Submitting Matters

          If you don't submit, you'll never get published. You'll never get your voice heard. You'll never be able to share your gifts.

       Yeah, I said it: gifts. Each one of us has worthwhile things to share with others, and when we share, we connect with our readers. We might make our audience laugh, or nod their heads in knowing agreement. We might even help someone heal through our words.

      I just got the news that two of my writing-teaching friends--Stephanie Gavin and Wyntra Storms--are part of the St. Louis Listen to Your Mother 2016 show. This gives me two more reasons to buy a ticket to the show in May. 

     (Wyntra Storms-- I know. Isn't that the coolest name? The kind of name that means that person is destined to become a famous writer.)

      Think about submitting something this month. And don't forget to come back tomorrow for Back-of-the-Book Blurb Friday. It's a doozy of a photo...

A Monday Magpie Mish-Mash

                 Today's post is a mixture of several things.

            First, a confession. Or perhaps more accurately, an admission. I did not finish my WIP on the 29th of February. March is a new month, but I'm not making any proclamations about finishing at the end of this month, because I failed in February. I'm still plugging away at it, but the last few weeks have been crazy ones, work-wise.

           Secondly, a lesson I learned this week: Be careful what you wish for. I hoped--after years of reading Grisham and the work of other courtroom novelists--to someday be a member of a jury. 

            This week I got what I wanted. And immediately was hit with the seriousness of it. The twelve of us were going to make a life-changing decision. The trial lasted all week, we argued deliberated for five hours and eventually came up with a decision that no one was happy with... least of all the murder victim's family.

            Also, I saw the photo (see the picture above) on Magpie's site, and it inspired me to write a lame short poem:

sealed with a kiss--

his last--

she sends it off,

hoping it will pierce

his cold heart

and dig into his useless organ 

a jagged hole

that'll never

ever

heal

revenge

is a cold, cold dish...

(Note:  I assumed that red thing is a mailbox--perhaps in England?--so if it's a trash can, my poem veered off in a weird direction, for sure.)

        

       Fourth (if I'm counting correctly), some writing friends and I will be at the Deer Run Library (in O'Fallon, Missouri) on Tuesday night. It's a panel discussion about Chicken Soup stories--what are the editors looking for? What are good sources of stories? How are stories crafted?

       The address is 1300 N. Main in O'Fallon. The event is from 7:00-8:30. Donna Volkenannt, Pat Wahler, Linda O'Connell and Cathi LaMarche are some of the panelists.

      So, if you want to beat me with a rubber hose because I'm still not finished with my novel, I'll gladly extend my hands. (Because I have so much padding on my rump, no pain for me if you choose that spot.) If you've never been on a trial jury, when you get the jury notice, think hard about the questions they ask--and your answers--during voir dire. If you're inspired by the above photo, go to Magpie Tales and join in the fun. And, if you're free and in the area on Tuesday, come to the Deer Run Library. We'd love to see you.

  

Back-of-the-Book Blurb Friday # 4

           Well, Lisa Ricard Claro started it, years ago, but then she got too busy jetting from continent to continent with her soon-to-be three novels, and she had to give it up.

         Recently, I finally decided to revive it. I've been limping along, sweating the technology of Mr. Linky every week (worried that I'll screw it up) , but you're in luck (next week, that is. This week, you're stuck with one of my lame-o photos.) Lynn Obermoeller sent me (several times, due to my technical nincompoopdom) some great photos. So be on track with us this week, and check out the photo for 3/11 (you'll find the photo for that blurb at the end of the post).

       Here's the low-down on Back-of-the-Book Blurb Friday:

•        Use the photo that's posted every Friday. Consider it the front cover          of your book.
•        You choose the genre. Perhaps your book is a romance. Perhaps it's a        a YA novel. Maybe it's historical fiction. It's your book. You decide.
•        Write an enticing "blurb" for your book, in 150 words or less.
•        Post your blurb on your blog. And then link your blurb to Mr. Linky.            (Mr. Linky is extremely easy. Even my very-blonde dog can do it.)
•        Of course, feel free to check out the other blurbs. You might be                  surprised with another writer's take on the same picture...

Here's the photo for this week's Back-of-the-Book Blurb:

               

Terror on the Tracks

Out in Monette County, you can hear the plaintive wail of the train's whistle three times a day. The folks that live in Cabool can set their watches on it. The 10:03, the 1:27, the 5:18... The trains clack through the hilly countryside right on time every day. Folks that live near the tracks used to find solace in the whistle and the rhythmic rumbling.

That's all in the past.

Now, something strange is going on... and it's tearing the folks in Cabool apart. In the past three years there's been seven tragedies. Seven people mowed down by a train. Seven lives cut short by a choo choo. And it's always happened when the 5:18 is flying through.

Is there an engineer at the switch who's got his own evil agenda? Will the town pull together to figure out the mystery...

… before tragedy strikes again? (147 words)



If you're playing along with us, please post your blurb on your blog, and link your blog here, with the help of Mr. Linky.

        And now, here's the photo for the 3/11 book blurb. I'm really excited about this one because I already have an idea... and unlike my blurbs  so far, this one will be a bit more whimsical. A bit more quirky.

      If you're still wondering why you should participate in Back-of-the-Book Blurb Friday, think of what a stretch it is. Genre dabbling. Word reducing. Who knows? You might even come up with a real book idea...

    

photo by Lynn Obermoeller

            

Friends Don't Care...

        Last night was critique night. I met with my usual writing critique group, and a remark as we left made me reflect on the writing process.

       I had brought a problematic piece to share. You know how it is. Occasionally you have something that you know is fairly good. It's more or less finished. There  is some minor tweaking needed, but overall, it's decent.

      This piece wasn't like that. It was for a contest. I wasn't sure if it really fit with the contest requirements. I knew that parts of it--tone-wise--didn't fit together cohesively. And there were parts that I worried were too raggy--too much complaining, too crabby.

photo by Seeman @ morguefile

      As usual, my group helped me out. They pursed their lips in concentration... They crossed out parts/lines/words and wrote alternatives I could consider... They discussed the essay.

      As we walked out and to our cars, one of the WWWPs said, "Sioux, I hope you weren't offended. They were just suggestions I made."

       Really? Was she kidding? I have skin that's a mile thick (which explains my fat hips and my roly-poly poochy gut), and besides, that is why I brought my piece to the critique table in the first place... to hear the hard-to-hear things, to get some suggestions, to troubleshoot my writing.

      Friends don't care when their friends say things like, "This part needs work. This part needs to be changed," because they're said in love, and they're said with the intention of improving our craft.

      And isn't that what we're all trying to do--to get better?

      How do you handle the suggestions/critique from others? Do you have any funny or moving stories?

How Much to Corral?

       I just finished Carly Simon's memoir, Boys in the Trees. I was intrigued, because I'd read a story that James Taylor no longer speaks to Carly Simon. Because they were two of my favorites as I was growing up (more accurately, I had a huge crush on James Taylor for many years, and Simon was the skank woman who spoiled my chances with him), I was excited to read her memoir. 

          (Seriously, Simon's album "No Secrets" is one I still remember, even though it's been over four decades since I last heard it.)


      I was surprised by the book. And impressed. From her, there was no mud-slinging, despite lots of serious "shenanigans" on the part of James Taylor.

                        
                              Here's Simon and Taylor in the middle of their
                                  happy days, singing "Mockingbird." It's fun to
                                  see James Taylor so loose and whimsical...

                                  And check out her jumpsuit. Those used to be 
                                  all the rage when I was in high school.

      The stuff that she obviously kept private--it made me think of the memoir pieces, along with fiction, that I write.

       What details do I reveal about family members and friends? Which ones do I keep private? If they'd be hurtful to share, the decision is easy. But what about those relatives and close friends who are are extremely protective of their privacy? I might know some details about them that wouldn't necessarily be embarrassing but nonetheless, people might prefer to keep them from becoming public.

       And then there's fiction. Do I take all the stuff I know about my characters and throw the whole heap into the corral, so it can wheel around in circles and kick up its heels in wild abandon? Or should I let some of the details loose... and not include them?

      How do you decide what to keep to yourself and what to keep on paper? Too-wordy minds want to know...

Back-of-the-Book Blurb Friday # 3

        This challenge can be as easy or as sweat-producing as you like.  Your mission--if you choose to accept it--is to write a book blurb for the cover photo below. And you only have 150 words (or less) to do it.

• You choose the genre of your prospective novel. Is it a mystery? Chick lit? A romance? A sci-fi story? (Well, probably not, with this picture.)
• Post your blurb on your post... and then link your blog, using the charming Mr. Linky below. (It's really easy. If I can do it, your golden retriever can do it.)
• Make it enticing. A book blurb is crafted to seduce the reader into buying the book.
• Check out the other linked blurbs, and leave a comment. You'd be surprised how different our inspiration is, given the same photo. 

      The photo for the next week is also included, so you have some think-time...

       Usually, I start one and think it's going to be easy, but I end up having to condense and delete and tighten. And making your writing tighter is always a good exercise to engage in.

       Here's the photo for this week:       

       Here's my blurb:

The Trek

Marie and Jeanne had been friends for over ten years. Babies. Divorces. New Love. New love gone sour. They'd been through it all—together.

For months they'd planned this: a trip to the South of France. Pau, Toulouse, Contis and all the tiny villages and beaches in between. Marie was into all kinds of wine. Jeanne had never met a loaf of bread or a hunk of cheese she didn't adore. They were going to eat, drink and laugh their way across the country.

This vacation-of-a-lifetime was going to end with a three-day hike in the Pyrenees. The two women wanted the mountains to be their last memories of France.

But one of the women has a secret... a secret she's had buried for seven years. She's hoping the serenity of the hills will soften the blow.

Because on their final day in France, she's finally going to talk... (148 words)

      And here's the photo for next week: