First -- it was great to see so many folks at the conference on Saturday. I had a wonderful time and I'm sure many of you did as well. See you all there next year!
and now for the prompts -- something different . . . these are first lines, you keep them going . . . (set a timer and just write without thinking and see what happens!)
***She had no idea she was allergic . . .
***With the sun was so bright and right in my eyes, it took me a moment to notice . . .
***JUMP!
Get to it and see what happens!
--Hildieblog
I WILL be at Saturday's conference, some come find me and say HI!
Also, in getting ready -- I'd get there early to find street parking. That's my plan. Also, pick out your sessions ahead of time, so you can make good thought out choices.
Remember last year was the first year, this year will likely be less loosey-goosey.
Remember to bring materials with you for speed dating. I would bring more than one option -- cause you don't know who you will be put with for the "date" and I for one would not pitch the same story to like, Painted Bird Quarterly, as I would to say, Barrelhouse. Are you familiar enough with the mags to know what to bring? There's still time to do research!
Also, last year the editors were confused by the 2 page thing and many folks were asked "where's the rest of it?" Conceivably that won't happen this year, but it could, so have the REST of the story with you, just in case!
Also, be prepared to have more than one "date." Extra "dates" are only $5, and you don't know how you'll feel after the first one. So bring some money, bring some stories, just in case.
Okay, got it? Also, note that lunch is not offered -- you are on your own. After over 10 years working in that neighborhood, I'd recommend walking UP 17th, there's nothing for about a block to P and then there's tons of stuff. Or you can trek back to the circle, but it's a longer walk than it appears at first.
See you Saturday!
Hildie
Here's what you say. Time to write.
Okay maybe you can't swing it on MOTHER's Day, so say for the following Saturday. You want time to write, time with no one in the house, time in a hotel with your lap top. Time dedicated to this thing you feel driven to do. Ask, and you shall receive.
h.
PS okay and here's what's coming this Summer. Writing camp. For you, adults. Yes. I'll pick a day, you commit to sitting at your computer, with other nameless folks and writing. I'll post to begin and end. You will know that lots of other folks will share your pain of the white page. And I want word counts at the end.
Flying Jetblue to get the free tv/radio on flight ($don't ask)
Finding a Latte Float at the Magic Kingdom?
oh yeah that's priceless.
h.
Your Take
Tell Us Your Tale Of 'More Than Friends'
Sunday, March 23, 2008; Page N05
You were friends. Pals. Platonic buds. Until one day, you weren't. He looked cute, suddenly. You noticed her laugh: so easy and warm, you wanted more. But how to make the transition from friendship to romance? The switch is often slippery, so we're looking for tales from people who've made it work, people who've watched it backfire and people who are hoping it will happen. If you've got a story of an attempt to turn "amigo" into "amore," we want to hear it. Please e-mail sundaysource@ washpost.com with "romance" in the subject line.
Who is your favorite AMERICAN CHARACTER (and no, Uncle Ted doesn't count, unless you last name rhymes with Pennedy).
NPR is inviting folks to write in about their favorite fictional characters . . . I heard one on George Jefferson and then there is THIS followup interview http://www.npr.org/blogs/incharacter/20
to one on Cookie Monster . . .
My usual response to this question is either Holly Golightly (Breakfast at Tiffany's) or Jimmy Blevins (All the Pretty Horses), but I think I'm gonna reach deeper for this one . . . maybe Ro Lahren from Star Trek? Who knows. . .
from NPR:
http://www.npr.org/contact/incharac
Who Moves You?
Join the In Character conversation: Tell us about the fictional characters who've told you something about yourself or your world. Your essay may appear here on the blog — or even on the air.
In Character: Your Turn
Submit Your Suggestions
We want your personal essays about American fictional characters who have captured something about who we are. Our human frailties. Our need for comic relief. Our darkest corners. Nominate a character, and we may include your essay on our blog.
Character's Name:
(Required)
Appeared In:
Author:
ESSAY:
In 150 words or less, describe the character and why you believe he or she is important, compelling and/or provocative.
Points your essay might include: Why does the character intrigue you, specifically? What's universally appealing about him? What does she reveal about human nature? Did this character capture the psyche of a particular generation, inspire other characters or coin a phrase? Has this fictional person changed someone's life — maybe even your own?
Thank you, thank you, thank you for taking the time -- reading, downloading and reviewing. And as a thank you to those of your who wanted MORE and in respect to our snow day today -- I'm posting a chapter from OH and SHE HAS A DOG from much later in the book, when an unexpected March snowstorm makes the roommates housebound together . . .
Enjoy.
--Hildieblog
March 1991
S'no Lobster like Snow Lobster
Snow doesn’t scare me the way that other storms do. Of nature’s bag of tricks, snow is pure, romantic. Sure there’s always the Knickerbocker Storm of 1922 that left 98 dead and 150 injured when the movie theater at 18th and Columbia collapsed from the weight of the snow, but as far as I’m concerned snow is just white and fluffy and cleansing. It means life slows down, snowmen get carrot noses and formerly important, required stuff gets cancelled. It means blazing fireplaces and hot chocolate with little marshmallows. It means you get stuck. Inside. Home.
That doesn’t mean we were ready for it in the middle of March. March is about spring, crocuses, warm earthy soil, buds, baby rabbits, sun and wind.
But the snow didn’t ask us if it was convenient. It just came. Slowly, peacefully, steadily. The way it always does.
“Hey, it’s snowing,” Claire was kneeling backwards on the couch, looking out the front window. Even with her shaved head, her tattoos and ornate piercings, something about her looked like a little girl. Her new deaf girlfriend Alicia was staring out the window next to her. I stared at Claire wondering what snow meant to her. Did it snow where she grew up? Were the memories good? Or terrifying? What crazy thing would she and Rip think up to do in the snow – they wouldn’t dance naked in it, too, or would they? I got a vision of DaVinci-esque anatomically correct snow angels, and a quick trip to the ER for frostbite treatment of delicate places.
A bundled-up Rip came in from outside and shook like a wet dog. He was carrying logs for the fire. Lena was gone for the weekend, actually presenting a paper at a conference at NYU. Stephen was oil-popping popcorn in the kitchen. Adde was hiding out in his room with his girlfriend, starting to pack for his move back to his country next month.
As soon as we woke up that Saturday morning, we were trapped inside, by the warmth and coziness. I felt like the guy in that Robert Frost poem – man, I have things to do – I should go to work and run errands and . . . and just sit here and drink tea and watch the flakes fall.
No one turned on the TV.
I guess I didn’t think it was strange that Fiona the lesbian pastry chef was there, too, stranded with us.
We played team Scrabble because there were so many of us. I played with Rip, Claire with Alicia, and Fiona was partnered with Stephen, Adde with his girlfriend whose name I can never remember. We played and played. Janis Joplin, then Melissa Etheridge, then Tori Amos took turns whining, the fire crackled, smoked and snapped and the snow piled up to new heights outside.
But then, suddenly, Stephen stood up. I guess we all thought he had to go pee or something, so no one said anything. Fiona and he were a team and she just took their turn without him.
QUIXOTIC. You don’t even want to know how many points that was.
I was so bummed that the game was over like that, over one word that I almost knocked Rip’s beer over. Well, I did knock it over, but only a little spilled.
“Go get a paper towel,” Claire said to me sternly, sounding as if her hands were on her hips. I scowled, but her deaf teammate didn’t even look up. Heading into the kitchen, I ran smack into Stephen. He was wearing army surplus boots and a Manchester United scarf, a ski jacket boasting of many lift tickets and a touque. (That’s Canadian for ski cap.)
“What the hell are you doing?”
“I’m taking a walk to the store.”
“Why? It’ll take you forever. Dude, it’s March, the snow will be gone
tomorrow. Whatever it is, it can wait.”
“No, it can’t. I’m going.”
“Just tell me what it is; maybe someone can lend it to you.”
“No, I have to go to the store.”
I thought about this long and hard. Pieces of the puzzle started to click. Fiona was here. She was here in the morning, when I got up. What was she doing here? They were partners for Scrabble. He’d been in love with Fiona for months, but she’d slapped him the only time he’d tried to kiss her and he’d been pining ever since. She was a lesbian after all. But maybe, finally, all the waiting. . .
“Hang on, don’t go anywhere – I mean it.” I ran to the living room and grabbed Rip by the arm. I whispered in his ear, “Go talk to Stephen – he’s going out in this – I think it’s for condoms – go offer him some, quick!”
Rip got a big smile on his face – he gave Fiona a knowing nod that she didn’t notice and walked to the kitchen.
Rip came back a few minutes later and leaned over and whispered to me, “He says it’s not condoms; it’s lobsters.”
I said out loud, “Lobsters? What’s that code for?” Claire shot me a look. I looked at Adde’s girlfriend, could it be “Rock Lobster”? Maybe some reference from the B52s song? I tried to remember the lyrics for a clue. "Hop in my Chrysler it's as big as a whale and it's about to set sail . . .". No, that's not it. "He was in a jam . . . He's a giant clam!" Fiona was deep in concentration on her tiles, no doubt coming up with another jillion point word. Alicia was silently making patterns out of the tiles still in the box.
Claire got a smile on her face and came over to me, grabbed me by the arm and dragged me into the bathroom.
It’s not every day that a bald lesbian drags you into the bathroom. I surveyed the walls, but they were the same moldy walls with the peeling wallpaper. The screws holding the shower curtain rod to the wall were rusting.
“What?!” I asked her.
“What’s all this about lobsters?”
“Stephen is all winterized and going out right now, because he needs something at the store.”
Claire looked puzzled, stared through the door at Fiona and then got a shit eating grin on her face. “Just offer him some condoms,” she said. “If you are too much of a wuss, I’ll do it.”
“I got Rip to do it. And Rip came back, having failed, saying that Stephen wasn’t going to the store for condoms, but for lobsters. What’s lobsters, Claire?” But she was gone.
I could hear her in the kitchen talking to Stephen.
I went back to help Rip figure out a word longer than SAT. But Rip and Fiona were deep in discussion about the wonders of yeast and something, I didn’t quite hear but sounded like “cat with a lisp,” so I started having a one-sided conversation with Alicia, who was still making patterns out of the tiles left in the box.
“Hey, Alicia, what do you think of yeast?” She didn’t answer. “Do you know what lobsters are for?” She still didn’t answer. “I don’t get it,” I mumbled, “and no one will enlighten me.”
“So you are asking a deaf girl?” Alicia answered in that Marlee Matlin garbled speech of a person who couldn’t hear. She had looked up from her tiles and must have been reading my lips.
“Woman,” I said. “Deaf woman.” And I got up and went to the bathroom.
“He’s going for lobsters,” Claire said as she sat down. I was back from the bathroom and play had resumed without her. Alicia had spelled out CLITORIS. I was about to quit.
“Whatever,” I said, having given up completely, still not knowing what lobsters were. Living in this house was an education in the lingo of drug and sex paraphernalia, but clearly some things would remain a mystery.
When it was Fiona’s turn, she put down LOBSTER and only the “L” was on a double word score.
I heard the back door close and I knew Stephen was on his way. After the game, Fiona went into the kitchen and made a totally decadent flourless chocolate torte, with things we had just laying around. She’s a magician.
I went into the kitchen just as Fiona was cleaning up. “What’s going on?” I asked her.
“What do you mean?” she replied, but the blush was spreading from the middle of her cheeks outward. It was if someone had just electrified her freckles. I wondered if she knew she had rosacea.
“You know,” I said, going fishing.
“What?”
“You. Stephen. Come on. We all know. The walls have ears.”
“I’m not sure what you are talking about.” Suddenly she was all business. I
checked out. I had the info I needed. We were right. Something was going on.
When Stephen came back from the store, he had two large paper bags from Safeway. In one of them was two live Maine lobsters. You know, the crustaceans with the big claws. But they weren’t live for long, they had a nice bath in some boiling water. Claire said some kind things about them before they had their last
swim.
Then Stephen set the table for a candlelit dinner for two, and we all cleared out and gave them some space. Some things are more romantic than condoms. Sometimes a plain old lobster is more than just a lobster.
* * *
(please no love poems . . . unless you really must . . .)
--Hildieblog
PS well, it seems the next round of the Amazon contest will be announced on Feb 19th according to the original rules . . .no one knows for sure if this will happen or if they will just jump to the top 10 on March 2nd instead . . . but in case you haven't downloaded my excerpt yet and want to . . .I'd do it soon . . . the page will most likely be down on the 19th.
http://www.amazon.com/Oh-She-Has-Dog-Of
So here's the deal. . . you probably should go to this conference.
'Cause it's local, it's cheap and Mary Gaitskill will be there (she's also at Bender Conference Room at AU on Wednesday -- what's up with that?).
Seriously, $45? Go already. They've got speed dating. It's a wonderful opportunity to get over the fear of pitching to an editor/agent . . .
http://writersconnectconference.com/wor
oin us on April 5, 2008 in Washington, DC for a different kind of writer’s conference.
The Second Annual Conversations and Connections will help you get the connections and information you need to take your writing — and publishing — to the next level.
This year’s keynote speaker is Mary Gaitskill, author of the novels Veronica and Two Girls, Fat and Thin, and the story collections Because They Wanted To and Bad Behavior.
Our panelists are experts in fiction, nonfiction, poetry, writing for children, making connections, using the web, marketing, and everything in between. Over 30 literary magazines will be represented. Get the real deal straight from the editor’s mouth: your $45 registration fee includes the full day conference, plus face-to-face “speed dating” with literary magazine editors, a subscription to the lit mag of your choice, and a book by featured speakers.
CLICK HERE TO REGISTER ONLINE.
FRIDAY, APRIL 4 (evening):
Short fiction reading, featuring Susan Muaddi-Darraj, Dave Housley, Nathan Leslie, and Lalita Norohna (bios coming soon). Time and location will be announced shortly. Note that conference registrants attending the reading will receive a book from one of the featured readers (this is included in conference registration).
SATURDAY, APRIL 5:
Johns Hopkins University (Washington DC branch), 1717 Massachusetts Ave, Washington, DC
8:30:
Registration
9:15 — 10:30:
Breakout Session 1:
* Crafting the Poem
* The Business of Getting Published
* Finding a Home for Your Brilliant Work: Amy Holman Workshop
* Starting Your Own Independent Press
10:45 — 12:00:
Breakout Session 2:
* The Long Haul: Writing the Novel
* How Can an MFA/MA Help Me?
* Contests: Winning, Placing, Not Getting Scammed
* Voice in Memoir
12:00 — 2:00:
Speed Dating and Lunch:
2:15 — 3:30:
Keynote: Mary Gaitskill
3:45 — 5:00:
Breakout Session 3:
* The Disciplined Writer
* Poetic Forms
* The Novella: Form and Potential
* Web Markets and Marketing
5:15 — 6:30:
Reception
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/co
and sing along with me to the Mojo Nixon classic . . . ain't gonna wash no dishes, no more, ANY MORE!
Or check it out on Youtube if you haven't a clue from whence I speak (this one's for you Lynn, I know you're up . . . seein' as it's only 10 in Sunny Cal)
drat. Youtube fails me. Bound to happen someday.
Oh well, you must settle for Mojo's Elvis is Everywhere. Sorry, folks. Elvis needs boats. Send Elvis boats.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gopc3fgn
--Hildieblog
Hildie
Bethesda Magazine Short Story Contest
Announcing the Bethesda Magazine Short Story Writing Contest!
Sponsored by The Writer's Center
Open to all residents of Montgomery County, MD
The winning author will receive $1,000 in addition to his/her story being published in Bethesda Magazine’s July/August issue. The second and third place authors will receive $500 and $250 respectively and their stories will be published on the Bethesda Magazine website.
Stories must be submitted by March 15 and contain a maximum of 4,000 words. For more info and rules of the contest, please visit: www.bethesdamagazine.com/shortstory.
Judges for the contest are:
Susan Coll
Author, Acceptance, Rockville Pike and KarlMarx.com
Adriana Bourgoin
Author, Nine Months in August
Sarah Pekkanen
Bethesda Magazine columnist who is working on her first novel
* Stories must be original works that have not been published elsewhere and for which the writer owns the copyright.
* Submissions must be sent by email as Microsoft Word attachments to shortstory@bethesdamagazine.com.
* The writer’s full name, mailing address, phone number and email address must be in the email and on the first page of the story itself. Submissions without this information will be disqualified.
* The winning writers will be notified in May.
--hildieblog
PS -- don't forget to check in a download/review/rate OH AND SHE HAS A DOG's excerpt at . . . http://www.amazon.com/Oh-She-Has-Dog-Of
Phil Says Six More Weeks of Winter!
Phil's official forecast as read 2/2/08 at sunrise at Gobbler's Knob:
Here Ye! Here Ye! Here Ye!
On Gobbler's Knob on this fabolous Groundhog Day, February 2nd, 2008
Punxsutawney Phil, the Seer of Seers, Prognosticator of all Prognosticators,
Rose to the call of President Bill Cooper and greeted his handlers, Ben Hughes and John Griffiths.
After casting a weathered eye toward thousands of his faithful followers,
Phil consulted with President Cooper and directed him to the appropriate scroll, which proclaimed:
"As I look around me, a bright sky I see, and a shadow beside me.
Six more weeks of winter it will be!"
***********
What's your favorite holiday? Write about it.
--hildieblog
(now that's a face!)
Before I start . . . January is dead (long live January!) but there is still time to send stuff out . . . but those days are quickly waning. If 2008 is the year you will publish stuff in litmags -- then you need to send 10 things out this WEEKEND, or it may not happen this year. I'm serious. This is good sound advice.
WHY? because lit mags' inboxes get stuffed, and most of them stop reading in April or May. That leaves a very stuffed box in March. That means that stuff sent in Jan and maybe early Feb has the best chance of being READ and not just returned. READ (red).
If you say, screw it, I'll wait until Fall, most mags open their subs again in Sept or Oct -- that means you'll hear from them maybe by Dec or Jan earliest. And your piece will see print in 2009, not 2008.
Of course there are exceptions. Some litmags like Gargoyle only take subs when other mags are closed, like in the summer. (Garg accepts from Memorial Day until Labor Day for instance, but usually fills it's pages by mid-July.)
Check out Duotrope, http://www.duotrope.com for the most awesome-est compendium of lit mags ever!
1) Outside, it's freezing rain, but inside . . .
2) If it wasn't for the snow next to your car, you would have never noticed the ________
3) Write a description of the person who always pushes your buttons (real or imagined).
Set a timer for 15 minutes and goooooooo.
--Hildieblog
PS -- Happy Groundhog's Day tomorrow -- it's my favorite holiday!
Also if you haven't stopped by to download/read/review my excerpt from Oh and She has a Dog and you want to -- please do quick! On Feb 19th they will be deleting 7/8th of the contestants . . . I may not be there any more! To help me stay in the contest -- stop by, forward to your friends, etc etc.
http://www.amazon.com/Oh-She-Has-Dog-Of
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Philadelphia Stories Announces First Contest
Greetings!
We are proud to announce the "Philadelphia Stories First Person Contest," sponsored by Kelly Simmons. The focus on this first contest will be first-person essays that feature women triumphing over domestic violence or mental illness. We are excited about this opportunity, since the funds go to two good causes. Please see details below.
Sincerely,
Carla Spataro & Christine Weiser
Publishers, Philadelphia Stories
Contact Info
Online submissions accepted at www.Philadelphiastories.org from February 4, 2008 to June 20, 2008. We highly encourage you to submit online, but if you MUST mail it, you may send to:
Kelly Simmons
ATTN: Essay Contest
PO Box 380
Bryn Mawr, PA 19010
CONTEST DETAILS:
Start-End Dates: February 4, 2008 to June 20, 2008.
Prize: $750.
Winning essay will be published in the Fall 2008 issue of Philadelphia Stories.
CONTEST RULES:
Submissions: First-person essays that feature women triumphing over domestic violence or mental illness.
Length: 3500 words maximum.
Multiple submissions accepted.
Reading fee: $10. [Half of every $10 Reading Fee will be donated to The Domestic Abuse Project of Delaware County.]
Applicants must be living in, or originally from, Pennsylvania, Delaware, or New Jersey.
By submitting an entry, you agree to have it published by Philadelphia Stories' website and in print.
JUDGING:
Preliminary judging will be done by members of the Philadelphia Stories editorial staff.
The winner will be chosen by Kelly Simmons, author of Standing Still (bykellysimmons.com). Kelly is a former journalist and current novelist/advertising creative director. Standing Still is her first published novel.
Philadelphia Stories, a non-profit literary magazine and companion website (www.philadelphiastories.org), includes short stories, essays, poetry, creative non-fiction, art, and photography from PA-DE-NJ area provided to the general public free of charge. Philadelphia Stories is available at over 120 locations throughout Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Delaware, including all 55 branches of the Free Library, fifteen Borders Bookstores in the Delaware Valley, the Philadelphia International Airport, and many other cafes and independent bookstores. See Philadelphia Stories.org for submission guidelines.
--Hildieblog
PS don't forget to download the FREE excerpt of OH AND SHE HAS A DOG from Amazon -- and tell your friends . . .
http://www.amazon.com/Oh-She-Has-Dog-Of
Ahem.
So feel free to let your friends know.
http://www.amazon.com/Oh-She-Has-Dog-Of
ALSO: my writing advice for today? Write something that YOU will love. Write to please yourself. Pretty simple advice. Right up there with pee when you have to, but more complicated to acheive than one might think.
And lastly, if you've stopped by because you read the OH AND SHE HAS A DOG excerpt and are wondering what else I've got out there . . . here are some online stories by moi . . .enjoy.
bottom drawer -- Gertrude Stein inspired story of a 5 year old girl who finds something intended for her eyes
http://www.cortlandreview.com/issue/2
Sun Salute -- father and daughter cope after mother's death
http://www.literarymama.com/fiction/arc
Full Moon White Lie -- FICTONAL (I SWEAR, sorta) story of bad parenting by yours truly
http://www.imperfectparent.com/humor/ar
okay so those should keep you. I'll post more in a day or two.
--Hildieblog
I'm now completely obsessed with this contest. I'm sorry, but I'm afraid that for the next few weeks you'll have to indulge me.
My Publisher's Weekly and Amazon Top Reviewers reviews were posted yesterday. They were not glowing. Well, one was, but you have to hit "See other reviews" to see it! How's that for frustrating . . .
and the first of the Amazon Top Reviewers review has factual -are-you-sure-you-really-read-this info in it -- the review, who I will refer to as HE tho I don't know for sure -- commented on the scene where Sam's mother takes her apartment shopping, among other things (called Sam a hippie! I THINK NOT!) -- well, if Sam had that type of mother who would take her apartment shopping then there wouldn't be a novel. That simple. Didn't happen. Sam didn't even apartment shop. She made one phone call and arranged a space in a group house.
And the Publisher's Weekly reviewer said that having a good job and being in such awful debt stretched PLAUSIBILITY. Now, say it with me, BABY BOOMER. Really? Is that what you really think? HAVE YOU BEEN READING THE PAPER IN THE LAST 20 YEARS?
Sour grapes? Yeah, probably. Please still take time to write customer reviews -- no one knows for sure how Penguin is deciding what to read . . . the original rules said that only the top 100 would receive PW reviews -- and seeing that I got one and not everyone did, we can all see that as a good thing -- tho mine may not have been good enough to get me to the top 10 which will be announced on March 2.
Thanks for reading this far --
hildieblog
PS -- if you have no idea what I am talking about, on Jan 15 I was named an Amazon Breakthrough Semi-Finalist -- the 5,000 word excerpt is available for free download at
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0012658EO
or at Amazon by searching Hildie Block if the link doesn't work. Part of the judging is based on the reader's reviews -- so please if you can take the time to write a review, especially one that points out that it IS perfectly PLAUSIBLE to have a job that is sudden and good and STILL be in horrible debt.
So, back in October, I entered the Amazon Breakthrough Novel contest -- yesterday I found out I made the SEMI FINALS!
What this means is that a 5,000 word excerpt of my novel *Oh, and She Has a Dog* is now up on Amazon, for free download -- and part of the judging of the next round is readers ranking the excerpt and writing reviews of how much they liked it. (you can read it online, as a .pdf, you don't need to store it on your computer.)
So, please, please, please
considering visiting the site and "downloading" it and ranking it
-- and writing a review!
The best written reviews are also eligible for prizes --When you read excerpts from the semifinalists and post reviews, you’ll be in the running to win a prize package (including an Amazon Kindle, a $2,000 Amazon.com gift certificate, and an HP photo printer) for providing the most--and the most high-quality--reviews. See rules for full details.
TELL YOUR FRIENDS! FORWARD TO LISTSERVS!
(even listservs that I'm on, cause it will mean more coming from you)
I have no fantasy of winning this contest (5,000 people made the original cut back in November . . . I'm not sure how many semi-finalists there are but it's hundreds) -- but the next round would be really cool (cause you get a write up in Publisher's Weekly).
Here's the link to my page -- and below that I'll list the official info about the contest.
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0012658EO
OFFCIAL INFO FROM AMAZON:
From now until March 2, we're inviting Amazon.com customers to download, read, and review excerpts from our semifinalists and help decide who will make it to the Top Ten. Penguin will select manuscripts to read from the semifinal round based on customers' feedback and Publishers Weekly reviews. The 10 finalists selected from this round will be announced on March 3. Customers will then vote to select the winner, to be announced April 7, 2008.
What Makes A Good Review?
In the semifinalist round, we're breaking new ground in our customer reviewing community: this is the first opportunity for customers to play an active role in the publishing process. The criteria for judging an unpublished book are a little bit different from the norm. Keep these pointers in mind as you're reading and remember: your voice counts.
Be persuasive. Experts at Penguin will be relying on customer reviews as they prepare to select the finalists, so don't hesitate to tell us what you really think. The reviews that provide the most thorough, thoughtful feedback are the ones that will help Penguin choose the Top Ten.
Quantity and quality help. The more reviews you write, and the more helpful each review is, the more likely you are to win one of our three prize packages.
Discuss. As with customer reviews for all our products, you can comment on others' excerpt reviews and rate them. Any discussion and activity we see around specific titles will only keep us coming back for more, so feel free to speak up and banter with your peers.
One quick heads-up: Per the contest rules, every excerpt is a maximum of 5,000 words in length. As a result, you may find that excerpts vary in length or end unexpectedly. Consider yourself warned--and happy reading!
Thanks!
Hildieblog
Picture Books for a Snowy Day
By Elizabeth Ward
Sunday, January 6, 2008; Page BW12
Rounding out the roster is No English (Mitten Press, $17.95; ages 4-8), a lovely story of a cross-cultural friendship by Jacqueline Jules, an Arlington resident and Fairfax elementary school librarian. Diane, a second grader, is a bit miffed by Blanca, the new girl from Argentina who's allowed to draw during spelling and says nothing but "No English. Espanol." But Diane is a nice girl at heart and soon has second thoughts, figuring out that words aren't always needed to communicate. When a dim substitute teacher sends both girls to the principal for drawing and giggling in class, the friendship is cemented.
Maybe now it will snow so we'll have an excuse to curl up with this wonderful new book.
(BRAVO, JACKIE!)
Also, Donya and I received this lovely thank you for putting Not What I Expected together . . .
Thank you so much for the wonderful anthology. I absolutely love it! At the last minute in August, I ended up applying for and getting a ½ time teaching job here. I agonized for days about taking it, and felt guilty for leaving my kids. The day your book arrived in the mail, I had just come from school where we had a scheduling conflict
(deleted scenes from child/mom/work/home conflicts -- just imagine something from a movie!)
and was sure I made the wrong decision to go back to work. Then I got your book, and it was so comforting to hear stories from other mothers, and to recall all of the challenges that we had already survived. It was such a positive ending to what had been one of my most challenging days as a mother. Thank you!
*****yeah we love hearing that!
Hildieblog
--Hildieblog
You have your resolutions, now get to work.
Here's the prompts (hey, newbie, I post writing prompts on the first of the month)
Set the timer for 10 minutes and gooooo!
1) The lines in the store are long, you've waited forever, but now that you get near the front, the cashier is not someone you want to see . . .
2) Journal the happenings of the last few days.
3) Write a really bad first line, just for fun. I mean awful. Heck, write 10 of the worst first lines you've ever seen. No, really.
Allrighty then. That's done.
Now, back to you and your writing. Do you have a marketing plan? A plan to send out? Where and when? A plan people. Cause "Write More" that doesn't work.
And I know some of you have finished book you are shopping AND you are working on something new. So now what? What do you do?
Designate time for the "business" side as well as the "writing" side. Maybe one day a week goes to marketing/business/sending out and the rest of the time for writing. Maybe you spend one month out of every 6 on businessy stuff. Only. But get a plan people! Cause I want you to succeed and the window of opportunity month, March 25-April 25, that doesn't come to those who don't send out in January . . .
Okay, go be your January motivated selves -- clean new year, clean new page.
Keep Writing!
--Hildieblog
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