Blue Cactus Press

Blue Cactus Press Publishing that moves us from words to action, by writers from historically marginalized groups.
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Join Blue Cactus Press, and for Laying Down Stories: a writing and emotional processing workshop for BIPOC birthworker...
10/08/2025

Join Blue Cactus Press, and for Laying Down Stories: a writing and emotional processing workshop for BIPOC birthworkers and birthing folx.

This workshop will be held on Sunday, October 19th, from 10am to 1pm.

The workshop will include guided writing prompts, verbal storytelling, and body-based somatic exercises focused on releasing stories, energy and emotions surrounding birth work.

The workshop will be facilitated by:vega.writer of Blue Cactus Press and .lee.grantham rantham of Center for Indigenous Midwifery!

Workshop Location: Southside Commons (3518 S. Edmunds St, Seattle, WA)

For more information, follow the QR code!

Join us this Saturday and Sunday for the Tacoma Studio Tour! Saturday, October 11th, we’re opening up our writing club t...
10/08/2025

Join us this Saturday and Sunday for the Tacoma Studio Tour!

Saturday, October 11th, we’re opening up our writing club to folks who identify from any ethnic/racial background. But/and we ask that you please still RSVP using the link on our events page at bluecactuspress.com.

During writing club, we’ll also have visiting author .g.shore from lead us in a writing exercise.

Northwest Wisdom, a spiritual healing and social justice non profit based out of Oregon, will be in the studio all day, from 11am to 5pm, introducing folks to their community work and offerings.

Sunday, the good forks from Antithesis Press, an emerging publishing house, will be in the studio from 11am to 5pm to meet community members and spread the word about what they hope to achieve with their press.

Sunday we’ll also be putting zines together, selling books, and answering any publishing questions folks bring to the table.

We hope you’ll join us! 👋🏼

If you want to support the local literary ecosystem, including authors, artists, designers, editors, publishers, and boo...
09/25/2025

If you want to support the local literary ecosystem, including authors, artists, designers, editors, publishers, and booksellers, sign up for the Blue Cactus Press membership program today!

In addition to the books we've published so far this year (check out the photos!), which include a journal, fiction novella, and an anthology of poetry and prose, we've got more a few more titles headed to members' mailboxes this year, and we want you to have them!

Head to our patreon page to find the membership tier that works best for you!

https://www.patreon.com/c/bluecactuspress

Our fiction pile is growing! Check out each of these heartrending, eerie, and thought provoking books on our website or ...
09/25/2025

Our fiction pile is growing! Check out each of these heartrending, eerie, and thought provoking books on our website or at your favorite local indie bookstore! Every purchase puts a great story in your hands, money back in the hands of local authors, artists, designers, and editors, and strengthens our local literary ecosystem!

Hi folks! Please join Blue Cactus Press, Chavitos Nature Program, and King's Books in celebrating the publication of Chi...
09/24/2025

Hi folks! Please join Blue Cactus Press, Chavitos Nature Program, and King's Books in celebrating the publication of Chispas by Meag Diamond!

We're celebrating on October 5th at 11am, at King's Books in Tacoma. You can preorder the book at kingsbookstore.com, or pick up your copy at the event.

Here's more about the book:
Chispas is a groundbreaking guide for educators, caregivers, and community builders seeking to revolutionize how children learn and grow—rooted in nature, equity, and intuition. Drawing from her lived experience as a teacher, mother, and founder of the Chavitos Nature Program, Meag Diamond offers a deeply personal and practical toolkit for those ready to step outside conventional education models and reimagine what it means to teach and nurture. Blending memoir, pedagogy, and reflection prompts,

Chispas invites readers to reconnect with their inner wisdom, prioritize holistic wellness, and foster community-based, culturally-responsive learning environments. Each chapter explores essential themes such as honoring the child, embracing unstructured play, welcoming conflict as a tool for growth, and realigning education with the rhythms of nature. Whether you are starting a nature-based program, raising children in alignment with your values, or seeking new models of leadership and education, Chispas lights the way toward a more compassionate, joyful, and liberated path forward. Order the book here.

Meag Diamond is a Cedarsong-certified Forest Kindergarten teacher. For 17 years she has taught in the public and private school environments in Washington and in Lagos, Nigeria. Before starting Chavitos, she spent six years at a local public Montessori school as a Lower Elementary Teacher. Meag holds her National Board Certification in Literacy and also possesses a Montessori certification. Meag is passionate about plant medicine and social justice. She has started growing herbal medicine in her wild garden and uses them in her home apothecary. She and her husband tend to land and have been learning to align with the land’s vision and destiny. Meag dreams about helping others start their own nature-based education schools.

Chispas by Meag Diamond is officially out, published by BCP's imprint, Vega Books! Chispas: A Toolkit for Families, Educ...
09/16/2025

Chispas by Meag Diamond is officially out, published by BCP's imprint, Vega Books!

Chispas: A Toolkit for Families, Educators, & Community Members of Nature-based Education sparks a bold reimagining of education. It offers parents, educators, and homeschoolers practical tools and soulful guidance to create nature-rooted, play-centered, and deeply connected learning environments.

Find out more about Chispas, and purchase a copy for yourself or someone in your community, here: https://bluecactuspress.com/product/chispas/

Y’all, check out this cutie cutie upcoming events board the good folks at made for the BCP studio space! Ahhh! I am obs...
09/10/2025

Y’all, check out this cutie cutie upcoming events board the good folks at made for the BCP studio space! Ahhh! I am obsessed! Thank you to all the folks at Q***r Tacoma Makers for making this happen.

Barters are the best! I can’t wait to fill this up with event flyers for our fall and winter seasons!

We’re excited to announce the book launch celebration of Chispas by Meag Diamond, the founder of Chavitos Nature Program...
09/09/2025

We’re excited to announce the book launch celebration of Chispas by Meag Diamond, the founder of Chavitos Nature Program!

Join us at on Sunday, October 5th, at 11am, to congratulate on this achievement, learn more about outdoor education, and find out how you can realign your life and family with nature!

Tag a friend you think could benefit from this book! To preorder, head to kings bookstore.com!

Folks, Chispas: A Toolkit for Families, Educators, & Community Members of Nature-based Education Programs, written by a...
08/22/2025

Folks, Chispas: A Toolkit for Families, Educators, & Community Members of Nature-based Education Programs, written by and published with our imprint, Vega Books, is now available for pre-order!

Use the link in our bio to get your hands on this heartfelt and immensely helpful book later this fall! (We’ll update you soon with an exact publication date and launch plans.)

For now, all you need to know is Meag, the founder of Chavitos Nature Program, has spent *years* working alongside the press to write, develop, and publish this book. We are so proud to be a part of crafting this book/tool with her. We aimed to create a tool for our communities, and we can’t wait to see it in action!

Be a part of spreading the philosophy behind Meag’s work at Chavitos to other nature-centric folks around the region by tagging them in the comments section. Tag anyone you think could benefit from this work!

About the book: Written by Meag Diamond, founder of Chavitos Nature Program , Chispas offers a powerful blend of personal storytelling, practical guidance, and soulful reflection to help families and educators create more intentional, connected, and nature-rooted learning environments.

Grounded in the belief that children thrive through unstructured play, holistic wellness, and relationship to the natural world, Chispas invites readers to step outside conventional systems and into practices that honor each child’s rhythm, voice and innate wisdom.

Whether you’re starting a nature-based school, homeschooling with intention, or simply craving a more grounded path forward, this book will inspire you to build educational experiences that are joyful, just and deeply aligned with the Earth.
—-

We also want to note that this book was designed and typeset by , another member of the Chavitos community! It was edited by and .

Please congratulate the whole team behind this book as we finally deliver it in readers!

Today I spent a few hours hanging out with the phenomenal , wrapping and packing her new Walking Tall Artist Journal fo...
08/20/2025

Today I spent a few hours hanging out with the phenomenal , wrapping and packing her new Walking Tall Artist Journal for our Patreon members.

If you want to get your paws on this highly functional and stunning journal, featuring artwork by Kellie Richardson, head to our Patreon page to sign up 📖 🎨

Our Star Cactus membership tier ($15/month) gets you our books, as we make them, plus ephemera (like the lovely artist letter Kellie wrote to accompany this journal).

If you prefer to wait, you’ll be able to find this journal at later this month, and at other select locations around the Puget Sound as we make our way to bookstores and stationary stores in the region.

PS: I’ve been using the prototype of this journal — designed by — all summer! As someone who writes poetry, drafts to do lists, and draws all in our journal, I can honestly say that this journal is perfect for my multimedia needs. Tis the best!

Rekindle your imagination. Blue Cactus Press will be having a writing workshop for parents seeking to reconnect with the...
08/11/2025

Rekindle your imagination.

Blue Cactus Press will be having a writing workshop for parents seeking to reconnect with their writing practice on Sunday, August 24th, from 9:30-11:30am at King County's Tolt-MacDonald Park & Campground. This generative writing workshop will get you writing & get you thinking about what you can build at the crossroads of parenting & creative writing.

This workshop is a part of Refuge Outdoor Festival, a 3-day, 2-night immersive camping experience curated for BIPOC, allies, and outdoor lovers of all identities. From August 22-24, experience workshops, music, outdoor activities, a youth summit, a silent disco, and so much more. No matter if you’re an expert or new to exploring the outdoors, this event is a safe space for emotional and physical safety, accessibility, connection, joy, and belonging.

Join us for a weekend of exploration, laughter, and shared experiences. For more information and to register for Refuge Fest 2025, check out this link!

https://www.eventbrite.com/e/2025-refuge-outdoor-festival-tickets-1333176429589?fbclid=PAQ0xDSwMHH5VleHRuA2FlbQIxMAABpzb5cT9IIBgIG3V99u_Y9fLojws_cPMdapB-WwEaxSnrdg42-ZojU4HLXIC2_aem_KrQgOwJJ18cPKNDsSIjXLQ

Listen and engage in thoughtful conversation with us. will be having a fireside chat Thursday, September 11th, from 6-7...
08/08/2025

Listen and engage in thoughtful conversation with us.

will be having a fireside chat Thursday, September 11th, from 6-7pm at in conversation with Chris Vega for the release of their newest poetry book, Recovery Commands.

To RSVP, check out this link: https://gritcitybooks.com/events/3243720250911?fbclid=PAQ0xDSwMDOMpleHRuA2FlbQIxMAABp9VFep5Kdcm9KjDJ8vJJXNtbgFI9oPpAdMtuuF7axQqYOhdfYxSMKW19TzY6_aem_Kp8Iiy_jJW1qiSX1yTfL_A

About Recovery Commands:
Recovery Commands is a book of poems about the collision of military and civilian life found inside one loving, long-term, and contradictory marriage. Two people, each informed by and embedded within cultures that would seem to be at odds with one another, somehow hold fast to each other through decades of war and its lasting legacies. Recovery Commands is an instruction manual for how to love despite the practical reasons not to.

About Abby Murray:
Abby E. Murray (they/them) is the editor of , a literary journal concerned with the impact of violent conflict and military service beyond the combat zone. As a nonbinary pacifist married to a cis-gender active duty army officer, they’ve spent their adult life writing and researching the struggle for voice and listening between communities.

Abby served as the 2019-2021 poet laureate for the city of Tacoma, Washington, and currently teaches writing to Army War College fellows at the University of Washington.

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1901 Jefferson Street , Office #105 (Tioga Bldg)
Tacoma, WA
98402

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Thursday 12pm - 5pm
Friday 12pm - 2pm
Saturday 12am - 5pm
Sunday 12pm - 3pm

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Here's why you should pre-order bad-ass, regionally crafted books instead of waiting until they officially hit the market:

🌵 When community members (that's you) pre-order a book from an independent bookstore, booksellers are better able to gauge market interest and order accordingly. In turn, this helps small publishers (that's us) determine how many books to print before we launch (as opposed to finding out afterwards and potentially running out of copies at the launch event , or within a few weeks of printing ... cough cough). 🌵 Pre-ordering books also helps authors by increasing their odds of making it onto bestseller lists, potentially opening doors for future book contracts, and increasing their rankings on Goodreads and other influential literary sites. All of these are important components for an author's long-term market success.

🌵 Lastly, when community members pre-order books directly from publishers, we're able to ensure we have enough capital to cover printing costs (one of the biggest expenses of a book's production costs), and focus on other aspects of publishing (like setting up cool events and readings for you, dear readers).