Writer Friendly is Getting Friendlier

It's been quiet around here lately. Sorry about that.

It's because a lot is going on behind the scenes right now. There's a lot of shuffling and hammering going on underneath the skin of Writer Friendly.

I'm going to relaunch the blog in January 2010.

There will be more resources and better yet, there will be guest bloggers. Just when the winter is starting to get you down, friends of Writer Friendly will tell you what they think about a wide variety of writing related topics.

Whoo hoo, right!?

See you soon. In the meantime, here's a nice picture of the beach at Ventura, CA to inspire you.

Write well, little pigeons!

Indiana Review Call for Submissions - Theme : Blue

Call for Submissions: Blue

Indiana Review is looking for art, poetry, fiction, and nonfiction for a special feature on Blue in our Summer 2010 issue.

What do we mean by blue? We mean the color, the mood, the music. We’re looking for work that honors, laments, declares war on, reinterprets, reinvents, and redefines “blue.” Our door is wide open and the possibilities are endless. We’re thinking the color blue; the blues; narrators named Blue; Holden Caulfield; Miles Davis’s “Kind of Blue;” William Gass’s “On Being Blue;” a melancholy mode; blue ghazals; blue sonnets; blue sestinas; blue short shorts; blue memoirs; blue suede shoes; the blue lagoon; Paula Abdul leaving American Idol; Ellen judging American Idol; tragedy; blue roses; familiar blue tropes (see clouds, sky, moon, dolphins) turned on their ears. As always, we want work that is well crafted and original. Don’t go for the obvious—surprise us! We won’t know it until you send it. Deadline: December 1st. Online submissions only. Regular submissions still open.

Read Me A Story! - Toni Morrison Reads from A Mercy

[click on the image to go to the NPR download page]

What could be better than a free download of Toni Morrison reading from her new novel? (Well, okay, if I could send you a latte to sip while you listen, that'd be nice, wouldn't it?)

Raving Dove Seeks Submissions - Reopens November 5, 2008

Raving Dove, a very interesting online publication that has used one of my photographs, has broadened its scope with a new Mission Statement.

Check out full submission guidelines at Raving Dove.


Submissions—
Reopens November 5, 2008
Guidelines have been updated

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Content

Raving Dove's mission is to share thought-provoking poetry, prose, and art that champions human rights and social justice—and opposes physical and psychological violence in all its forms, including war, discrimination against sexual orientation, and every shade of bigotry. Please submit work that coincides with one of these themes. We publish material about the ramifications of violence, along with messages about kindness and hope as it pertains to one of our themes.

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.