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For Interested Writers/Readers


Been stumbling across all sorts of publishing and blog opportunities the last week or so and thought I would share a few.

Hint Fiction Contest

What is hint fiction? Well Konrath put it this way:

It’s a story of 25 words or less that suggests a larger, more complex story. The thesis of the anthology is to prove that a story 25 words or less can have as much impact as a story 2,500 words or longer. The anthology will include between 100 and 150 stories. We want your best work.

It’s possible to write a complete story in 25 words or less — a beginning, middle, end — but that’s not Hint Fiction.

The very best Hint Fiction stories can be read many different ways.

More strenuous than flash but brevity should be a writer’s aim.

Creative NonFiction is looking for end of life stories and they are currently seeking narrative blog posts from 2009 for an upcoming issue. I am not sure about the former but the deadline is end of the year, so I have time, but I think I will go back and see what the year looks like in terms of my own posting. Any posts come readily to your mind that might make a good entry? Suggest away.

Maria at Editor Unleashed is looking for your favorite writing blogs. She is doing a top 25 list.

Elements of Horror is looking for some flash fiction. and Horror Unbound is currently in a submission period too.

One of my goals for the new school year – ‘cuz I am a former teacher and I think in terms of school year as opposed to calendar year as normal people do – is to submit once a week somewhere as I work on the memoir and novel. And I know what you are thinking. What about us? Your gentle readers who have expectations. You worry too much is my reply.

I am going to try to pass more of this kind of thing along. Not because I think I have all that many active writers among the readership but I read your blogs (those of you who have them) and think that some of you should think more about sharing your writing more widely.

Oh, have you read the awesomely written post my amazing husband wrote for me?

Bad Examples


Raising a child with the aim of her one day being someone that others will not shun is hard enough without the steady stream of adults in the world who behave in ways that would elicit cold, disapproving stares were it a child doing so. I read a lot and in the course of my reading, I’ve stumbled upon a plethora of anti-child rhetoric which would lead a person to believe that children should never be seen in public before they are school age and afterwards only as necessary until they are old enough to be put to work in the service sector.

The legions who believe that children are nuisances who should be barred from public eateries, air travel and shopping centers are quite vocal in their disdain and in their condemnation of the poor parenting skills of others.

What I don’t read a lot about is how the bad behavior of adults makes the world a difficult place for parents to raise decent children who don’t have a sense of entitlement and the manners of those raised by persons of questionable character and residence.

At the post office today, Dee and I were in line between two elderly women about the same age as my mother, who is in her late 70’s. Both were waiting on a frazzled counter person trying to juggle multiple customers while a horde of her co-workers ambled back and forth stage left with seemingly little to do but no interest in helping her deal with the increasing queue.

The first lady was there to pick up a registered letter and the contents of a post-office box only to discover she wasn’t on the list of those allowed to pick up mail from the box nor would she be allowed to sign for the letter because she didn’t have her i.d. on her.

“I’ve been picking up the mail here for 35 years,” she informed the postal worker with a tone that implied she should simply be catered to for longevity’s sake.

“Ma’am, these are the rules. They’ve been in place for over a year now, and I need you to take this form home to get it authorized by the box holder (her husband) and you’ll have to go get your i.d.”

And then followed the tantrum as more people lined up behind Dee and I, and my daughter watched this grandmother-type pitch a fit worthy of any two year old.

She stepped back to allow her friend behind her to mail a letter and then launched at the postal worker again before storming out and muttering loudly in the best imitation of a 16 year old girl I have ever seen.

“Now I’ll have to wait another half-hour in line,” she said to no one and everyone.

Of course, she didn’t wait in line. She waddled like a disgruntled duck out to her car while the woman behind the desk tried to attend to the two gentlemen she was helping previously, and when she came back she cut the entire line with her i.d. in hand. 

By now the postal worker clearly wanted this old woman gone, so she said nothing about the queue jumping – which is insanely bad form – and gave in to the woman’s demands that she be exempt from the rules because “I’ve been coming here for 35 years.”

I didn’t say anything. I have dealt with women like her often enough to know that they cannot be reasoned with nor can they be shamed into behaving decently. The line behind me was made up entirely of middle-aged men who were trying hard to pretend that they were not being held up by an aging pageant queen with entitlement issues.

Naturally, the instant she got her way she began purring like a kitten and was “please” and “thank-you” polite. When she turned and faced me for a moment, she smiled a bit and I averted my eyes. 

Afterwards I seized the teachable moment to point out the woman’s bad behavior and choices to Dee who was perplexed by the line cutting more than anything. Jumping queue is a supreme “don’t” among the elementary school crowd and one of the first rules they grasp and self-enforce.

I am tired of hearing about rampant hordes of unruly children when it is mainly adults I see in the public arena who shouldn’t be allowed out without supervision.

A Sunday at the Movies


Last weekend after dinner at BP’s, Rob and I engaged in that trailer park tradition of trolling the dvd bargain bins at our local crap peddling box store because we were too tired to make the drive to the suburbs and muster the inner reserves to deal with the Saturday nite hordes at the multiplex.

After rearranging two bins brimming with theatric cast-offs we settled on two of the $5 selections: Fever Pitch and In the Name of the King. We watched the former that night. It’s a remake of a British film starring Colin Firth that was adapted from a book of short stories by Nick Hornsby. I sorta wish we could have seen the original because this version, while cute and rom-comish, was predictable and even Drew Barrymore’s patent cuteness couldn’t spark any sort of believable chemistry with the Jimmy Fallon character. It did evoke memories of my late husband who was a professional sports team fanatic like Fallon’s character although Will lived and died for the Pittsburgh Steelers and the character in the film was a Red Sox fan. Here’s a peek at the Firth version:

One wouldn’t believe it but there is an upside to involvement with a lunatic pro-ball follower;  they are easy to buy presents for and a girl is always guaranteed time to do things her boyfriend/husband would have ruined with his petulance. In my case it was Sunday afternoons from September through December when I could wander bookstores or window shop or just curl up with a good book. Will always encouraged me to go out with girlfriends and couldn’t understand my preferring time off on my own, but he was almost incapable of being left to his own devices – something Dee has inherited, and Rob and I have worked hard to eradicate. My job plunked me in the thick of crowds of children and daily collaboration with other adults. I cherished any social decompression I could get and I learned to be alone in crowds or in public in order to facilitate recharging.

Last night we watched the second film, In the Name of the King, which turned out to be based on a video game. It was awful. How awful? Burt Reynolds was the King in question – ’nuff said.

I am not certain why video games need to be made less passive as entertainment by turning them into movies in the same way I am puzzled by the need to ruin perfectly good novels by filming them. There were a few interesting elements which a better writer (there were three listed in the credits – never a good sign), less cheesy CGI and better casting could have made more of, but the film was doomed from the opening.

I guessed most of the plot turns well before they happened and when Rob noted,

“This is just a bad knock-off of Lord of the Rings.”

I had to point out that “Everything is an inferior knock of Tolkien.” Which is why it was so easy to predict events well before they happened. It is curious though because there are certain elements that always show up and yet don’t make much sense:

1) The enemy army is always made up of subhumans.

2) The hero is fatherless but has male role models aplenty which makes one wonder – why not just give the kid a dad?

3) Women are mostly absent.

4) Power derived from ruling people/countries is less corrupting than the ability to work magic.

In the Name of the King might be a video game of worth (though I question the idea that video games are worthy of any amount of time), but it sucked as a movie. But as always, decide for yourself.