Road Junky 2008 Gonzo Travel Writing Contest : Hell Trips

The Joy Luck Truck, Stuck.

Those of you who are familiar with my recent trip to the Owens Valley--which was extended by two days due to the catalytic converter in our Tahoe literally melting down--will understand why this contest caught my attention.

Roll out your sob stories about journeys gone pear shaped and send them in!

Click on the highlighted title for details regarding the Road Junky 2008 Gonzo Travel Writing Contest. No submission fee!

Contest Alert :7th Annual Funds for Writers Contest - Best Advice

Perhaps it was Don't run with scissors?

7th Annual FundsforWriters Essay Contest, sponsored by IdeaWeaverSoftware.com

FundsforWriters and its annual sponsor IdeaWeaver, creator of writing and creativity software, announces the 7th Annual FundsforWriters Essay Contest. THEME: "The Best Advice I Ever Had." As is the FundsforWriters trademark, applicants enter with or without an entry fee, their choice. Prize monies range from $10 to $200. Limit 750 words. Deadline October 31, 2008. www.fundsforwriters.com/annualcontest.htm Direct any questions to Hope Clark at hope@fundsforwriters.com

This year's theme is The Best Advice I Ever Got, and you have some choices to make if you decide to write an essay for submission.

You can either write about the best advice you ever got and ignored or the best advice you ever got and ignored.

And you can choose to enter the contest with a $5 fee that includes a copy of the book, or without the $5...and no book.

Check out Funds for Writers for more information and submission guidelines.

Reading : Nancy Agabian at Beyond Baroque

Trust me, this will be an entertaining evening.

Nancy and I were briefly in the same writing group years ago, and I used to go see her performance art shows around Los Angeles. (She's in New York these days.) She's funny, smart, and she has something to say that will touch you and make you think.

While you wait, or if you can't make it, check out her website and her new book, Me as Her Again.

Where is Beyond Baroque? It's right here!

10 October, Friday - 7:30 PM
40th ANNIVERSARY SERIES
NANCY AGABIAN, with Guitar Boy

NANCY AGABIAN returns to BB from New York with a new book, Me as her again (Aunt Lute), an untangling of identity, desire, trauma, and multi-continent, multi-identity family history via Walpole Mass., Wellesley, Hollywood, New York, Turkey, and home. Agabian taught a workshop at BB for several years and published her first book with us,Princess Freak (to be reprinted in an expanded edition in 2009). Featuring a special reunion of Agabian and ANN PERICH in the folk-punk duo GUITAR BOY. Perich is a composer andvisual multi-media artist. They'll reprise old faves like "Don't Fall Off the Getty Center," "I Could Have Saved Kurt Cobain," and "I'm Not Gonna Be a Victim Anymore.” Perich and Agabian's 2000 CD was Freaks like me.

NaNoWriMo is Coming!

My NaNoWriMo 2006 Novel : Basura Canyon

Have you heard of National Novel Writing Month [NaNoWriMo]? It's this kind of amazing month long event during which you commit to write a 50,000 word novel in 30 days.

Sound crazy?

You may be right. It may be crazy. But it just may be the lunatic within yourself you're looking for. (Apologies to Billy Joel.)

I did NaNoWriMo in 2006. I wrote 57,000 words in 30 days. It was very empowering.

What'd it do for me? It gave me a half-baked first draft in a vein that's unusual for me. I've worked on revising it, off and on, since then.

My fantasies of writing and rewriting and selling a book a year due to NaNoWriMo were the really crazy part. Yeah, I'm one of those who's likely to build castles with the most flimsy of materials.

The best thing NaNoWriMo did for me was encourage me to put my writing first. Literally. It only took a few days to realize that my normal writing habits weren't going to garner the necessary average of something like 1,750 words a day.


That's when I started getting up earlier, driving to an all-night diner near where I work, and writing before going to my office.

Man, what a good choice that was. Two years later, I'm still an early-morning diner denizon. I do this thing for myself and my writing before I do anything for anyone else.

And some one brings me coffee! And they notice if I don't show up.

I'd encourage you to check it out and to make the one month commitment. See what good habits you can establish in a month. If you're a bit of a perfectionist, going for quantity over quality might actually help you break free of your internal editor.

Even though there's a great online community to tap into at www.nanowrimo.org , let me know how it's going.

Choosing the Right Word

Today my coworker, OneL and I were discussing whether it was appropriate to use "fictional" or "fictitious" in a report she was typing up. I went online and found a great write up about the choice between these words and others that are often mixed up.

Click on the pie and you'll be whizzed away to Chicago Writer's explanations.

(P.S. The pie is neither fictional nor fictitious. It's real. And peachy.)

Market: Per Contra

No, this picture doesn't have anything to do with the
journal, but I thought you might like a cupcake (or a fancy moon pie.)

Found this listing on Craig's list.

It's an online journal.

They even have a place for nanofiction of 55 and 69 words. Check out the submissions page for form guidelines for these pieces.

Bon chance!

Sally



If you are seeking a paying market for your work, you may want to consider Per Contra.

We pay $.07 per word for short fiction manuscripts up to 3,000 words, $50 for creative non-fiction essays and $5 for nano – 55 word and 69 word micro - fiction (Find complete details on rights purchased on our guidelines page). No reading or entry fees are required.

Per Contra has published quarterly since 2005 and has featured poetry and fiction by winners of the MacArthur Award, the Pulitzer Prize, the Pushcart Prize, the Orange Prize, the O. Henry Prize and many others.

Get complete guidelines at http://www.percontra.net/11guidelines.htm Writers can check the archives for aesthetic guidance.

We publish a journal with a global audience that appreciates well crafted fiction.

Market: Cadillac Cicatrix

Click on the image to go to the site.

Submission Guidelines

All submissions should arrive with a cover letter that includes contact information, a brief description of the work, a professional/personal biography, and a self-addressed stamped envelope (SASE). All submissions should be presented in a professional manner. Simultaneous submissions are fine as long as we are notified if/when your piece is accepted elsewhere. No submissions will be returned unless expressly requested in your cover letter, or without sufficient postage on your SASE. We accept electronic submissions, but the sub must be in the body of the email, not as an attachment. If we like what we read in the email, we will request another sample in another form. All electronic submissions should come via eMail and have the genre of your submission and the word "submission" ... "Poetry Submission" / "Screenplay Submission" ... in your "subject" line. eSubmissions should follow the same format as hard copy submissions: brief intro; bio; sample. Never send the only copy of your work.

* As of January 2008, we will begin a new open reading period for submissions to Cadillac Cicatrix. (Special projects, i.e. Book-length manuscripts and screenplays will also be accepted within the same timeframe.) The reading period will remain open from January 1 - July 31, each year. Manuscripts received/postmarked after the reading period is closed (August 1- December 31) will be held until the following reading period opens in January.

Words

We read poetry, fiction, memoir, nonfiction, criticism, journalism, reviews, letters, and novel treatments for consideration in Cadillac Cicatrix and for other projects. If you don't see your field below, contact us and let us know what you have. We are open to your interpretations of how the written word can be manipulated and how art can be perceived.

Essays - Essays of a journalistic or expository integrity can be submitted electronically or through the mail.

Novels - Mail cover letter with a two-page synopsis of work, including a brief introduction and how you can be reached.

Poems - Send a letter with any selections (3 - 7 poems). Include a brief introduction and how you can be reached.

Stories - We request a cover letter with any submission. Include a brief introduction and how you can be reached.

Art

All visual art should be submitted in a digital format (ie: pdf/jpg/eps/etc). Mail or email sample images with a personal and/or professional bio. We feature artists online and in print. From collage to cartoons, to video and film, we are open to your interpretation of your preferred medium. All submissions should be presented in a professional manner. No organic material please