A Prize Winning Title for only $795

The 2009-2014 World Outlook for 60-Milligram Containers of Fromage Frais (Paperback)


From the New York Times ...

" ... the book, geared to that slender segment of the population that both cares about dairy product cartons and is happy to spend hundreds of dollars to learn more about them, has just won an actual literary award. This is the Bookseller/Diagram Prize for Oddest Book Title of the Year, sponsored by The Bookseller magazine."

IWW Members' Publishing Successes

It's big this week! Lots of our friends to celebrate.

Carter


Bill Barnes

My novel The White Cockroach will soon be published by POD leader Booklocker. Thanks to all of you who helped me so much.


Mark Budman

Pank magazine, a pub of Michigan Technological University, accepted my story "The Amazing Adventures of Macro-Microbe," which was reviewed by IWW members.


Jeri Dube

After a very long time, I have a yahoo to report. Camroc Press Review posted a flash that I wrote based on last week's practice group exercise. Talk about immediate gratification. Special thanks to Peg Frey and Alice Folkart for comments that helped me improve my original piece. And an extra special thanks to Alice for her note of encouragement...I wish the voice in my head would talk to me like that!


Alice Folkart

My six-sentence story Not With a Bang, But a Bleat is up at Six Sentences. Scroll down to read it. A foray into speculative fiction.


Rebecca Gaffron

My micro piece "The Broccoli Incident," critted at IWW a year or so ago, has found a home at Camroc Press Review. (Scroll down a little.)

It's an honor to be in the company of so many fine writers. Thanks to everyone in Fiction for their help, especially Wayne for encouraging me to keep subbing this one. And also to Mr. Basden for his quality publication.


June Gallant

My nine- minute speech, yahooed here last week, took Atlantic Canada with its second performance on Saturday afternoon. It's off to the Nationals in June.


Ellen Kombiyil

My poem "Dennys: A Confession" has been published in the latest edition of Tattoo Highway. The poem was originally subbed to Poetry-W under a different title, and has since gone through many transformations. Many thanks for all who critiqued it in its nascent stages, and helped light the way of where to take it.

Tattoo Highway publishes poetry and prose, and each issue is organized around a theme. Submission guidelines can be found here.


Adam Lowe

This is a double Yahoo!

1. I've been invited to make my first poetry reading at a local event called Letterbomb. I'll be taking pamphlets with me and hoping to get some fans, at long last.

2. I've finalised an official event at Manchester Pride Festival, which will be a writing workshop for the LGBT community and their friends.

I can't wait for either!


Victoria Mixon

My guest essay on "How History Affects Fiction" just went up on Rebeca Schiller's site Exiled at the Beach Book Reviews.

Thank you, Rebeca!


Anand SaiRam Rainman

My story "Water Grave" has been published at Big Pulp.


Dennis Rizzo

An aticle, "The Bold Defenders of Timbuctoo," based on unused material from a book I completed last November for History Press got E-published. No pay, but first E-zine article, and they did a review of the book for me as well.


Bob Sanchez

My first Amazon review of Getting Lucky is up, and it's a good one! Please check it out. Several members of the IWW responded by saying they were ordering my book, and between March 26 and March 28 my Amazon ranking increased by 474,377 places!

Those rankings are mighty volatile, of course, but such a big gain is a sight to see. It shows how getting and leveraging one review can make a difference.

The Bluestocking Guide has published my guest post entitled "Where Do a Writer's Ideas Come From?" Please check it out. The site owner, Brooke Bonett, has also posted a podcast of a phone interview we did, but do you think I can get it to work? Nooo. So when I figure it out, I will yahoo that as well.


Wayne Scheer

I'm on a roll now.

Still Crazy, a print magazine for, by and about people over 50, has accepted my story "Choosing to Live," which was reviewed in Fiction. I guess getting old pays...although the magazine doesn't.

Every Day Fiction accepted my story "Starting Over" for future publication, and my story "Fantasy Woman" is up at their site today. "Fantasy Woman" was critiqued in Fiction and Mira and Rasana offered particularly useful help with Mumbai details.

The site publishes an under 1,000 word story a day, so they need a lot of stories, and they pay a big $3. Not much money, but a good site with good editors.

The story I announced last week, "A Change of Heart," accepted at Poor Mojo's Almanac(k) that they said would be up in a few weeks is already up.

Also, my only poem, "Cousin Harold," has been accepted as a reprint at Shine Journal, which no pays $5. The editor is incredibly kind and enthusiastic, so if you have flashes or poems and want to make the big bucks, consider her site. My poem is slated for the July issue.

Both "A Change of Heart" and "Cousin Harold" began in Practice, so a special thanks to the Practice critters.


Mithran Somasundrum

I've got a review of a short story anthology called "Touching The Monkey" up at The Short Review.

For those of you who like short fiction, The Short Review is a website purely for reviews of short story collections. They've been running for over a year now, so there's quite a lot of stuff up there and also author interviews. You can search by genre as well as by author.


Mona Vanek

IMO, there can't possibly be any greater thrill than knowing your grandchildren prize your books enough to encourage their children to value them, too. Today, our eldest grandson told me his daughter, seven year old Alivia, read my books! Ali probably "read" the pictures in the three volumes of regional history, Behind These Mountains. The hundreds of photographs in them, from the homesteaders private albums, "show" fur trapping, steamboat and river travel, Northern Pacific Railroad construction, hunting, fishing, USFS activities, including how the first Ranger and his family lived, fire lookouts, parties, timber industry, first schools, churches, horse races, grizzly bear, mountain sheep, deer, wagon and horseback transportation, first automobiles etc., etc.

The who, where, and how of settlement in the valleys and mountains of the Bitterroot and Cabinet Mountain ranges is northwestern Montana. A microcosm of American expansion during the late 1880's-1930. No doubt Ali flaunts her knowledge at school, too.


Joanna M. Weston

Two poems in a small print magazine, Rain Dog, from Manchester, U.K., And a 2nd prize for a poem in a previous issue of the same magazine, in the Reader's Poll!

And three poems up at Seven Beats. Scroll down way past Jack Kerouac and Allen Itz--I'm next after Ai.
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This Week's Practice Exercise~

Foreshadowing~

Prepared by: Prepared by: Patricia Johnson
Reposted revised on: Sunday, 29 March 2009

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Exercise: In 400 words or less, write a story that uses foreshadowing as a plot device to hint that something is going to happen, then fulfill that hint by the end of the story.

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Foreshadowing is a tool we can use to build interest and suspense, plant a seed in the reader's mind, provide a clue that will keep the reader turning the pages. Foreshadowing can be presented in dialogue, action, or description. It could be an omen or prophecy--a mirror
breaking on the first page could presage bad luck, a prediction of a bad end for someone could come true. Foreshadowing might be one small detail or action, or a larger event, as long as it echoes through the plot or a character's development and fulfills itself.

Want to know more about this literary device? In his satiric essay on writing in the journal The Onion, John Grisham gives some good basic advice on foreshadowing. Follow this link to learn and laugh.

(http://www.theonion.com/content/opinion/now_that_ive_learned_about).

Construct a story of 400 words or less that makes use of foreshadowing to advance the plot or develop a character, or both. Be sure that the foreshadowing comes early in the story and is seen to resolve itself in the end.
----------------------------

These exercises were written by IWW members and administrators to provide structured practice opportunities for its members. You are welcome to use them for practice as well. Please mention that you found them at the Internet Writers Workshop.

If You Like Words ...

... and found yesterday's post about Ben Schott's new Vocab Blog on The New York Time site, you should subscribe to the most interesting word-lover's newsletter delivered on the Internet v ia email:

World Wide Words

New Vocabulary Column

Ben Schott, the author of Schott’s Original Miscellany, its two sequels, and the yearbook Schott’s Almanac, is blogging on Vocabulary for The New York Times.

"Schott’s Vocab is a repository of unconsidered lexicographical trifles — some serious, others frivolous, some neologized, others newly newsworthy."

Follow this link.

Creative Nonfiction's "Watch Us Edit" Feature

From the Creative Nonfiction Magazine's newsletter ...

Our latest issue, "First Lede, Real Lead," has been garnering an excellent response from our readers; not only have we received a slew of emails saying as much, but the sheer number of online visitors has been astounding. It's great to see so many people getting involved and interacting, not only with the writing, but with each other.

So a big thank you to everyone who has commented thus far. The conversation surrounding Laurie Uttich's piece, "Crazy Talk," is engaging and insightful.

As promised, we continue to post essays online in a manner that pits the submitted form vs. the edited form. New this week is Carrie Seymour's "Reclamation," so keep the conversation going and join the discussion today.

Tell us: Did we ruin the essay? Did we make it better? Did we do anything at all?

On Writing Books

An Essay as a List
by Rick Bylina

"While there are many excellent books out there, and every writer needs to seek their own guru, these are the ones I recommended out of the 76 books I have in my personal library."

REFERENCE (talked about earlier in the lecture, but included a good dictionary, thesaurus, and the Chicago Manual of Style, along with any of the interesting new books about grammar, for instance, Eats, Shoots & Leaves by Lynne Truss.)

NUTS AND BOLTS

Scene and Structure by Jack M. Bickham. Best ever for crafting a scene and
structuring your novel whether or not you're a novice.

Stein on Writing by Sol Stein. Holy crap! What do you mean you don't have this book?

Between the Lines by Jessica Page Morrell. She pulls from some of the best and then distills the information into easily digestible bites. With Stein, the writer who's a step away from publication will find places in their book to tweak based on the information here.

Manuscript Makeover by Elizabeth Lyon. Like her neighbor, Morrell, the information pushes you to reach publishability

Goal, Motivation and Conflict by Debra Dixon. Helps you understand what drives your characters.


BIG PICTURE

Story by Robert McKee. Even though it's for screenwriting, it is an unbelievable book on the concepts of story telling. It is not for the faint of heart and some of the material is quite dense, but if mastered, it raises the writer's awareness to the next level.

Writing the Breakout Novel by Donald Maass. Another book that smacks you in the face of reality about what it is going to take to make that WIP get published and make a career out of writing.

The First Five Pages by Noah Lukemann. Another smack in the face with reality book about how easy it is to be rejected for a weak start to your novel. The second half is not as strong, but still contains valuable information.

The Marshall Plan by Evan Marshall. For the beginning writer with no clue, this provides the ABC's of what to do very well.


INSPIRATIONAL

Bird by Bird by Anne Lamott. All first drafts are shitty! One you accept in your heart this single piece of wisdom, you may actually be on the road to becoming a writer. A very necessary read into a writer's life.

On Writing by Stephen King. Another slap you in the face with reality book about the art of writing via his route to attaining his lofty status. I still don't care for most of his bloated books, but he is a GREAT story teller and truly can get to the heart of motivation.

The Courage to Write by Ralph Keyes. Whenever you feel like you're the only person out there who is crazy to be pursuing writing as a career, pick this book up. You are not alone, and in fact, are in some great company.


MARKETING (Because we all have to do it.)

The Frugal Book Promoter by Carolyn Howard-Johnson. If your PODing your
novel, you'll need this book.

Publicize Your Book! by Jacqueline Deval. Like the "Frugal", it provides a lot of ways to publicize your book. Not every way works for every writer, but there's much to be considered here.

The Sell Your Novel Toolkit by Elizabeth Lyon. There's so much to know beyond just writing the novel. This book covers a lot of it.


IN THE BATHROOM (Books that should continually refresh you.)

The 38 Most Common Fiction Writing Mistakes by Jack M. Bickham. A companion to "Scene & Structure" in bit-sized chunks.)

100 Ways to Improve Your Writing by Gary Provost. Again, bit-sized chunks of writing wisdom that shouldn't be forgotten.

First Things First by Stephen Covey. Not specific to writing, it reminds you to regain your focus as you lose it to what's important.

Learning through History Magazine

Know anything about early Egyptian history? Like to research. Learning through History Magazine needs articles for an upcoming issue.

Egyptian New Kingdom (1570 through 1070 BC)

The deadline for submissions for this issue is April 15, 2009. Below are a few of the topics that we are seeking submissions on:

• Valley of the Kings
• Ahmose I and Egypt's Expansion
• Akhenaten, the Heretic Pharaoh
• Boy King Tutankhamun
• A Unusual Pharoah:Hatshepsut
• The City of Thebes
• Battle of Kadesh
• Egyptian Deities
• Ramses the Great
• Tomb Robbing
• New Kingdom Mummification
• Farming in the Nile River Valley
• Art During the Reign of Thutmose I
• Amenhotep III's Stone Scarabs

For more details, see complete freelance writer guidelines

Learning Through History magazine
PO Box 1858
Cranberry Twp, PA 16066

IWW Members' Publishing Successes

Another good week for IWW authors!

Carter


Norman Cooper

Last week, I submitted my flash fiction story "The Way of the Rose" to The Shine Journal for consideration. Yesterday I received a very polite and supportive rejection notice, but the editor asked if I would like the story published on their sister site joyful! "Make a joyful! Noise..." Why would I say no?

I'm not sure when the story will be up. I will update details when new information becomes available. By the way, the story began with a Practice-W exercise and continued on the Prose-P list. Thank you to all on both lists for your comments and suggestions. I am grateful to have such a resource at my finger tips.


Ruth Douillette

I'm pleased to say that a poem of mine called "The Same Path" has been published by Camroc Press. (Scroll down a little.) Thankfully, at present my mother is not at the point of my imagination.

The editor is looking for short pieces that touch him. Reading the other poems and essays at Camroc, I was touched, too.


June Gallant

A nine-minute speech I ghosted for a competition won the first round of judging last week. Then last Saturday afternoon it took Atlantic Canada with its second performance. It's off to the Nationals in June.


Sally Kamerling

Thanks to the recommendation of others on the list who have been published in the Chicken Soup for the Soul series, specifically Ruth, I think, I submitted a piece called "Against all Odds" and it was published in Chicken Soup for the Soul-Twins and More, out this month. It's the story of my grandmother coping with triplets in the early 1900's, before triplets were common and before any of the modern conveniences we take for granted today.

I found these people wonderful to work with and cooperative in every way. I want to thank all those who made suggestions on this piece when I was a member of the non-fiction list several years ago.


Laurel Lamperd

My long short story "Coming of Age"has been accepted by L&L Dreamspell to be published in their short story anthology Romance of my Dreams.


Ellen Lindquist

I published two flash fiction pieces, "Egyptian Mourning" and "The Elephant of Few Words," thanks to the incomparable editor Craig Snyder, in one of my favorite e-zines: Rumble.

She had three micro-fictions, "How the Shark Survived the Cretaceous Period," "Bowled Over: A Tragedy in the Lanes" and my meditation on 9/11, "Shirt Grief," accepted by Flashshot: Daily Genre Flash Fiction. Flashshot editor G.W. Thomas also mentioned me on his twitter page (thanks, G.W.!)

I was invited to a Mr. Beller's Neighborhood reading in NYC on the basis of my essay "Washington Square Park Massacre."


Frances Mackay

Have had an article of mine, "Ashes bash a success," printed in The Northern Miner, the newspaper in Townsville, Australia, on Friday. I wrote it for my Newsletter and thought the cricket day had been such fun it deserved recognition from further afield.


Wayne Scheer

My flash "Meat Hooks and Rice Paper" is up at Fiction at Work. They also
accepted "Office Routine" for a future issue.

My story "A Change of Heart" has been accepted by Poor Mojo's Almanac(k), and is up now. I've published enough with them for a T-shirt or a beer if I'm ever in Ann Arbor or San Francisco. (Hey, that's better pay than most.) FYI, I've already opted for the T-shirt.


Mona Vanek

Saturday evening, I pumped out (in my usual wordy fashion) the who, how, why, where and what-for, of a grass roots survey to gather input that will guide development of an official town website. The article requested by the editor also explains partnerships, distribution constraints and where and when to return completed surveys.

Here's the Yahoo part. For two hours I tweaked and polished to shape it into just 199 words. Whew! What an exercise! The article will be published on April 2 in North Palouse Journal, which is mass mailed to everyone in the zip codes of five small towns. Doesn't sound like much of an achievement, I know, but it's undoubtedly the tightest writing I've ever accomplished, so I'm humbly proud of the pro-bono community service writing.
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This week's practice exercise~

Child's play~

Prepared by: Prepared by: Valerie Nell
Reposted revised on: Sunday, 15 February 2009

Exercise: In 400 words or less, write a scene from the POV of a child aged five to thirteen.

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Show us the world through a child's eyes, his or her perception of the world, in a way that is convincingly childlike.

Give us a sense of the child's personality and the things that occupy his or her attention.

Present the context in the child’s voice. For this exercise focus more closely on the child’s voice and POV than on the actual scene.
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These exercises were written by IWW members and administrators to provide structured practice opportunities for its members. You are welcome to use them for practice as well. Please mention that you found them at the Internet Writers Workshop.

A Testimonial: Why the IWW is One of the Best 101 Writer's Sites

Novel critique list member Bill Brier writes ...

I'm just finishing my first novel, Grayson's War. I spent over two years working entirely on my own. Struggled with the plot and the writing. Altered the plot, added, subtracted, shifted -- a million changes. It took ages just coming up with metaphors and similes, dialogue, research -- all that stuff. For me, it was a one person job. Many rewrites and lots and lots of thinking.

For my way of thinking, all that had to be done before subbing. (Of course I didn't even know subbing existed -- and am now happy for it.)

When I finished the complete story I began subbing and made many changes based on critiques. Hundreds of changes -- many hundreds. I even changed the first chapter three times. (So much for subbing that first chapter right away. By the time the last chapter is written the first chapter may have to be totally changed.) It turns
out, I believe, that I was fortunate in doing it that way, because no one else knew the story as well as me, and premature input would have had me flying in who knows how many directions. Besides, I'm the author.

After three months of running all fifty chapter through the subbing gauntlet, and making changes, I'm now completing a second run through doing fine-tuning and plot fixes that were still screwed up.

I can't rave enough about the quality of critiques I've been fortunate to have received. As our beloved Elma once said to me, writing is a collaborative effort. So true.

I have found this method to be beneficial and efficient, and intend on repeating the process with my next novel -- Grayson's War, the Sequel.

Next step -- where's that New York agent?

Audio Editing Software

Many productive writers are using audio and video to promote their writing. A prominent genre author pointed me toward this software as an especially useful tool.

Audacity is a free, easy-to-use audio editor and recorder for Windows, Mac OS X, GNU/Linux and other operating systems. You can use Audacity to:

• Record live audio.
• Convert tapes and records into digital recordings or CDs.
• Edit Ogg Vorbis, MP3, WAV or AIFF sound files.
• Cut, copy, splice or mix sounds together.
• Change the speed or pitch of a recording.

New Editors at CSM's "Home Forum"

Dawn Goldsmith reports, "there are changes at Christian Science Monitor. I talked with Judy Lowe, the Home Forum editor and she's moving to environment and two new editors will be over the forum. Susan Leach and Marjorie Kehe will be the co-editors of the section that includes Home Forum. Just continue to submit to homeforum@csmonitor.com "

What Do These Newspapers Have in Common?

• 1. The Philadelphia Daily News
• 2. The Minneapolis Star Tribune
• 3. The Miami Herald
• 4. The Detroit News
• 5. The Boston Globe
• 6. The San Francisco Chronicle
• 7. The Chicago Sun Times
• 8. NY Daily News
• 9. The Fort Worth Star Telegram
• 10. The Cleveland Plain Dealer

From Yahoo News ...

24/7 Wall St. has created its list of the ten major daily papers that are most likely to fold or shut their print operations and only publish online. The properties were chosen based on the financial strength of their parent companies, the amount of direct competition that they face in their markets, and industry information on how much money they are losing.

• Full story.

Call for Contest Submissions

Three categories: Fiction, Nonfiction, Poetry.

Prizes: $100 - 1st, $50 - 2nd, $25 - 3rd, in each category.

Entry fee: $5

Deadline: May 1, 2009

Complete information on the web.

Direct questions to Roger Poppen

Networking Your Skills

An Essay on Writing and Marketing
by Diane Diekman

Writing is one of my three businesses, and I struggle to allocate an adequate portion of my time and my thoughts to my books,my Mary Kay consultant business, and my real estate investments. Even knowing I might achieve more by concentrating on one, I'm committed to all three and intend to have a triple success. They all involve networking, and I'm often unsure how to introduce myself and which business card to offer. My choice depends on my focus at the moment and what I perceive will interest the other person.

Recently I attended a Mary Kay training session conducted by a multimillionaire national sales director (NSD). She spoke on mental attitude and how we become what we think about. Although she was unknown to me, I could see why the others had excitedly waited for her visit. She was knowledgeable and motivating and responded well to the rock star treatment.
My goal for two years as a Mary Kay independent beauty consultant has been to qualify as a sales director, and most of the "red jackets" in the room shared that goal. The NSD's talk focused on how we could make it happen. At one point, someone asked when she planned to write a book, and she said she'd been working on one for several years but needed help. She then asked, "Are there any writers in the room?" I raised my hand and she told me she'd give me an hour of her time in return for an hour of mine.

After the meeting, I handed her my business card (the one with the titles of my three books) and said I also edit manuscripts. Her response was, "I've been praying for an editor." She asked me what she needed to do first and I said finish the draft of the book. She told me, "I'll help you become a sales director and you help me get my book published; is that a deal?" I said yes. Her closing comment that "we'll go on Oprah together" I took as a joke, until she said she's already been invited. The helping-her part doesn't bother me at all; I can easily do that. But her helping me is a scary thought; what will she require me to do to become a sales director by June?

My point in writing this is that we all have skills that might be needed by other people, where a swap could be mutually beneficial. I never dreamed a classy multimillionaire NSD would want to trade skills with me. What help do you need, who could provide it, and what could you give that person in return?

IWW Members' Publishing Successes

Our members are still producing lots of winners, and last week was a good one!

Carter


Barry Basden

These days, 55-word stories just seem too long somehow. So...my 50-worder "Changing Times" is up at 50-to-1, but you have to scroll down a ways to see it.

Thanks to all on the nonfiction list who looked at its original bloated 157 words and especially to whoever said she only liked the last paragraph.


Mark Budman

I am a guest blogger at Victoria Mixon's elegant blog. Scroll down to March 13.


Victor Chimenti

I don't know if this qualifies as a true Yahoo or not. But since I'm not a writer by profession and have not seen my fiction published since college 15 years ago, it's kind of a big deal to me.

Part 1 of my novel Sensitive Man came in second place for Novellas in the month of January 2009 at the Zoetrope Virtual Studio, where I've been workshopping it. For those of you that are already members there, you can find it in the Novella Wing. For those of you that are unfamiliar with the site, you can visit them here.

Special thanks go out to the members of the Novel-L group here, who have given me very valuable feedback.


Mira Desai

AND it’s a six. A tangent on this week’s Practice sub called "Chorus," published at Six Sentences.

Thank you, Alice and the Practice group.


June Gallant

A nine- minute speech I just ghosted for a competition won the first round of judging last night with lots of favorable comments. Next round and higher level next weekend. There was no time to send it to the Non-fiction list for critiques so I had to fly solo.


Ann Hite

First, my book review of The Disappearance, by Efrem Sigel, has been published in the March issue of The Internet Review of Books.

And second, I received an invitation to speak and read from my work at a night dedicated to local authors. The City of Smyrna is sponsoring the event. I feel a little like a writer today. :)


Victoria Mixon

My guest post on creativity is up at Lifedev: Empowering Creative People.


Roger Poppen

At last the December issue and my story "Christmas Carol" are up at 55 words.


Bob Sanchez

A sample copy of my new novel, Getting Lucky, just arrived, and it's beautiful! Check out the cover here.

And I just learned that it's available on Amazon. Just searching the phrase "Getting Lucky" in Amazon won't list my book, but "Getting Lucky Bob" works fine.


Anita Saran

Yesterday the owner of a well known second hand bookshop called to ask if I could give a talk on writing fiction sine the award-winning Shashi Deshpande (recently honoured with India's biggest award - the Padma Sri) was also giving a talk on the short story and the novel. This is a small yahoo really--was only filling in. Shashi had to leave early and the bookshop owner had already fixed the time. I took along some of my Short Story course material thinking maybe I'd read from it. But when my turn came, and despite my hammering heart--this being only my second public speech as a writer--I found that my words flowed easily enough. I offered those attending a few tips on writing the short story--write from the heart and then look for a market, and keep a journal.

To one lady who complained of finding dialogue difficult, I said, go back home and jot down this conversation you're having with me--or with anyone else. And keep doing that. I also
told them that professional feedback (as from a course in writing) as well as peer feedback is essential. Of course I suggested they sign up for the IWW. But not many were net/computer savvy.

I took the opportunity to tell them about my online short story writing course and of my new e-book release--City of Victory--a long story/novelette complete with photographs I took. Each chapter has a photograph of the haunting ruins of Hampi.

I went back home with a bunch of flowers (Shashi D got a bigger one, of course, and why not?)and much appreciation from my listeners. I think for us writers, our passion for writing takes over when we are asked to lecture.

I will post a link to City of Victory when it's out.


Wayne Scheer


The Cynic Online Magazine has accepted a humorous flash, "Put Down that Shovel, Chester!" for their April issue. Versions of this story had been critiqued on both Practice and Fiction.

As always, thank you.


Pat St. Pierre

The results of the Mattia 12th International Poetry Contest were just listed at The Mattia Family site.


My poem "You Never Said Goodbye" received honorable mention.
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This Week's Practice Exercise~

Filling out a story~

Prepared by: Prepared by: Alice Folkart
Reposted revised on: Sunday, 15 March 2009

Exercise: In less than 500 words, write a dialogue twice: first just the words, as if overheard, and then with description/action added as if you're watching the two people talking.
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This is a two-part exercise, but with a total word count of 500 words. First write a two-person dialogue of 100 words or so, and then write the same dialog as a full-blown scene of approximately 400 words incorporating description/action.

The bare-bones dialogue should be something one might overhear when unable to see the speakers. This part of the exercise should be quite short, 100 to 150 words. Then, revise, adding description and/or action. The word count of the "revised" dialogue should bring the total word count of the two parts up to no more than 500 words.

Your submission will consist of the two parts together, and should total no more than 500 words.
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These exercises were written by IWW members and administrators to provide structured practice opportunities for its members. You are welcome to use them for practice as well. Please mention that you found them at the Internet Writers Workshop

IWW Member Paul Fein Named Contest Finalist

Claire Noble of of Potomac Books, Inc. informed author Paul Fein, a long-time active member of the IWW's nonfiction and writing discussion lists, that "Tennis Confidential II has been named one of ForeWord magazine's finalists for the 2008 Book of the Year Award. The winner will be announced at BookExpo America in May."

Love Your Indie: The Contest

From the blog of the novelist Joe Hill ...

Okay, been thinking about this whole March-is-love-your-Indie-Bookstore month, and I realized trying to guilt people into going shopping with their local guy sucks. We don’t need guilt here; we need a contest.

So here’s introducing March-is-love-your-Indie-Bookstore: The Contest.

How to Play: Go to a local independent bookstore. Buy something. Save the receipt. Send a photo or scan of the receipt to this address: indie@joehillfiction.com. Make sure either your e-mail or your receipt includes the name and phone number of the bookstore in question.

Prize: At the end of March I’ll have a random drawing, and send the winner a signed slipcased copy of GUNPOWDER.

What's Your Excuse?

An Essay on Writing
by Mridu Khullar, international freelance journalist

In the years that I’ve been writing, I’ve interacted with thousands of writers. It concerns me deeply that as much as writers like to blame outside influences for our lack of success, or even lack of effort, we’re our own worst enemies. In the years that I’ve been active in the writing community, I’ve met many talented writers. And I’ve heard many different variations of the excuses I list below for not following dreams.

I’ve finally decided to counter them for you. Which one is yours?

“I have no money.”

A variation of this is: “I have to support my family” or “I have to pay my bills.” It’s a valid concern, but it’s still an excuse. The solution to this is simple:

1. Simplify your life: cut out the excess expenditure, make do without some things for a while, and save, save, save.
2. Find free resources to fund your writing: borrow your best friend’s computer, visit the library to find magazines, read while waiting at the doctor’s office, get online for advice and research.
3. Invest what you earn: Whatever little you make from your writing, put it back into writing. Buy a how-to book, save for a conference, or get that computer.
4. If you don’t earn from writing, don’t fret. Keep at it. An hour a day. Nothing more, nothing less. Do that until you’re able to do more.

“I don’t have time.”

Yes you do. You simply haven’t made writing a priority. One hour a day– before the family wakes up, after everyone’s gone to bed, in your lunch hour. If you can’t do that, write in ten minute increments. They add up. If you can’t do ten minute increments, do five minute timed exercises. Or 100 words a day. Other ideas:

1. Make a date: On Sunday, at 4 p.m., you will do nothing but go to the local cafe and write. Pick your time, pick your place, tell your family you have a meeting with someone important, and just do it.
2. Punish and reward yourself: If you don’t meet your weekly target (keep it small), you have to do the dishes for a week. If you do meet it, your husband does.
3. Involve your family: Make it something you can do together. You write and your kids draw. Or you write, and they write. Or if they let you write, you’ll read what you’ve written to them at bedtime.

“I’m a woman/I’m gay/I’m Indian/I’m fill-in-the-blank.”

1. Google “woman writer” or “gay writer” or “Indian writer” or whatever it is that you think is part of your personality that hinders you from your goal and see how many people in the same situation have made a name in that sphere.
2. Use your differences in your work. If there’s something different or unique about you, write about it.
3. You are a person first and foremost. If you believe that, there’s no reason why your readers or editors won’t.

“I have no talent/I don’t have what it takes.”

It’s sad how many talented, truly talented, people don’t recognize their genius. Which is possibly what makes them so special. However,

1. You don’t have to be super talented to write. If you enjoy it, do it anyway, and then throw it away. What’s the big deal?
2. Don’t aim for publication. Just write because you enjoy it. If you’re on this website reading this, you clearly do. So write. Why attach so much importance to the results of that writing?
3. Be a talentless writer. I don’t think I’m a talented photographer. I take pictures anyway. It’s fun. Is writing fun for you? Do it.

“I’m too old/too young.”

In her book, The Artist’s Way, Julia Cameron talks about this man who wants to learn how to play the piano, but keeps delaying getting started. He says, “Do you know how old I’ll be by the time I’ve finished learning?” and she replies, “Yes, the same age you’ll be if you don’t.”

I can’t really say anything better than that. There are people who have published their first novels at age 18, there are those who’ve done it at 90. Age is, very simply, the most ridiculous excuse for not following a dream.

“But that’s crazy!”

Some of the greatest ideas are. You won’t know if it’s worth devoting time on unless you actually explore it.

“My spouse/partner doesn’t like it/support it.”

And you don’t like it when your wife gets a manicure every week or your husband parks his butt in front of every football match ever played. Your writing is either your job, in which case your spouse doesn’t get a say in how you choose to work, or a hobby, in which case your spouse doesn’t get a say in how you choose to spend your time away from him/her. Some other ideas:

1. I’ve had people in my life who haven’t understood this crazy obsession with staring at a blank screen. It’s usually due to a lack of understanding on their part, and a lack of providing proper explanations on mine. If you share your process, share your enthusiasm, and make your spouse understand why it’s so important to you, you’ll have much more support.
2. Sometimes though, unfortunate as it is, there’s no amount of explaining that’ll get you anywhere. Let that be. It doesn’t mean you have to give up writing, it means you simply give up trying to explain and feeling bad about it. Taking time to do something that fulfills you, whatever it may be, is not unreasonable.
3. We all have our little quirks. For me, it’s that I like playing Tetris (www.freetetris.org) when I’m blocked on a story. While to someone standing behind me, it might look like I’m playing a game, I’m really figuring out how to organize my story. Things like that might need to be explained, especially when your boyfriend hands you a steaming cup of tea because you’ve been working so hard, only to discover you’ve beaten his top score!
4. When you’re away from your writing, be away from your writing! Yes, it’s tempting to talk about it all the bloody time, and to wander off into space thinking about your characters when your husband is yet again talking about his boring office politics, but this is seriously the best piece of advice you will ever get on this topic: don’t make your partner compete with your writing. They can’t do it, they’ll never feel like they win, and they’ll end up detesting something so important to you. Not good. (And yes, I did learn this the hard way.)

Podcast of Agent Interview

Author Cait London invited writing friends to share this note ...

There's an excellent 2/2009 podcast interview at Pen on Fire, Barbara DeMarco-Barrett interviewing Vicki Bijur, agent and past president of AAR.

I interviewed Vicki for an article done for pros-only group, and was taken by her responses. The info on this interview is priceless. Pen on Fire podcast can be reached by listening to iTunes, which can be done via the computer at no cost.

Interesting about the turn of reviews more to Internet and online facilities, also specific on memoirs, biographies, fiction careers/audiences/changing genre/non-fiction. Quite the discussion, in which she does not recommend self publishing. Vicki has a previous interview, equally interesting.

I also listen to podcasts/interviews by Paula B, TheWritingShow.com also a freebie iTunes.

Immigrating toward Success

IWW member Mark Budman, Editor/Publisher of Vestal Review has enjoyed significant recognition in the popular press -- venues like People Magazine -- upon publishing his novel My Life at First Try.

Mark's story ...

I immigrated to America back in 1980. I used to write fiction in Russian, but switched to English in the late eighties. I struggled like the rest of us, maybe a tad harder. My English-language novel My Life at First Try came out from Counterpoint Press last November. It received great reviews and publicity, even from People magazine, but I dreamed about having my novel published in my native tongue as well. Back in February, a Moscow-based publisher Olimp bought foreign rights from Counterpoint. The novel will be published within a year. It’s ironic that a book written in my second language will be published in my first and that someone else will translate it. Yet a dream came true.

IWW Members' Publishing Successes

Not so many last week, but those that came in are impressive.

Carter


Peter Bernhardt

On the basis of critiques from fellow writers, my new thriller The Stasi File was a Top-5 Novel for July on www.youwriteon.com, earning two professional reviews and a permanent spot on the site's Best Seller Chart. It has now been published and may be purchased on the Amazon or Barnes and Noble websites.


Alice Folkart

The editor of 7Beats/Here and Now requested the use of my poem "We Are National Treasures." It is up now.

If you scroll down four of the black and white images you'll find my poem, but you might want to read some of the good stuff that comes before it.


Ann Hite

I received the best rejection today. I never thought I'd write that. A year and a half ago I sent a story to a rather large magazine, knowing or thinking I would never hear from them. I'm not giving the name only because I don't want to jinx any of this. It's one of those magazines that has a story in each New Stories From The South anthology. It is a tough magazine get into.

This morning I received an email about the story from so long ago. First they told me how sorry they were that their response took so long. It seems my story went into the hands of every editor and was debated. They loved the voice and style of writing, but felt the story content wasn't right for the magazine. Then--this is the good part--they went on to say that they were so "impressed" with my writing that they wanted me to take this email as an encouragement to send them more stories soon.

Whoa, this is a magazine I never thought I'd hear from. It was one shot in the dark when I was feeling confident. This is a magazine that publishes the likes of Louise Erdrich, Ellen Gilchrist, and Amy Bloom.

So, now I just have to decide what stories to send. Wish me luck. Yes, the story was a Black Mountain story.


Julie McGuire

I'm thrilled to announce that the final galleys for the My Dad Is My Hero anthology have been approved, and my story The Shadow, about my husband's relationship with our boys made the final cut. The books will be available in stores (how cool is that!!!) sometime in May, in time for Father's Day. To see a sneak preview of the cover, see the Amazon listing: http://tinyurl.com/dmkrd3


Wayne Scheer

My story "The Morning After" is up at Camroc Press Review (Scroll down to March 5). The story began as a Practice exercise, so thanks for your critiques. Special thanks to Barry Basden for cleaning up the last line--good editors are hard to find.


Rebeca Schiller

My article on pets and germs appeared in the February/March issue of the NY regional magazine The Pet Gazette. They misspelled my name, but since I got paid a whopping $150.00 for the piece, I'm not complaining.


Pat St. Pierre

Three of my poems have been published in the March issue of Ya Sou.

Great photos and poems there.

One of my photos, "December Snowfall," was published in the March 3 issue of Flutter Poetry Journal.
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This Week's Writing Exercise~

Idiom Insight~

Prepared by: Charles Hightower
Posted on: Sunday, March 8, 2009

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Exercise: In 400 words or less, create a story that might explain the origin of an idiom.

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An idiom is a phrase that does not make literal sense. Idioms may be among the most difficult concepts in English for foreigners to understand.. For example, the phrase "kick the bucket" is interpreted as the act of dying. Taken literally, though, neither the kick nor the bucket has any apparent relationship to the meaning of thephrase.

Select an idiom. Then make up a story that could explain the idiom's origin, or show how it came to be. Use your imagination--the tale neednot be true. Show, don't tell. Be sure to identify the idiom at start or finish.

If you need ideas, you might refer to http://www.eslcafe.com/idioms/id-list.html
or http://www.learn-english-today.com/idioms/idioms_proverbs.html

Author's Guild and Kindle, Plus Hearst and an E-reader

From CNET

Apparently, Amazon won't fight the publishing industry on the issue of whether the Kindle 2's text-to-speech function violates copyright. The retailer, which makes the popular Kindle electronic-book reader, announced late Friday that the company is modifying systems to allow authors and publishers to decide whether to enable Kindle's text-to-speech function on a per-title basis.

• Read the complete article here.

From Information Week.

Hearst Corp.'s plans to launch a wireless electronic reader for viewing the publisher's newspapers and magazines reflects the kind of experimentation deemed pivotal to finding a business model that can compete in an era of the content-free Internet.

• Read the complete article here.

Ultra-Short Writing Contest

From the website of The Binnacle, a publication of the University of Maine at Machias.

The Binnacle will sponsor its Sixth International Ultra-Short Competition in the 2008-2009 academic year. We are looking for poetry of sixteen lines or less and prose works of 150 words or less.

All submissions should be made via email to ummbinnacle@maine.edu. Please include the work in the body of the email message, if possible. If you would like to send it via attachment, we prefer .doc, .txt, or .rtf files.

A minimum of $300 in cash prizes will be awarded, with a minumum prize of $50. At least one of the prizes will go to a UMM student.

Please submit no more than two works total, prose and/or poetry.

Read all the guidelines here.

A Research Question

Here's something new for The IWW Blog. It's an experiment to see if the blog can become a tool to help fellow IWW members with writing projects.

The first post comes from Deanna H ...

Whenever possible I tug myself away from the keyboard, rearrange half the stuff in my writing room, open my treadmill, and do a walking/jogging routine. I chuckle at squirrels out the window while my thoughts roam freely. Often when I'm sweatiest, an idea or solution to a writing problem appears. Now I'm working on an essay about my saga with exercise and written expression. I would appreciate input regarding how much or little fellow writers do to stay in shape. The information I gather will probably become general terms and informal statistics for background, but if I want to quote you specifically, I will contact you. Write me at deannahershiser(at)gmail(dot)com to relate your answers to any or all of the following questions:

1. How often do you exercise?
2. What's your favorite form of moving those muscles?
3. Has exercise made a difference in any way regarding your writing? (For example, starting a program helped; or injuries hurt.)
4. Give an example of receiving an idea or solving a writing-related problem while you were exercising in some way.

Google: Amplfied, Extended, and Enhanced

One of the best writers on consumer technology delves into some of the hidden extras Google makes available without charge.

State of the Art
Geniuses at Play, on the Job
By DAVID POGUE
Published: February 25, 2009

Such innovations — and a number of smart acquisitions — have led to hits like Google Earth, Gmail, Picasa, Google Docs, Blogger, YouTube, Google Calendar and others.

But they have also cultivated a vast jungle of lesser-known features. Unfortunately, it’s so vast, you’d need a professional tour guide to help you find the gems.

Read the complete article here.

2009 Southern Illinois Writers Guild Writing Contest

Three categories: Fiction, Nonfiction, Poetry.

Prizes: $100 - 1st, $50 - 2nd, $25 - 3rd, in each category.

Entry fee: $5

Deadline: May 1, 2009

Complete information on the web.

Direct questions to Roger Poppen

IWW Members' Publishing Successes

Another good week! Our members keep rolling along, publishing everywhere.

Carter



Mira Desai

My sub "Change" is up and running on Six Sentences. Not without Alice and all the help on Practice.


Dawn Goldsmith

I received copies of New Mobility Magazine with my article "Not Work Product" in the My Spin section. A paying market. The article started as a blog on my wordsogold blogsite.


Deanna Hershiser

My flash fiction piece "Emily's Last Day" is up at Camroc Press Review (Feb. 26). This began as a short essay on the non-fiction list. With a little coaching I turned it into a micro story (an educational process, since I don't often try fiction).

I enjoyed working with CPR. Wonderful publication.


Mel Jacob

Four reviews up this month in SFRevu:

The Black Ship by Diana Francis (fantasy), Swan Maiden by Jules Watson (retelling of the Irish myth of Deidre of the Sorrows), Temporal Void by Peter Hamilton (sprawling mega science fiction in the far future), Warded Man by Peter Brett (fantasy with demons).


Heidi Kenyon

I just met with a small press publisher about my memoir. He wants me to shift the focus a bit--it will be more food writing and less memoir--and asked me to write up a new proposal and send it to him. And he bought me lunch, saying, "The author never pays." Sounds promising! Thanks for allowing me a forum in which to be excited!


Tom Mahony

A few recent (or at least sort of recent) short story publications I thought I'd share:

"Smitty's Dad," in Foliate Oak

"The Bowl," in Boston Literary Magazine.

"Scrape," in Decomp Magazine.

"The Procedure," in Decomp Magazine.


Ally Peltier

I'm so excited to announce that my article, "How to Select the Right Freelance Editor," appears in the current (April) issue of The Writer, available now. I received a lot of wonderful feedback on the NFICTION list that helped me make this into what I hope will be a useful and interesting article for everyone who reads it. Thanks to all of you critters for your help!

From the website: Cover Story - Get Connected, Get Published: How to select the right freelance editor A variety of editorial consultants are available for hire, but the types of services they offer vary. Here's a handy overview.


Roger Poppen

My short story "The Cat with Three Legs" is published in the Spring issue of Skyline Magazine online. Thank you to those who critted it on Fiction long ago. I'm pleased because this is one of my longer stories, which I've found to be harder to place than flash or micro
pieces.


Gary Presley

An essay: "Lewis Trades on Pity"--the sort of stuff that's hard to write because it's easy to be misunderstood, but it still needs to be said. In the Springfield, Missouri, News-Leader.


Marcus Rose

The newest issue of The Benefactor - a periodical sold in the bookstores of Portland - contains my story "Little-Box Plantation Homes." Though I'm dissatisfied with the draft they accepted for publication, I'm grateful to be in print.

Also, of especial interest to Wayne Scheer, my story "Territory for Us" was accepted for publication in Skive Magazine, a quarterly which may or may not be based in Australia. (I can't figure it out.)

I submitted both of these stories to the Fiction list and both of them received invaluable advice from the critiquers there. Thanks to all.


Bob Sanchez

iUniverse accepted my application for their Star designation for my novel When Pigs Fly, which required sales of 500 copies and a marketing plan to move forward. Benefits include a larger royalty, active marketing to book chains, returnability, a copy edit and new cover both at iUniverse's expense...returnability means a lot.

One interesting comment from iUniverse: they "strongly suggest" a subtitle. Maybe that's to further distinguish it from a couple of children's publications of the same name, but I don't know.


Wayne Scheer

I just got word that Burst has accepted, "In a Blues Mood," which I wrote for Practice-w just a few weeks ago. Burst records fiction and nonfiction under 700 words for mobile phones and pays $10. The stories are also published online.

Long Story Short has accepted my story, "Visiting Mama," for their May issue. I suppose they think of it as a Mother's Day story.

And my story "Not Ready" is one of the stories featured this week at Sniplits. That means you can hear the story read for only forty-eight cents. A bargain.


Mona Vanek

The North Palouse Journal, Feb. 26, 2009, a weekly newspaper serving several small towns in southeastern Washington and western Idaho, published my review of Gary Presley's Seven Wheelchairs, A Life Beyond Polio, giving it more space than any other story in that issue. Many thanks to Non Fiction members who helped me polish it. I'm delighted, and hopeful that other small-town newspapers I've sent it to will do likewise. I'll continue sending it around.


Joanna M. Weston

A poem, 'Outside office hours', up at Pemmican Press. Somewhat different from my usual.

Many thanks!
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This Week's Writing Exercise~

Not so free-for-all~

Prepared by Grace Skibicki
Posted on: Sunday, 1 March, 2009

Exercise: Choose one of the nearly two hundred past workshop exercises. Follow the instructions precisely, including word count. Give your readers a brief description of the exercise you're working on, and copy and paste the Web address of that exercise into your submission.

Many of the past free-for-all exercises have allowed members to alter the requirements of the exercise they choose, or to make up an exercise for themselves.
The rule this time is stricter--pick an exercise that's been posted and do it as if it were this week's exercise for the whole group. In other words, meet the requirements for the exercise you choose, whatever they may be.

A list of exercises by topic is available on the IWW website:

http://www.internetwritingworkshop.org/pwarchive/topics.shtml

You can give your readers the location of the exercise you do by copying the address from the browser bar at the top of the exercise page.

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These exercises were written by IWW members and administrators to provide structured practice opportunities for its members. You are welcome to use them for practice as well. Please mention that you found them at the Internet Writers Workshop.