writing contests

Writers of the Future Honorable Mention

I found out a couple weeks ago that a short story I entered into the Writers of the Future contest received an honorable mention. According to the judges, that means it held their interest enough to read the entire thing — which is a compliment, considering that the story was about

books

Dark Crystal Author Quest - Done!

My goal was to get my Dark Crystal Authorquest submission turned in before Christmas, and I met that goal at 7:10 pm last night. It feels good to know that now it’s out of my hands. When I got the confirmation message from the Jim Henson Company (and

Authorquest

The Only Cure for Writer's Block? Writing.

When I teach writing, I always tell people that the only cure for writer’s block is writing. Now it’s time for me to buck up and follow my own advice. I’ve read all the Dark Crystal books I can get my hands on, cover-to-cover, poring over the

call for submissions

The Dark Crystal Authorquest and Writing on Assignment

A few weeks ago, I decided that I needed to put my Rapunzel novel on hold so that I could wrap up a few other fiction projects. The first was my Rumpled ebook. The second is entering a submission in The Dark Crystal Authorquest contest. I found out about the

Catholicism

Tuscany Prize Winner - Free E-book!

Hey, folks! Do you remember many moons ago when I entered the Tuscany Press contest for Catholic fiction? Although my manuscript was retained (and later rejected) for their young adult fiction startup, I did not win any of the prizes. But now you can all check out who did! For

blogging

Ever This Day on Tuscany Press Prize Blog

An excerpt from my middle-grade/young adult novel, Ever This Day, is currently posted on the Tuscany Press Prize Blog. It received an encouraging response from the judge/reader. Stop by, check it out, and maybe even say something nice about it. 🙂 While you’re there, read some of the

article writing

Write Like It's Work

I’ve often heard the advice that you need to treat your writing like a “real job” even before you’re published. That means you show up on time. You don’t skip days. You prioritize it over TV, or doing the dishes, or playing with the cat. To take

freelancing

Finish What You Start

On the Belbin Team Inventory, I score as the Finisher. This may be why I haven’t often fallen into the trap that snags many writers, of starting multiple projects but finishing none of them. That is, I haven’t fallen into that trap until … lately, when I’m in

poetry

Snow Days and Writing

Snow days are so good for writing. Being snowed in today reminded me of living in Duluth, and the time I was snowed in my apartment for two days in a row. My room-mate was in India, missing the only blizzard we got that year. I was working on the

editing

Up to My Eyeballs

My status over at gmail, which is where I keep my “freelance/writing” account, claims that I’m “up to my eyeballs in writing projects.” And the end of the year certainly is a busy time for writers, but now that we’re on the last day of November, I’

NaNoWriMo

I Have a Plan!

So, I’ve made my decision: I’m not going to do NaNoWriMo this year. I don’t want to abandon my revisions of ETD when I have good momentum going, especially since I want to have it ready to submit to Delacorte Press’s Young Adult Novel contest, which

follow-up Fridays

Follow-up Friday

I missed the boat on last week’s Follow-up Friday due to pulling an all-nighter on Thursday and using the remaining time after I woke up on Friday to prepare for the arrival of houseguests. You could say I finally cleared the “follow-up” list on putting the house in order,

Uncategorized

Win a Professional Novel Critique

So, I’ve come to terms with the fact that my current novel won’t, in fact, be ready this year for Delacorte Press’s Young Adult Novel Contest. I didn’t expect the plot to take such a different course during the rewrite, so I feel as though over

publishing opportunities

It looks like Delacorte Press is holding their young adult novel contest this year after all. It’s a good thing I finally started writing again today. Also, the WeBook Poetry Contest is now open for judging. I got an email from them today congratulating me on entering the contest.

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If you can't be the best, why not be the worst?

A friend recently sent me the winning entry of this year’s Bulwer-Lytton fiction contest. The contest calls for literary parodies and gives an award for the most poorly written opener to a (possibly non-existant) novel. The contest is in memory of the author who penned the immortal words, “It

call for submissions

Put Those Poems to Good Use

I just entered three of my poems from National Poetry Writing Month into WEbook‘s poetry contest. WEbook calls themselves the “American Idol” of creative writing. Essentially, it’s a vast web community of writers and readers who write, upload, read, and critique the user-generated content on the site. From

call for submissions

Last minute markets: Scripts and Poetry

In honor of ScriptFrenzy and NaPoWriMo, here are a couple last-minute markets for scripts and poems. Scriptapalooza fee: $45, prize see below, Deadline is April 15th, 2009 Must be 18 or older to enter. Any genre will be considered. Multiple submissions are accepted, but one application form and entry fee

call for submissions

Submission Opportunities

Just when I think I’m going to settle into a long stretch of just me and my novel, another submission opportunity comes my way, reminding me of my New Year’s Resolution. So, while I don’t have ideas for either of these, I’m hoping I might be

Add new tag

Weekend Writing Opportunity

If you’re looking for something to do this weekend (ha! does anyone have free time at this time of year?), these two poetry contests should keep you busy–they both have deadlines next week, but if you have a pretty collection ready to go, they could definitely be worthwhile.

New Moon Girls

My Madisonian Adventure

I got back at about 11 p.m. last night from my weekend in Madison. My note to self is that one should never spend only one night in Madison. I feel convinced that every gift I possibly could have wanted for family could be found on State Street, but,

Uncategorized

In Observance of Veteran's Day

I’ve been so busy today that the day was almost over before I could write a brief observance of Veteran’s Day. Although I yearn for the day when we can live without war, my heart and gratitude and compassion goes out to all of those who have served