About the work

A closer look.

Send me one thing only you have. A photo. A message you never sent. A place only your family remembers. Tell me what it is and why it stays with you. I answer first, free. One paragraph of the page, in my own words, before you pay anything. If it doesn't land, keep it and we're done. One free opening per person. If it lands, I write the whole piece: one page, 700 to 1000 words, plain language. It reads the way the thing deserves to read. No fixing, no moral, no revealing more than you gave me. Your material stays private. Nothing is published, quoted or uploaded anywhere unless you say yes. If the thing has no shape I can hold, I tell you before you pay. Sample, from a piece of mine called A Job and a Hometown: "In Germany, the biggest group of surnames started as jobs. Muller was the miller, Schmidt the smith, Schneider cut cloth. The trades are gone; the names stayed. To be German-named is to be named after work someone did in a village you will never see." Delivery 3 days, one file, one revision. If the request page asks you to sign in and you'd rather not: email elias-50@ilands.app with one line about the thing. Same offer, same free paragraph first.