6 goldfish

Fairy Tales

2008-03-30T07:49:00.001-07:00

"Fairy tales don't teach children that monsters exist.
Children already know that monsters exist.
Fairy tales teach children that monsters can be killed."

-- G. K. Chesterton

Fly Figure Genious

2008-01-27T08:49:00.000-08:00

One sure way to tell that you are not a genious is to misspell the word genious every time you put fingers to keyboard. I have no delusions of genious, not any more than I have delusions of super powers, that is to say, I do have some.

I wince to admit it but console myself by reasoning that all of us believe to some extent that somewhere buried deep inside us lives a genious, a super hero, an extraordinary being. Why else would such myths exist worldwide on such a large scale?

My super power is flight. It can be a problem. Whenever my delusion asserts itself, I want to test my power. How do you test your ability to fly? You jump – off a building, out of a moving car – you jump and pray the delusion is, in fact, the lack of power and not vice versa.

Tall buildings and other high places can be avoided. I am not a window washer, nor am I a mountain goat. But moving vehicles? Harder to evade. The worst is the highway. I get my Chevy up to a certain speed, anything over sixty, and my rational landing gear retracts, allowing the plane of my delusional impulse to take off.

Like a cop talking a jumper down from the ledge, I must reason with myself.

You can’t fly. You have no mutant wings, and the yellow sun does not allow you to defy gravity. If it did, you would have flown before now.

Talking myself down in this way makes it ever so obvious that my latent genious abilities are not latent but nonexistent, for what genious would have the need to convince themselves they cannot fly?

And so, I am not a genious, I am not a super hero, I am not even particularly smart, but, hey, my mom always said I was a late bloomer. Destiny may still guide me into the path of a super-engineered pissed off bird or some genious producing nuclear goo.

If I can’t have my delusions, I’m going to hold on to my dreams.

Winged Thing

2008-01-27T08:44:00.001-08:00

Long, lengths of sky, I've spent
fingering soft mast clouds
of silks that calm the qualm;
tremble now and triple.

I am rooted down through,
ground rises up to greet me;
still, my hands ripple, reaching
for that wish-blue wonder.

You dig into my heart space
and race, propelled through sky;
my arms wave good goodbyes
to the sharp-beaked winged thing.

Rainer

2008-01-27T08:38:00.000-08:00

For as I lose myself inside my gaze:
I could think that I am deadly.
-Rainer Maria Rilke

narrative archetypes

2008-01-27T08:32:00.000-08:00

• The journey there and back.
• Winning the prize.
• Winning or losing the loved one.
• Loss and restoration.
• The blessing becomes the curse.
• Overcoming obstacles.
• The wasteland restored.
• Rising from the ashes.
• The ugly duckling.
• The emperor has no clothes.
• Descent into the underworld.

Sin

2008-01-27T08:29:00.000-08:00

"It isn't a calamity to die with dreams unfulfilled, but it is a calamity not to dream.... It is not a disgrace not to reach the stars, but it is a disgrace to have no stars to reach for. Not failure, but low aim is sin."

-Benjamin Elijah Mays

Beware of These Three Words

2008-01-27T08:24:00.000-08:00

“It’s not personal.”

If ever anyone says this to you, run, in a zigzag pattern so as to avoid the bullets whizzing toward your back.

These words are not being uttered for your benefit. The only reason anyone ever says them is because it is personal. You know it. They know it. But they’re trying to convince themselves that whatever devastating deed they have done, or are about to do, doesn’t make them a bad person.

Here’s the thing. “It’s not personal” is what mob types say to their mark right before they blow the mark’s brains out and dump their lifeless body into the river. Can’t get more personal than that.

So, again, if someone says these three words to you, run, or fight if you think that will save you. The point is to find a way to survive the attack that always follows these three words.

“It’s not personal.” translates as “Ready. Aim. Fire.”

On Reading

2007-12-05T14:03:00.001-08:00

"The greatest gift is a passion for reading. It is cheap, it consoles, it distracts, it excites, it gives you the knowledge of the world and experience of a wide kind. It is a moral illumination."

- Elizabeth Hardwick, American literary critic, novelist, and short story writer. (July 27, 1916 - December 2, 2007)

Edna St. Vincent Millay

2007-12-03T05:26:00.001-08:00

Down, down, down into the darkness of the grave
Gently they go, the beautiful, the tender, the kind;
Quietly they go, the intelligent, the witty, the brave.
I know. But I do not approve. And I am not resigned.

Fortune Cookie

2007-11-08T13:43:00.000-08:00

Went for Chinese food for lunch today with Sean.

He had the misfortune of receiving this fortune in his cookie: "Next time order the shrimp."

My fortune, however, sounded more like a rule for fiction writing: "Watch your character, for it becomes your destiny."

True. True.

Buy It

2007-10-27T08:05:00.000-07:00

matador store

Wink Wink

2007-10-14T06:01:00.000-07:00

My short story Wink Wink is published in a printed booklet (book 2 for Sept) by Secret Attic.

You can order it here: http://www.secretattic.com/bookletsus.htm

Head in the Clouds

2007-10-14T05:59:00.000-07:00

The link below takes you to a short story by Kealan Patrick Burke that I enjoyed:

http://subterraneanpress.com/index.php/2007/01/12/head-in-the-clouds-an-original-short-story-by-kealan-patrick-burke/

Writer's Block

2007-10-14T04:40:00.000-07:00

Some writers believe in writer’s block while others say it’s simply poor planning. I don’t like planning every scene in advance of writing it. I’ve found that what works best for me is to ‘get’ the characters, let them lead, and then do some brainstorming when they start doing a little jig or run me into a brick wall.

Right now, though, I’m not connecting with my characters and my brainstorming sessions have resulted in drizzle.

Should I back off the story – move to something else? I’m afraid if I do that I will have a hard time finding my way back.

So where do I go from here? Continue to sit watching a blank screen? Beat my head against my desk until the pain produces something brilliant? Sit down with the characters and have a little therapeutic session? Force my brain to produce ideas that will most likely be crap (because it’s forced)?

One hundred eighteen pages in and I’m stuck.

Friends of Falun Gong

2007-10-06T16:57:00.000-07:00

"Friends of Falun Gong USA (FoFG USA) is a U.S.-based, nonprofit human rights organization founded in the year 2000 by Americans concerned about the persecution of Falun Gong. Our mission is to support the freedom of belief of persons who practice Falun Gong, to stop the persecution, and to bring to justice those who have perpetrated human rights crimes targeting Falun Gong practitioners. FoFG's efforts include large-scale rallies in Washington DC, lawsuits against the architects of the persecution, and smaller, targeted projects counteracting the Chinese government’s massive propaganda campaign."

Take Action

Suck it

2007-10-01T18:25:00.001-07:00

Yeah, I know. I suck. But I've had a lot going on these past few weeks and well, you know. Love this quote:

"If you would not be forgotten, as soon as you are dead and rotten, either write things worth reading, or do things worth the writing."
--Benjamin Franklin

Friedrich Nietzsche

2007-09-25T06:06:00.000-07:00

I have long been a Nietzsche fan. I don't agree with everything he says, but I like the way he says it.

No, life has not disappointed me. On the contrary, I find it truer, more desirable and mysterious every year -- ever since the day when the great liberator came to me: the idea that life could be an experiment of the seeker for knowledge -- and not a duty, not a calamity, not trickery. --Friedrich Nietzsche

Quote by Jack London

2007-09-18T05:28:00.000-07:00

I would rather be ashes than dust! I would rather that my spark should burn out in a brilliant blaze than it should be stifled by dry rot. I would rather be a superb meteor, every atom of me in magnificent glow, than a sleepy and permanent planet. The proper function of man is to live, not to exist. I shall not waste my days in trying to prolong them. I shall use my time."

-Jack London, American Author

Interview of author Edward P. Jones

2007-09-06T17:29:00.000-07:00

Edward P. Jones, author of the Pulitzer Prize winning book The Known World, was recently interview by Studio 360. Here's a link to listen to the interview. Just scroll to the bottom of the page and hit play.

Next Time

2007-09-06T17:15:00.000-07:00

Happier when I miss you.
Happier when the tides roll in,
wash back my sin,
leave me with the seashells of my soul.
Sold to the highest bidder.
I squirm and slither,
grow old and bitter
at the bite in your words
and as if you never heard me
you speak sweetly,
entreat me
to love you again,
pick up my sin
and carry it down
into the pit
where I can stomach your betrayal.
I will run the streets
raving of an old love,
early blossomed,
quick to freeze in a late frost,
withered down to my betrayed roots.
I should have chosen a different life,
a stronger body,
a better head to store my brain in.
And there it is.
My soul wanders toward my next life,
hoping to get it right next time.

A Modest Proposal

2007-08-31T12:19:00.000-07:00

Check out Beth Cavener Stichter's art. Beautiful. Here's the link to her website.

Who is Your Romantic Poet?

2007-08-23T12:58:00.001-07:00

You scored as William Wordsworth, You’re poet is William Wordsworth. English Romantic poet and poet-laureate, whose “Lyrical Ballads” (1798), first published anonymously with contributions by his friend Coleridge, marked an important turning point in the history of English literature. Other works include “I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud” and “The world is too much with us”. Wordsworth's name, perhaps even more so than that of his friend Coleridge, remains to this day almost synonymous, in England, with Romanticism itself.

William Wordsworth

69%

John Keats

56%

Lord Byron

56%

Samuel Taylor Coleridge

56%

Percy Shelley

25%

Who is Your Romantic Poet?
created with QuizFarm.com

Wilde

2007-08-21T11:43:00.000-07:00

"I sometimes think that God in creating man somewhat overestimated his ability."

- Oscar Wilde.

The greatest of these

2007-08-12T08:34:00.000-07:00

Church Backs Out of Funeral for Gay Man

It's such a dissapointment to me to see such hatred justified by Christians today. High Point Church fashions God in the image of their bigotry and ignorance, then uses Him to justify the hate they spread with a smile on their face and fear of homosexuality growing like cancer in their soul. Their hypocrisy is an embarrassment to Christians who follow Jesus’ teachings.

They are akin to the 19th century Christians who justified slavery, saying it was sanctified by the bible (using Genesis 9:25-27 to back them up). ReligiousTolerance.org has for further information on this topic.

Jesus was about loving your neighbor not about turning your back on them in their hour of need out of so called “principle.” High Point Church, whatever happened to “the GREATEST of these is LOVE”?

D'oh!

2007-08-01T16:33:00.000-07:00

Went and saw the Simpson’s movie. This is not another review. I want to rant about the audience. Right, I see the problem, I was part of said audience, but hear me out.

I have a friend who loves all things Simpson. He has all the collectables. They fill the basement and overflow into the living room. This friend of mine, he’s a smart guy, a good guy…he’s also a movie talker and after being part of a Simpson’s movie audience, I think I found a trend. Simpson fans – the hardcore ones anyway – like to blab obnoxiously during movies.

I’m not talking about low whispers, or hell, even loud whispers. I’m talking about the volume you use to talk on the phone when you have a bad connection. And it wasn’t just one guy. There were several kicked-in-the-head-by-a-horse-when-I-was-ten-assholes commenting throughout the entire movie. For the love of God, at least say something interesting or funny if you’re going to torture your captive audience. My Simpson fan friend would have had something intelligent to say to compensate for his annoying gabbing. What the hell is wrong with the rest of the Simpson fanatics?

5 dollar

2007-08-01T15:56:00.000-07:00

Writer's Weekly had their 24-hour short story contest. I paid my five dollars and blocked out twelve on Saturday to twelve on Sunday. Noon rolled around and I logged onto their site for the prompt and word count.

I knew from reading prompts (and winner's stories) from years past that Writer's Weekly doesn't step out of the box or deviate from main stream, politically correct topics, and so I wasn't surprised at the prompt (camp councilor telling ghost story around fire).

It was a challenge for me to satisfy the requirement to touch on the prompt in some way. I think part of my problem was that I had been doing some research for a book I'm writing involving Voodoo so that's where my mind was at when the contest began. I like my story. It's dark and tragic...and takes a lot of artistic license with the prompt. Oh well. I can still hope for a door prize.

Story Quarterly

2007-07-31T05:48:00.000-07:00

Story Quarterly has announced that they have a new online system for receiving submissions year-round.

Their SQ Fiction Contest is accepting entries until September 30th. First Prize is $2,500, Second Prize is $1,500, and Third Prize is $750. Plus there are ten finalists who will receive $100.

Thought this was lovely

2007-07-25T19:06:00.000-07:00

http://www.deviantart.com/deviation/60549052/

The Secret Universe

2007-07-11T16:52:00.000-07:00

"Whatever the tasks that your soul has agreed to, whatever its contract with the Universe is, all of the experiences of your life serve to awaken within you the memory of that contract, and to prepare you to fulfill it."-- Gary Zukav

Do you think that’s true? Do you believe we’re born with a purpose imprinted on our DNA, and it’s up to us to decipher the code, find the key that unlocks the secret universe housed within us?

Do I think it’s true? I’d like to. I believe I have a purpose, but was it something I was born with or something I have chosen on my own? It’s the old nature v nurture argument. Fate v free will.

I believe that I choose the path I stumble down, but I like to also believe that it’s my destiny to walk this path, and fate has some tricks up her sleeve, the sly fox that she is. But does God take an active role in my life? Is He that much of a control freak? (It’s kind of creepy to think so, but just because it’s creepy doesn’t make it false. You meet a lot of creepy characters on the road and you choose how or if you will deal with them.)

Can it be both? Can life be determined by nature and nurture, by fate and free will? Why the hell not? It’s comforting to think there’s a plan, that it’s not all chaos and random events, especially when shit hits the fan. You have a way to make sense out of something that is seemingly senseless, and who doesn’t want that?

So maybe it’s not God who’s the control freak. Maybe it’s us. Maybe we’re so insecure with our lives that snuggling up to God or fate or whatever term you want to use, is the only way we can fall asleep at night. Maybe it’s the only way we can get up and face the big bad universe in the morning.

Say Cheese

2007-07-09T17:22:00.000-07:00

I guess I'm just a big cheese ball, but I like the smileys. Here are my favorites:

:x - my lips are sealed
:^) - big nose
:(=) - big tooth smiley
8) - bug eyes
:*) or :o) - clown
:Đ - croatian smiley
:'-) - I'm so happy I'm crying
: # - curse
:B - big tooth smiley
:-! - foot in mouth
:o - yelling
:D - huge smile smiley
:* - kiss
:-: - mutant smiley
,-) or ;-) - wink wink smiley
:\ - confused smiley
=:-) - punk
([( - robocop
B) - sunglasses smiley
x) - twisted
X-[ - user just died
:-F - vampire missing one tooth
x( - very angry
[:-) - walkman/listening to music
>^..^< - cat
[:] - robot
~~~~~8} - sssssnake

O:o

2007-07-09T17:03:00.000-07:00

The enemy of my enemy is my enemy's enemy.

Grammar (groan)

2007-07-07T11:29:00.000-07:00

I thought I knew the basics, I really did. But every time I turn in a chapter to my critique group, I get it back covered in red ink.

So I go over to Google and search for grammar help. Results: 19,600,000. No effing way am I going to filter through that much crap. I add "wiki" to my search string (I wiki) and hooray! I found How to Use English Punctuation Correctly.

Problem solved (as long as I actually take the time to check my grammar before turning in anything).

Are You Feeling Me?

2007-07-07T11:11:00.000-07:00

Coffee House for Writers has a newsletter I enjoy reading called Fiction Fix. Lots of useful information for the beginning and experienced fiction writer, plus you can register for workshops and join communities (there's even a critique group).

In this month's newsletter Ocieanna Fleiss talks about creating characters the reader can identify with, in her article: Are You Feeling Me? Basic information, but a good refresher on creating characters.

Hear Voices?

2007-07-05T07:26:00.001-07:00

"Many people hear voices when no one is there. Some of them are called mad and are shut up in rooms where they stare at the walls all day. Others are called writers and they do pretty much the same thing." — Meg Chittenden

Quote on Fantasy by Jane Yolen

2007-07-02T05:38:00.000-07:00

"In fantasy stories we learn to understand the differences of others, we learn compassion for those things we cannot fathom, we learn the importance of keeping our sense of wonder. The strange worlds that exist in the pages of fantastic literature teach us a tolerance of other people and places and engender an openness toward new experience. Fantasy puts the world into perspective in a way that 'realistic' literature rarely does. It is not so much an escape from the here-and-now as an expansion of each reader's horizons."

~ Jane Yolen

Here is a link to her website: http://www.janeyolen.com/

Essays on Storytelling

2007-07-01T17:31:00.000-07:00

I found a wonderful site on storytelling called a story is a promise. Here is a link to a thirty minute youtube video about storytelling: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FSG_WZJ_Vec. Very informative. Glad I spent the time to watch it.

Neck of the Foot

2007-06-21T05:41:00.000-07:00

My short story "Neck of the Foot" has been accepted and published by Speculative Fiction Centre!

Go check it out: http://www.specfiction.com/marishaneckofthefoot.htm

Original Thought

2007-06-19T05:29:00.000-07:00

How many times have you read in helpful(?) writing books that there are no new thoughts, everything has been written before a thousand years ago so don't worry about being original?

It is a depressing idea, that everything there is to say has been said; everything there is to do has been done, and I disagree with it.

There are infinite possibilities, unlimited potential in each thought, each word, sentence, paragraph, story.

There are countless wonderful stories that will never be written if you do not write them. Your stories have not been written and neither have mine.

"Ask The Editors" on Abyss & Apex

2007-06-18T10:39:00.000-07:00

Abyss & Apex has a transcription of the Ask The Editors panel from the 07 Lunacon. Interesting stuff. Useful information. Click on the link below to be taken to the transcript:

www.abyssandapex.com/200704-editorial.html

Writer's Workout on BBC

2007-06-12T16:49:00.000-07:00

I recently discovered that the BBC website is full of useful information on writing. So far my favorite is a lesson called Writer's Workout. Not only does it give you an outline of this class but the page also contains six audio excerpts.

The first audio file is a very long intro. I say skip it.

The second audio file is on and the use of simile and metaphor and building your confidence in writing.

The third audio file suggests rewriting a favorite story to understand the meaning of the text. A fun activity.

The forth audio file is on creating characters through 'hot-seating' - putting your character in a hot seat and asking her/him/it questions.

The fifth audio file suggests examining catch phrases, collocations, and idioms to better understand text.

The sixth and final audio file is on letting go of the analytical and embracing your creative side.

From here go over to the How to Write page. It has information on writing a novel, a screenplay, memoirs, and even a radio play. If you're anything like me, you will spend hours there. Have fun!

On Editing

2007-06-06T15:49:00.000-07:00

It amazes me: the lack of clarity belonging to any given combination of words. Astounds me: the time it takes to edit and re-edit work that, when written, seemed perfectly acceptable. I write this knowing that I will rewrite it, remove at least 25% of it, swapping-out words that look odd or feel old. No, these words are not the words you will read. You, the reader, will never see the sloppy, unhappy, loose-fitting sentences I strung together on first draft. You will never read the one sentence paragraphs that transition not at all. Just think, what you are reading now might be poorly written but compared to the first draft it’s fine dining.

I hate editing; I love obsessing.

Obsessing is: I want this word, no this word is better, oh, let’s put this here, and that there. Editing is: checking, rechecking, looking for motivation, inconsistencies, grammatical errors (GRAMMAR!). Editing is the admission that I am not a great writer, maybe not a good writer, possibly a poor writer, probably not a writer at all so why continue with this useless dream, you stupid loser?

Then I remember, it’s not stupidity that causes me to write, it’s desperation, it’s need. It’s that fearful voice telling me I had better figure it out, I had better learn how to communicate well and soon, because, despite the fact that I have been a non-smoker for almost six weeks, my lungs still will eventually wear out, my breath will grow thin, and I could die having never said anything to anyone about who I am or how I see the world.

I write this knowing that the words I string together may or may not hold meaning for you. I can only hope that after obsessing and editing it is at least clearly written.

Contained revealed on Jersey Works

2007-06-04T16:52:00.000-07:00

I'm excited to say that my poem, "Contained," now appears on www.jerseyworks.com. It is one of my favorites, and I am happy that it found a home with Jersey Works, a wonderful poetry and short story online magazine.

Information on Flash Fiction

2007-05-30T13:52:00.000-07:00

Flash Fiction, Micro-Fiction, Very Short Story, Postcard Story: a story that is between 75 and 500 words in length.

No room for superfluous words here. You have to pack everything in but keep it clear and engaging. Your story must be fully developed and the ending must leave the reader feeling fulfilled.

Resources:

Flash Fiction 101

Flash What? A Quick Look at Flash Fiction

Writing Flash Fiction

The Essentials of Micro-Fiction

‘Palm-of-the-Hand’ Stories by Alan Nicoll

Fun Writing Prompt

2007-05-30T13:44:00.000-07:00

Here is a promt from a creative writing class I took recently:

Describe a place you know well in three or four paragraphs.

Now, describe the same place, but this time choose a tone from the list below. Communicate this mood through your description.

anger
anxiety
awe
boredom
condescension
deceit
desire
fear
happiness
impatience
love
nostalgia
shyness
weariness

3 Wonderful Writing Quotes

2007-05-30T06:46:00.000-07:00

“[Writing] talent is a long patience, and originality an effort of will and intense observation.” Gustave Flaubert

“The requirements of art create a possibility of greater honesty and greater intelligence and greater insights, a greater access to one’s unconscious, greater access to the world around us than at any other time in one’s life.” Russell Banks

“A story should be written for the sake of the last sentence.” Edgar Allan Poe

Writers’ Conferences & Centers

2007-05-30T05:50:00.000-07:00

The Association of Writers & Writing Programs (AWP) has launched a new site for conferences and workshops in North America and overseas called Writers’ Conferences & Centers (WC&C). The event calendar is overflowing with events.

WC&C also has a scholarship competition. The 2007 competition is already over (rats), but I’m adding it to my calendar for next year.

On Dreams and Story

2007-05-30T05:36:00.000-07:00

Can you write an entire novel based off a dream? I know several writers that have done just that. I’m not one of them. I’ve written down ideas from dreams, obsessed over them, trying to come up with a character or plot.

Nothing.

Perhaps my dreams simply do not translate well. Perhaps I am too close to the feelings they invoke and therefore cannot step back and see them as story. I don’t know the answer, but I continue to hope for a dream that I can turn into story.

Submission to New Letters

2007-05-27T15:06:00.000-07:00

I submitted a short story to New Letters after drinking a large amount of chai tea. Laughable, I know, but I comfort myself with the knowledge that with my submission fee, I received a one-year subscription.

Here was my thought process: Why bother getting rejected by a magazine I don't respect? If I'm going to be crushed it may as well be by a magazine like New Letters.

I am obsessively embarrassed about my decision now, but I still feel brave for having done it.

Look what I found

2007-05-27T14:55:00.001-07:00

Two Annual Writing Conferences in KC.

They have the rep to make the events likely worthwhile. I would like to attend; maybe next year I'll have the $$ (and the guts).

Kafka - to be worthy of it

2007-05-27T14:14:00.000-07:00

I love this quote from Kafka. I will reread it; repeat it today when I want to trash everything I have ever written in a fit of fantastic self-loathing:

Hold fast to the diary from today on! Write regularly! Don’t surrender! Even if no salvation should come, I want to be worthy of it at every moment.
–February 25, 1912

Some advice from Kerouac

2007-05-26T09:52:00.000-07:00

Jack Kerouac offered up 30 writing tips in something he called "Belief and Technique for Modern Prose."

Here are my favorite ten:

1. Scribbles secret notebooks, and wild typewritten pages, for yr own joy
2. Something that you feel will find its own form
3. Remove literary, grammatical and syntactical inhibition
4. Work from pithy middle eye out, swimming in language sea
5. Don't think of words when you stop but to see picture better
6. No fear or shame in the dignity of yr experience, language & knowledge
7. In praise of Character in the Bleak inhuman Loneliness
8. Composing wild, undisciplined, pure, coming in from under, crazier the better
9. You're a Genius all the time
10. Writer-Director of Earthly movies Sponsored & Angeled in Heaven

A Website for Heros

2007-05-25T11:07:00.000-07:00

Most writers have heard of the book The Hero with a Thousand Faces by Joseph Campbell. I just found a website called The Hero's Journey where you can learn more about writing stories using the hero’s path.

There is a Reference that guides you through the seventeen stages of the hero’s journey with a description of each stage, quotations from Campbell’s book, and questions to ask of your own hero.

There are general ideas on how to use the site, and a discussion board, as well as many stories (both classic and original) to use as examples. A fun exercise for those interested in the hero's journey.

Fantasy in Literary Fiction

2007-05-18T06:01:00.000-07:00

Literary fiction has looked down on genre fiction for, well, ever. You want the literary world to acknowledge your existence, you best remain in their bleb and write painfully realistic fiction. Anything fanciful will get you booted from the Great and Significant Minds Club.

(I used the word, "bleb," in the above paragraph in deference to any literary snobs that may be reading this. There’s nothing like the careful use of an obscure word to race the hearts of the bright, literary mob.)

Currently novels like The Time Traveler's Wife and The Lovely Bones are the trend in literary fiction. Both are wonderful books, but don’t you dare call them fantasy. No, no, these works demand respect and in the literary world, respect translates as a pompous title like, "fantastic literary fiction."

Repeat after them:

MUST. MAINTAIN. SEPARATION. FROM. LOW-CLASS. FANTASY. GENRE.

Bleh.

Here’s what Writer’s Digest had to say on the topic: Fantastic Fiction.

Writer's Workshops

2007-05-12T07:36:00.000-07:00

Looking for a writer's workshop? Well, you can google your little heart out and find next to nothing or you can go to The Guide to Writers Conferences & Workshops and find multiple workshops in your location lickity split. I love short cuts!

Character Templates

2007-05-10T06:56:00.000-07:00

I wanted to write a helpful piece on character templates. I did write a helpful piece on character templates. I deleted the helpful piece I wrote on character templates. Character templates are not helpful, not to writing anyway, for editing, yes, very helpful, a helping hand, a leg up, however you want to cliché it, but only with editing. Leave them alone when writing. Leave all the "helpful" tools alone. They're crap. Not helpful. No, not at all.

Submission Information for Cemetery Dance Magazine

2007-05-08T10:51:00.000-07:00

Cemetery Dance is an award-winning magazine. You can probably tell by the title that it caters to horror, dark mystery, and suspense. It is published bi-monthly.

For information on submitting a short story to Cemetery Dance, go to their Writer's Corner page.

Quote from "When All You Ever Wanted Isn't Enough"

2007-05-08T10:43:00.000-07:00

Our souls are hungry for meaning, for the sense that we have figured out how to live so that our lives matter, so that the world will be at least a little bit different for our having passed through it...What frustrates us and robs our lives of joy is this absence of meaning...Does our being alive matter?

-Harold Kushner, "When All You Ever Wanted Isn't Enough"

Trust Your Voice

2007-05-08T07:05:00.000-07:00

I sat in the coffee shop sipping a tall Chai tea and arguing with the veteran writers. I respected them, I came to them with questions, but I could not accept their advice on this topic. Plot, theme, grammar, dialogue, character development, point of view (POV) these were the tools I needed to master in order to make my novel work. Not Voice. No one cares about Voice.

"This isn't your story," Beth, our group leader, said. "It's the story you think you're supposed to write."

Kathy chimed in, "You've overanalyzed it, Marisha. You've become fixated on the tools you need to create your story and forgotten about the story itself."

They were wrong. I hadn't forgotten my story. I knew it inside and out. I had been over the plot a million times, used every character chart I could lay my hands on in order to make my characters more believable. I knew the theme, was confident in my choice of POV, and had practiced writing dialogue until I saw quotation marks in my sleep.

I left my weekly writer's group still shaking my head in disbelief, but when I got home and looked at my novel I felt the same dissatisfaction I had been feeling since I began it. I needed to master the craft. I had to wield my tools better in order to make my writing right.

I began editing my novel again, but somewhere in the trenches of the second chapter, I saw it or didn't see it. My voice was gone. I had killed it. My fear of failure had chased it away. I had held so hard to the belief that I had to change in order to write better that I had begun channeling someone else's voice.

I had leashed my characters, bullied my plot into the direction I thought it should go. I could no longer connect on an emotional level to the theme. Beth and Kathy were right. This wasn't my story. It was Marisha's monster, the reanimated corpse of a story that once lived.

I walked away from the computer, found a pen and paper, and began to write. Just write. No editing, no watching the story arc, no worrying over where the characters were taking me.

It flowed. No writer's block drove me to pull my hair out, no beating my head against the wall. I wrote without fear and my voice was strong. My characters were interesting and funny. They said and did the most fascinating things, took me to the most engaging places.

I am now in a place where I trust my voice (sometimes). Writing and editing must work together, but they should not live together. I had been using my writer's tools as a crutch. Now I could walk again, and soon I would be running through the worlds I brought to life by using my voice.

Five Star Publishing

2007-05-08T05:32:00.000-07:00

Five Star Publishing is a new company rumored to be approachable by unpublished authors. Their books are in the Western, Romance, Mystery, Science Fiction, and Fantasy genres. Worth a look.

Submission Guidelines

WritersWeekly.com's 24-Hour Short Story Contest

2007-05-08T05:13:00.000-07:00

Whim (from whimsplace.com) recently sent me an e-mail containing a link to the WritersWeekly.com's 24-Hour Short Story Contest page (here's the link).

I'm thinking of registering. It would be a fun challenge. It costs $5.00 to participate. They don't give you the guidelines until the 24-Hour period begins (topic prompt, word limit). Start time is July 28th, 2007 at 12:00 p.m. (noon) central time and there are cash prizes (hooray $$).

Flash Fiction Contest

2007-05-06T07:32:00.000-07:00

Whim's Place has quarterly Flash Fiction contests. The 2007 first quarter winners were just announced. First Place receives $250. Second Place receives $150. Third Place $100. There are five Honorable Mentions and they receive $50 each. Submission Guidelines. Go check it out!