A fellow writer and I judged entries to our writing club’s High School Short Story Contest. I was impressed by the writers’ creativity and chosen topics. Organ donation, bullying, suicide, and goals for a better society were some of the issues woven into fiction. We had to compromise in deciding who should win first, second, […]
Poetry Contest Entries Due Date Extended
I’ve extended the date for entries to the Poetry Contest about Choices. See the Menu Bar above for requirements and post your poem in the reply after the last entry. The new date is June 1st.
Redwood Writers Conference in Santa Rosa
I attended the Redwood Writers Conference on Saturday with Julie Royce, author of PILZ. We enjoyed hearing Ransom Stephens and Dana Gioia. I met Brooke Warner and her marketing and publishing packages are inspiring. The organizing team added the “First Page Critique” session. Two literary agents gave their reactions to first pages submitted by conference […]
Editing Quote by Mark Twain
Mark Twain said, “A successful book is not made of what is in it, but what is left out.” Often we have to cut what doesn’t serve the story and it might be our favorite line, paragraph, scene, or chapter.
Quote from Wired for Story About Conflict
Lisa Cron, on page 129 in Wired for Story, talks about obstacles to block the protagonist’s goals . She states “Obstacles mean nothing unless, beneath the surface, the seeds of that conflict are present from the outset, as they begin pushing their tender shoots through the soil in search of the sun.” I thought about […]
The Art Linkletter Show
The Art Linkletter Show
Written Across the Genres Author Interview
Emily De Falla’s interview continues from my April 15th post. Her Western flash story, “The New Ranch Hand”, and her essay, “You’re Going to be on Art Linkletter”, are in my anthology, Written Across the Genres. I asked Emily to name a favorite author, why she writes and where, and what she is working on […]