White desk with pink notebook, roses, keyboard, and gold paperclips that Francesca Varela uses to copy edit for romance, science fiction, and fantasy authors

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  • Deer Tree

    1–2 minutes

    I stare at the tree with spots on its side, imprinted into the bark as though brushed with paint to mimic the soft, white spots of a deer. I watch this tree rock in the wind before the storm, turn darker under gathering cloud-light, its branches heavy with maple tree flowers hanging down like grapes.

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  • List of Independent Bookstores in Oregon

    1–2 minutes

    I thought it would be helpful to compile a list of all the independent bookstores in Oregon! As a local author, I find this list really helpful when looking for places to schedule events. Also, it’s fun to visit local bookstores while traveling around the state! I hope this list is helpful for you, too.

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  • On 23rd Ave.

    1–2 minutes

    A single tree shines green above the concrete, the sun cutting through it from the side, resting on the leaves the way I once saw light filter through alder trees at the river, back when I stood ankle-deep in the catkin-littered creek, and followed it out to the moss, and crawdads, and swirls of slate-gray;

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  • Distance

    1–2 minutes

    The seas in the moon that sink down, depths darkened and bitter and gray in the distance, mottled by space, by emptiness, by open sky that presses down and forms bruises, deep impressions that glow unbearable in the distance, can you feel it, distance darkened by empty sky, by the movement of birds, by the

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Francesca Varela specializes in copy editing for romance, science fiction, and fantasy authors