March 2023: Ups and Downs

Before I get into the update, just a quick heads up: sometime during April, this website will default back to its old lettingoutthevoices.wordpress.com home. That’s because websites are expensive and right now I have other priorities. Plus, this site gets so little traffic I don’t think it will be a big problem. emilywrayburn.com will be

2023: Replenish

Happy 2023, everyone! At the start of every year, I try to choose a word that will be my theme for the next twelve months. This year’s word is REPLENISH. After the year that was, my main priority this year is to refill the creative well, as well as take more time for myself and

Merry Christmas from Max, Clara and me.

Hello from Budapest, Hungary! I’m in about week six of a ten-week European tour, and at the moment I’m especially looking forward to seeing The Nutcracker at the Hungarian State Opera on Christmas Day. Knowing that this was coming up, I was struck by the idea of Clara and Max going to see The Nutcracker.

New Release: Where the Weird Things Are Vol. 1

Hi everyone! I’ve had a very stressful couple of months but we’re coming out of that now, and I have an announcement! My short story “Sign Me Up” is featured in Deadset Press’s new anthology, Where The Weird Things Are Volume 1. It features a public servant in a job she hates on a dangerous

The One With the End of the Year Summing Up

I remember saying at the end of 2020 that people were putting a helluva a lot of pressure on 2021 to be ~better~ than 2020. I think it’s pretty safe to say that 2021 did not deliver on that front, and I don’t think anyone is harbouring any of the same illusions about 2022. In

2021 Goals Midpoint Check-in

This was supposed to be my quarterly check-in. I found it in my drafts folder today. Oops! I am usually a stickler for having these types of posts go up on the last day of the period they refer to or the first day of the following period, but here we are. 😂 This year

What I Achieved in 2020

When I posted my 2020 Writing Goals on the first of January, Australia was basically on fire. My city was shrouded in smoke, as were others, and N95 masks had sold out across the country. At the time, we thought it couldn’t really get much worse. March 30 was my first day working from home.

#FlashFiction – “Not the Last”

Today my lovely friends at Swell Publications posted the following writing prompt on their Facebook page: “If you only had one day to live, what would you do with your time? I can’t decide whether to save the world from impending doom or go get froyo.” My story is not so much a “one day

2020 Writing Goals – October Check-in

At the start of this year, some writer friends and I chose a word as the theme for the coming 12 months. Mine was LEARN. I’ve definitely been learning. And now we’re on the downhill run towards the end of the year. In some ways, it feels like the months have dragged on beyond belief, and

#FlashFiction – “The Longer You Stay…”

Hello all. I know, I know, it’s been a month since I last posted anything here. Apparently my brain can only cope with one creative pursuit at a time and for a while, The Thornthwaite Inheritance: The Musical was taking up all my creative brain space. Doing an original musical was a new experience, and