'Losing the lucky frog' in GreenPrints magazine

My essay appears in the January 2024 issue.

By

Lisa Brunette

I’m excited to announce that my essay “Losing the Lucky Frog” appears in the January 2024 issue of GreenPrints magazine. You can read it here, though GreenPrints is subscription-based, and I believe they allow you three free reads before you’re blocked by a subscriber-only paywall.

As a longtime subscriber myself, I’m honored to have my work published in GreenPrints. “Losing the Lucky Frog” might be familiar to you, however, as I posted the essay here on Substack first, back in June.

I also recorded a narrated, podcast version, as some of you prefer to listen.

But you might still check out the GreenPrints version, as they’ve illustrated it so beautifully with artwork of that hummingbird I describe in the piece, playing in the water stream.

If you’ve never heard of GreenPrints, I suggest giving the magazine a try. It’s full of “gardening stories from the heart,” and I don’t think there’s ever been an issue I’ve read through without a tear in my eye. The stories are top-notch, not at all schmaltzy, in case you’re worried about that, and all have a funny and/or heart-warming vibe. These days, we could all use more of this in our lives.

You might remember GreenPrints from back in November, when I announced I’d won their Broken Trowel Award for another short essay, “So Mulch to Learn.”

I’m doubly excited to have two pieces in GreenPrints now, after years of admiring their writers’ work. I’d never submitted my writing to them before, but I think it helped that I’d been a reader for years before sending anything in to their editorial team, basically studying their unique genre all the while. I wrote the Broken Trowel piece specifically for that magazine, and as soon as I’d posted “Losing the lucky frog” here, I realized it was just right for them and hoped they’d take it as a reprint. I’m thrilled they agreed.

While I’m still a little sad that GreenPrints moved from print to online-only last year, the bonus is they now offer dramatic recorded versions of many of the pieces, like this one, “Why Even Have a Garden?”

Thanks for tolerating my brag here and for reading my words in general. I’m curious: Do you have a magical moment like the lucky-frog story to share? I know this kind of synchronicity with nature happens often, and I’m fascinated by others’ stories.

While our big winter subscription sale and giveaway ended last week, we’re still keeping our subscription prices low, in recognition of the fact that so many people are struggling financially. In the game industry, which is where I do the writing that pays the bills, the massive layoffs that have plagued us since fall 2022 continued clear through to the week before Christmas, and another one of my own projects was shelved. It’s unbelievable to me that executives who pull millions in bonuses alone would ditch long-time employees right before the holidays, but that’s what they did to many of my colleagues. My heart goes out to them.

May you gain both security and creativity in your careers in 2024, my friends.