March Monthly Links Roundup

Including humor submission opportunities, a walking-based sport, and dragons

Hello and welcome to my March monthly links roundup where I share links of interest.

I started drafting this newsletter in the airport while waiting for a flight to LA for the AWP conference but my flight had been delayed, so I was worried that if I said I was in LA, I would jinx it and not actually get there.

But I can now report I have made it and am looking forward to the conference that begins today. If you are here and have a panel, offsite, or goat yoga meetup that should be on my radar, let me know.

-JV

• Short humor: This list of Kid Rules by

  Lisa Hides
  made me laugh. I especially felt number 3.

• Jokes: Threads has been providing me with some comic relief lately in the form of dumpster fires and Severance jokes.

• Book: I’m currently reading Lydia Davis’s book Essays One. I enjoy her short (and often funny) pieces and have enjoyed her discussion of some of her writing influences.

• Recipe: I recently enjoyed this minestrone recipe from Ina Garten and recommend it. 1 out of 2 kids in my house ate the soup and 2 out of 2 ate the garlic bread.

• Activity: I have also started playing some disc golf with my family and have been enjoying it because it is pretty low-key. So if you are interested in a walking-based sport, I recommend you check it out.

• Emerging writer opportunity: I saw this post from Roxane Gay on Threads.

• Funny essay submissions: Chicken Soup for the Soul has a call out for funny stories.

• Funny book award: The Thurber Prize for American Humor is currently open too.

• Onion Fellowships: The Onion is looking for summer fellows in Chicago. (Shout out to Heidi Fiedler for the heads up on this one).

This month’s funny guest rec comes from Bo Huffman, author of the baking contest/dragon mashup Desserts & Dragons.

Tell us about your book:

Dessert & Dragons is a cozy fantasy set in Everdorne, a kingdom overrun by sugar-obsessed dragons. When Princess Damora's head pastry chef suddenly quits at the announcement of her engagement, the royal palace hosts the Royal Bake Off to find a replacement to bake the royal wedding cake.

As the first dwarf to graduate from The Royal Confectionary Apprenticeship, Gregor Brimstone is determined to win. Baking comes easily; performing for the enchanted mirrors placed all around the palace? Not so much. With the eyes of the kingdom upon them, Gregor competes against his fellow chefs, some of whom are his very best friends. Winning will bring glory, but at what cost?

A delectable tale of delicious cakes, chosen destiny, and hilarious culinary mischief.

Bo’s book recommendation:

Another funny book I would recommend is Dungeon Crawler Carl by Matt Dinniman. It’s a fun litRPG about aliens wiping out humanity and is packed with action but also witty banter and wacky characters. If you're a fan of the genre and want a book that doesn't take itself too seriously, this will be right up your alley!

Thank you! Learn more about Bo here:

Bo Huffman lives in a cottage overgrown by roses and overrun by perfect pets. She has been a lifelong writer and reader of all things fun and fantasy, and sometimes romance. Her favorite things include rabbits, being a coffee snob, hunting for speakeasies, visiting grocery stores in foreign cities, and eating a perfect croissant. You can follow her writing projects at www.bohuffman.com and on Instagram @authorbohuffman.

• Travel piece: I had a family travel piece go up AAA’s The Extra Mile this month. AAA has several different publications with different pitching guidelines, but for this one, they actually collected pitches back in the summer via a form and then assigned them out for 2025. They posted about it in TravMedia so it can be worth signing up for that site for travel writing opportunities. I also added my pitch for this piece to my pitch letter collection.

• Humor piece: My main question about the show Naked and Afraid is how would you wind up in a survival scenario without clothing? So I brainstormed some answers to that in this piece on Jane Austen’s Wastebasket.

• Parenting writing class: I’m going to be co-teaching a class on the basics of writing for parenting publications in May. Find more details here.

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Thanks for reading Humor Me, a newsletter featuring funny stuff and writing tips. In case you’re new here — I’m a humor writer and freelancer whose work has appeared in New Yorker Shouts, McSweeney’s, Real Simple, and more. Find out more about me at julievick.com.

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