What makes you interesting?

How does your story build? And what’s your best excuse for being unfilled?

(And aren’t there enough conundrums in this silly world?)

Living on the edge of reason 
looking for the sweet spot between silly and sublime 
following the rising action 
falling hard every time 
bending to the strangest arcs
you write yourself into a nursery rhyme

You would trade your home and family for another life 
You would rather be a legend than somebody’s wife 

                                          - from "Looking for Spiders" (Tumbling After, 2014)

Thanks for visiting Strangest Arcs.

I created this space as a sort of reverse graveyard for stories and ideas. I could call it an incubator, and the mental image of ideas hatching from little egg-like pods is nice enough, but I prefer to picture the stories forming under layers of hard earth and building momentum until they push through.

Subscribing to Strangest Arcs gives you a first look at my new material: early drafts of new songs, poems, excerpts of essays from a collection I’ve been piecing together (very gradually) for the last six years, theatrical monologues, and random thought-threads I’m pulling at.

Please subscribe!

As of January 2022, writing and creating music is my full time adventure. I am so grateful for this opportunity, and particularly grateful to those of you who can support me through monthly or annual subscriptions. All content on this site will be publicly accessible until February 1 when I start limiting certain posts (particularly new songs and musical performances) to paid subscribers only. Thank you for participating in my creative journey! I welcome and value your feedback, comments, and requests.

Jessica Smucker