

Writing Prompt:

You’re trapped on a deserted island. (Obviously.)
There’s one guest with you. (The more absurd, the better.)
You get to take three things. (But they can’t be predictably useful—Where’s the fun in that?)

#1 Break the Mirror

Erikson’s stages of development outlined adolescent identity conflicts and role confusion. Social interactions act like funhouse mirrors, providing feedback that affects our self-perception. Recall your adolescent years in a mirror of self. Some aspects are warped by social feedback, others by budding identity.

One mirror is wavy and active; you on the field, the jock stretching calves before the big game. Another bends you flat; the cafeteria reject, quietly scarfing down a cardboard-like square of pizza. Yet another stretches you tall; the confident class clown. No matter which mirror you view, everyone is staring, whispering.

Poetry or Art Prompt:

Examine your teen identity images, then shatter this funhouse glass. Each silvery shard captures pieces of you that no one (back then) seemed to see. Pick one and write its poem or paint its likeness. Use sensory details like sound or color. For inspiration, read Sylvia Plath’s Mirror, which hauntingly explores themes of identity and aging.

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This article brought to you by Christina M. Ward, poetry editor and wellness writer with Fiddleheads & Floss Writing Services. Happy writing and happy National Poetry Month!

Dear friends and readers,

Deep breath.

I want to share a personal health update. Many of you know that I’ve been navigating cancer treatments over the past several months.

It’s been a hard fight.

I’m going to posit here that you probably didn’t know melanoma kills people. And that it can do it quickly. Look it up—celebs losing their 2-3 year battle with melanoma. People far younger than me. And with financial means.

And no, it’s NOT because of the vaccine, so stop it with that nonsense.

It’s because melanoma has one job to do—survive. And in doing so, it kills its host.

I am a host.

See the American Skin Cancer Fact Sheet and learn to protect your loved ones from this deadly disease.

Cancer Eats Indiscriminately

I’ve been fighting with as much courage and dignity as I can muster. It’s not pretty.

I am hoping to stimulate some support across my social media platforms. This is to stay afloat.

While cancer eats my body, it’s also destroying everything I’ve built. The house is falling, with me in it.

Did you know that a good percentage of cancer patients in my situation face serious housing insecurity? Even homelessness? This should not be happening.

HERE IS WHY I HAVE TO SHARE THE FINANCIAL STRUGGLE

Tons of co-pays, gas to get to appointments, supportive medications, supplies, and transportation. Insurance doesn’t cover any of this. I have a half-dozen medications ready at the pharmacy right now and cannot afford to pick them up.

One more missed car payment and I won’t have a way to pick them up.

With the diagnosis and subsequent difficulty working, I have lost 3/4 of my income! I am filing for disability, but this takes time.

Cancer is a financial bloodletting.

So, why tell my readers? Why risk my clients seeing this?

Because…to apply for cancer grants and supportive services, fundraising is often a requirement.

Many require you to do a GoFundMe.

So there goes my dignity.

THE MELANOMA JOURNEY

I was diagnosed on January 15, 2025, with late-stage malignant melanoma.

Despite adjuvant therapies, I had a recurrence in July 2025. My diagnosis was upgraded to recurrent malignant melanoma, stage 3C, with local metastasis.

In August 2025, I underwent a second wide local excision (WLE) surgery.

A follow-up chest CT and the surgical pathology report show NED (no evidence of disease), but the round of scans was limited to only a chest CT. Insurance wouldn’t pay for other scans to be done again so soon after the last round.

This is what melanoma patients often experience.

A brief window, like a deep breath, before a more imperative part of the fight begins.

Melanoma can return multiple times, and Stage IV metastasis is a very real risk, especially within the first two to three years.

What puts me at a higher risk of stage 4 recurrence:

• Non-brisk response

• Primary tumor ulceration

• Very high mitotic rate: >10

• High staging: 3C

• Deep Breslow: 2.8mm on the original tumor

• One lymph node + lymphatic pathways involved

• Early recurrence while on adjuvant therapy (Keytruda)

• BRAF mutation positive

• My age and general health (over 50, chronic pain issues, medication sensitivities)

The Treatments Are Making Me Sick

I made it through four treatments of Keytruda before the side effects became too much to bear. I’m now riddled with a long list of adverse effects, all immune-response related. In short, my body is attacking healthy tissues. In addition, I’m riddled with daily fevers and overwhelming fatigue.

The treatments caused immune-related side effects, including uveitis (eye inflammation). Immunotherapy has been paused for three weeks to allow recovery of my eyes and other soft tissues. Uveitis can lead to retinal detachment and/or vision loss.

The next step will be BRAF/MEK inhibitor therapy, which targets the mutation driving my melanoma’s resistance. Being BRAF mutation positive opens up targeted therapies for me, which may increase my 5-year survival rate from 30–40% to around 65%. This is great news.

There’s still a ~35% chance of stage 4 relapse within five years, highlighting the need for vigilance.

Beyond numbers, this journey is about quality of life. I have to acknowledge the financial realities. Treatment costs, travel, and living expenses add up quickly. Many of you have asked how you can help.

THIS IS HOW YOU CAN HELP.

🖤 Read updates and support Christina M. Ward Cancer Treatment

🖤 Read the latest Cancer Treatment Update.

Share this newsletter.

Thank you for walking beside me. Modern medicine, my healthcare team, my clients, and my reading community give me strength every day.

Your support makes a very real difference while I work on getting disability.

In gratitude and hopeful butterflies,

Christina

A lot can change in a short period of time.

Just a few months ago, I was a proud dog and cat mom, thinking about the coming fall, and watching the first few leaves drift down from the trees. I was wondering if the otter would come back to our pond and drift belly-up, fish-nibbler that he is.

I’ve named him Ollie, of course. It seems a good name for a North American river otter. I regularly make mental notes to get a new pair of binoculars.

It’s February now, and I still don’t have those binoculars.

In fact, I don’t have a cat anymore, or a dog, (they both died unexpectedly, a month apart), or the rotted tooth that erupted in pain right before Christmas…or the black mole on my back they told me was cancer.

That’s a lot of excision to process.

Before you Harrumph at Skin Cancer

A mole being cancer doesn’t sound all that scary. That’s hardly a “cancer battle.” It’s just skin cancer—all things I might have said last year. And all things you might say until it’s your phone call from the dermatologist, who apologizes over and over again as he explains the pathology report.

Pathology report—that’s also something new in my life.

Something stirs beneath the surface.
This is the way of water, I know.
It is also the way of men.
—The Ways of Water

I had no idea how cryptic those words were when I wrote them. Looking back on that moment, I wonder if the cancer had already begun.

A Few Things About Melanoma

Yes, melanoma is considered the deadliest of the skin cancers. Partly because it can grow very quickly and spread (metastasize) in as few as 8 weeks. And because melanoma is notorious for coming back for repeat rounds of what I have coined “Whack a Mole.” I joined a melanoma support group for women on Facebook two weeks ago. There are close to 2K members. Since I joined, several have lost their fight.

There seems to be a trend:

1. It begins when a person has a weird spot or mole and tries to ignore it at first. Finally goes to a dermatologist.

2. The spot/mole/tumor thing is looked at with a magnifying thingy, and then the dermatologist makes the call of what to do. In cases where it looks suspicious, it is excised via an in-office biopsy. Then sent to a lab for diagnosis.

3. The SHOCKING pathology report—this is where many of the group members show up to get support. The waiting, the intense fear, the worry—and then that report with numbers and words and scary things on it. Many share images of their moles, pathology reports, or ask what one word or another means (I’ll share some of this in a minute.)

4. If pathology confirms any type of cancer a route of treatment is decided. Since melanoma was my diagnosis, that’s where I’ve done my research.

5. What comes next, almost always, is what’s called a Wide Local Excision surgery, accompanied by a Sentinel Lymph Node excision.
   
   Mapping: Prior to the surgery, dye is injected into the cancer site to “map” where the lymph pathways are. Often, whichever nodes are at the ends of those pathways are removed, as this is the only way to determine if the cancer has spread past the original site.
   
   Wide Local Excision surgery: This is done based on Breslow depth (I’ll cover what that is in a moment). Larger Breslow depths (like mine) require a 2cm radius.
   
   How’s it done? So they draw a 2cm circle all the way around where the biopsy was done (mine is currently about the size of a cigar burn, and is located on the top left of my mid-back) and then they draw triangular “wings” out from each side. It looks like a giant eye shape. And, it’s shockingly big for what usually starts as a mole or small spot. All of that skin & underlying tissue are removed, and then corner to corner it is pulled together and stitched into a straight line. The skin has to be pulled tight over a sunken area so typically the scar is wide and gnarly.
   
   Sentinel Lymph Node excision: Melanoma follows a pathway (usually, but they can pop up anywhere) from the cancer site, through the lymph node pathways to the lymph nodes, and then on to the bloodstream, liver, lungs, brain. By all reports I’ve read in the group, it’s the removal of lymph nodes under the arm that causes the most ongoing pain, even when the other surgical site is much larger.

Melanoma Staging

Melanoma staging works similarly to other cancers. Stages 1-4, with some a,b,c’s in there to further categorize. The staging is based on two main parameters: Breslow depth, and presence of cancer cells other than the main site. (Evidence the cancer has spread.)

My particular melanoma is stage 2b (currently) and the staging will change if they find any cancer cells in my lymph nodes (at which point it would be a stage 3(a, b, or c), and if elsewhere (like liver or breasts, etc) then it would be a stage 4 melanoma.

Note: Melanomas are notorious for spreading rapidly, invading other organs, and popping up in whole new places once you think it’s gone and you are cured. Melanoma can spread anywhere in the body, at which point it doesn’t morph into lung cancer, brain cancer, etc. It is a “melanoma of the lungs” or “melanoma in the brain”.  Stage 4s are beatable, but obviously very serious and sometimes terminal.

Another note: Get any weird mole checked. Just go.

Breslow Depth

Breslow depth measures the depth of the melanoma into the skin. It’s in millimeters, so usually a very low number. My Breslow depth was 2.8 (significantly deep) putting my cancer in this T3 category below, and with “ulcerated” as a further diagnostic that means it was “split” on the surface. Both of these indicate rapidly growing cancer, aggressive, and quite possibly already spread.

Note: My mole went from flat to a protruding, ugly black thing in a matter of 3 months.

Figure description: “Different patterns of skin invasion by melanoma cells. Skin melanoma staging is based on the TNM (tumor, node, metastasis) characterization. The tumor category T is determined based on Breslow tumor thickness and the presence or absence of ulceration. The stage of the skin lesion is dependent on the tumor thickness, with T1, T2, T3, and T4 lesions presenting a thickness smaller than 1 mm, between 1 and 2 mm, between 2 and 4 mm, and larger than 4 mm, respectively. Melanomas with a Breslow thickness lower than 0.8 mm have an excellent prognostic. Thicker the melanomas, higher the risk of migration of melanoma cells to lymph nodes (N) and higher the risk of distant metastases (M)”—Springer article

Mitotic Rate

Mitotic rate is a number given to show how aggressive the cancer is, and how fast it is spreading. It’s defined as: the number of actively dividing cancer cells (mitoses) per square millimeter of tumor tissue.

• A mitotic rate of less than 1 mit/mm² is generally considered low risk.

• A mitotic rate of 1-3 mit/mm² is considered intermediate risk.

• A mitotic rate of greater than 3 mit/mm² is considered high risk.

My mitotic rate was greater than 10 mitoses/mm2. (Very aggressive, rapidly growing).

Brisk vs Non-Brisk

Brisk melanoma is characterized by a diffuse infiltration of tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes (TILs) throughout the tumor, while non-brisk melanoma is characterized by TILs in one or more distinct foci. Brisk melanoma is associated with a better prognosis than non-brisk melanoma.

What the heck that means: My non-brisk categorization denotes that my body did not recognize the cancer cells and made no effort to fight them. (Produced no TILs).

I think of all the numbers/scary words—that non-brisk scares me the most. My body didn’t even recognize the cancer cells were dangerous. My immune system didn’t respond.

Clear Margins & What That Means

There was only one good thing on my pathology report that gives me and my surgeon some hope; “Clear Margins.”

Those two words are everything in melanoma cancer. This means they “scooped” around and under the cancer enough in the biopsy to have a perimeter clear of cancer cells. This is indicative that the cancer has not spread to the lymph nodes but not certain.

While my report said “clear margins” with the biopsy, it also said “Lymphatic/perineural/angio/invasion: lymphovascular invasion identified” meaning that the lymph “pathways” which are like little blood vessels going to lymph nodes that carry lymphatic fluid, were determined to have “involvement”. Cancer cells were in the lymphatic pathways already at the time of my biopsy (first week of January).

The Good News About Melanoma

➡️ Caught early, it is beatable.

➡️ It’s somewhat preventable.

What causes melanoma? Melanoma is caused by two things: genetics, and the sun. While you can’t do a damned thing about your genetic coding, you can wear sunscreen to protect your skin.

What’s Next for My Cancer?

On Monday, February 10, I go for mapping and my wide local excision & sentinel lymph node biopsy surgeries. I’ll be under anesthesia. The surgery will take approximately an hour and a half.

They plan to take one lymph node under my arm, but there may be more removed based on the results of the mapping procedure.

Then, I wait for pathology results to determine two things:

• Clear margins. If pathology does not determine clear margins, the wide excision surgery will be repeated.

• Whether the cancer is detected in the lymph nodes. If it is determined the cancer has spread to the lymph nodes, then the staging of my cancer will be raised to a higher level.

If the cancer has spread: Further scans will be done to determine where the cancer has spread to. Immunotherapy treatments are the likely outcome. These are done every other or every third week for one year. They are IV treatments with a lot of potential side effects. Some people are not able to tolerate the treatments, or the immune system begins attacking organs. If this happens, a different treatment plan is considered.

How Will I Miss Work?

The wide excision site will likely be a large scar—more than 6 inches across my back. Also, the lymph node removal leaves a scar under the arm and by all accounts is the most painful and long-healing portion of the surgery.

I have taken two full weeks off work for healing, but this is not nearly enough time. Returning to work will be difficult, and painful, but necessary as I have zero income while I am out of work, and cannot risk losing my existing clients.

I plan to take the time off to do several things:

• Rest & sleep (and monitor my high blood pressure)

• Read books

• Take walks

• Meditate

• And rest my neck/arms (because I am in the middle of a flare-up of pain from the disc issues in my neck.)

My diagnosis means I will have to have (every 3-6 months) full skin screening…ongoing, to spot other melanomas early and excise them, possibly repeating treatment all over again. My first check is already scheduled.

It’s not easy putting a sole proprietorship on hold for two weeks. There’s a lot of prep, getting the word out to all clients (and potential ones who may pop up during those weeks), and the difficulty of (tons of) pre-surgical paperwork on top of my regular workload.

Who Will Care for Me?

My surgical team, dermatologist, and new primary doctor will be my care team. And, my boyfriend, Kevin. “Nurse Kevin” is ready to do for me, bring me what I need, and clean my wounds. At this time I do not have an oncologist, but likely will if the cancer has spread.

Why Am I Sharing This With You?

When I joined the Melanoma Warriors support group (for women) I learned that my intense stress, nightmares, lack of sleep, and obsessive rabbit-holing and Google searching are all normal reactions to getting this diagnosis. The fear is real. For many others with cancers in the depth and aggressiveness of mine, that year of immunotherapy is common and difficult. I’ve also seen that many people with cancers less severe than mine go through this therapy, and face subsequent battles when the cancer returns in different moles/spots, and often spreads rapidly. Many of them started at stage 1 and ended up with stage 3 and 4 battles down the line.

I am sharing this with you because some of you have moles that don’t look right.

You have fear in your heart and mind.

And you need to know that time is of the essence—you must see a dermatologist immediately. You’d rather have an all-clear, no-worries response than miss a malignancy.

I don’t want anyone to feel alone and afraid. One day, someone will read this post and go to the doctor—in time!—and it may save their life by catching it early.

Do I Need Anything?

People keep asking if I need anything. (Thank you.)What I need most is time to heal and to not worry so much about how the bills will get paid with me out of work. That’s the honest truth of it. Other than that—happy thoughts, positive energy, prayers, and the like.

How Am I Handling Everything?

Some moments I am strong, others I am tearful. I have taken lots of quiet moments to think or take a walk. I am trying not to burden other people with worry. Much of the time I have felt a sense of numbness.

I do not feel like a warrior. But ask me again in a few weeks. By then I’ll have a couple of big scars and hopefully the “all clear” from pathology.

Mentally speaking, I had no idea what people go through with a cancer diagnosis. NO. IDEA. There’s so much worry, uncertainty, fear, this weird “nothing matters” feeling, juxtaposed with “every moment counts! Don’t waste it!”…both in the same headspace. The mental “game” alone is enough for the “warrior” moniker.

It’s hard to sleep.

I can promise this—I am not one to give up on any battle that I face. That’s just not in my nature. (Sidenote—I desperately miss my dog, Josie. She was my emotional support in every way.) And lastly, I don’t know where this part fits into this newsletter but I feel it so deeply, that I want to share it:

I’ve learned that people who have had melanoma cannot be an organ donor. Ever.

And this news has caused more tears for me than the cancer diagnosis itself. I have always wanted my death to give life to others. I am proud to always have chosen to be an organ donor—and now that I cannot do this, I am grieving.

I know this post was long. I thank you if you’ve read it through and I am hopeful you have learned something important here that could save your life or the life of someone you love.

For those of you who want to “do something”: 
Leave Christina a ‘tip’ or a word of well-wishing. 
Donate to the American Cancer Society to help fund research.

Thank you.

Love & care,

Christina M Ward

Writer, editor
—and soon-to-be survivor.

Good Wednesday Morning!

A quick note from Fiddleheads & Floss Writing Services:

Christina will be taking medical leave in February, beginning February 8, 2025, and continuing for at least 2 weeks. Two weeks off are set in stone, no exceptions. The 2-3 weeks afterward are in the “gray area” until her post-op appointment.

If you need to send a message or place an order you may continue to do so through the proper channels as outlined below. Responses will be delayed until Christina is back in the office and then answered in the order in which they were received.

• Email your inquiry to fiddleheadsnfloss@gmail.com. Subject heading: Freelance Inquiry. Explain a bit about your project, needs, budget or time constraints, etc. When Christina is back in office, she’ll be happy to discuss your editorial/writing/copy needs. For more information on services offered, refer to the FFWS website.

• Contact us via LinkedIn with the same info as above.

• Note: Fiverr presence will be closed for all of February.

Christina looks forward to returning to work as soon as possible. Some people have asked for Christina’s home address, but in lieu of cards or flowers, you may leave a small appreciation or word of support here: Kofi.

Thank you, always, for your patience and understanding!

Christina M. Ward
Fiddleheads & Floss Writing Services
Jacksonville, NC
fiddleheadsnfloss@gmail.com

The holiday is coming and I am not ready! I don’t mean Christmas. I mean the New Year. As a wellness and productivity writer, I am knee-deep in planning, self-reflection, research, and the like. Why? Because the New Year is my reset button. And I want to have a productive, happy, purposeful, and profitable 2025. Don’t you?

But if it goes like 2024 did…I may just wing it, again.

Tossed To-dos and High Intentions

If you’re feeling a bit like all your intentions for this past year turned into a crumpled paper list of todos, abandoned and rubbish-tossed in frustration, you aren’t alone. Studies show that 59% of the tasks on to-do lists are never completed. And I know that’s true because Google’s AI bot told me. (Yeah, I don’t believe everything AI has to say either, but it did help me make my point.)

That’s in part because we don’t time-manage our tasks, keep our focus at work, or other things simply come up throughout the day that we didn’t foresee. Your yearly to-do lists, goals, aspirations—these are not immune to our getting off track. What we do with our 2025 depends on one thing—our ability to adapt, reset, and keep going.

It’s really that simple: Adapt (to whatever is out of your control), Reset (adjust your perspective or plan of action) and Keep Going (persevere, learn). But if you need more encouragement than that to have the BEST 2025 EVER, I have some advice that may surprise you.

Preparing for a GREAT 2025

So the holiday is coming. A new year is approaching. And since I’ve been writing on health, wellness, productivity, and mental health for over five years—here’s my round-up on the matter. (Note: In no way does my ability to eke out a living doing this directly correlate to my actual mental health and wellness. Those are 100% works in progress.)

Forget Setting Goals for 2025

I said it.

Forget about goal-setting, to-do-list making, and creating lists of all the things you will accomplish this year. Just stop. Because if 2024 taught us anything…it’s that all the planning in the world won’t make us happy. Or teach us mindfulness. Or create in us a heart of gratitude.

Creating opportunities for instant failure (at least of 59%), in my book, is not a win. What is a win? I’m glad you asked:

Give Your Brain Some Space.

If you must use planning systems…adapt them to how your mind works rather than trying to bend your brain in ways it doesn’t bend. If you’re neurodivergent like me, creating a system that works for how we think reduces stress, overwhelm, and feelings of failure.

Here’s more on how to create a neurodivergent journal planning system that works for you.

GET OUTSIDE EVERY SINGLE DAY.

Yes, ALL CAPS.

No amount of doing will turn you into a successful person if you have no idea how to be a person. Simply being is an art that puts the rest of your life into perspective.

Get fresh air—every day. Look at the sky—every day. Think of our smallness, and of the uh-may-zing-ness of being utterly human in a huge and expansive world inside worlds. There is no better way to appreciate the potential of 2025 than experiencing awe.

 “What an astonishment to breathe on this breathing planet. What a blessing to be Earth loving Earth.” ―John Green, The Anthropocene Reviewed: Essays on a Human-Centered Planet (I thoroughy recommend reading this book in 2025!)

Find Time for Joy

I recently criticized Elon Musk for wasting so much money creating Robotaxis when people like me are out here deciding between going to the dentist or buying this season’s Christmas presents. We may all have differing opinions on his (arguably agreeable) weirdness—the man sure has one thing down pat; play.

Musk isn’t afraid to chase a weird idea or two. He’s off sending rockets, building weird-looking stuff, and buying whole websites—just for funzies. I wonder how much of his success can be attributed to this kind of concept: Do what brings you joy. Life is just too damned short to not dream up ways to get humans to Mars.

Thinking beyond your normalcy, playing a little, lightening up, releasing stress—all these things may feel unproductive. But play is central to success. If you want 2025 to be good to you…be good to yourself. Enjoy your one precious life. Meaningfully prioritize your time in 2025 so that you can go beyond surviving your life, to living wholly in it.

Release Expectations of Others & Recognize Propaganda.

I think we can all agree there’s a whole lot of disagreement these days. I’ve read or heard somewhere that there are only two emotions: love and fear. And every single other emotion stems from these. So, when we are dealing with ourselves, and others, and with things we see online (or on the news!) that stir us up and pit us against each other…choose;

Love or Fear.

Forget About Superficial Measures of Physical Acceptance.

Example: Forget about your weight—and consider what your body can do. If your body needs empowering to serve your life better, then go do that. Focus on health and wellness, not shape. You’re not on a weight loss journey—You’re on a body empowerment journey.

I find that there are so many things in this life that change completely when reframed. Perspective is everything. Remember: Love or fear?

The Best 2025 Is One You LIVE Best

Being successful in 2025 isn’t about what you have, what you earn, what you do. It’s about who you are. And if, like me, that’s still a work in progress…then that’s ok too! In 2025 I am going to live. And, hopefully, more often than not, choose love.

Thanks for reading. And Happy Holidays!

Christina M. Ward
Fiddleheads & Floss Writing Services

How’s Your Journey Going?

My journey. Your journey. Weight loss journey, wellness journey, mental health journey…The word journey has take on a modern-day buzzword status.

#JOURNEY

Ah, to be on our journeys—like life gave us a chance to pack a bag or pick up one of those handy travel guides.

Like…where, exactly, are we all going?

As a content writer I’ve learned that my work isn’t necessarily about the writing but about my readers. I have to be tuned into my own journey in order to inspire my readers to enjoy theirs.

This is important as a wellness writer. I write about productivity, wellness, authenticity, and trauma. I write about bad relationships a lot because I’ve mastered getting into and out of them. Perhaps one day, I’ll master not getting into them.

And I write a lot about productivity—because I’ve had to learn to deal with the cacophony of ADHD voices that live in my head.

Wherever you are on your journey, I invite you to continue learning about yourself, just as I am trying to do each day. Learn about how your mind works, and what you need to be healthy. These are important things.

A Few Things to Pack for Your Journey

With that, here are some of the latest tools I’ve created—which I hope inspire you to keep going. Keep trying.

• Creative Collaborations to Build Success

• Is Fiona Harvey the Real-Life ‘Martha’ of Baby Reindeer?

• Netflix ‘Baby Reindeer’ Set to Sweep Awards

• Your Rejected Writing Deserves a Second Chance

• What Happens When You Get Too High?

• Omens

• My Friend Is in a TOXIC Relationship

• Cultural Critic Ted Gioia’s Advice May Help You Focus Better

• 10 Things You Aren’t Being Told About CBD

• Dating Advice for the Strong Woman

• How to Succeed as a Freelancer When the Money Drops

• Full Focus Planner with Free Full Focus Planner Course

• Job Interview Skills — Tell Us About Yourself

• Don’t Miss Monk Manual’s 10 Principles to Elevate Your Peace and Purpose

• What Is an Example of a Fable?

• How to Get Beautiful Curls — Type 3A, 3B, and 3C Curls

• Goal Crazy Planner Review

• Business Insider’s Thoughts on the Lunar Landing Are Terrifying

• Goal Crazy Creator Jason VanDevere on ‘Getting Crazy’ with Your Goals

• 7 Ways to Not F*ck Up Your Relationship

• 5 Strategies for Your Best 2024

• What Are Cannabinoids in Weed?

• Here’s How to Open Your Job Interview Like a Winner

• Unresolved Trauma? — How to Know You’re Not Healed

And always, always enjoy every moment of your journey. We get such limited time. Thank you for spending some of that time with me.

On the Homefront

Occasionally, I update my readers with interesting things going on in my life. It’s a lovely spring here in Jacksonville, NC. The ducks that live on our pond are giving us a lot of grief because they are quite addicted to dog food.

Who even knew that could end up being such a problem?

Either way, the ducks are quite photogenic—and prolific. A baby girl that was born just last fall just hatched out her first clutch a few days ago—TWENTY of them. Good Lord!

Thanks to the hawks and owls that also live here…as of this morning, she’s now down to 5 babies.

Here are some pictures for you to enjoy…

Thanks for reading,

Christina M. Ward
Fiddleheads & Floss Writing Services

If you haven’t heard the buzz yet about Netflix’s poignant new short series Baby Reindeer—you will. It’s heartbreaking. It’s emotive. It’s unforgettable.

In fact, I think it will sweep the awards for best acting and, well, everything else.

But the show should come with a long list of trigger warnings for viewers. It’s probably the most triggering thing I’ve seen on TV in years.

I signed into Netflix and randomly chose this show to watch from the list of recommendations. Without having any idea what I was about to watch. The show captivated me from the very beginning.

It took me two days to watch the seven-part series. After my binge was over—I had to take a long walk to clear my head.

I found the story to be haunting and shockingly real. The themes of the show are evoking conversation all over the interwebs. People relate to the story—which is based on the true life story of the main actor, Richard Gadd, who bravely portrays himself in the drama.

When you finish this binge — you won’t know whether to take a long walk, call a therapist or friend, or simply cry.—Christina M. Ward on Baby Reindeer

If you’ve seen the show, I welcome your thoughts and observations in the comments. Or comment if you need someone to talk to about the show. I understand. When I finished it I was desperate to find other people to talk to about it.

And that’s the point of this bewildering and absorbing drama—to get us all talking about things. Dark things. Things that keep people isolated in their pain.

It’s time we let them speak—and we listen.

Christina M. Ward
Fiddleheads & Floss Writing Services

Today, I had my sites set on publishing in a large Medium.com publication called The Writing Cooperative. But I made a big mistake when I tried to submit my hard work. It was a minor error but one that could cost me in the hundreds of dollars.

This is common for us writers. In our field, every T must be dotted and every I crossed…or, wait, that’s – as we’d say here in the south – bass-ack-wards.

Here’s what happened.

Writing for Money

I am a freelance writer and editor. This means I get up each morning, plan my day, and settle in at my computer with a cup of coffee and a whole lot of ambition. I’ve got an extensive workflow plan. This requires daily work, even when I don’t have a client order deadline pending for the day.

Recently, I wrapped up several articles that had me feeling confident:

• An article on toxic relationships which was welcomed into Publishious.

• What Happens When You Get Too High? – a good piece for the 420 week, right?

• A poem for Scrittura.

I was feeling good about my week until I made a rookie, forehead-slapping goof.

I’d been working on a writing topic piece for the past several weeks. The article was completed so I began researching publication opportunities for it. This was one of those occasions where I’d written on a topic of my choice, without a destination publishing avenue already in mind.

I had my eye on The Writing Cooperative, a Medium.com publication with over 250 THOUSAND followers. It’s not an easy publication to get your work into due to their extensive rules about topic angle, writing quality, presentation, and formatting.

So, I gave this article hours of my time today—just for the proofreading, review, and to be sure it met all of the requirements for submitting to this prestigious publication.

And then…I screwed up the submission.

On Medium.com, writers must submit a completed piece to a publication by selecting it from a drop-down list inside the editorial screen. Then, we hit a button, add a few tags, and submit. Then, the publication’s staff takes a look at the piece and decides whether or not it fits their editorial needs.

I selected “The Writing Cooperative” from my list of publications, hit Apply, and added my tags—then thought of one more thing I wanted to double-check in the article.

I did my double-checking—then hit submit.

Wait…what? Oh, no.

I’d not double-checked that the article had been submitted to the publication.

In fact, the selection of The Writing Cooperative had not actually been applied. This means it wasn’t submitted to the publication, but instantly self-published.

Which, if you work on Medium.com. you know this permanently disqualifies the piece for submission to nearly any publication on Medium. At least to all the prestigious ones.

READ THE ARTICLE ANYWAY?

Let’s just say that I had to remove my headphones and step away from the office.

I was flummoxed, vexed, and honestly, rather upset with myself.

What Does This Mean?

This means that my article will be sent out to my few hundred subscribers, promoted to my 6K followers, and maybe happen across the feeds of a few other people.

And not promoted more widely to 250K potential readers of The Writing Cooperative.

The cost of this blunder could be in the hundreds of dollars.

In addition, self-published articles on Medium.com are far less likely to be Boosted. Boosting is a feature that allows Medium.com pieces to be more widely distributed. Writers depend on publication editors to recommend well-written pieces for Boosting—but as a self-published piece, there’s no editor to recommend the piece for Boosting.

Again, potentially hundreds of dollars lost due to one small error. Please, learn from my embarrassing error and avoid it for yourself!

• When you go to publish a piece on Medium.com, double-check that it is added to the publication’s roster for review before you hit that publish/submit button.

• Errors can occur on any platform, so it’s best to be triple-sure. Check and re-check before you hit publish.

• If you make this mistake, it’s ok. Take a deep breath and just keep writing.

If you want to read the piece to show your support or because the topic interests you:

Title: Your Rejected Writing Deserves a Second Chance
Topic: Writing and publishing
Advice: How to use a R.E.S.T. method to review and resubmit work that’s been rejected

Final Words

We all make mistakes. Even seasoned writers like myself. If you got up and went to work today and caught yourself in a blunder; remind yourself that you are human.

I’ll leave you with a quote from one of my favorite writing teachers – Ray Bradbury:

“And when a man talks from his heart, in his moment of truth, he speaks poetry.”
― Ray Bradbury, Zen in The Art of Writing

That’s all for now my friends. I think I’ll take a walk outside to visit the Amaryllis that bloomed yesterday. Flowers have a way of calming the soul.

Christina M. Ward
Fiddleheads & Floss Writing Services

Trauma triggers can feel like a skipping rock across the pond of your life.

Unresolved trauma can hit you when you’re calm, seemingly out of nowhere. Skipping across your calmness, casting ripples that affect you, and often, everything around you — your relationships, your job, your sleep.

It’s not really that poetic. In fact, it’s downright ugly at times. Sometimes, it’s clear you have lots more healing work to do.

But what if you think you’re healed up? You’ve done the work, written the journals, had the conversations, cried until you were out of tears, and even after all this time has passed, your trauma still affects you.

It’s been months or years or decades. So, why do you feel like there’s something that’s still not right?

Join the Conversation

Thanks for being a part of my journey,

Christina
Fiddleheads & Floss Writing Services

So sometimes—I get to put those ol’ hairstylin’ tips to good use and write about haircare. Usually for a product company, and usually not tailored to curls.

This morning I shared some brand-non-specific tips for curly hair on my Medium profile to help people learn the tips they need for beautiful frizz-free curls.

I hope that it can help you—or that you will kindly forward this to a curly friend in need of some time-tested tips for making curls look their best.

The article compiles some of my favorite tips for curly hair:

• Proper shampooing and conditioning techniques

• Detangling that really works

• Choosing the right products for your curls

• Applying hair products in the right order and manner for healthy, beautiful curls

• How to get bouncy beautiful curls without all the frizz

• And more!

The article is published in Illumination, a publication with nearly 80K followers!

⬇️⬇️⬇️Click the link below for the free, no-sales or gimmicks article that may just change your entire beauty routine.

CLICK HERE FOR BEAUTIFUL CURLS

Thanks for reading!

Christina M. Ward
Writing in health, wellness, clean beauty, CBD/Cannabis, authenticity, empowerment, and productivity.

But my friend surprised me.

She purchased a package for me. And with that professional photo shoot I was able to get five nice photos of myself to use for books, social media, my porfolio, websites, and more. In my opinion, this was a priceless gift in support of my business.

Do You Really Need Professional Photos?

In my opinion, yes. But I thought I’d do a little research on it to support my own theory—that professional head shots or photos are critical to develop your branding and present a winable, memorable, and brand-supportive image for you, professionally.

Are Professional Head Shots Worth it?

Yes, and here’s why.

Some research suggests a tenth of a second is all it takes to start determining traits like trustworthiness.—Deta Silbert, First Impressions & the 7/11 rule

🟩 Professional headshots give you the competitive edge. Capture the eyes of recruiters on LinkedIn, for example, by showing your winningest image.

🟩 Professional head shots or photos help you create the first impression that you want.

🟩 Having your photos done by a professional shows that you value yourself and are willing to invest in yourself. (If you won’t invest in yourself—how can you ask others to do so?)

🟩 “Corporate headshots build trust” says Forbes.

And one other perk is something you likely haven’t hought of—utilizing a local photography business gives you a great chance to support local art while building local connections for your own business. Can you use AI to generate them? Of course, but why not support local artists instead?

How Did My Photos Turn Out?

My pictures turned out great! I thought I’d share my professional photos here, with you, my newsletter audience, before I share them anyplace else.

Well, besides my inner circle people, of course.

Any of these shots can be edited for a head shot, or I can use them in their entirety—on my social media or in one of my books, as examples—to demonstrate what my business and personal brand as a writer are all about. I wanted something earthy, yet fun. Here are the five pictures (of the dozens she sent me) that I selected for my final package. I’d love to know your favorites.

Photos courtesy of Nice Catch Photography

That’s all for now,

Christina M. Ward

Sometimes, as writers, we are called to do important things with our words. I was once commissioned to write a bereavement memoir for a gireving family. I once wrote a poem to be read by my son at his own step-mother’s funeral. I have been asked to write personal letters to help people with their own healing of traumas that were decades-old. I’ve been asked to write words for people in their most vulnerable and emotional moments. This is an honor that I hold dearly.

For all of the professional writing I have done in my career, it’s these moments, the personal ones, often done for no pay at all or as a gift to the family, that truly resonate in my heart as I look back over my writing career. These are the moments that have sealed my life’s path as a writer, a learner, an expresser of ideas via the written word. That, and the poetry that I live and breathe and write.

I was revisiting some of my poems this week as I gather some of them to be featured in my next poetry collection called Seascapes. Here’s a preview of the working cover:

I thought I’d share a few snippets of those writings today as I am feeling a bit nostalgic.

We eye the same sky,
aghast at the sameness,
the stillness of stars
the unfathomable age of it all.
We cling to the wildness
in each other’s eyes.
This is the way
— of us.

—The Ways of Water

The hollow ocean moan of
tales of bending onward home
are naught but sand and stench,
sunburnt dry and calcified.
A grave shed and salt-scoured clean.

How much of that endless sea
belongs to you? Belongs to me?

—The Seashell

I am white with rage, yet she, alone,
Comforts me, calms me, calcifies me whole.
I am wrapped in thee. I, daughter
Of the endless sea.

—Offering

We eye the same sky,
aghast at the sameness,
the stillness of stars
the unfathomable age of it all.
We cling to the wildness
in each other’s eyes.
This is the way
— of us.

—The Ways of Water

Thanks for taking a dip in the pools of nostalgic and honorable writing today. And, as always, thanks for following my work. While I may go on and on sometimes about how this or that or the other are important—so I can earn a living with my work—it is really the soft, quiet words I must write for the hearts of others that make me a writer. It is my honor, always, sharing that with you.

Christina M Ward is a writer and poet from North Carolina. She works as a freelance writer in the health, wellness, and cannabis space. If you are a fan of her work or would like to show your support, please consider a small token of appreciation. (Plus, it’s a long drive to the wedding and she clould use a few coffees along the way.)

Here in J~ville it’s been supernaturally hot and sweltering. I live by a pond so there’s also the nightly chorus of frogs, katydids, and ducks. Sometimes we build a bonfire and sit outside to listen to the night, tell each other stories, or bravely stomp through the brush to find more limbs to burn. But, aside from needing two showers a day to keep clean of all the sweat—I’ve also been writing.

I begin today’s sharing with something exciting—A PSYCHIC READING. And if you know what’s been going on in my life right now—you know this train’s done runnethed OFF its tracks. The SHIP has sunketh. The battle, kerplunked.

But am I down-trodden just yet?

Nope!…and this psychic reading helped me turn things around in my mind.

Take a look…

NEW PSYCHIC READING

I am not sure what I expected from a psychic reading. I mean, I have several friends that do them—but I’ve always been very busy…or recently, my life’s just been a bit of a mess.

I thought, today? Why not? And I got far more than I bargained for…I mean, my spirit really needed this.

So, I wrote about it. I thought that since it made me feel better—perhaps it could make you feel better, too. Perhaps, there’s a lesson in here for you, too.

I’ve had very few psychic readings in my life. Given my recent huge turn of life events, I thought perhaps this was the time to consult someone with a unique connection to the Universe.

So, I reached out to my good friend, a psychic medium and fellow Medium.com writer, Anna Rozwadowska.

SEE WHAT ANNA PREDICTED

NEW ENCOUNTER

Also, did you hear about my encounters by the pond? I’ve had all kinds of visitors this week—a green heron, some Canada geese (it’s really CANADA geese and not CANADIAN geese—did you know that?), and the encounter I wrote about below…

NEW POEM!

This week I celebrated my 50th birthday sitting on a nearby beach. I went alone. The ocean always speaks to me, but on this day it was the shell bed that spoke loudest to my soul.

Lastly, I really must share a portion of an article a friend of mine begged me to write—because in my circle of friends I am the one doling out bad-assery advice.

Thanks, as always for following the personal writing work of Christina M Ward.

Christina is also a solopreneur, owner of Fiddleheads & Floss Writing Services, a business hit hard by the “Freelance Fiasco of 2023.” While many freelancers have lost their arse completely—Christina is still working and pitching her services to new clients. See how you can hire her for all your business writing, poetry editing, and other editorial needs.

What Christina’s working on this week:

• An editing job—Adapting a creative piece into a screenplay.

• An editing job for an award-winning and world-renowned medical doctor—a full-length non-fiction medical book.

• Developing a new service for F & F—Case Studies!

Love Christina’s fire for freelancing? Her voice for poetry? Tips are a portion of her income and you can do that right here. Thanks, always for supporting your favorite artists and creators.

My poetry has always come in waves. Like a season of unleashing, the words come to me so fast and furious that it’s all I can do to not stay in my head wandering around, staring at the sky, and muttering to myself.

It used to make me feel crazy. Like, really crazy. Now, I embrace the season and try to write as much as I can.

Folks, I am in a season of poetry. Perhaps it is all the stress over ChatGPT and what that’s done to the freelancing business that’s been so good to me for the past several years. Perhaps it is the stress of losing my livelihood. Perhaps it is simply a season of writing—for whatever reason the words are coming, and I am honoring those words by writing them down.

I’ve published some of what I have written recently, and today I’d like to share some of that work with you.

SUN SPIRITS

DON'T TAKE THE RAIN

WONDERWALL

HALF-MOON SKY

THE SURFERS

LONG ROAD HOME

I hope you’ll take the time to read each one. (And let me know your favorites!)

If you are not a Medium member you only get so many reads per month, but with this link you can subscribe, read all you want, and half of your monthly membership will go to support my work. Then, the other half is divvied up to the writers whose work you read on Medium. It’s a great way to support writers—I mean, where would our lives be without writers, right?—especially in a time when writers are suffering.

Filming for some of your favorite shows are being put on hold right now because writers are on strike. This is because many writers get paid a flat fee (a too-low one) and then do not earn any residuals for when shows air and do well.

Think about the popularity of Stranger Things, for example. Shouldn’t the writers for that show make a killer living? Well, they are not. In fact, many of them are living paycheck to paycheck with lulls of no money in between jobs. This isn’t fair for people who give our lives such richness and enjoyment.

Everything you see or watch today began with writers. Everything.

Supporting the creators that enrich our lives is something we can do to help…and they deserve it.

Writers like me don’t work for TV shows. We write on sites like Medium.com and we often get paid literal pennies for what we do. We also work in freelance capacities, which is what I do for a living. Because the economy has taken some hits and companies are cutting corners to save money, many of us have lost writing and editing accounts that paid our bills.

I had three accounts that have earned me a good living for 3+ years.

I lost all three. They are around, yes, but not ordering. I am currently earning a tenth of what I was making 5 months ago.

I’ve returned to Fiverr to do poetry editing jobs to keep me afloat—but in all honesty, this barely covers my car payment and insurance. I am currently losing my apartment because I cannot resign my lease at my new lowered income. I no longer qualify for my apartment. I have about 6 weeks to solve this problem. And that’s ok. I’ve been through worse. I’ll figue this out. I always do!

So, I am looking every day for more work, applying for WFH jobs, pitching my services, and writing more on Medium.com to try and make ends meet. (Because this gig economy is feast or famine, we writers also often take tips and donations to help fill in lulls between orders. At times like these, those tips have often made all the difference! I once got a 100.00 tip and because of that tip I was able to buy groceries.)

Also, as writers we promote our work like with the links for the the poems I shared in those blue clickable bubbles above.

How Your Paid Membership Helps Writers

Here’s how your reading support works: If you are not a paying member, you can read up to 5 pieces per month—this includes research articles, self-help and relationship articles, crtypto and science and political news…all kinds of things, including poetry and short stories and yes SEX stuff, too. But if you don’t pay, you get limited reads and your reading support does not financially contribute to the authors’ work.

Every paying Medium member gives a little to each writer whose work they read. There’s a reading time metric that’s recorded as you read and calculations are made to determine how much of your monthly membership is allotted for your reading time. The longer and more often you read an author the more of your membership goes to them. And writers self-promote, hoping that we get enough reading time to add up.

Two Ways to Help if You Are Not a Paying Member

If you cannot pay to be a Medium member and want to help—you can forward this email to others, share links of my work to your social media, and tell people what you love about my work or my books.

If you are not a paying member and read one of the allotted free reads, scroll to the bottom and see the author’s tipping feature, if they have one. This way, if you read something that really helps you or blesses you in some way, you can tip the author directly for any amount you choose.

NOTE: It’s not begging. It’s self-promotion and all writers must do this.

Thank you for following Fiddleheads & Floss Newsletter. I hope that my work has blessed you in some way.

Love & Words,

Christina M. Ward

As you all know I am a full-time freelance SEO writer for some pretty great companies. My work has been featured on some stellar sites as well:

• LA Weekly

• Village Voice

• cbdMD

• Vegamour

• Men's Health

• Today's Health Sciences

• And more!

But as with many other freelance writing agencies and solopreneurs, Fiddleheads & Floss Writing Services is experiencing a lull in orders.

Due to the release of ChatGPT? Likely.

But this is good news for you...as a small business owner, a blog owner, or a person who needs to outsource some writing skills.

It means after 3 years of turning away work I didn't have the time to do, I now have space in my schedule for YOU!

Here's how to inquire about an order:

Email me with subject line FREELANCE INQUIRY to fiddleheadsnfloss@gmail.com.

It's that simple to get the conversation started about how I can help your site to reach your ideal clients, educate them, and build rapport with them. SEO strategies help to increase traffic and with great writing, you can convert that traffic to subscriptions, sales, and repeat business!

I look forward to hearing from you.

Christina M Ward
Fiddleheads & Floss Writing Services

If you are a writer for Medium.com then you know the disappointment of throwing yourself into writing a piece and then it earns two bucks.

It happened to me recently with a piece that took me weeks to write and research on the topic of sleep, even using the advice of a sleep therapist I’d interviewed, only for the whopping 22-minute read to garner $2.45. As a professional wellness writer covering sleep topics on the regular…this was a huge flop for me.

Then, a Facebook friend commented on one of my posts. I’d complained about a dating thing. This isn’t unusual, I mean, I am nearly 50 and back in the dating world feeling much differently about myself than I did some 15 years ago when I last actively dated.

He said—this sounds like a great article.

So, I wrote the article.

How a Younger Man’s Rejection Has Renewed My Self-Confidence in Dating

And practically overnight, it blew up.

It’s been live for 7 days and here are the numbers:

• Views: 2.4K

• Earnings: $83.66

• Claps: 2.9K

• Comments: 35

• Tips: 1

The article was Boosted by Medium's new Boosting feature. It was published in Publishious which means there is an editor there that reviewed the piece and recommended it for Boosting. Nicole Akers reviewed my piece.

So, go take a look at the piece.

Plus…you’ll want to see this comment from a hater!

I read this in its entirety. So, so, so cringe. I cannot believe this woman is so gullible. This level of naivete at 50 is inexcusable. Does she really think the guy meant those things? Really? Does she TRULY believe the man who rejected her thought she was smoking hot? This is body dysmorphic disorder in reverse. There was no attraction there. She misread pretty much everything. He wasn't attracted to her, physically, but tried to force himself into it. And then he realized that she was just too unattractive physically. Men are extremely easy. They won't stop at anything as long as you are physically attractive.

You should see the 1K+ word response another reader wrote in reply. 😮

This article, aside from that bit of drama, and the dozens of supportive comments, helps you to see for yourself what the Boosting feature “likes.” I think authenticity, vulnerability, and the topic all played a role. It was well-written and right from the heart.

While you’re there…take a little time to highlight and comment—to give it a Boost of your own.

Note: There’s something I DIDN’T tell the readers of that article. A secret, if you will…and I am going to tell you.

That sexy younger man came back. 😉

(Stay tuned…this should get real interesting.)

Thanks for being a part of my journey,

Christina
Fiddleheads & Floss Writing Services

At 3 am, common Google queries for me look a little something like this: “funny cat videos,” “screaming goats,” and finally, exasperated, I finger-type in “Help! Laying in bed can’t sleep.”

Which is silly…because I’ve read the sleep studies. I’ve talked with countless doctors and therapists, and most recently, a sleep therapist. I’ve tried the medications and sleepwalked right into my front yard in the middle of the night, where, embarrassingly, I peed right there in the grass. My relationships and my social life and even my professional life have all suffered — as I have suffered — all because I can’t sleep well.

Today, I’m a wellness writer. That means there are companies out there who have doled out thousands for me to write their articles on sleep. Have I solved my sleep problems? Not entirely, but I sure am sleeping better these days. I’ve found what works for me and I hope this may help some chronic nightwalkers out there to feel a little less alone.

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