Maria Hypponen
@mhypponen.bsky.social
Writer, indexer, creativity mentor. 🇨🇦 I write short stories about confused hearts and the things that might have been. On Substack: https://petitsecrits.substack.com/
Morning reflections.
November 8, 2025 at 1:48 PM
Morning reflections.
These little blooms make my writing desk more inviting.
September 16, 2025 at 1:49 PM
These little blooms make my writing desk more inviting.
Good Sunday morning, Bluesky folks 🌼
September 14, 2025 at 1:36 PM
Good Sunday morning, Bluesky folks 🌼
September 11, 2025 at 4:14 PM
🍁Hey Canadian writers! 🍁 The 2026 CBC Short Story Prize is open, and the deadline is November 1.
Rules and regs here: www.cbc.ca/books/litera...
Rules and regs here: www.cbc.ca/books/litera...
September 10, 2025 at 3:18 PM
🍁Hey Canadian writers! 🍁 The 2026 CBC Short Story Prize is open, and the deadline is November 1.
Rules and regs here: www.cbc.ca/books/litera...
Rules and regs here: www.cbc.ca/books/litera...
“Act as if you’re a writer. Sit down and begin. Act as if you might just create something beautiful, and by beautiful I mean something authentic and universal. Don’t wait for anyone to tell you it’s okay.”
~ Dani Shapiro, in "Still Writing: The Perils and Pleasures of a Creative Life"
~ Dani Shapiro, in "Still Writing: The Perils and Pleasures of a Creative Life"
September 5, 2025 at 1:26 PM
“Act as if you’re a writer. Sit down and begin. Act as if you might just create something beautiful, and by beautiful I mean something authentic and universal. Don’t wait for anyone to tell you it’s okay.”
~ Dani Shapiro, in "Still Writing: The Perils and Pleasures of a Creative Life"
~ Dani Shapiro, in "Still Writing: The Perils and Pleasures of a Creative Life"
A good morning begins with coffee and reading.
August 26, 2025 at 11:58 AM
A good morning begins with coffee and reading.
A cat finds a suitcase (a love story)
August 20, 2025 at 1:21 PM
A cat finds a suitcase (a love story)
“The best writing is like jumping out of a plane. I know that the parachute will open, though nothing in life is 100 per cent certain. I just have to get out there, count to three, and pull the rip cord.” ~ Margaret Springer, on courage and writing
August 19, 2025 at 12:54 PM
“The best writing is like jumping out of a plane. I know that the parachute will open, though nothing in life is 100 per cent certain. I just have to get out there, count to three, and pull the rip cord.” ~ Margaret Springer, on courage and writing
Read, puzzle, read, puzzle, read, puzzle, ad infinitum.
Oh, and write sometimes too.
Oh, and write sometimes too.
August 4, 2025 at 1:00 PM
Read, puzzle, read, puzzle, read, puzzle, ad infinitum.
Oh, and write sometimes too.
Oh, and write sometimes too.
A micro-fiction, book-spine inspired:
...
I can't sleep. Is it the demon of unrest? Or just the 206 bones, buried in my secret garden?
...
#microfiction #bookspinefiction #bookspinepoetry
...
I can't sleep. Is it the demon of unrest? Or just the 206 bones, buried in my secret garden?
...
#microfiction #bookspinefiction #bookspinepoetry
July 24, 2025 at 2:27 PM
A micro-fiction, book-spine inspired:
...
I can't sleep. Is it the demon of unrest? Or just the 206 bones, buried in my secret garden?
...
#microfiction #bookspinefiction #bookspinepoetry
...
I can't sleep. Is it the demon of unrest? Or just the 206 bones, buried in my secret garden?
...
#microfiction #bookspinefiction #bookspinepoetry
I just found my copy of A.S. Byatt's "Medusa's Ankles: Selected Stories" hiding under a Ken Follett doorstopper in my tbr pile. 😱 I had forgotten all about it. Shameful!
If you say that maybe I buy too many books if I lose track of them so easily, you and I are no longer friends.
If you say that maybe I buy too many books if I lose track of them so easily, you and I are no longer friends.
July 23, 2025 at 6:59 PM
I just found my copy of A.S. Byatt's "Medusa's Ankles: Selected Stories" hiding under a Ken Follett doorstopper in my tbr pile. 😱 I had forgotten all about it. Shameful!
If you say that maybe I buy too many books if I lose track of them so easily, you and I are no longer friends.
If you say that maybe I buy too many books if I lose track of them so easily, you and I are no longer friends.
What proverbial blanket do you need to do your art? For me it's music without lyrics, a bottomless cup of coffee, and a deadline.
![Blue text on a light grey background, reads: [T]he composer Nicolo Paganini could compose only if he had a blanket over his head. Who cares? What wonderful music he composed under his blanket! ... If you, too, need a blanket over your head to do your art, then claim your blanket!"
~ Pat Schneider, writer, poet, writing teacher, and editor](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:k77pzzh44fwh6gnwy2swf6b3/bafkreih2hwxzor4pkfzppzid3vcvxnjzkm5r7pgasbum6iumgthou7ugxy@jpeg)
June 27, 2025 at 2:00 PM
What proverbial blanket do you need to do your art? For me it's music without lyrics, a bottomless cup of coffee, and a deadline.
I just found my copy of the 1930 printing of “Tales of the Round Table” from Longmans, Green and Co., which sparked my lifelong obsession with Arthurian stories and legends. Yet so far, I've never written a story or poem inspired by these tales. Time to change that. ✨️
June 24, 2025 at 6:19 PM
I just found my copy of the 1930 printing of “Tales of the Round Table” from Longmans, Green and Co., which sparked my lifelong obsession with Arthurian stories and legends. Yet so far, I've never written a story or poem inspired by these tales. Time to change that. ✨️
Hold my calls. It's time for the @thewalrus.ca Summer Reading issue!
June 20, 2025 at 7:37 PM
Hold my calls. It's time for the @thewalrus.ca Summer Reading issue!
A slow coffee-filled morning. A walk in the sun. A fresh stack of books and a new mug.
May 25, 2025 at 4:40 PM
A slow coffee-filled morning. A walk in the sun. A fresh stack of books and a new mug.
Note to self: If you don't eat the fiddleheads, they will reproduce and start to take over. I need bunny reinforcements!
May 24, 2025 at 3:07 PM
Note to self: If you don't eat the fiddleheads, they will reproduce and start to take over. I need bunny reinforcements!
May 14, 2025 at 12:38 PM
April 12, 2025 at 8:23 PM
April 8, 2025 at 11:19 AM
April 6, 2025 at 5:37 PM
Have you ever felt like you were trying to live up to external expectations about the kind of writer you should be? That was me for the longest time. My creative breakthrough happened when I struck my own path.
petitsecrits.substack.com/p/issue-5-li...
petitsecrits.substack.com/p/issue-5-li...
April 4, 2025 at 2:40 PM
Have you ever felt like you were trying to live up to external expectations about the kind of writer you should be? That was me for the longest time. My creative breakthrough happened when I struck my own path.
petitsecrits.substack.com/p/issue-5-li...
petitsecrits.substack.com/p/issue-5-li...
My story, “Poison Pen,” is featured today as part of CommuterLit's volunteer readers & staff showcase. It’s a dark little story about envy run amok. commuterlit.com/2025/03/mond... (CommuterLit is always accepting submissions, by the way!)
#CanLit #ReadCanadian #ShortReads
#CanLit #ReadCanadian #ShortReads
March 24, 2025 at 4:20 PM
My story, “Poison Pen,” is featured today as part of CommuterLit's volunteer readers & staff showcase. It’s a dark little story about envy run amok. commuterlit.com/2025/03/mond... (CommuterLit is always accepting submissions, by the way!)
#CanLit #ReadCanadian #ShortReads
#CanLit #ReadCanadian #ShortReads
Now *that's* a good pile of Sunday reading.
March 23, 2025 at 2:28 PM
Now *that's* a good pile of Sunday reading.