Messages from the Muse: An Ebook Hot off the Cyber Press

Messages from the Muse is a colorful inspiring ebook journal filled with quotes on writing, creativity and life. These quotes have become something of a tradition in my writing workshops and on my retreats. Every time someone reads, he or she "pulls a Muse." More often than not, the Muse is eerily on target: indeed, the message the person gets is a timely one.

I have turned these messages into an ebook so that you can be creative in your own use of them. Use the quotes as prompts or fill the pages with your creative ideas, hopes, dreams, fears, and successes.

Here are a few ideas of how to use these Messages from the Muse. I’m sure you’ll come up with ideas of your own.

• Run off the pages on brightly colored paper (mix in different colors for fun!) and put them together to make your own journal.

• Run off the pages on brightly colored paper, then cut off the quotes, fold them up and put them into a bowl, box or pouch, place it near where you work and when you are in need of inspiration, reach in an pick one.

If you come up with another idea of how to use Messages from the Muse, let me know and I’ll pass it here on the blog.

Remember, The Muse is always near. Speak to her now. Ask a question and then scroll through the pages. Don’t peek! Just wait until you sense the Muse nudging you.


Messages from the Muse:

Now a colorful, inspiring Ebook with over 100 great quotes on writing, creativity and the creative life! Only $5.95.

click to order: http://www.thefictionwritersjourney.com/Messages_from_the_Muse_ebook.htm

And coming soon! An ebook with Writing Prompts: Writing Prompts to Inspire the Creative Writer, Open Doors to New Characters and Deepen the Writer's Process, by Emily Hanlon

Using Your Own Life Material for Writing Fiction

Do you think your life is too dull, normal and ordinary to be the makings of a good story.
Not true!
Scratch any person and you will find a fascinating story.
One of the main problems with using our own life stories is that we get stuck in the so-called
"Truth". What is truth when it comes to memory?
In fact, different people's view of the same situation makes fascinating story telling.

Here's an exercise:
Take an incident from your life, or make up an incident. It doesn't matter.
Give it juice by making it an argument or fight.
Write it first from one character's point of view.
Then when that is written, put the story aside and begin all over. But this time write the story from the other character's point of view. It will be totally different story and tell you a lot about motivation.

This is a great exerciser and a big eye opener.
If you want to see a movie that uses this premise superbly, watch Kurawasa's masterpiece, Rashomon. It is an amazing movie in so many ways. If you think you don't understand the technique of point of view or want to see it in action, watch the movie.

Moving Out of Hibernation

We all go into hibernation from time to time. Below is an excerpt from a personal essay by Susan Parker that I feel explores this "hibernation" so well. One does not need to be in deep hibernation to have this resonate. Sometimes, we have just been hibernating from our writing and creativity too long.

Arrested Development

by Susan Parker

I’ve just returned from Borders with a bundle of books. This time I’m poking into some classics, in addition to “Love Your Life”, “Get There from Here” and the usual panoply of self-help books intended to motivate me from this inertia of unemployment and isolation. Only a week ago I combed a similar bookstore and concluded there was nothing I wanted to read. I take this as a good sign.

Something has definitely changed. I actually feel myself reaching out. And I know that I may not know how to get there from here, but I know I don’t want to stay here anymore. The phone is not ringing; my world is too quiet. My friends are gone. There hasn’t been a romantic entanglement in a long time. My beloved dog has died and after a year of myself, I feel oddly at peace.

But I miss people. I miss having a life. I no longer want to run away or move to a place where no one knows me and I can start over. I no longer think that is the answer to where I’m at. Nor do I want to immerse myself in some workaholic haven. I just want to get on with living somewhere outside the confines of my own mind. And maybe wanting to read books again is a first step.


Whether it is small interactions with people in line at the checkout counter or reading other people’s postings on the internet, I feel myself wanting to reach out. I’ve grown tired of the sticky goo surrounding me in my own cocoon. I need a way back into the world. The cocoon is no longer warm and cozy; it feels confining. My beautiful butterfly wings are crumpled and they want to break out, but I’m not sure if I can fly. I am certain that my colors are beautiful though, even if my wings are a bit wrinkled at the moment.

Please do not reprint this without permission.

To add your own feelings, click on "comments" below

Are you always writing the same types of characters? Try someone new in your fiction writing!

Try someone new in your fiction writing!

Are you continually writing from points of view of people who are very recognizable to you or with whom you feel very much at home?
If so, it's time to change! Rattle things up a bit in your creative landscape.
Here are some thoughts which may or may not seem outrageous to you:

Write from the point of view of:

a thief
a woman giving birth
a man who is dying
a medieval crusader
a teenager who is being pressured to take drugs
a teenager who is being pressured to have sex before he or she is ready
a wise old dog
a woman condemned to burn at the stake as a witch
a child in the midst of war who finds herself lost without parents.
a interrogator of the enemy during war time
a man or woman who has visions but isn't crazy

these just came to my mind.
Do you have any ideas?
Click "comment" below and share your new and never before considered characters!

From Writer's Digest...

PERSONAL WRITING SOUND OFF

Has anyone ever read your journal without permission? If so, what was the outcome?
E-mail your response to writersdig@fwpubs.com with "journal" in the subject line. Please limit your response to 100 words or fewer and include your full name, city, state and e-mail address. Contributions may be chosen for an upcoming issue of Personal Writing.

Submissions possibilities from Poets & Writers

This information thanks to the newsletter of Marilyn Day and Womanwords:


ENOPOETICA: A Collection of Poems Inspired by Wine, seeks submissions. Poems must refer to wine. Deadline: May 1. Please send best work to Jen Karetnick, Editor, P.O. Box 530096, Miami Shores, FL 33153-0096. No electronic submissions. Inquiries only via e-mail at Kavetchnik@aol.com.

FARMING POEMS (not titled yet); And the Color of It Is... Ohio childhood poems (place/characters/objects); Reeds (music, baskets); One Moment Please (telephone poems) to Pudding House, 81 Shadymere Lane, Columbus, OH 43213. The largest literary small press in America. Guidelines: www.puddinghouse.com.

NO HUMAN IS ILLEGAL. Since 1997, over 5,000 Latin American migrants have died for the "crime" of attempting to provide a decent life for their families. An immoral and failed US government policy has forced these crossers into desert corridors of death. Seeking poems on this tragic situation and related border/immigration topics. Contact James Sullivan, P.O. Box 43292, Tucson, AZ 85733 or jimsull@dakotacom.net.

SEEKING SUCCOR: Poems wanted for anthology. Poem must have useable "comfort food" recipe embedded in it and pass muster in the kitchen as well as demonstrate superior literary merit. Payment in copies and calories. Deadline: April 1. Send each poem as individual attachment, including contact info in E-message: MorningWalks@aol.com.

SEEING well-crafted poems, fiction, essays for an anthology on approaching/experiencing age 60. Submit 3 copies with SASE/E-mail address for notification. Manuscripts not returned. Deadline: July 1. Send to Cortney Davis, P.O. Box 678, Redding, CT 06896-0678.

SUBMISSION CALL. Poetry anthology. Theme: Organized religion and its effect on the political climate; personal, social & family life. Deadline: November 24. Two pieces. Send 4 pieces (poetry only); 2 pieces should be 30 lines or fewer; no limit on the other 2. Send 4 pieces with SASE to Tribes, 285 E. 3rd St., NY, NY 10009. Email address chavisaw@yahoo.com.

TALL GRASS PRESS is accepting nonfiction manuscripts in the following categories: women's issues, environmental studies, social commentary; contemporary culture, living simply. Send queries to P.O. Box 14036, Portland, OR 97293. Web: www.tallgrass.com.

BALLYHOO STORIES is seeking entries with the states of Maine, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Connecticut and Pennsylvania as either the setting or the subject for its online 50 States anthology. States will remain open until a suitable piece is found; however, the deadline for the next reading period is February 28. Please e-mail your story to fiftystates@ballyhoostories.com. To read our Vermont and New York entries, visit www.ballyhoostories.com.

THE SARANAC REVIEW welcomes submissions of quality poetry and fiction from new and established writers for its Spring/Winter 2006 inaugural issue. Send manuscript, SASE and cover letter (7 pages poetry, 20 pages fiction, multiple submissions accepted) to Saranac Review, English Dept., CVH, SUNY Plattsburgh, 101 Broad St., Plattsburgh, NY 12901.

STEAM TICKET seeks quality fiction, poetry, and essays. Also photos and drawings to appear in b&w. SASE, brief bio. No staples please. Words: 3000 max. Deadline: April 4. Payment: 1 copy. Samples: $5. Send to Robert Treu, English, Steam Ticket, University of Wisconsin, La Crosse, WI 54601.

Fact vs Fiction for the Fiction Writer

"By the time the imagination is finished with fact,
believe me, it bears no resemblance to the fact."

~ Philip Roth

Facts are pretty much unimportant to the fiction writer.
It is the emotion behind the facts or "truth" that is the
fiction writer's holy grail. It is emotion, not facts that makes us human.

Point of View in Fiction Writing

Are you continually writing from points of view of people who are very recognizable to you or with whom you feel very much at home?
If so, it's time to change! Rattle things up a bit in your creative landscape.
Here are some thoughts which may or may not seem outrageous to you:

Write from the point of view of:

a thief
a woman giving birth
a man who is dying
a medieval crusader
a teenager who is being pressured to take drugs
a teenager who is being pressured to have sex before he or she is ready
a wise old dog
a woman condemned to burn at the stake as a witch
a child in the midst of war who finds herself lost without parents.
a interrogator of the enemy during war time
a man or woman who has visions but isn't crazy

these just came to my mind.
Do you have any ideas?
Click "comment" below and share your new and never before considered characters!

On Emotion and Sentimentality in Writing

I came upon this in my reading recently. It is by the author, Anne Bernays:

"Too many writers avoid their own strongest feelings because they are afraid of them, or because they are afraid of being sentimental. Yet these are the very things that will make beginning work ring true and affect us. Your sotries have to matter to you the writer before they can matter to the reader; your story has to affect you before it can affect us. William Kittredge says, 'If you are not risking sentimentality, you are not close to your inner self.'"

Here's an exercise you might want to do:
Think about what strong feeling you think you would never write about.
Name the feeling, the emotion.
Then begin to write why you are afraid of that emotion.
Then close your eyes and think of an incident in your life where that emotion
seemed to betray you?
Write the memory but in a particular way. First, give the person in your memory/story
a name other than yours. Then tell yourself that you are not telling this story -- your new
character is. Let the character be the opposite sex from you, if you want. Then ask your character to write the memory, but remember -- this is no longer only your memory. It belongs to your character. Let the memory shapeshift however your new character wants it to shapeshift.

Write fiction!

What Does Your Inner Critic Sound Like?

Let’s look at ways the Inner Critic blocks and confounds your writing. He may insist you produce an outline before you begin to write. Or he may insist you write only from your own life because, "How can you write about what you don’t know?" Orhe might have you spending hours trying to find the right word, or shifting around sentences until you find yourself in a quagmire of grammar, thesaurus page-turning and general frustration.

You know the Inner Critic is at work when you look at the clock and discover you’ve spent an hour on a single paragraph, worse a single sentence, and the computer screen is mostly blank or the page is so scribbled on and crossed out and torn from erasing, you can’t read it anyway. That’s the moment when you throw up your hands or crumble your page into a ball or press the delete button thinking, "Who am I to think I can write? I can’t even find the right word. I’d do better going to Adult Ed and taking a grammar course. God, I’m stupid!"

The good news is that’s not all of you talking; but it is a loud part of you. After being with you most of your life, you’d better believe your Inner Critic knows how to push all your buttons.

Learning to identify your Inner Critic and his or her negative put downs is the first step to taking away its power. Remember, too, that the Inner Critic isn't always yelling and screaming. Sometimes its voice is very subtle, which makes it all the more insidious.

If you've never thought about how your Inner Critic undermines your writing and creativity, think about it and then make a list of the negative thoughts you have about your writing. They're not coming from your Inner Writer, that much I can promise you!

A TeleSeminar

Alternative, Holistic Psychology TeleSeminars
Learn Healthy Ways to Tame Your Inner Critic & Find Your Unique Voice

The Center for the New Psychology, Director, Dr. Doris Jeanette, licensed psychologist has helped people tame their inner critic for thirty years. As Jean Houston, Ph.D., noted, "Doris Jeanette has dared to live at her edges, fall off the map of her known world, and come back with the means to tame monsters."

On the phone, in the comfort of your home, you can learn how to use your creative mind, open your heart and write your truths -- in spite of the "Inner Critic."

"How to Use Your Creative Mind for Fun, Profit and Health." February 10, 7:00, PM. Doris Jeanette will interview Jennie Catherine, author of Conversing With the Future, Visions of 2020. Jenna gets paid to "read" stocks for a fund manager, you can learn how she does it and apply it to your own needs and desires, such as your writing!! Learn how to use your mind to manifest your desires instead of fears. Jenna will teach you how to put your awareness in the most amazing places.

Learn to:
Tell the Future Movements of Stocks or Any Other Energy!!
Tell the Difference Between Your Beliefs and Outside Data
Use You Mind to Observe the Health of Your Body and Your Energy Field
Find and Listen to Your Higher Self
Use the Power of Your Future Self to Improve Self Esteem and Gain Self Confidence
Do Quick Exercises that Give You Helpful Information that Might Even Save Your Life.

Sign up for Jenna's teleseminar at www.drjeanette.com/teleseminars.htmlMarch 24th, 7:00 PM Eastern, Dr. Doris Jeanette will teach you how to, " Eliminate the Two Ugly Sisters, Guilt and Judgment from Your Life so You Can Be Cinderella!"

For more about this workshops visit. www.drjeanette.com/teleseminars.html.
Dr. Doris Jeanettewww.drjeanette.com215-732-6197503 S. 21 St. Phil. PA 19146

Sex and Love Columnist, Author of audio material, A Natural Process for Opening the Heart, which shows people how to achieve emotional health, highly praised by the late Elisabeth Kubler-Ross, MD. Additional CD's: "Healthy Ways to Reduce Anxiety" and "Healthy Ways to Reduce Depression."

An instant

by Celeste Regal

An interlude may present itself
silent like a cat between the sheets of eternity
and your day job

Hear it
quiet like the rain on a balmy summer evening

Before you turn your life back on
listen to the breeze between the rose petals and the fence
for that moment when the horizon withdraws

See it
let the world become a frozen image
wild Laocoon, hear me now
we've only this second before the drama
begins again

Publishing News...

A former student, Lisa Mannetti, has her short story, The Ghost or the Hammer published in the anthology, Hell Hath No Fury, edited by L. Marie Wood.

Lisa is a horror writer and writes very scary stuff!!!

To read a bit about each contributor, click here:

http://www.lmariewood.com/editmain.htm#hell

To visit the publisher, Cyberpulp Press:

http://www.cyberpulpbooks.com/

To order a copy directly (each contributor shares royalties) click here:

http://www.lulu.com/content/89517

It's listed as: Hell Hath No Fury by L. Marie Wood

Images and the Fiction Writer

I've been thinking lately about the power of symbol and images in writing and how they take us into the greater mystery of life and human relationship. The best images seem to resonate in the timeless zones of the psyche and with archetypical yearnings. For images to work for ourselves as writers and for our readers, they don't need a lot of explanation. Remember show don't tell! In fact, once we explain images, they cease to live in the realm of the mysterious and thus lose their fire. The most potent images for the writer come from the unconscious and point us toward something we probably (hopefully) do not fully understand.

I think that as writers images "come to us". They are gifted to us in some ineffable way and then it's our job as writers to embrace them. We need not understand them at first. But if they hold mystery for us, they will great guiding lights.

Practice Contentment with Your Writing

All too often we are critical of not only our writing but also how well (or badly) we used our writing time. I have a suggestion. No matter how long you sit down to write, no matter how much or how little you write, no matter how "good" or "bad" you deem it, congratulate yourself and your Inner Writer for the time spent.

All time spent writing is good time.

"There's nothing either good or bad but thinking makes it so."
~William Shakespeare

For the Writer -- On Understanding Oneself and the Process

The Bud
by Galway Kinnell

The bud
stands for all things,
even those that don't flower,
for everything flowers, from within, of self-blessing;
though sometimes it is necessary
to reach a thing its loveliness,
to put a hand on its brow
of the flower
and retell it in words and in touch
it is lovely
until it flowers again from within, of self blessing.

Wow, I'm Impressed!

I was on Amazon today and thought, for the fun of it, to look up my novel, Petersburg.
It is an historical novel set against the Russian Revolution of 1905.

Under reviews by readers, this is what I found.

Customer Reviews
Avg. Customer Review:
Write an online review and share your thoughts with other customers.

Outstanding, August 29, 2003
Reviewer: Susan F Willnus (New Russia, NY USA) - See all my reviews
This is perhaps the best book I have ever read. It is a major accomplishment and I'm amazed that it hasn't received tons of literary awards. Hanlon's use of dialogue along with the flow and rhythm of the writing is just outstanding. Never before have I had such a clear sense of living in this historic time. Hopefully this book won't be lost in obscurity. It would make such an incredible movie.



A Total Must Read, September 23, 2002
Reviewer: A reader
I found this book a total thrill from start to finish and was totally gutted when it came to and end. I took myself there and lived the book, which had the most unpredictable story lines and characters you couldn't stop yourself loving or hating. I could almost feel the snow crunching beneath my feet. This novel had everything, i simply could not put it down. I can only hope and pray that one day it will make it to the big screens, it would be magnifcant.



Timeless passions..., June 22, 2001
Reviewer: A reader
They are a new social class in old Russia: the wealthy industrialists, who inhabit the glittering turn-of-the-century city of Petersburg. Torn between their loyalty to the Czar and their own peasant roots, they are about to ignite a revolution that will change the world forever...
At the center of the tumult is Alexei Kalinin, a self-made railroad tycoon who is fighting to overthrow the monoarchy. Alexei is in love with Anna Orlov, a gifted young pianist whose connection to Alexei will thrust her into the bloody events as they unfold. Alexei's pacifist nephew Misha escapes his abusive father only to land in the middle of the violence. And Misha's tutor, the proud and sensuous Irina Rantzau, renounces her aristocratic background to stand up for her revolutionary ideas.

Powerful passions catapult all four into a strange new world, where the sweep of history will force them to make grave choices-for their country and for themselves.

from back of book.



Petersburg, a sweeping historical novel of love and betrayal, June 13, 2000
Reviewer: A reader
I found Petersburg to be a real pageturner. I was completely hooked by the plot, couldn't figure out what was coming next, fell totally in love with the characters whom I found breathtakinly real! I felt as if I was really in turn of the century Russia and as an afficionado of Russian history, I was impressed with the historical accuracy of the major events. The love stories were passionate and moving and the scenes of revolution bounced off the page. If you like historical fiction, this is a real winner.

If you'd like to explore and purchase Petersburg, you can go to the pages on my website

http://www.thefictionwritersjourney.com/petersburg_reviews.htm

Are you a Screen Play Writer?

This just in from www.inktip.com

We are very pleased to announce our 18th film to go into production in the last 24 months!Writers consistently and routinely get discovered through Inktip.com!!Terence O'Keefe of Vanguard Productions was in need of a script and turned to InkTip.com, where he discovered writer Tom Alexander's 'Dead Rail'. Principal photography began in December of 2004. Terence M. O'keefe, Scott Vandiver and Steve Beswick are producing, with Turi Meyer directing. 'Dead Rail' stars Lou Diamond Phillips and Corbin Bernsen. So far, that brings us to a total of 19 films made from scripts or writers found through our network! And more to come!Increase your odds of success by placing your scripts on InkTip.com, subscribing to our Preferred Newsletter and getting pitches for your screenplays in our Players Marketplace.Please register as a writer to take advantage.

Go to: http://www.inktip.com/writer-register1.php

Thanks,

Jerrol

A Writing Prompt for a Monday Morning!

I remember the first time I held my baby girl in my arms. I remember it like the most perfect snapshot in my mind–the little body propped up against my bent legs. Looking at all that newborn sweetness and smoothness. So pretty, it makes me ache. All that innocence and promise. So I kept that snapshot, and I think back on it at times like this when…


Here are some questions before you begin to write:

Who is remembering?
What is making her recall this moment?
Has something happened to her daughter?
Has something happened to the character?
How old is the character?
How old is the daughter?
Are they estranged?

What other questions come to your mind?

Alternately, don't conjure any questions. Just copy the prompt and begin to write.
Have fun!

ps. If you like what you've written, why not click on comments and post it here on the blog!
You can also post any feelings or thoughts you have about the prompts... what questions you formulated. What feelings the prompt brought up... how you felt writing it...

Why is it that....

we can garden, play sports, exercise, do crafts ... and often do these things with great passion and work hard to excel ... and never feel badly because we are not recognized for our achievement -- but when it comes to our writing, if we don't gain recognition, we feel like a failure?

It is so peculiar -- more than peculiar -- it can be devasting -- that we give away our pleasure and our passion, the great inner journey, the great gift of being a writer, because "someone" (who?????) doesn't recognize our work.

I myself too often fall victim to seeing myself as a failure because my book doesn't sell or there is some other "rejection". Yet I know in my heart, in the deepest, truest part of myself, that being a writer is something I am and that the "outer" world can not give or take away my gift.

The greatest joy of writing, is writing.

"No one can make you feel inferior without your consent."
Eleanor Roosevelt

Let's hear your feelings on this crucial delimna for the writer!


Add your comment but clicking "comment" below.

If At First You Don't Succeed... A Writer's Success Story

This from The Author's Guild Bullettin of the Fall 2004

The way Novelist Karen Joy Fowler, 54, tells it, she went to a rading at a bookstore in Corte Madera, CA, and saw a sign that said, "The Jane Austen Book Club." She is a big Austen fan and was thrilled because she thought there was a book of that title. When it turned out there was no such book, "it occurred to me I could write the book I wanted to buy."

She did, and the book, according to the NY Times, is "one of the season's surprise publishing successes." This fourth novel by Fowler hit the best seller's lists.

Fowler was 30 when she decided she wanted to become a writer so she could be at home with her children. In 1980 she joined a peer writing group.

Her first novel, Sarah Canary, was published in 1991. It was accepted by Henry Holt after 27 rejections. Fowler continues with the writing workshop although her fame has exceeded that of its other members. She said, "I was not the most talented, not the most hard working, not the one to whom writing mattered most."

I succeeded because I was the toughest."

The Gypsy Dances: A Series for the Creative Writer, Last Installment

I was going to post one final installment of The Gypsy Dances, but upon review, I saw that the exercise make no sense out of the context of the book from which it is taken. Sorry! However, if you like this series (starting on Dec. 27) and want to explore your writing process in more detail, please go to The Art of Fiction Writing, by Emily Hanlon. This is a fun, unique and inexpensive way to have a personalized course in fiction writing. The exercises and work of the book is actual work I do with people who come to me in private sessions and in workshops. I wrote the book -- a workbook, actually -- to make it seem as if we were working together. Which is why I have also added two audio tapes that are made up of five different journeys that deepen the work of the book.

The Art of Fiction Writing
http://www.thefictionwritersjourney.com/A_book_on_writing.htm

Some Writing Contents, Fiction, Essay and Poetry

Dear Emily,
I thought your readers might be interested in these contests we're working with. Please let me know if you have any questions.

Best,Adam Cohen
WinningWriters.com adam@winningwriters.com

TOM HOWARD/JOHN H. REID SHORT STORY CONTESTPrizes of $1,000, $500, $250 will be awarded, plus four Publication Royalty Awards of $150 and three Encouragement Awards of $75 each. Winning entries will be published. Submit any type of short story, essay or other work of prose, up to 8,000 words. You may submit work that has been published or won prizes elsewhere, as long as you own the anthology and online publication rights. $10 entry fee, payable to Winning Writers. Postmark deadline: March 31. Judge: Tom Howard. Submit online or mail to Winning Writers, Attn: Tom Howard Short Story Contest, 351 Pleasant Street, PMB 222, Northampton, MA 01060.
More information:http://www.winningwriters.com/tomstory.htm

WERGLE FLOMP POETRY CONTEST - NO FEEPrizes of $1,190, $169, $60 and 5 honorable mentions of $38 each. No fee to enter. A humor contest with a special twist. Judge: Jendi Reiter. Deadline: April 1. Submit one poem online at: http://www.winningwriters.com/contestflomp.htmWAR POETRY CONTESTPrizes of $1,500, $500, $250 and 10 honorable mentions of $75 each. Submit 1-3 original, unpublished poems on the theme of war, up to 500 lines in all. $12 entry fee, payable to Winning Writers. Postmark deadline: May 31. Judge: Jendi Reiter. Submit online or mail to Winning Writers, Attn: War Poetry Contest, 351 Pleasant Street, PMB 222, Northampton, MA 01060. More information: http://www.winningwriters.com/annualcontest.htm

MARGARET REID POETRY CONTEST FOR TRADITIONAL VERSEPrizes of $1,000, $400, $200, plus four Encouragement Awards of $100 each. Winning entries will be published. Submit poems in traditional verse forms, such as sonnets and haiku. You may submit work that has been published or won prizes elsewhere, as long as you own the anthology and online publication rights. Entry fee is $5 for every 25 lines, payable to Winning Writers. Postmark deadline: June 30. Judge: John H. Reid. Submit online or mail to Winning Writers, Attn: Margaret Reid Poetry Contest, 351 Pleasant Street, PMB 222, Northampton, MA 01060. More information:http://www.winningwriters.com/margaret.htm

TOM HOWARD/JOHN H. REID POETRY CONTESTPrizes of $1,000, $400, $200, plus four Encouragement Awards of $100 each. Winning entries will be published. Submit poems in any style or genre. You may submit work that has been published or won prizes elsewhere, as long as you own the anthology and online publication rights. Entry fee is $5 for every 25 lines, payable to Winning Writers. Postmark deadline: September 30. Judge: Tom Howard. Submit online or mail to Winning Writers, Attn: Tom Howard Poetry Contest, 351 Pleasant Street, PMB 222, Northampton, MA 01060. More information:http://www.winningwriters.com/tompoetry.htm

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

If you like this blog -- and I hope you do -- please nominate it at an upcoming Writer's Digest special publication. This is what they're looking for: "A few good blogs to highlight in our upcoming Writers Digest special publication, Personal Writing. If you know of a writer’s blog that's particularly well-written—send us an e-mail. It may appear in an upcoming issue of Personal Writing. Please send an e-mail nomination, along with a brief explanation of why you think this blog is exceptional, with "blog" in the subject line to: writersdig@fwpubs.com

I'd appreciate a vote for the blog of the The Fiction Writer's Journey: http://www.thefictionwritersjourney.com/archives/blog.html

Many thanks!
Emily

Ten New Year's Resolutions for Writers

In going through the blog, I found this entry on Dec. 30, 2003 and thought it worthy of repeating -- with a few updates and additions!

1. I write for the joy of writing

2. I ban my Inner Critic from my writing room each time I sit down to write.

3. I remember that first draft writing is filled with rich, uncovered gems.

4. I do not expect my first or second or third draft to be perfect. In fact, I question if perfection is a worthy goal in any creative endeavor. In it's place, I put expectancy.

5. I expect the unexpected in my writing.

6. I love my writing.

7. I remember that writing comes from my heart and my gut not my head!

8. I remember I am a writer always and no one can take that away from me.

9. I take my Inner Writer out for a date at least once a month.

10. I share my works in process only with those people who understand that the creative process and hence my writing is a fragile endeavor and one that needs love and encouragement in order to flower. I do not share my work in progress with those who critique wisely, not criticize flagrantly.

A Message from the Muse by James Kavanaugh

"There is no failure for one unafraid to be herself,no defeat for one who does what he can without sacrificing the private rhythm of her being,a rhythm created over centuries and shared with life itself."

Best Wishes for a happy, abundant and creative 2005!

Emily

Erma Bombeck Writing Competition

The ninth annual Erma Bombeck Writing Competition is open for entries. Last year's competition, sponsored byWashington-Centerville Public Library and the University of Dayton, drew more than 1,200 entries from 48 states and 19 countries. You can enter this year's contest between nowand Feb. 18, 2005 (midnight, EST). There is a limit of one entry per person. Entries must be submitted using the contest's online form --http://alumni.udayton.edu/rd.asp?cd=2005Contest&rf=email

There is no entry fee. One Dayton, Ohio-area winner and one global winner will be awarded a $100 cash prize in each category: (1) humor and (2) human interest.

Essays should be 450 words or fewer and can be previously unpublished or published since Jan. 1, 2004. The Washington-CentervillePublic Library reserves the non-exclusive right to publish the winning entries.

Complete contest details can be found at http://alumni.udayton.edu/rd.asp?cd=ContestMain&rf=email
Guidelines are also available by calling the competition info line at (937) 435-7375, extension 457. MAIN CONTEST PAGE: http://alumni.udayton.edu/rd.asp?cd=ContestMain&rf=email
ENTRY FORM: http://alumni.udayton.edu/rd.asp?cd=2005Contest&rf=email

Some Places to Send Articles and More News...

This listing has been taken from Firstwriter.com's newsletter. It's a very good site for all sorts of information for writers, such as writing contests, literary agents, magazine publishers and more. firstwriter.com.

Mystery magazine reopens
Online mystery magazine, Mysterical-E, is accepting submissions again after being taken over by Joe DeMarco. "As a writer, I'm thrilled to be able to save this publication and maintain it as a market for writers new and established", writes Joe, who is now accepting submissions of fiction, nonfiction, interviews and reviews for the first issue of the rejuvenated magazine, which is due to be released in January / February 2005.
Interested writers can get more details on how and what to submit from a temporary page on the website at www.mystericale.com.
For details of more than 400 other magazines click here.

Comedy sketches needed
Ex-pat comedy group Axarcomedy is seeking comedy sketches from writers around the world, submitted via the internet. Chosen sketches will be performed in the group's new monthly show, "Virtually Hilarious", on the Costa del Sol in 2005. The show will be recorded and a downloadable version will be available on the group's website, allowing writers to see their work performed, and the audience's reaction to it.
For further details click here or email Steven Primrose-Smith.

Submissions needed for charity anthology
Charity anthology The Book of Hopes and Dreams is reminding writers of its call for submissions of quality poetry, prose, short stories, true stories, articles and artwork carrying a message of hope by June 30, 2005.
The anthology will raise money for Spirit Aid, working to bring educational and medical aid to the people of Afghanistan.
The anthology is intended to be a mix of big names and up-and-coming or unknown writers and artists. Contributions have already been secured from award-winning novelist Alasdair Gray, and poets Edwin Morgan and John Heath-Stubbs.
The organisers welcome your submissions. If you have any contact with famous writers or artists they would also appreciate passing on the message of this good cause to them.
All submissions should be sent to: Dee Rimbaud, 7 Lothian Gardens (0/1), Glasgow, G20 6BN, Scotland, United Kingdom.Please include a self-addressed envelope with your submission, with either UK stamps or two International Reply Coupons. Alternatively, if you have email, include your email address. Full submission guidelines are available at: www.thunderburst.co.uk

Free advertising for authors
A new adaptation to website traffic exchanges, NewBookList.com provides a source for all writers, authors and book related promotional subjects to reach more of the kind of people who are most likely to respond.
Packed with worthwhile help from noted professionals, NewBookList.com randomly rotates your book or publication's website for fifteen seconds and provides the means to build up viewing credits.
Best of all, NewBookList.com is clean of all unrelated advertising. Dedicated exclusively to authors and their works as well as helpful links and sources for promoting good books.

The Gypsy Dances: A Series for the Creative Writer, Part 4

This series on The Gypsy Dances begins on Dec. 27.

They Gypsy Dances: Scenes from Mary Jane Taxter's Novel

"I don’t see why you had to bring her," Two Ponies hissed. "I don’t see why you need anyone, or ever needed anyone but me," she finished with a toss of her head. Folding her arms across her naked breasts, she glared first at Grandmother and then at Evelyn. She lifted her arms to the sky and let her head fall back so that her hair nearly touched the ground. "Ei-yie!" she cried.

"What is she compared to me!"

Stunned, Evelyn knew she had met the woman in her dreams, the woman in the woods.
Two Ponies’ breath was slow and deep, causing her breasts to rise and stiffen with the passion of her jealousy. Her hips moved sinuously as she closed the distance between herself and Evelyn. She stretched first one arm and then the other, her hands opening and closing, reaching for Evelyn like the mouth of a many-tongued snake.

At first Evelyn turned to run, but she looked back over her shoulder and saw her Grandmother and she knew she had to stay. "No!" she cried, turning back to face Two Ponies. "No," she said again, more quietly this time, her body responding to the challenge of Two Ponies’ dance with movements of its own. Movements she had not known she knew.

She ran her fingers through her hair, freeing it from the braids that held it tame, and shook her wild curls loose. She unbuttoned the front of her dress, slipped her arms from the sleeves that she let hang empty at her waist. She removed the camisole that covered her breasts and waves of delight coursed through her as the air caressed them.

Raising her arms as Two Ponies had done, she sang to the sky, "This I have and more. This . . ." She pressed both hands to her head. "And this . . ." She placed both hands over her heart. "And this . . ." She ran her hands down either side of her body. All the while, she swayed; her feet beat the earth to the rhythm of her heart and a fire built in her soul.

Two Ponies made a snakelike sound through her teeth and her feet moved wildly; her body twisted and turned; wilder and wilder she danced, now baring her teeth, now tossing her head in a frenzy of laughter that sent shivers down Evelyn’s spine and raised the level of her own passion. And Evelyn matched Two Ponies move for move. Faster and faster. She couldn’t have stopped even if she wanted to. Soon her own laughter filled the air. Her anger, her fear, turned into pure pleasure as her feet flew lightly across the ground and her body spun. She was lost in the dance, and strangely she felt a lightening in Two Ponies as well. Her parted lips seemed less threatening, her laughter less mad.

Evelyn was only vaguely aware that Grandmother had joined them, her own chest now bared, her own hair loosened and her body moving to its own wild rhythm. The three of them danced, alone but together; Evelyn felt herself swept up by their flow, and she couldn’t believe it when, exhausted, she fell breathlessly from the circle. The older women continued, seeming not to notice she was no longer with them. She sat on the ground, leaned against a tree and watched. True, Two Ponies’ leaps were higher and more energetic than Grandmother’s, but for all her softness and fleshiness, Grandmother was holding her own.

The women now seemed to have entered into some kind of contest of their own, one which, Evelyn felt certain, they had engaged in many times before. As they circled, drawing now closer, now back, their eyes held, communicated their exclusive intimacy. And Evelyn felt an ache in her heart, an emptiness, a yearning: This was something that belonged to Grandmother and Two Ponies only; this was something she could not hope to share.

Part 5: Calling Forth Your Gypsy: Coming soon!

If you are enjoying this series, you can explore your own inner journey as a creative writer in Emily's workbook, called The Art of Ficiton Writing or How to Fall Down the Rabbit Hole Without Really Trying. This series on The Gypsy Dances is excerpted from The Art of Fiction Writing. To order, click here.

A Thought for the New Year

During my yoga class yesterday, my teacher guided us to our heart center and asked us to use our heart mind instead of our head mind. The thought made me think of so many of us creative writers, myself included, who all too often become misguided by the desires of the head mind instead of the heart mind. Our truest, deepest, most passionate writing arises from the heart and the fire in the belly. This is where the passion lies.

So on this first day of 2005, I suggest that when you think about your writing and sit down to write, you listen first to your heart mind, the home of your Inner Writer. The head mind is too often too loud and too talkative. Give your heart mind a chance.

Best wishes for a wildly creative and abundant 2005!

Emily