Seph’s Salon

Welcome to Persephone’s Step Sisters. We like to think of this space as a sort of virtual salon. For centuries, salons have been the civilized world’s way of gathering smart people with smart ideas, to share, exchange, and elevate the creative process. Well, the world has changed, and so have we.

There was a a time when culture was defined and regulated almost completely by men. So naturally and as a response, women created the salon, a place where they could be a powerful influence in their own right. Women were the center of the life in the salon. They selected their guests and decided about the subjects of their meetings. Those subjects were social, literary, or political. Persephone’s Step Sisters is mainly literary, though it may veer toward social, political, or spiritual anarchy.

Back in the day, the salon was an informal university for women where they were able to exchange ideas, receive and give criticism, read their own works and hear the works and ideas of other writers.  We think that the creative spark is as natural a breathing, and here, we are willing to share our air with women, men, what ev. In the spirit of Alice B, welcome to our virtual salon.

92 thoughts on “Seph’s Salon”

  6. It’s a cold and snowy Saturday in Chicago. Thanks for making the day warmer by liking my post. I’m new to the blogging world, and support from its residents in very much appreciated. I’ll be reading yours and learning from you. Have a great weekend!

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  7. Hi, thanks for stopping by my blog The Order Expert and for the “like” on my post “Order As Art: Window Lights.” You’ve got such an interesting idea for a blog, will definitely be checking out more of your future posts!

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  9. I just wanted to stop by and say thank you for dropping by my blog and ‘liking’ my post. I will definitely be back to read more of your blog. :-)

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  12. Thank you for the “like” on my poetry page, every little encouragement is not only flattering but fuels me on =) I’m already hooked on your posts in “@ first blush”, is there a place where I can comment on each story? “Honest and Naked” really struck a chord. Hope to revisit soon again. Take care, Que.

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    • Que,
      You are very sweet and deserve all good words and encouragement! You can comment on our @ first blush posts on the main page, which are a redirect to the main “@fb.”
      The way the wp template is configured, we can’t structure @fb the way we’d like to, so we sorta did a patch by posting on the home page, and redirecting. Thoroughly confused yet? Cheers! Cynthia

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  13. Thank you for your visit to my blog! I enjoyed your post about the writer’s group exercises and look forward to reading through your blog. I wish you much happy writing and musing! Love MoonWynd
    moonwyndstudio.wordpress.com

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    • We are so sorry! It is the way that the pages are designed. Only posts on the main page are likable, as it turns out. We are working to remedy this, as you are not the first reader to ask. We may have to choose another template. In the meantime, thank you for checking in! Sincerely, the girls.

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  17. Thank you for the like on my Blog! This is such a good idea. I’ve always been fascinated by the Paris Salon … and the idea of Gertrude Stein and those early 20th century literati congregating to discuss their writing.

    I notice that you have a section that reviews first novels. You might like to go back to “My Blood Father’s Son” and take a closer look at it to see if it’s suitable for review. I’d really appreciate any ideas you have. Your reviews were so tantalizing, I’m going to go on Amazon and order some of the books mentioned.

    Again thatnk you ofr setting up Steph’s Salon.

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    • I love the Paris salons, too. I feel like I should have been there! Well, at least we have Seph’s Salon. Welcome.
      As for the reviews, I have an agreement with my editor; I only review books I like. This saves a lot of time, and acrimony, as it turns out. “My Blood Father’s Son” sounds interesting. I will definately give it a look.
      Cheers,
      Cynthia

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    • Thanks, Judith. Yes, it’s the same Persephone. I had another blog and used Aphrodite as the icon. I got kind of attached and love they mythic connection.

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  21. I think Persephone’s an interesting goddess in Greek myths, even more interesting than her mother–and Ceres is pretty hard to beat. Just read a review for Goddess Interrupted (it’s the 3rd book in a series) where Persephone left Hades and Hades has chosen someone new. A nice twist on the old myth.

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  22. Thanks for visiting my blog “Musings of a Horse Mom” and liking my post “Horse Ham Gallery …” … I like the concept of your blog and the idea of women supporting each other. My experience has gone both ways … A number of years ago I had a wonderful woman boss/mentor who was the first one to see my writing talent and encourage it. She issued a wake-up call and my life changed for the better because of it. There have been others also, but she stands out. … Sadly, I’ve also encountered a number of women who, because of jealousy or some such thing, have made it their mission to stand in my way rather than be supportive. Needless to say I’ve divested myself of their “friendship” and am currently looking to fill the gap they have left with more positive influences. Reading about such women in your blog may help me to recognize them more readily. Plus, I just think it would be fun to hang out in your salon occasionally. ;-) … Thanks again for connecting. Be well … Dorothy :-)

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    • Dorothy,
      I am with you sister. Those great mentors are rare, and really can be game changers.
      Stop by any time, you are welcome here.
      PS: love your blog, too!
      Best,
      Cynthia

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  24. Say – nice blog you have there! I’m looking forward to reading more. Love the Grammar Nazi story. I belong to a fiction writers group and we have a member from the Adverb Police (her term)! Maybe we can set her on that bad boy of yours.

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  27. Thanks for stopping by my blog! I’m delighted to find the Salon. What a great concept!

    (Also, I wanted to post a like on “Reading Energy and other Occuptional Hazards,” but didn’t see the functionality to do this. I really enjoyed the overt and covert conversation you represented there.)

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    • Hi Sarah,
      Yes, we’ve reached the outer limits of what our beloved WP can do for pages beyond the main. If you really want to post a like, you can do so from the main page. We post “teasers” on the main to @ first blush, which then become likable.. See you in the blogosphere. . .
      PSS

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  28. I love the idea of a literary salon. It is easier to have a digital one these days as having one in reality can suffer from a lack of like minded people, if you live in the rural village, as I do. Love the site.

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  29. This is the utmost trap! You liked a random blogpost, I came to thank you for the love – I always welcome receiving love in any manner whatsoever – couldn’t find any “like” button to express a genuine gratitude in a simple, casual, fast and easy way… so you got me to read some of the pages, well, read is not really the proper word, as I quickly browsed and became increasingly curious about the wealth and richesses that seem to lay in this place.

    So yes, this is the utmost trap!! You’re good at what you’re doing, Cynthia!

    I will not make any promise, because my satchel is depleted. But I will try and remember to come back… maybe if you nudge me again? who knows!

    Thank you for visiting and inviting. Keep it up (oh, and Persephone would have been my younger son’s name had he turned to be a daughter and had I yielded to his father’s whim to use that beautiful but dreadful name for a baby girl… that was fifteen years ago, but I never forgot and it stayed dear in my heart for all those memories! :-)

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    • Oh, my dear. My heart is full and I am nearly undone by your beautiful comment. As I began reading, I thought to prepare the usual reply to not being able to “like” the pages (I would have blamed WordPress) but as I read, I rejoiced at not having the “like” available because I daresay we would never have had the pleasure of reading your message. A trap? Perhaps unintentional, but then it has made us very lucky indeed. Our Salon page is by far the most popular, with no way to express the love it so clearly evokes. ;)

      I love that you would have named a daughter Persephone. It is certainly rare, but as names tend to form our character (so I believe), I wonder what kind of girl she would have been. At first, we thought ‘is it too obtuse a name? Should we be more direct’? But then we realized that it has actually formed the character of these pages, and it attracts the kinds of readers who appreciate that kind of nuance.

      Thank you, thank you.
      Cynthia (+ by proxy, Pam)

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  30. I know I am ringing bells sounded by the previous commenters, but I love bells, so thank you for liking my post this morning. I am putting off writing what I’m meant to be writing and trying to slip into the feeling of trust that I had when my supervisor told me to write from my heart. The blog is a place where I feel free to do that, and when others show that they were there long enough to read enough to like, it moves me into courage, and I feel more lionhearted.

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  35. I adore the idea of a virtual salon–my historical heart is singing (though probably off key). And thanks for the like on my “What is the Regency?” post!

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  36. Hi, thanks for liking my post. I specialise in 18th century history, and one of the hidden aspects of that was the gender ratio in England at the time. So many men were away as sailors, soldiers, planters, and many of them died, so back here there were probably 2 or 3 women for every man, hence the desperation in Jane Austen’s writings for girls to get married. This left lots of single, educated women who often did good works, helped with the abolition of the slave trade, looked after the poor and, of course attended salons. Don’t underestimate what the sisters did in history.

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    • Barb, Thank you for the insights. I think generally, we tend to think that nothing of significance happened before now. . .and now. . .and now. We have a sort of collective amnesia regarding the finer points of civilization largely (I think) because bad news makes headlines, and juicy goodness goes unnoticed or unvalued. I think we should adopt the motto: “Don’t underestimate what the sisters did in history.” Love that!

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    • What an excellent comment! I’m familiar with that period of history, myself, but for some reason didn’t make the connection between the wars and lots of single women. And I, too, think “don’t underestimate what the sister did in history” would make a great motto :-)

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  37. Neither did I until I really started digging. Something like 1/3 of the Blue plaques in Bath are of women from that time, which is partly due to the popularity of the spa, but as a proportion of the visitors this is pretty impressive. I’ve just uploaded the stories of 4 Bristol women – Hannah More and Mary Robinson from the 18th century, and , Elizabeth Blackwell and Mary Carpenter from the 19th. All had careers that would have exhausted – and in the case of Robinson, probably kiiled – any man. cheers

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  41. I learned about this in my Jews of Germany class, junior year. some of the best minds got together at salons.I’ve often wished we had them today. I guess I just got my wish:)

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