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WIWA NEWSLETTER
Vol. 4, No. 5 October - November 2004
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CONTENTS
WIWA News
Conference 2005: It’s a Reunion
MFA Program Update
Celebrate Writing Contest for Kids – Volunteers Needed
New Web Site Online
On the Island
Presentation on China
Garden Tour Request
WIWA Sponsored Writing Groups
Off the Island
Writing Connections
Classes, Programs
On Becoming a Stripper
by Nancy Bartlett
Recent Releases
CHEERS
We Are All Language Inventors
by Dr. Richard Lederer
Contests and Market Requests
T-Up Your Marketing Plan
by Joseph Shaw
Cyber Surfing
To Contact Us
To Subscribe or Unsubscribe
To read past issues of the newsletter visit http://www.writeonwhidbey.com/Publications/News_Pub_Home.htm
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NEWS FROM WIWA
Writers, Mark Your Calendars: It's a Reunion!
by Elizabeth Guss, conference director
The Whidbey Island Writers Association presents its 7th Writers Conference, Related to Writing, March 4-6, 2005. Early registration is now open. Drum roll, please: We have our first registrant –– Phil Winberry. Phil has been to every Whidbey Island Writers Conference since they began in 1999.
The conference will offer the usual slate of first-rate presenters in all genres -- nature and adventure, poetry, children's literature, food, humor, songwriting, playwriting, and ghostwriting -- who bring with them numerous awards and critical accolades. Many are also New York Times best sellers. Some of the folks we'll bond with this year:
* Fiction authors: Steve Martini, Steve Berry, Michael Gruber, and Carole Nelson Douglas
* Non-fiction and historical novelists: Teresa Jordan, Will Bagley, and Lisa Dale Norton
* Travel and lifestyle writers: Brad Newsham, Drew Kampion, and Anne Linnea
Vol. 4, No. 5 October - November 2004
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CONTENTS
WIWA News
Conference 2005: It’s a Reunion
MFA Program Update
Celebrate Writing Contest for Kids – Volunteers Needed
New Web Site Online
On the Island
Presentation on China
Garden Tour Request
WIWA Sponsored Writing Groups
Off the Island
Writing Connections
Classes, Programs
On Becoming a Stripper
by Nancy Bartlett
Recent Releases
CHEERS
We Are All Language Inventors
by Dr. Richard Lederer
Contests and Market Requests
T-Up Your Marketing Plan
by Joseph Shaw
Cyber Surfing
To Contact Us
To Subscribe or Unsubscribe
To read past issues of the newsletter visit http://www.writeonwhidbey.com/Publications/News_Pub_Home.htm
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NEWS FROM WIWA
Writers, Mark Your Calendars: It's a Reunion!
by Elizabeth Guss, conference director
The Whidbey Island Writers Association presents its 7th Writers Conference, Related to Writing, March 4-6, 2005. Early registration is now open. Drum roll, please: We have our first registrant –– Phil Winberry. Phil has been to every Whidbey Island Writers Conference since they began in 1999.
The conference will offer the usual slate of first-rate presenters in all genres -- nature and adventure, poetry, children's literature, food, humor, songwriting, playwriting, and ghostwriting -- who bring with them numerous awards and critical accolades. Many are also New York Times best sellers. Some of the folks we'll bond with this year:
* Fiction authors: Steve Martini, Steve Berry, Michael Gruber, and Carole Nelson Douglas
* Non-fiction and historical novelists: Teresa Jordan, Will Bagley, and Lisa Dale Norton
* Travel and lifestyle writers: Brad Newsham, Drew Kampion, and Anne Linnea
* Lynne Rosetto Kasper, author of cookbooks and host of the public radio show, "The Splendid Table"
We also have a full faculty of editors, agents, publishers and publicists. Many are new; some are back by popular demand. As a special feature, this year the conference highlights members of writing families -- Ann and Susan Zwinger (mother and daughter nature and adventure writers), Richard and Katy Lederer (language maven father and poet/memoirist daughter), Terry and Sarah Bain (novelist/humorist husband and editor wife), Sidney Kirkpatrick and Katherine Kirkpatrick (versatile non-fiction brother and children's fiction sister). Attending the conference with a friend or relative? Working on a project about family or a soul mate? Watch for news about how we're celebrating writing relationships at this conference reunion.
Early registration for the conference means a sizeable savings in the enrollment fee: Register and pay before Dec. 1, and the early bird rate saves you $35 over the regular registration. If you become a member, you can also reduce the fee for agent/editor consults. Go to the Web site, http://www.writeonwhidbey.org, click on the conference button and go to the registration form. We take credit cards, checks and cash.
Volunteers for the conference are also needed. If you'd like to have a reduced rate to attend the conference by working on conference planning and details before or even during the conference, get in touch with me at writers@whidbey.com. Tell your family and friends. We have a wonderful faculty of great writers, editors/agents, publishers, and friends. Come meet others who share your passion for writing.
The conference committee is working with enthusiasm. Many thanks to those who head up these critical planning functions. We have new faces and familiar faces and lots of laughter in the planning sessions. Places on the committee are still open. If you'd like to get to know and work with some great people, mingle with presenters and participants, AND attend the conference, call me at the WIWA office 360-331-6714.
MFA Catalogue in Print
The Whidbey Writers Workshop official catalogue is now in hard copy, and will be available online soon at http://www.writeonwhidbey.com/mfa. The catalogue includes program requirements, course descriptions, costs, application procedures and other information. Authorized by the Washington Higher Education Coordinating Board, WWW MFA classes will begin in August of 2005. Applications will be accepted beginning Jan. 1, 2005 for the fall semester. Hard copy application forms are ready now and will also be available online.
We've also begun to prepare the MFA's Online Library, so keep an eye on the Web site in the near future for listings of online literary sites, including online literary magazines.
The Whidbey Writers Workshop MFA Program is the first in the country –– and perhaps in the world –– to be offered not by a college or university, but by an organization of writers. In this, it resembles the many freestanding arts institutions offering degrees in music, art, dance and theatre. The MFA degree will require 60 graduate-level semester credits, including writing workshops, craft courses and directed reading courses, culminating in a creative thesis project consisting of a book-length publishable manuscript. As a low-residency (also known as brief residency) program, the WWW MFA will require students to attend intensive 10-day residencies on Whidbey Island each August and January. Residencies will be followed by 16-week online semesters.
The Whidbey Writers Workshop will be one of the most flexible low-residency MFAs around. Most other brief residency programs require 15-credit blocks each term and must be completed in two years. Ours will offer five-credit individual courses so that students may work at their own pace, taking from two to six years to complete the program. Since approval has taken place only recently (July 15, 2004), we're still in the process of adding faculty, staff, and information. (The MFA program was the subject of an impressive story in the Seattle Post-Intelligencer. Go to the WIWA Web site, http://www.writeonwhidbey.com for a link to the article. Thanks to Sherry Mays for the great contacts that resulted in the story.)
This success follows two full years of work by WIWA's Board of Directors, MFA Design Committee and Educational Programs Governing Board –– in other words, our usual team effort. The Whidbey Writers Workshop joins the Whidbey Island Writers Conference as an example of what writers can accomplish working together here on Whidbey Island.
Student Celebrate Writing Contest Under Way
Once again WIWA will sponsor the successful Student Celebrate Writing Contest, anticipated each year by Whidbey Island students from kindergarten through high school. This popular contest is designed to motivate student writers to improve their skills and seek excellence in writing. The goal supports part of WIWA’s mission statement: to enhance education of writers.
The Student Celebrate Writing Contest is open to all Whidbey Island students in public schools, private schools and home schools. Only original submissions suitable for publication will be accepted, and the official submission form must accompany them. Students may enter one submission in each of three categories. Their work will be read, evaluated and awarded many prizes. Submission deadline will be Feb. 5, 2005 (no exceptions!). Last year the contest attracted over 500 entries and produced some exciting work at all levels.
Volunteers Are Needed! It takes numerous volunteers to make this program work. In addition to “in-school” contacts, we need coordinators for Northend, Central, and South Whidbey schools (public, private, and home schools). Also needed are library coordinators, readers/evaluators, a publicity coordinator, award coordinator and conference display coordinator. Volunteers must be committed to this project, its schedule and especially its primary goal: to promote and nurture excellence in writing from Whidbey students.
Job descriptions, contest details, schedules and evaluation criteria will be made available to each volunteer. As a team, we will read and evaluate fairly each entry and award prizes to the winners. Each student will receive a participant gift and a certificate of achievement.
If you are interested in supporting this effort by becoming a volunteer reader or coordinator, or have questions about the program, contact Jerry Mercer at lamont1040@earthlink.net or call him at 360-678-4813. If you know others who might be interested, please pass this bulletin to them. It is not necessary to be a member of WIWA, but I urge you to join by contacting WIWA.
New WIWA Web Site Online
It's official. The Websters –– Noah and Daniel, along with Linda Jedlicka, Nancy Bartlett, Bob Richardson and Candace Allen –– announce that the new Whidbey Island Writers Association Web site is up and running. See the redesigned site at http://www.writeonwhidbey.com for the latest information about the conference and the association, including WIWA’s groundbreaking Master of Fine Arts program in creative writing. There are also publications and resources, events, and much more about writing on Whidbey.
Check out the new site. Learn about membership benefits, contests, classes and volunteer opportunities. Read the current and past newsletters. See what's happening with the MFA. Review photos from prior conferences. While visiting the site, note that some of the conference pages have incomplete information. The Websters will be filling in the blanks as soon as information becomes available.
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ON THE ISLAND
Adventure in China - One Year to See it All
Deon Matzen, writer and instructor at Skagit Valley College's South Whidbey Campus, will show a slide presentation at the Freeland Library Nov. 3, 7-8 p.m., talking about daily life in Beijing and her travels to many areas of China. Matzen was the exchange instructor to Beijing Foreign Studies University for the 2001-2002 school term.
Garden Tour Needs Volunteers
Barbara Cornelsen, who with her husband Lee has generously hosted fireside chats and housed authors in their beautiful home during the writers' conference, is also now involved with the Whidbey Island Garden Tour. She requests volunteers for the following Garden Tour positions: secretary, graphics coordinator and publicity coordinator. If you can help or know anyone who might be interested, call Barbara at 360-579-1384.
WIWA-Sponsored Writing Groups
The North Whidbey Writers' Group meets the second and fourth Wednesday of each month, 1- 4 p.m., at Great Times Espresso in Coupeville (waterside of Front Street, down one flight of stairs). For more information, contact Dot Read at thereads@whidbey.com or call 360-331-2038.
The South Whidbey Writers' Group meets the first and third Wednesday of each month, 1 p.m. to 4 p.m., at Trinity Lutheran Church in Freeland (Hwy 525 and Woodard Rd.) The meeting is in the small building closest to Highway 525. For more information, contact Natalie Olsen at or call 360-331-7709.
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OFF THE ISLAND
Writing Connections
The Pacific Northwest Writers Association hosts free networking events called Writing Connections, open to PNWA members and the general public. The next gathering is set for Saturday, Nov. 6, from 1 to 4 p.m. at All Saints Lutheran Church, 27225 Military Road S. in Auburn. The discussion topics will be mystery/suspense, middle grade/young adult, children's picture books, short stories, literary fiction and mainstream fiction. The group sets up roundtables of the different writing genres. Writers can stay at one table or join in on any discussion they find interesting. Both new and experienced writers are invited. For more information and directions to the site call 425-673-2665 or visit http://www.pnwa.org
Oregon Book Awards
Rick Bass, who has been a Writers Conference presenter, will preside over the 18th annual Oregon Book Awards Nov. 13, 7:30 p.m. at the Scottish Rite Center in Portland. A reception (beverages served) and book signing will follow the ceremony. Tickets are $25 and can be reserved by calling the Literary Arts box office at 503-227-2583. Bass is the author of 16 fiction and nonfiction books.
Class for Novelists
Waverly Fitzgerald, a Seattle-based writing teacher, writer and writing coach, will teach a class this month called Altars of the Ancestors, combining text and visual art revolving around the theme of ancestors. Offered on Saturday, Oct. 30, 10 a.m.-4 p.m. at the University of Washington Women’s Center, the class will help students create a tribute to an ancestor in honor of the upcoming Days of the Dead. Bring any research, documents and photographs (as color photocopies) you have of your ancestor. You’ll spend the morning sharing stories and writing poems or essays. In the afternoon, you'll create a pictorial tribute (a collage or a shrine) to your ancestor. Cost, $60; register at 206-685-1090 or http://depts.washington.edu/womenctr . Fitzgerald’s site is http://www.waverlyfitzgerald.com
Free Eva Shaw workshop
Eva Shaw will give a free workshop, "Write Your Book in 20 Minutes,'' from 9 a.m. to noon Nov. 13. The workshop will be in her hometown of Carlsbad, Calif. at 1400 Las Flores Drive, in case WIWA members find themselves able to be in the vicinity. While the workshop is free, reservations are recommended. Contact Shaw at askeva@evashaw.com and put ''11/13 Workshop'' in the subject line. As with her course, this workshop is G rated. Serious young writers are welcome.
Check out these other sites for events of interest:
Seattle Mystery Bookshop; http://www.seattlemystery.com
Third Place Books, Seattle; http://www.thirdplacebooks.com
Song & Word, San Juan Islands, WA;
Richard Hugo House in Seattle; http://www.hugohouse.org/events/
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Conference Story: On Becoming a Stripper
by Nancy Bartlett
After years as a technical writer and reporter, I'd become proficient at getting my point across in user manuals, policies, newspaper articles and press releases. But when it came to creative writing, the stories and essays I wrote for the love of writing, more often than not, I still missed the mark.
My extrovert husband blamed the problem on my natural reticence. Each time Tom read one of my pieces he’d say the same thing: "It's too vague. If you want me to understand, you're going to have to use all the words."
Initially I fumed at him when he said this. Later I ignored him. What did he know, this fan of blockbuster films whose plots centered on things exploding or imploding or – better yet – both simultaneously? I did make some changes over the years. I searched for stronger verbs, learned to live with fewer adjectives and cast out the demons of passive construction. Yet I stuck fast to my conviction that real literature required work on the reader's part and used that theory as license to cloak my meaning. I went on writing vague, metaphor-laden prose and hoping it would eventually land on the desk of some editor astute enough to appreciate my innuendo. And the pieces I cranked out continued to be misunderstood, yawned over, laid aside, rejected.
One day, in my ongoing pursuit of the secret of doing this writing thing well, I was picking the brain of a friend who’d heard bestselling author Jennifer Crusie speak at the Whidbey Island Writers Conference. As we finished our coffee and left the café, Jan quoted one more example of Crusie’s crackshot wit.
"If you’re not willing to dance naked on the page, then don't waste the trees."
The comment went like an arrow to my writer's heart and lodged there. Weeks later that sharp point still hurt and scared me as it worked its relentless way through my tissues, piercing my core each time I tried to lay any experience, real or fictional, on paper. I stood convicted in the light of Crusie’s dictum.
Here I was, creating version after version, printing copy after copy, submitting again and again these unfinished and insufficient efforts. Now I saw I was wasting not just my time, but resources that belonged to my children and the future. As a modern American, I did more than enough of that already; compounding the problem with poor writing was unacceptable.
This verdict took writing away from me. I could never measure up to Crusie’s ideal. I was too shy to dance naked on the page, to tell my true feelings in loud black and white, to expose my foibles and mistakes, the way I blunder through life, the inane thoughts that crowd my head. Maybe that was Crusie's intent – to rid the world of dilettante scribblers who can’t commit strongly enough to their point of view to use all the words and lay their meaning bare. Oh-my-God, my husband was right. I hate that.
Having discarded the option of continuing my profligate ways, two choices remained; give up writing or strip down and start strutting. I'd wasted a lot of time and trees doing it wrong. It must be worth a few weeks and one more limb to try getting it right.
More time and cellulose vanished into eternity than I'd hoped, but finally I wrote something I thought shockingly blatant. My writing group, having heard the Crusie story and taken my goal seriously, told me "go deeper," "be more specific," "give us more detail,” “twirl, girl, twirl!"
Then one day Candace said: "You're almost there, now take it over the top, you can always edit later." That instruction dovetailed perfectly with Crusie's advice. It was as if my friend had plucked out the arrow – yes, I had to dance naked, but on paper I could always go back and turn down the heat if things went too far. Finally I shed the fear of exposure and wrote over the top, got the nod from the group, sent the piece to my chosen publisher and was accepted.
In the months prior to publication I danced around (clothed, most of the time) chanting, "Thank you Jennifer Crusie. Bless you Jennifer Crusie!" The chagrin and overexposure I would later feel during public readings of my work hadn’t hit yet. (Curse you Jennifer Crusie!)
Now that I’m over the fear of revealing the juicy and goofy details of my life, I’m in danger of becoming another kind of menace – a writer willing to put anything on paper. Candace keeps trying to rein me in, but I think what I need is a little more practical advice in how to apply the Crusie Theory of Literary Burlesque.
One day perhaps Jenny will come back to the Whidbey Island Writers Conference to continue my lessons. Meanwhile, I’ll be searching this coming Conference for my next teacher and that particular bit of wisdom I need now. I also wouldn’t mind finding a sage to help me discern which of the ideas that bounce around in my head, which of the adventures I stumble into, are worth pouring out on paper. And which might be better kept buttoned up.
Nancy Bartlett serves as Public Relations Coordinator for WIWA and the Conference so she can get into the Poetry Slam without having to write poetry. She is also the content development arm of the Websters, the group that recently remodeled the WIWA Web site, but she is not the Webmaster. This arrangement ensures that, while all grammatical mistakes on the site are entirely her fault, the complaint emails go to somebody else. Her essays have appeared in Child magazine, Traveler's Tales, The Seattle Times and other regional newspapers. Okay, the Whidbey Island ones.
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RECENT RELEASES
“The Farthest South,” by Lorraine Healy, New American Press
Lorraine Healy, an Argentine poet living on Whidbey Island, has published a new chapbook, “The Farthest South.” Read Healy’s poems at http://www.mainstreetrag.com/LHealy.html
The Hanford Reach: The Arid Lands of Washington State, text by Susan Zwinger, photographs by Skip Smith, University of Arizona Press; $13.95 paper; 1-800-426-3797
One of the favorite presenters at the Whidbey Island Writers Conference is noted nature writer Susan Zwinger of Langley. Zwinger has just released her newest book, The Hanford Reach: The Arid Lands of Washington State, with photographs by South Whidbey photographer Skip Smith.
A “reach” refers to a straight expanse of river or sea between two natural boundaries. Here, the Reach is the last free stretch of the Columbia River between the McNary and the Priest Rapids Dams. In 2000, Congress protected much of south central Washington as the Hanford Reach National Monument. The monument includes the Columbia River's last free-flowing, non-tidal stretch and eastern North America's largest remnant of shrub-steppe habitat. Ironically, the landscape owes its preservation to the Department of Energy, which claimed thousands of acres in the early 1940s to build the world's first nuclear bombs.
The Hanford Reach celebrates what was preserved in the buffer zones seized in 1942 to protect Hanford’s secrecy: Rattlesnake Mountain, Saddle Mountain, and Wahluke wildlife preserves. Zwinger’s work evokes a land of contrasts, lush green orchards against bleached floodplains, voluminous water and wetlands juxtaposed to desert plants, and the wild ecosystem surrounding nuclear reactors and entrenched weaponry of Hanford Nuclear facility. Skip Smith’s mysterious black and white images capture at once the beauty and the irony of this little known region.
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CHEERS
GAIL MADDEN, WIWA’s board president, has been invited to read her poem, "Laundry," on NPR's syndicated program "Theme and Variations," produced by Treehouse Productions of South Padre Island, Texas. Congratulations on this prestigious accomplishment.
KIRBY LARSON reports that after two years of writing and research, she has sold her young adult historical novel in fewer than 16 days. Random House will publish her book, Hattie Big Sky, the story of a young girl homesteading by herself in Eastern Montana in 1918. The story is loosely based on the life of Larson’s great-grandmother but taps into contemporary themes, as Hattie struggles to carve out a home on the prairie against a backdrop of WW I anti-German sentiment. Kirby Larson has been a frequent presenter at the Whidbey Island Writers Conference.
DOUG WESSELMANN –– better known by his pen name Otis Twelve and a perennial favorite at the Writers Conference Poetry Slam –– announces that his short story, The Goodness of Trees, won a $10,000 Power of Purpose Award. And that isn’t all. Black Time, his novel in progress, was named a Faulkner Creative Writing Competition Semi-Finalist, and his novel Sometimes a Prozac Notion was short-listed for the British Crime Writers Association Debut Dagger Award. “The awards and nominations aside, I am probably just as pleased that I've just finished final line edits on my novel, On The Albino Farm, Otis writes. “My agent starts submitting it next week. The Whidbey Conference was the first such event I ever attended (way back in '03). I never made a better decision. Thanks to all of you who put the event together every year. I hope to be with you again in March."
KEITH MOORE of Salt Lake City, who has had friends and relatives on Whidbey for many years, recently won second place in the Salt Lake City Weekly 6th annual poetry contest. Keith has been writing poetry, fiction, essay, humor (“AND not so,” he says) for 50 years.
TAMARA HILLMAN’s latest cowboy poetry can be read on line at http://www.cowboyfun.com . Hillman would like to hear from other cowboy poets; email her at hillman@nwlink.com . (Apologies for an incorrect email address in the last newsletter, and for wrongly attributing to Hillman the poem “Howdy to You.”)
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LEDERER COLUMN
We Are All Language Inventors
by Dr. Richard Lederer
For most of us language is like the air we breathe. Like air, language is invisible and all around us. We need it to live, yet we take it for granted. If, however, we pause and examine our language thoughtfully, we discover that the ordinary language user is astonishingly creative. Without realizing it, we all spend most of our waking hours inventing language.
Incredible as it may seem at first thought, practically every sentence that you speak and write during your lifetime has never been spoken or written before in human history. Except for stock phrases and conventional remarks, such as "How are you?” "Thanks a lot," and "Have a nice day," almost all of your speech and writing consists of sentences that you have made up. You are a language inventor.
Consider, for example, an experiment conducted by Richard Ohmann, a professor at Wesleyan University, who placed before twenty-five people a fairly simple cartoon and asked them to describe in a sentence the situation the drawing portrayed. Not surprisingly, the twenty-five descriptions that Professor Ohmann received were all different from each other:
"A bear is occupying a phone booth, while a tourist impatiently waits in line."
"A man who was driving along the road has stopped and is waiting impatiently for a grizzly bear to finish using the public phone."
"A traveler waits impatiently as a bear chatters gaily in a highway telephone booth."
Then Professor Ohmann used a computer to determine how many grammatical sentences in English could be generated from the raw materials in just those twenty-five sentences about the agitated tourist and the bear in the telephone booth.
How many would you guess? Five thousand? Ten thousand? Maybe twenty-five thousand?
Professor Ohmann's computer yielded 19.8 billion! -- nearly twenty billion English sentences that depict one limited state of affairs culled from only 25 different statements. 19.8 billion is a very large number. In fact, it would take about 40 human life spans to speak 19.8 billion sentences, even at high speed.
Other computer studies have shown that it would take ten trillion years –– two thousand times the estimated age of the earth –– to utter all the possible English sentences that use exactly twenty words. Therefore, it is highly unlikely that any twenty-word sentence an individual speaks has ever been spoken previously. The same conclusion holds true, of course, for sentences of greater length and for most shorter sentences as well. That is why almost every sentence that you read in all the books, newspapers and magazines that have been written and are yet to be written, is expressed, or will be expressed, in its exact form for the very first time.
There is one more intriguing fact to consider. Not only do you spend your days reading sentences that you have never before encountered, but you understand almost every one of them. Part of your humanness is your ability both to invent new sentences and to comprehend the verbal inventions of other people.
Dr. Richard Lederer and his daughter Katy Lederer, author of "Poker Face," are scheduled presenters for WIWC 2005. Richard is the author of more than 3,000 books and articles about language and humor, including his best-selling Anguished English series. His latest book, A Man of My Words: My Career-Capping Reflections on the English Language, was selected by Book of the Month Club, Literary Guild and Quality Paperback Books. Richard's syndicated column, "Looking at Language," appears in newspapers and magazines throughout the United States. He was named International Punster of the Year and awarded Toastmasters International 2002 Golden Gavel. You can explore his Web site at http://pw1.netcom.com/~rlederer/
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CONTESTS AND MARKET REQUESTS
Prose and Poetry Prizes 2004
This is one of the major annual international competitions for short stories, novellas, single poems, poetry collections, essays and articles. The contest offers cash prizes as well as publication for the prize-winning writers in The Collection –– the special edition of The New Writer magazine each July. Closing date is Oct. 31. For more information including guidelines and entry fees, and to download an entry form or enter online, go to http://www.thenewwriter.com/prizes.htm .To see a copy of the comprehensive email news that goes out to subscribers once a month, visit the site and click on the pink box.
Short Story Competition
Author Steve Almond will judge the 2004 Richard Yates Short Story Award Competition for the literary journal Night Train, a biannual specializing in short fiction. Almond is the author of Candyfreak, My Life in Heavy Metal and a new collection of short stories due in 2005 tentatively titled The Evil B.B. Chow and Other Stories. Submissions are due Nov. 20; entry fee is $10. Preferred story length: 2,000 to 5,000 words (but all short fiction considered). The Yates competition winner receives $500 and publication in Issue V (due out in Spring 2005). All entrants will receive a copy of Night Train Issue V. Further competition details are at http://www.nighttrainmagazine.com/yates
Scriptapalooza TV Script Competition
Entries are now being accepted by Scriptapalooza TV in three categories: existing 1-hour spec scripts, existing half-hour spec scripts, and pilots. Several past Scriptapalooza TV winners have gained access to top television production companies and literary representatives. Finalist Barbara Schwartz won a 2003 Daytime Emmy for Outstanding Children's Animated Program for the TV series, Rugrats. Scott Gray, another Scriptapalooza finalist, was also a 2003 Daytime EMMY winner, for Outstanding Children's Animated Program for Rugrats. The deadline for submissions is Nov. 15. Visit http://www.scriptapaloozaTV.com
State Film Office Screenplay Competition
The Washington State Film Office has launched the eighth annual Washington State Screenplay Competition. The contest is open to all screenwriters with the requirement that 75 percent of the script must be shootable in Washington. Entry packets can be obtained by calling 206-260-1687 or on the film office Web site, http://www.oted.wa.gov/ed/filmoffice/. Entry fee is $40 per script; writers may submit unlimited scripts; one entry per script. Deadline for submission is Dec. 6. Winning writers will receive cash prizes and gifts. The Grand Prize winner will also receive two round-trip tickets to anywhere Alaska Airlines flies in the continental United States. At the completion of the competition, ads to help garner industry attention will be placed in both The Hollywood Reporter and Variety, listing the names of the winners and sponsors.
Real Reviewers Wanted
Eva Shaw, a longtime Writers Conference presenter, asks writers to help her in connection with her forthcoming book on death and grief, What to Do When a Loved One Dies. She is looking for real people for real reviews, which, if selected, will appear inside the front cover of the book or in various advertising/promotional materials. Writers who have had real experience with the loss of a loved one and would like to review a galley and submit a review should contact Shaw at askeva@evashaw.com . Reviewers’ real names, business titles and areas of residence will be used in reviews chosen by the editorial board.
First Person Essays Sought
Writer and editor Angela Jane Fountas is seeking submissions for an anthology called The New Wave of First-Generation Women, to be published by Seal Press in Fall 2005. Fountas is looking for first-person essays from women in their late teens through early thirties who immigrated to the U.S. during childhood or are American-born of at least one foreign-born parent who immigrated as an adult. The anthology will collect works by emerging as well as established writers. Essays from women of all nationalities, religions, belief systems, socioeconomic classes, sexual orientations and abilities are encouraged to submit. Deadline is Nov. 1. For guidelines and more information, visit http://www.writehabit.org
Margin Accepting Submissions
Margin, the Bainbridge Island-based anthology dedicated to literary magical realism, announces new opportunities for writers.
*The editors have begun an open reading that will end April 30, 2005. Margin is looking for poetry, fiction, nonfiction, book reviews, anything that answers the question, ''What is magical realism?''
*Submissions with a connection to the Iberian Peninsula (Portugal, Spain, Andorra, Gibraltar, The Azores) are welcome for the 2005 special theme edition, ''Resurrecting Quixote,'' in observance of the fourth centenary of Cervantes' classic literary work. Margin currently offers a comprehensive Caribbean magical realism edition, which will remain available to view online through October at the magazine's Web site, http://www.magical-realism.com/ .
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T-UP YOUR MARKETING PLAN
by Joseph Shaw, President, Writeriffic Publishing Group
In the last two newsletters, Joseph Shaw introduced the concept of the 3 T’s in publishing: Team, Talk and Tenacity. Here, he concludes his series with the third T: Tenacity. Articles in previous newsletters can be read on the WIWA Web site, http://www.writeonwhidbey.org . Click on Publications.
T Number Three: Tenacity
Don't stop.
With traditional publishers, an author gets just eight weeks of marketing attention before the book is “old hat.” I like to imagine that at Writeriffic Publishing Group we're beating the “big kids” (those New York publishing houses) at their own game because we are focused on each title and will not lose interest when our next title arrives. You know your book, want your book to be successful, and are willing to do whatever it takes to get it into the hands of your readers. So do just that.
For example, two months after the release of my first title, Shovel It: Nature's Health Plan, the book and its author, Eva Shaw, were featured in USA Today, with nine to 12 million readers. This wasn't an article crammed in with others or a mention in a book section, but the only feature on that page. It was a Friday paper that hung around at newsstands for Saturday and Sunday readers, too.
It took tenacity to get the article in USA Today. I contacted the book editor and then followed up with phone calls and emails. Finally, well before the book was out, one of the editors said he would suggest the book and article idea to a colleague. During this waiting time, I contacted Shawn Sell, who writes about gardening for the paper. A few weeks later, Ms. Sell called and asked for a copy of the book. It took another follow-up call, and another review copy, yet she contacted Eva for the interview.
I chuckle when asked about the easy work schedule of having my own business, of the life of a publisher. I always say, "I work half-days. It doesn't matter which 12 hours of each day I work, but, yes, I'm only part time." Sure.
There will be plenty of 12-hour days in your future. I hope there are in mine. Because that's what it takes to market a book. Now with the Three T's, however, you can make a difference between a ho-hum sales year and one that can actually be called “best ever!”
Joe Shaw's wife, Eva Shaw, has been a popular presenter at Whidbey Island Writers conferences and is the author of Shovel It: Nature’s Health Plan. Joseph Shaw can be reached at 866-244-9047, or http://www.writeriffic.com
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CYBER SURFING
Try this Web site for some amusing pieces on language and writing. One of the most recent is called “About the American Hyphen Society.” Go to http://www.jumbojoke.com/cat_language.html
Flogging the Quill is a new blog by author/editor Ray Rhamey, “dedicated to discussion of the art and craft of compelling storytelling.” Rhamey, a member of the Northwest Independent Editors Guild, the Pacific Northwest Writers Association and the Seattle Writers Association, encourages comments and opinion from editors, writers, readers and agents. Visit http://www.publishersmarketplace.com/members/wrrriter/
Have you encountered some helpful Internet sites? Send us the address and your brief review.
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TO CONTACT US OR SUBMIT AN ARTICLE
We are interested in hearing from you. Perhaps you've been to a recent book fair, heard a favorite author speak, or learned valuable tips from a writing class. Perhaps you're a professional willing to share your expertise. If you would like to submit an article; tell us about your good news for the Cheers or Recent Releases columns; send us your favorite quotes, markets, contests and cyber sites; or contact us about the newsletter for any reason, please email the editor at: NewsletterEditor@writeonwhidbey.org .To contact the Whidbey Island Writers Association, email: writers@whidbey.com. The WIWA Web site is: http://www.writeonwhidbey.com
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TO SUBSCRIBE OR UNSUBSCRIBE
The WIWA Newsletter is published approximately every two months and is delivered to subscribers by email. If you would like to subscribe, send an email, with SUBSCRIBE WIWA in the subject line, to wiwa@whidbey.com. If you would like to unsubscribe, please reply to this email with UNSUBSCRIBE in the subject, and we will delete you from our records. WIWA will not share or sell your name or email address.
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We also have a full faculty of editors, agents, publishers and publicists. Many are new; some are back by popular demand. As a special feature, this year the conference highlights members of writing families -- Ann and Susan Zwinger (mother and daughter nature and adventure writers), Richard and Katy Lederer (language maven father and poet/memoirist daughter), Terry and Sarah Bain (novelist/humorist husband and editor wife), Sidney Kirkpatrick and Katherine Kirkpatrick (versatile non-fiction brother and children's fiction sister). Attending the conference with a friend or relative? Working on a project about family or a soul mate? Watch for news about how we're celebrating writing relationships at this conference reunion.
Early registration for the conference means a sizeable savings in the enrollment fee: Register and pay before Dec. 1, and the early bird rate saves you $35 over the regular registration. If you become a member, you can also reduce the fee for agent/editor consults. Go to the Web site, http://www.writeonwhidbey.org, click on the conference button and go to the registration form. We take credit cards, checks and cash.
Volunteers for the conference are also needed. If you'd like to have a reduced rate to attend the conference by working on conference planning and details before or even during the conference, get in touch with me at writers@whidbey.com. Tell your family and friends. We have a wonderful faculty of great writers, editors/agents, publishers, and friends. Come meet others who share your passion for writing.
The conference committee is working with enthusiasm. Many thanks to those who head up these critical planning functions. We have new faces and familiar faces and lots of laughter in the planning sessions. Places on the committee are still open. If you'd like to get to know and work with some great people, mingle with presenters and participants, AND attend the conference, call me at the WIWA office 360-331-6714.
MFA Catalogue in Print
The Whidbey Writers Workshop official catalogue is now in hard copy, and will be available online soon at http://www.writeonwhidbey.com/mfa. The catalogue includes program requirements, course descriptions, costs, application procedures and other information. Authorized by the Washington Higher Education Coordinating Board, WWW MFA classes will begin in August of 2005. Applications will be accepted beginning Jan. 1, 2005 for the fall semester. Hard copy application forms are ready now and will also be available online.
We've also begun to prepare the MFA's Online Library, so keep an eye on the Web site in the near future for listings of online literary sites, including online literary magazines.
The Whidbey Writers Workshop MFA Program is the first in the country –– and perhaps in the world –– to be offered not by a college or university, but by an organization of writers. In this, it resembles the many freestanding arts institutions offering degrees in music, art, dance and theatre. The MFA degree will require 60 graduate-level semester credits, including writing workshops, craft courses and directed reading courses, culminating in a creative thesis project consisting of a book-length publishable manuscript. As a low-residency (also known as brief residency) program, the WWW MFA will require students to attend intensive 10-day residencies on Whidbey Island each August and January. Residencies will be followed by 16-week online semesters.
The Whidbey Writers Workshop will be one of the most flexible low-residency MFAs around. Most other brief residency programs require 15-credit blocks each term and must be completed in two years. Ours will offer five-credit individual courses so that students may work at their own pace, taking from two to six years to complete the program. Since approval has taken place only recently (July 15, 2004), we're still in the process of adding faculty, staff, and information. (The MFA program was the subject of an impressive story in the Seattle Post-Intelligencer. Go to the WIWA Web site, http://www.writeonwhidbey.com for a link to the article. Thanks to Sherry Mays for the great contacts that resulted in the story.)
This success follows two full years of work by WIWA's Board of Directors, MFA Design Committee and Educational Programs Governing Board –– in other words, our usual team effort. The Whidbey Writers Workshop joins the Whidbey Island Writers Conference as an example of what writers can accomplish working together here on Whidbey Island.
Student Celebrate Writing Contest Under Way
Once again WIWA will sponsor the successful Student Celebrate Writing Contest, anticipated each year by Whidbey Island students from kindergarten through high school. This popular contest is designed to motivate student writers to improve their skills and seek excellence in writing. The goal supports part of WIWA’s mission statement: to enhance education of writers.
The Student Celebrate Writing Contest is open to all Whidbey Island students in public schools, private schools and home schools. Only original submissions suitable for publication will be accepted, and the official submission form must accompany them. Students may enter one submission in each of three categories. Their work will be read, evaluated and awarded many prizes. Submission deadline will be Feb. 5, 2005 (no exceptions!). Last year the contest attracted over 500 entries and produced some exciting work at all levels.
Volunteers Are Needed! It takes numerous volunteers to make this program work. In addition to “in-school” contacts, we need coordinators for Northend, Central, and South Whidbey schools (public, private, and home schools). Also needed are library coordinators, readers/evaluators, a publicity coordinator, award coordinator and conference display coordinator. Volunteers must be committed to this project, its schedule and especially its primary goal: to promote and nurture excellence in writing from Whidbey students.
Job descriptions, contest details, schedules and evaluation criteria will be made available to each volunteer. As a team, we will read and evaluate fairly each entry and award prizes to the winners. Each student will receive a participant gift and a certificate of achievement.
If you are interested in supporting this effort by becoming a volunteer reader or coordinator, or have questions about the program, contact Jerry Mercer at lamont1040@earthlink.net or call him at 360-678-4813. If you know others who might be interested, please pass this bulletin to them. It is not necessary to be a member of WIWA, but I urge you to join by contacting WIWA.
New WIWA Web Site Online
It's official. The Websters –– Noah and Daniel, along with Linda Jedlicka, Nancy Bartlett, Bob Richardson and Candace Allen –– announce that the new Whidbey Island Writers Association Web site is up and running. See the redesigned site at http://www.writeonwhidbey.com for the latest information about the conference and the association, including WIWA’s groundbreaking Master of Fine Arts program in creative writing. There are also publications and resources, events, and much more about writing on Whidbey.
Check out the new site. Learn about membership benefits, contests, classes and volunteer opportunities. Read the current and past newsletters. See what's happening with the MFA. Review photos from prior conferences. While visiting the site, note that some of the conference pages have incomplete information. The Websters will be filling in the blanks as soon as information becomes available.
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ON THE ISLAND
Adventure in China - One Year to See it All
Deon Matzen, writer and instructor at Skagit Valley College's South Whidbey Campus, will show a slide presentation at the Freeland Library Nov. 3, 7-8 p.m., talking about daily life in Beijing and her travels to many areas of China. Matzen was the exchange instructor to Beijing Foreign Studies University for the 2001-2002 school term.
Garden Tour Needs Volunteers
Barbara Cornelsen, who with her husband Lee has generously hosted fireside chats and housed authors in their beautiful home during the writers' conference, is also now involved with the Whidbey Island Garden Tour. She requests volunteers for the following Garden Tour positions: secretary, graphics coordinator and publicity coordinator. If you can help or know anyone who might be interested, call Barbara at 360-579-1384.
WIWA-Sponsored Writing Groups
The North Whidbey Writers' Group meets the second and fourth Wednesday of each month, 1- 4 p.m., at Great Times Espresso in Coupeville (waterside of Front Street, down one flight of stairs). For more information, contact Dot Read at thereads@whidbey.com or call 360-331-2038.
The South Whidbey Writers' Group meets the first and third Wednesday of each month, 1 p.m. to 4 p.m., at Trinity Lutheran Church in Freeland (Hwy 525 and Woodard Rd.) The meeting is in the small building closest to Highway 525. For more information, contact Natalie Olsen at or call 360-331-7709.
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OFF THE ISLAND
Writing Connections
The Pacific Northwest Writers Association hosts free networking events called Writing Connections, open to PNWA members and the general public. The next gathering is set for Saturday, Nov. 6, from 1 to 4 p.m. at All Saints Lutheran Church, 27225 Military Road S. in Auburn. The discussion topics will be mystery/suspense, middle grade/young adult, children's picture books, short stories, literary fiction and mainstream fiction. The group sets up roundtables of the different writing genres. Writers can stay at one table or join in on any discussion they find interesting. Both new and experienced writers are invited. For more information and directions to the site call 425-673-2665 or visit http://www.pnwa.org
Oregon Book Awards
Rick Bass, who has been a Writers Conference presenter, will preside over the 18th annual Oregon Book Awards Nov. 13, 7:30 p.m. at the Scottish Rite Center in Portland. A reception (beverages served) and book signing will follow the ceremony. Tickets are $25 and can be reserved by calling the Literary Arts box office at 503-227-2583. Bass is the author of 16 fiction and nonfiction books.
Class for Novelists
Waverly Fitzgerald, a Seattle-based writing teacher, writer and writing coach, will teach a class this month called Altars of the Ancestors, combining text and visual art revolving around the theme of ancestors. Offered on Saturday, Oct. 30, 10 a.m.-4 p.m. at the University of Washington Women’s Center, the class will help students create a tribute to an ancestor in honor of the upcoming Days of the Dead. Bring any research, documents and photographs (as color photocopies) you have of your ancestor. You’ll spend the morning sharing stories and writing poems or essays. In the afternoon, you'll create a pictorial tribute (a collage or a shrine) to your ancestor. Cost, $60; register at 206-685-1090 or http://depts.washington.edu/womenctr . Fitzgerald’s site is http://www.waverlyfitzgerald.com
Free Eva Shaw workshop
Eva Shaw will give a free workshop, "Write Your Book in 20 Minutes,'' from 9 a.m. to noon Nov. 13. The workshop will be in her hometown of Carlsbad, Calif. at 1400 Las Flores Drive, in case WIWA members find themselves able to be in the vicinity. While the workshop is free, reservations are recommended. Contact Shaw at askeva@evashaw.com and put ''11/13 Workshop'' in the subject line. As with her course, this workshop is G rated. Serious young writers are welcome.
Check out these other sites for events of interest:
Seattle Mystery Bookshop; http://www.seattlemystery.com
Third Place Books, Seattle; http://www.thirdplacebooks.com
Song & Word, San Juan Islands, WA;
Richard Hugo House in Seattle; http://www.hugohouse.org/events/
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Conference Story: On Becoming a Stripper
by Nancy Bartlett
After years as a technical writer and reporter, I'd become proficient at getting my point across in user manuals, policies, newspaper articles and press releases. But when it came to creative writing, the stories and essays I wrote for the love of writing, more often than not, I still missed the mark.
My extrovert husband blamed the problem on my natural reticence. Each time Tom read one of my pieces he’d say the same thing: "It's too vague. If you want me to understand, you're going to have to use all the words."
Initially I fumed at him when he said this. Later I ignored him. What did he know, this fan of blockbuster films whose plots centered on things exploding or imploding or – better yet – both simultaneously? I did make some changes over the years. I searched for stronger verbs, learned to live with fewer adjectives and cast out the demons of passive construction. Yet I stuck fast to my conviction that real literature required work on the reader's part and used that theory as license to cloak my meaning. I went on writing vague, metaphor-laden prose and hoping it would eventually land on the desk of some editor astute enough to appreciate my innuendo. And the pieces I cranked out continued to be misunderstood, yawned over, laid aside, rejected.
One day, in my ongoing pursuit of the secret of doing this writing thing well, I was picking the brain of a friend who’d heard bestselling author Jennifer Crusie speak at the Whidbey Island Writers Conference. As we finished our coffee and left the café, Jan quoted one more example of Crusie’s crackshot wit.
"If you’re not willing to dance naked on the page, then don't waste the trees."
The comment went like an arrow to my writer's heart and lodged there. Weeks later that sharp point still hurt and scared me as it worked its relentless way through my tissues, piercing my core each time I tried to lay any experience, real or fictional, on paper. I stood convicted in the light of Crusie’s dictum.
Here I was, creating version after version, printing copy after copy, submitting again and again these unfinished and insufficient efforts. Now I saw I was wasting not just my time, but resources that belonged to my children and the future. As a modern American, I did more than enough of that already; compounding the problem with poor writing was unacceptable.
This verdict took writing away from me. I could never measure up to Crusie’s ideal. I was too shy to dance naked on the page, to tell my true feelings in loud black and white, to expose my foibles and mistakes, the way I blunder through life, the inane thoughts that crowd my head. Maybe that was Crusie's intent – to rid the world of dilettante scribblers who can’t commit strongly enough to their point of view to use all the words and lay their meaning bare. Oh-my-God, my husband was right. I hate that.
Having discarded the option of continuing my profligate ways, two choices remained; give up writing or strip down and start strutting. I'd wasted a lot of time and trees doing it wrong. It must be worth a few weeks and one more limb to try getting it right.
More time and cellulose vanished into eternity than I'd hoped, but finally I wrote something I thought shockingly blatant. My writing group, having heard the Crusie story and taken my goal seriously, told me "go deeper," "be more specific," "give us more detail,” “twirl, girl, twirl!"
Then one day Candace said: "You're almost there, now take it over the top, you can always edit later." That instruction dovetailed perfectly with Crusie's advice. It was as if my friend had plucked out the arrow – yes, I had to dance naked, but on paper I could always go back and turn down the heat if things went too far. Finally I shed the fear of exposure and wrote over the top, got the nod from the group, sent the piece to my chosen publisher and was accepted.
In the months prior to publication I danced around (clothed, most of the time) chanting, "Thank you Jennifer Crusie. Bless you Jennifer Crusie!" The chagrin and overexposure I would later feel during public readings of my work hadn’t hit yet. (Curse you Jennifer Crusie!)
Now that I’m over the fear of revealing the juicy and goofy details of my life, I’m in danger of becoming another kind of menace – a writer willing to put anything on paper. Candace keeps trying to rein me in, but I think what I need is a little more practical advice in how to apply the Crusie Theory of Literary Burlesque.
One day perhaps Jenny will come back to the Whidbey Island Writers Conference to continue my lessons. Meanwhile, I’ll be searching this coming Conference for my next teacher and that particular bit of wisdom I need now. I also wouldn’t mind finding a sage to help me discern which of the ideas that bounce around in my head, which of the adventures I stumble into, are worth pouring out on paper. And which might be better kept buttoned up.
Nancy Bartlett serves as Public Relations Coordinator for WIWA and the Conference so she can get into the Poetry Slam without having to write poetry. She is also the content development arm of the Websters, the group that recently remodeled the WIWA Web site, but she is not the Webmaster. This arrangement ensures that, while all grammatical mistakes on the site are entirely her fault, the complaint emails go to somebody else. Her essays have appeared in Child magazine, Traveler's Tales, The Seattle Times and other regional newspapers. Okay, the Whidbey Island ones.
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RECENT RELEASES
“The Farthest South,” by Lorraine Healy, New American Press
Lorraine Healy, an Argentine poet living on Whidbey Island, has published a new chapbook, “The Farthest South.” Read Healy’s poems at http://www.mainstreetrag.com/LHealy.html
The Hanford Reach: The Arid Lands of Washington State, text by Susan Zwinger, photographs by Skip Smith, University of Arizona Press; $13.95 paper; 1-800-426-3797
One of the favorite presenters at the Whidbey Island Writers Conference is noted nature writer Susan Zwinger of Langley. Zwinger has just released her newest book, The Hanford Reach: The Arid Lands of Washington State, with photographs by South Whidbey photographer Skip Smith.
A “reach” refers to a straight expanse of river or sea between two natural boundaries. Here, the Reach is the last free stretch of the Columbia River between the McNary and the Priest Rapids Dams. In 2000, Congress protected much of south central Washington as the Hanford Reach National Monument. The monument includes the Columbia River's last free-flowing, non-tidal stretch and eastern North America's largest remnant of shrub-steppe habitat. Ironically, the landscape owes its preservation to the Department of Energy, which claimed thousands of acres in the early 1940s to build the world's first nuclear bombs.
The Hanford Reach celebrates what was preserved in the buffer zones seized in 1942 to protect Hanford’s secrecy: Rattlesnake Mountain, Saddle Mountain, and Wahluke wildlife preserves. Zwinger’s work evokes a land of contrasts, lush green orchards against bleached floodplains, voluminous water and wetlands juxtaposed to desert plants, and the wild ecosystem surrounding nuclear reactors and entrenched weaponry of Hanford Nuclear facility. Skip Smith’s mysterious black and white images capture at once the beauty and the irony of this little known region.
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CHEERS
GAIL MADDEN, WIWA’s board president, has been invited to read her poem, "Laundry," on NPR's syndicated program "Theme and Variations," produced by Treehouse Productions of South Padre Island, Texas. Congratulations on this prestigious accomplishment.
KIRBY LARSON reports that after two years of writing and research, she has sold her young adult historical novel in fewer than 16 days. Random House will publish her book, Hattie Big Sky, the story of a young girl homesteading by herself in Eastern Montana in 1918. The story is loosely based on the life of Larson’s great-grandmother but taps into contemporary themes, as Hattie struggles to carve out a home on the prairie against a backdrop of WW I anti-German sentiment. Kirby Larson has been a frequent presenter at the Whidbey Island Writers Conference.
DOUG WESSELMANN –– better known by his pen name Otis Twelve and a perennial favorite at the Writers Conference Poetry Slam –– announces that his short story, The Goodness of Trees, won a $10,000 Power of Purpose Award. And that isn’t all. Black Time, his novel in progress, was named a Faulkner Creative Writing Competition Semi-Finalist, and his novel Sometimes a Prozac Notion was short-listed for the British Crime Writers Association Debut Dagger Award. “The awards and nominations aside, I am probably just as pleased that I've just finished final line edits on my novel, On The Albino Farm, Otis writes. “My agent starts submitting it next week. The Whidbey Conference was the first such event I ever attended (way back in '03). I never made a better decision. Thanks to all of you who put the event together every year. I hope to be with you again in March."
KEITH MOORE of Salt Lake City, who has had friends and relatives on Whidbey for many years, recently won second place in the Salt Lake City Weekly 6th annual poetry contest. Keith has been writing poetry, fiction, essay, humor (“AND not so,” he says) for 50 years.
TAMARA HILLMAN’s latest cowboy poetry can be read on line at http://www.cowboyfun.com . Hillman would like to hear from other cowboy poets; email her at hillman@nwlink.com . (Apologies for an incorrect email address in the last newsletter, and for wrongly attributing to Hillman the poem “Howdy to You.”)
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LEDERER COLUMN
We Are All Language Inventors
by Dr. Richard Lederer
For most of us language is like the air we breathe. Like air, language is invisible and all around us. We need it to live, yet we take it for granted. If, however, we pause and examine our language thoughtfully, we discover that the ordinary language user is astonishingly creative. Without realizing it, we all spend most of our waking hours inventing language.
Incredible as it may seem at first thought, practically every sentence that you speak and write during your lifetime has never been spoken or written before in human history. Except for stock phrases and conventional remarks, such as "How are you?” "Thanks a lot," and "Have a nice day," almost all of your speech and writing consists of sentences that you have made up. You are a language inventor.
Consider, for example, an experiment conducted by Richard Ohmann, a professor at Wesleyan University, who placed before twenty-five people a fairly simple cartoon and asked them to describe in a sentence the situation the drawing portrayed. Not surprisingly, the twenty-five descriptions that Professor Ohmann received were all different from each other:
"A bear is occupying a phone booth, while a tourist impatiently waits in line."
"A man who was driving along the road has stopped and is waiting impatiently for a grizzly bear to finish using the public phone."
"A traveler waits impatiently as a bear chatters gaily in a highway telephone booth."
Then Professor Ohmann used a computer to determine how many grammatical sentences in English could be generated from the raw materials in just those twenty-five sentences about the agitated tourist and the bear in the telephone booth.
How many would you guess? Five thousand? Ten thousand? Maybe twenty-five thousand?
Professor Ohmann's computer yielded 19.8 billion! -- nearly twenty billion English sentences that depict one limited state of affairs culled from only 25 different statements. 19.8 billion is a very large number. In fact, it would take about 40 human life spans to speak 19.8 billion sentences, even at high speed.
Other computer studies have shown that it would take ten trillion years –– two thousand times the estimated age of the earth –– to utter all the possible English sentences that use exactly twenty words. Therefore, it is highly unlikely that any twenty-word sentence an individual speaks has ever been spoken previously. The same conclusion holds true, of course, for sentences of greater length and for most shorter sentences as well. That is why almost every sentence that you read in all the books, newspapers and magazines that have been written and are yet to be written, is expressed, or will be expressed, in its exact form for the very first time.
There is one more intriguing fact to consider. Not only do you spend your days reading sentences that you have never before encountered, but you understand almost every one of them. Part of your humanness is your ability both to invent new sentences and to comprehend the verbal inventions of other people.
Dr. Richard Lederer and his daughter Katy Lederer, author of "Poker Face," are scheduled presenters for WIWC 2005. Richard is the author of more than 3,000 books and articles about language and humor, including his best-selling Anguished English series. His latest book, A Man of My Words: My Career-Capping Reflections on the English Language, was selected by Book of the Month Club, Literary Guild and Quality Paperback Books. Richard's syndicated column, "Looking at Language," appears in newspapers and magazines throughout the United States. He was named International Punster of the Year and awarded Toastmasters International 2002 Golden Gavel. You can explore his Web site at http://pw1.netcom.com/~rlederer/
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CONTESTS AND MARKET REQUESTS
Prose and Poetry Prizes 2004
This is one of the major annual international competitions for short stories, novellas, single poems, poetry collections, essays and articles. The contest offers cash prizes as well as publication for the prize-winning writers in The Collection –– the special edition of The New Writer magazine each July. Closing date is Oct. 31. For more information including guidelines and entry fees, and to download an entry form or enter online, go to http://www.thenewwriter.com/prizes.htm .To see a copy of the comprehensive email news that goes out to subscribers once a month, visit the site and click on the pink box.
Short Story Competition
Author Steve Almond will judge the 2004 Richard Yates Short Story Award Competition for the literary journal Night Train, a biannual specializing in short fiction. Almond is the author of Candyfreak, My Life in Heavy Metal and a new collection of short stories due in 2005 tentatively titled The Evil B.B. Chow and Other Stories. Submissions are due Nov. 20; entry fee is $10. Preferred story length: 2,000 to 5,000 words (but all short fiction considered). The Yates competition winner receives $500 and publication in Issue V (due out in Spring 2005). All entrants will receive a copy of Night Train Issue V. Further competition details are at http://www.nighttrainmagazine.com/yates
Scriptapalooza TV Script Competition
Entries are now being accepted by Scriptapalooza TV in three categories: existing 1-hour spec scripts, existing half-hour spec scripts, and pilots. Several past Scriptapalooza TV winners have gained access to top television production companies and literary representatives. Finalist Barbara Schwartz won a 2003 Daytime Emmy for Outstanding Children's Animated Program for the TV series, Rugrats. Scott Gray, another Scriptapalooza finalist, was also a 2003 Daytime EMMY winner, for Outstanding Children's Animated Program for Rugrats. The deadline for submissions is Nov. 15. Visit http://www.scriptapaloozaTV.com
State Film Office Screenplay Competition
The Washington State Film Office has launched the eighth annual Washington State Screenplay Competition. The contest is open to all screenwriters with the requirement that 75 percent of the script must be shootable in Washington. Entry packets can be obtained by calling 206-260-1687 or on the film office Web site, http://www.oted.wa.gov/ed/filmoffice/. Entry fee is $40 per script; writers may submit unlimited scripts; one entry per script. Deadline for submission is Dec. 6. Winning writers will receive cash prizes and gifts. The Grand Prize winner will also receive two round-trip tickets to anywhere Alaska Airlines flies in the continental United States. At the completion of the competition, ads to help garner industry attention will be placed in both The Hollywood Reporter and Variety, listing the names of the winners and sponsors.
Real Reviewers Wanted
Eva Shaw, a longtime Writers Conference presenter, asks writers to help her in connection with her forthcoming book on death and grief, What to Do When a Loved One Dies. She is looking for real people for real reviews, which, if selected, will appear inside the front cover of the book or in various advertising/promotional materials. Writers who have had real experience with the loss of a loved one and would like to review a galley and submit a review should contact Shaw at askeva@evashaw.com . Reviewers’ real names, business titles and areas of residence will be used in reviews chosen by the editorial board.
First Person Essays Sought
Writer and editor Angela Jane Fountas is seeking submissions for an anthology called The New Wave of First-Generation Women, to be published by Seal Press in Fall 2005. Fountas is looking for first-person essays from women in their late teens through early thirties who immigrated to the U.S. during childhood or are American-born of at least one foreign-born parent who immigrated as an adult. The anthology will collect works by emerging as well as established writers. Essays from women of all nationalities, religions, belief systems, socioeconomic classes, sexual orientations and abilities are encouraged to submit. Deadline is Nov. 1. For guidelines and more information, visit http://www.writehabit.org
Margin Accepting Submissions
Margin, the Bainbridge Island-based anthology dedicated to literary magical realism, announces new opportunities for writers.
*The editors have begun an open reading that will end April 30, 2005. Margin is looking for poetry, fiction, nonfiction, book reviews, anything that answers the question, ''What is magical realism?''
*Submissions with a connection to the Iberian Peninsula (Portugal, Spain, Andorra, Gibraltar, The Azores) are welcome for the 2005 special theme edition, ''Resurrecting Quixote,'' in observance of the fourth centenary of Cervantes' classic literary work. Margin currently offers a comprehensive Caribbean magical realism edition, which will remain available to view online through October at the magazine's Web site, http://www.magical-realism.com/ .
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T-UP YOUR MARKETING PLAN
by Joseph Shaw, President, Writeriffic Publishing Group
In the last two newsletters, Joseph Shaw introduced the concept of the 3 T’s in publishing: Team, Talk and Tenacity. Here, he concludes his series with the third T: Tenacity. Articles in previous newsletters can be read on the WIWA Web site, http://www.writeonwhidbey.org . Click on Publications.
T Number Three: Tenacity
Don't stop.
With traditional publishers, an author gets just eight weeks of marketing attention before the book is “old hat.” I like to imagine that at Writeriffic Publishing Group we're beating the “big kids” (those New York publishing houses) at their own game because we are focused on each title and will not lose interest when our next title arrives. You know your book, want your book to be successful, and are willing to do whatever it takes to get it into the hands of your readers. So do just that.
For example, two months after the release of my first title, Shovel It: Nature's Health Plan, the book and its author, Eva Shaw, were featured in USA Today, with nine to 12 million readers. This wasn't an article crammed in with others or a mention in a book section, but the only feature on that page. It was a Friday paper that hung around at newsstands for Saturday and Sunday readers, too.
It took tenacity to get the article in USA Today. I contacted the book editor and then followed up with phone calls and emails. Finally, well before the book was out, one of the editors said he would suggest the book and article idea to a colleague. During this waiting time, I contacted Shawn Sell, who writes about gardening for the paper. A few weeks later, Ms. Sell called and asked for a copy of the book. It took another follow-up call, and another review copy, yet she contacted Eva for the interview.
I chuckle when asked about the easy work schedule of having my own business, of the life of a publisher. I always say, "I work half-days. It doesn't matter which 12 hours of each day I work, but, yes, I'm only part time." Sure.
There will be plenty of 12-hour days in your future. I hope there are in mine. Because that's what it takes to market a book. Now with the Three T's, however, you can make a difference between a ho-hum sales year and one that can actually be called “best ever!”
Joe Shaw's wife, Eva Shaw, has been a popular presenter at Whidbey Island Writers conferences and is the author of Shovel It: Nature’s Health Plan. Joseph Shaw can be reached at 866-244-9047, or http://www.writeriffic.com
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CYBER SURFING
Try this Web site for some amusing pieces on language and writing. One of the most recent is called “About the American Hyphen Society.” Go to http://www.jumbojoke.com/cat_language.html
Flogging the Quill is a new blog by author/editor Ray Rhamey, “dedicated to discussion of the art and craft of compelling storytelling.” Rhamey, a member of the Northwest Independent Editors Guild, the Pacific Northwest Writers Association and the Seattle Writers Association, encourages comments and opinion from editors, writers, readers and agents. Visit http://www.publishersmarketplace.com/members/wrrriter/
Have you encountered some helpful Internet sites? Send us the address and your brief review.
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