Xine Segalas
Bio
"This is my art - and it's dangerous!" Okay, maybe not so dangerous, but it could be - if - when I am in a mood.
Stories (94)
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Ren Is the Musician You Didn’t Know You Needed to Hear
Have you ever had someone share a song with you, and within seconds you realize—you’ve heard it before? That happened to me recently when my husband, Mark, showed me a music video called “Hi Ren.” A few notes in, I felt that flicker of recognition. I’m pretty sure my son first introduced it to me a while back, but at the time, maybe I wasn’t in the right headspace. This time? It landed. Hard.
By Xine Segalas9 months ago in Beat
Becoming My Own Gravity. Runner-Up in The Metamorphosis of the Mind Challenge. Top Story - April 2025.
I was standing at the end of a hospital bed, holding my son’s hand as tightly as I could, hoping if I held his hand, it would help to anchor him as we witnessed the unthinkable. He was about to turn twenty-two; she had just turned twenty-one six weeks earlier. He was in shock, not knowing how to process what he was seeing. I didn't know how to process what we were seeing. Thirty-six hours earlier, he had kissed her as she and her mother got into a cab to go to the hospital. At the time I could feel him trembling inside as he stood there stoically. I could feel his world slipping away beneath his feet as much as my own. The doctors and nurses had just taken her off life support. Tubes removed, monitors silenced. It had only been twelve days since she first felt that earache. Twelve days from ordinary to catastrophic. The doctor called her time of death within two minutes. This was the pivotal moment—an abrupt halt to life as I knew it, a violent scratch across the record of my life that had been playing. It was the moment we felt the ground beneath our feet disappear.
By Xine Segalas9 months ago in Psyche
Family Favorite One-Pan Spanish Rice and Pork Recipe
When the kids were little, one dish always made it to the table on busy weeknights: Spanish Rice and Pork. Simple, hearty, and all done in one pan, it was a meal that filled the kitchen with the warm, savory aroma of stewed tomatoes and tender pork.
By Xine Segalas9 months ago in Feast
No. 1 Chicken Favorite Homemade Chicken Strips
When my kids were little, I used to make them homemade chicken strips that we referred to as “No.1 Chicken.” It wasn’t just their favorite — they loved that the long strips of chicken, sliced from whole breasts, looked like the number one. So when I would say, "We are having No.1 Chicken," they knew exactly what I was referring to. What can I say, we are a very literal family.
By Xine Segalas9 months ago in Feast
Discover Benable
As a writer, reader, and lifelong list-maker, I'm always on the lookout for better ways to organize and share the things I love—especially my Vocal stories. Recently, my sister @Daphsam introduced me to a site called Benable, and it’s quickly become my new go-to.
By Xine Segalas10 months ago in 01
Stillness in the Chaos. Top Story - March 2025.
For the last ten months and counting, our house has been a construction zone. We’re still living in it—confined to three rooms. My den doubles as our eat-in kitchen, complete with two freezers, a microwave, an air fryer, a toaster, and a hot plate. The once-quiet rhythm of our mountain home has been overtaken by the high-pitched wail of saws, the pounding of hammers, and the zip-zip-zip of drills securing drywall to studs.
By Xine Segalas10 months ago in Humans
That Girl
Never be the first to leave—because they will notice; but never be the last, because they'll expect it of you. Always smile just enough to be approachable, but not so much that they think you have nothing to say—or worse, that you're flirting. Unless you want to be that girl. The one that flirts. Never correct the boss in front of others—even if he is wrong—because it won't be he who pays for it, but you. It will always be your fault.
By Xine Segalas10 months ago in Fiction
How Music is Helping Me Practice French
Do you ever find yourself singing along to a song in another language—only to realize you're actually learning without even trying? Beyond practicing French on Duolingo, Jumpspeak, and reading bilingual books on PrismaText, I’ve found another secret weapon in my language-learning journey: YouTube. Okay, so it may not be such a big secret to some, but learning through music sing-along videos may not be your first thought. Or second, or third. But music is a great way to absorb language, and there are always music videos on YouTube.
By Xine Segalas10 months ago in Beat
The Case of the Vanishing Vocal Stories (and My Sanity)
I joined Vocal Media in November 2023, full of creative fire and caffeine. Since then, I’ve published 83 stories — okay, not a Vocal “power user” level like the legendary Mother Combs, Mike Singleton, Paul Stewart, or Oneg In The Arctic, but still... respectable, right? I just won my first Runner-up in the recent A Taste of Home Challenge for my story, Cooking Keftedes, Sharing Tradition. Okay, horn tooting over.
By Xine Segalas10 months ago in 01
Why Psychological Thrillers Keep Us Hooked
Why do we love stories that mess with our heads? Psychological thrillers have a way of pulling us in and keeping us hooked. Maybe it’s the suspense, the mind games, or the slow unraveling of a character’s true nature. Maybe it’s the thrill of being deceived—of thinking you’ve got it all figured out, only to be proven spectacularly wrong. Whatever it is, books like The Last Mrs. Parrish, The Wife Between Us, The Silent Patient, and The Girl on the Train know exactly how to pull us in and keep us turning the pages long past bedtime.
By Xine Segalas10 months ago in Writers
