“Shake It Up”
Publisher’s Note by Debbie Abbott
I’ve been so excited about this Bonus Edition—for such a long time! Ever since our first issue of Dharma Direction in January 2022, my tribe of contributors and I have been anticipating this moment.
Never truly knowing when it would arrive, I set my sights on August and November of 2023. There’s an extra week in those months between Dharma’s zodiac rotations so it seemed like the perfect time to show everyone what our upcoming Paid Subscription option is going to look like.
Then, as if Mr. Murphy himself were testing my mettle with his laws of irony, an untimely retrograde from the planet Mercury sent every piece of technology I touched into a state of shock.
“This is the way.” (As Star Wars’ Mandalorians say.)
Unhappy and stressing about the delays, I could feel the universe reminding me of our Dharma Direction motto: Go with the flow.
Standing now on the banks of this Bonus Edition, I welcome you to float with us …
Watch (or just listen) to my Q&A with contributing poet, comedian, and Substack neighbor Hattie Hayes.
Listen to audio versions of our essays and stories.
See the ghost I’m bringing to our first Show-n-Tell
All of These Voices … Q&A
Publisher/Editor Debbie Abbott chats with Dharma Direction poet
Run time: 53 minutes
For us right-brained creative people … relinquishing yourself to the voices in your head and the desires in your heart can be terrifying. It can also be transformative, if you’ve got the guts to grab your dream and run with it.
In this interview with Hattie, we discuss our mutual love of music—specifically the influence and inspiration of singer/songwriter Regina Spektor’s uniqueness. We talk about karaoke and how to ruin a Weezer song while also commemorating its significance in a poem about body commodification.
Ultimately, our focus is poetry as it relates to music, family, and writing books.
Happy watching!
Check out Hattie’s debut poetry chapbook mentioned in the Q&A: Poems [For, About, Because] My Friends published by Bullshit Lit Mag + Press.
is a writer and comedian, originally from a small town in Missouri, who now lives in New York. Her writing has been nominated for the Pushcart Prize and Best of the Net. Hattie completed a SAFTA residency in September 2022. She is currently working on a full-length poetry collection, as well as her first novel.#AmReading … audio entertainment
“Noble Intentions”
Debbie Abbott reads her personal essay (published in the 2022 Leo edition of Dharma Direction) about the Leo in her life and how to connect with the Angel Verchiel who oversees the Lion’s zodiac.
“Leo—The Plot Hole Explored”
Colleen Markley reads her personal essay (published in the 2022 Leo edition of Dharma Direction) about the two Leos in her life who have influenced and supported her love of humor and writing.
Debbie Abbott is a former managing editor for an upscale food and lifestyle print magazine in Scottsdale, Arizona. Now she spends time working on her debut novel and sharing anecdotes and life lessons as Dharma Direction’s publisher, editor, and contributor. Her novel-in-progress, THE ANGELS’ GAUNTLET, is an auto-fiction coming-of-age story with the magical realism element of Angelic influence aiding the pursuit of Dharma in the life of a Volunteer soul determined to keep a 3,000-year-old promise of hope to the angels.
Connect with Debbie on Facebook, through Debbie's Twitter page or visit Debbie on Instagram.
Colleen Markley is a novelist, freelance writer, and memoir instructor, named the June 2021 winner of the Erma Bombeck Writers Workshop Humor Writer of the Month. She was awarded the Nickie’s Prize for humor for her essay “Unflappably Calm, Occasionally Furious, Ready and Willing to Hide the Bodies,” published in Sisters! Bonded by Love and Laughter. Her novel-in-progress, LILITH LAND, is a story about the end of the world where only the women survive. (It’s a novel, not an action plan.)
Find her at www.ColleenMarkley.com or sign up here for her newsletter and updates. Visit Colleen on Instagram or Facebook. Or check out her reviews and what she’s reading on Goodreads.
Show-n-Tell … a trip down Memory Lane
My Secret Sibling
In 1984, I was 20 years old and despite my status as a single mother trying to support herself while going to college (Arizona State University) … somehow, I managed to find time to express my creative side.
In this photo of my original artwork, I used an X-Acto knife and a piece of “scratchboard,” drawing a negative image by scratching off the black coating to reveal the white underneath it. To add some pop to the portrait, I used oil paints and cotton swabs (similar to the way artists would hand-paint black-and-white photographs back in the days before digital technology).
Building the car my ‘Leo, the Lion dad’ named “Rodney”—who I affectionately dubbed as my little brother—took seven years. After the T-bucket’s completion, we toured the NSRA show car circuit for several years, taking home trophy after trophy including Best Paint Job, and Best in Show … always. Built with the intention of duplicating the look of the famous Kookie Car from the TV series 77 Sunset Strip (1958-1964, promo pic below), my dad’s car was lauded in numerous magazines. The resemblance is uncanny!
That’s my little sister above (nearly 40 years ago), scoping out Rodney’s beautiful engine with my dad Jack who’s getting some help from a not-so-random gas station attendant (his dad, my Grandpa Tom).
And yes, that’s me (only 21 years old), on the cover photo below posing as a Sonic drive-in car hop in my cheerleading skirt with my dad behind the wheel of “America’s Most Beautiful Roadster” … the ghost of Norm Grabowski’s bucket.
Looking at the meticulous details of everything my dad did to create such a showstopping piece of machinery … it’s easy to see where I get my obsession with perfection from. Thank you, Dad, for passing along so much more than just your artistic DNA to me. Through your love of cars and art I learned about …
devotion to the soul’s desires
persistence when reaching for a goal
and the importance of surrounding oneself with likeminded people
xo - Debbie
We’ve said it before, and we’ll keep reminding you dear readers: There will always be free content with your free Dharma Direction subscription. Supporting the publication through a Paid Subscription is a future option (coming January 2024) that will include exclusive access to additional content like we’ve previewed in this Bonus Edition.
Most importantly, all of us at Dharma Direction express immense gratitude to everyone who reads (and maybe even shares) our stories as we strive to uphold our motto …
#GoWithTheFlow
~ Debbie Abbott, publisher/editor