📢 Raise Your Voice Thread: 10/23/2025
Champion your favorite creators

Our “Raise Your Voice Threads” are hosted most alternating Thursdays at 12PM ET to offer creators more avenues to uncover exceptional stories on Vocal. As we are continuously searching for fresh creators and inspiring stories, this thread provides an opportunity to exchange and discuss the stories that have moved and motivated us on Vocal.
How to join the 📢 Raise Your Voice Thread:
- Introduce yourself in the comment section of this story and tell us what you create on Vocal.
- Shoutout a Vocal creator you recommend reading. Include the URL of a writer or story that inspired you and why.
- If you like a story another person has recommended, send that story's creator a like, leave a comment, and/or subscribe to them.
Please follow Vocal’s Community Guidelines and don’t spam your own profile or stories in the thread. We encourage the community to report users or comments that break these guidelines.
We'll start the thread:
Check out Six Strings & Broken Dreams by KA Stefana, a tender, songlike reflection on love lost and peace hard-won.
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Comments (12)
Congratulations on a well deserved Top Story.
Hi everyone, I’m Sandy. I write about life with a toddler and have recently branched into mystery/thriller short stories. If you’re a horror fan, you’ll want to check out Tales That Breathe at Night. Their latest piece, “Whispers from the Lantern: The Keeper’s Lament,” is full of atmosphere and suspense. Give it a read: https://shopping-feedback.today/horror/whispers-from-the-lantern-the-keeper-s-lament-r6fnl0j8j%3C/span%3E%3C/span%3E%3C/span%3E%3C/a%3E%3C/p%3E%3C/div%3E%3C/div%3E%3C/div%3E%3Cdiv class="css-w4qknv-Replies">
Hello I mostly do posts on travel and places to see, art, music, animals, and poetry. The latest articles that caught my attention are: Marie always has wonderful poetic thoughts https://shopping-feedback.today/poets/the-darkest-night-the-coldest-days%3C/span%3E%3C/span%3E%3C/span%3E%3C/a%3E Another writer and poet is Michelle and congrats to her on this Top Story https://shopping-feedback.today/poets/autumn-s-apology%3C/span%3E%3C/span%3E%3C/span%3E%3C/a%3E And finally a very versatile and poetic writer Mike https://shopping-feedback.today/poets/the-old-winter-oak-5igal0ogm%3C/span%3E%3C/span%3E%3C/span%3E%3C/a%3E%3C/p%3E%3C/div%3E%3C/div%3E%3C/div%3E%3Cdiv class="css-w4qknv-Replies">
Hey Vocal Fam! I do contemporary fiction, mostly YA and poetry! I would love to see Marie's poem recognized! https://shopping-feedback.today/poets/the-darkest-night-the-coldest-days%3C/span%3E%3C/span%3E%3C/span%3E%3C/a%3E%3C/p%3E%3C/div%3E%3C/div%3E%3C/div%3E%3Cdiv class="css-w4qknv-Replies">
Hiii, I'm Tanya, 15 years a poet. I adore this piece by Caitlin Charlton: https://shopping-feedback.today/poets/to-hunt-in-nature?modal=open It's tone is set with a gentle breeze through the hair and the play with words holds that tone throughout the rest of the poem. This story by L.C. Schäfer: https://shopping-feedback.today/fiction/black-scales%3C/span%3E%3C/span%3E%3C/span%3E%3C/a%3E This is the first part of the story with more to follow, it kept me engaged as a young girl searched for dragon scales, I haven't read the follow-ups yet, but this one enticed me enough that I definitely will when I have time And last but not least --- by Paul Stewart: https://shopping-feedback.today/poets/-k1poy0q0q%3C/span%3E%3C/span%3E%3C/span%3E%3C/a%3E This poem explores blank space in a beautifully tragic tone, despite the pain in this piece, I was still brought to a quiet mountain stream. Full of feeling, this poem is worth a read.
Hello,. a bit late today. Paul here, grumpy git, writer, poet, or poet/writer, whatever order you think. Trailblazer? Asshole? iconoclast? Who cares? I write. Here are some of my picks for Top Stories and even if they don't get top stories, you should read them - or else. Stephen A Roddewig (or as I sometimes call him, ass, pal or Stephen K. Roddewigg) published a magnificent poem. Which, is something to marvel at as Stephen is more of a fiction man. Here you go - A Second Hibiscus - https://shopping-feedback.today/poets/a-second-hibiscus%3C/span%3E%3C/span%3E%3C/span%3E%3C/a%3E Since writing more poetry than I ever imagined I would, I have come to appreciate love poetry. But, I don't like love poetry that is overly sacchirine and wishywashy and not grounded in reality. Enter Sean A and one of his best pieces and a truly beautiful, reverential love poem Do not miss it - Out Of Clay - https://shopping-feedback.today/poets/out-of-clay%3C/span%3E%3C/span%3E%3C/span%3E%3C/a%3E Amanda Starks got me in the feels with her piece about her progress and achievements at having 200 stories on Vocal. I think the outage hit and it was overlooked. check it out here - 200 Stories on Vocal.Media - https://shopping-feedback.today/writers/200-stories-on-vocal-media%3C/span%3E%3C/span%3E%3C/span%3E%3C/a%3E There you go. Some great stuff to read. You're welcome.
Here are my five Top Story nominations An excellent acrostic from Antoni De'Leon https://shopping-feedback.today/poets/black-history-s-diverse-shades%3C/span%3E%3C/span%3E%3C/span%3E%3C/a%3E A lovely slice of autumn from Diane Foster https://shopping-feedback.today/poets/the-hush-after-leaves%3C/span%3E%3C/span%3E%3C/span%3E%3C/a%3E Some sweetness from Marie381Uk https://shopping-feedback.today/poets/chocolate-deserts%3C/span%3E%3C/span%3E%3C/span%3E%3C/a%3E A plane journey with Aspen Marie https://shopping-feedback.today/poets/reader-4v2y530qkp%3C/span%3E%3C/span%3E%3C/span%3E%3C/a%3E And a feline challenge from Archibald Thorne https://shopping-feedback.today/writers/unofficial-challenge-a-black-cat%3C/span%3E%3C/span%3E%3C/span%3E%3C/a%3E%3C/p%3E%3C/div%3E%3C/div%3E%3C/div%3E%3Cdiv class="css-w4qknv-Replies">
Cheers all! I really enjoyed this reflective autumn elegy by Michelle: https://shopping-feedback.today/poets/autumn-s-apology%3C/span%3E%3C/span%3E%3C/span%3E%3C/a%3E As well as this beautiful piece by the every brilliant Stephen: https://shopping-feedback.today/poets/a-second-hibiscus%3C/span%3E%3C/span%3E%3C/span%3E%3C/a%3E%3C/p%3E%3C/div%3E%3C/div%3E%3C/div%3E%3Cdiv class="css-w4qknv-Replies">
I just read this piece by Wren Kirk https://shopping-feedback.today/journal/where-is-the-kindness%3C/span%3E%3C/span%3E%3C/span%3E%3C/a%3E I vibed with everything that was said and it's a great read. We should all exercise a little more kindness 🙏 Also, I'm Sara. I write poetry and horror mostly ☺️
Stephanie again. Fiction and poetry mostly with some nonfiction thrown in here and there. I found Lamar Wiggins's "The Devil Inside" to be particularly skin-crawling and appropriate for the spooky season: https://shopping-feedback.today/poets/the-devil-inside-4i17ju04ab%3C/span%3E%3C/span%3E%3C/span%3E%3C/a%3E Of course, I would be remiss if I did not mention the collection of wonderful stories brought together by Rick Henry Christopher's Tales From Beyond Challenge: https://shopping-feedback.today/writers/tales-from-beyond-the-haunted-letter-challenge-the-entries%3C/span%3E%3C/span%3E%3C/span%3E%3C/a%3E And we must congratulate Amanda Starks on 200 wonderful Vocal stories and her reflection on what that means to her: https://shopping-feedback.today/writers/200-stories-on-vocal-media%3C/span%3E%3C/span%3E%3C/span%3E%3C/a%3E%3C/p%3E%3C/div%3E%3C/div%3E%3C/div%3E%3Cdiv class="css-w4qknv-Replies">
So a piece I found that was fitting and funny was this one https://shopping-feedback.today/fiction/the-great-vocal-outage#comment-c58179f7-7b8d-4910-94ea-222f9568da86%3C/span%3E%3C/span%3E%3C/span%3E%3C/a%3E Author great at satire-Scott Christenson
Hello. I write fiction, poetry, and book reviews. I’ve been reading a lot of Mark Graham’s work. This is a particularly lovely poem of his: https://shopping-feedback.today/poets/daybreak-ix20x07us%3C/span%3E%3C/span%3E%3C/span%3E%3C/a%3E. I found uplifting.