Why not let her inspire your next rant For this week's writers' critique meeting, I'll be 'workshopping' chapter # 4 and focusing on the character development of two aunts that figure prominently in the village of Papillion. One of them may have a little Cruella coursing through her veins . . . I've posted the short excerpt/draft (2.5 pages) here. Feel free to send me your feedback - I promise not to hunt down your pets!! P.S. Reminder to Writerlies: 7:30 p.m. my place this Wednesday Have a great week, TartanFrog
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Well, I may be hunkered down reading either Carol Shield's 'Unless' or Ami Mackay's 'Birthhouse' - 2 books I've been meaning to read for way too long (inspired by CBC Radio Canada Reads of course), BUT that's no reason for you all not to start planning to attend some of Halifax's cool (& HOT!!) events this weekend. . . For the writerlies looking for writing prompts and competition deadlines, please scroll down. I'll start with events : 1. My friend Rena says: " Come to the V-Day: Vagina Monologues! February 11th show at SMU Friday night. $15, doors open at 7:30, show runs 8-10pm. There's another show at The Company House on Saturday night (2202 Gottingen Street). See The Coast for details. Believe me, if you haven't seen it, you will never think of the vagina in the same way again!!!! 2. And now for the really HOT! How about Flamenco Valentine on Sat., Feb. 12, 8 p.m. It's being held at the Schooner Room at the Casino. $24 - $32. For more info, call 451-1221. And now to all you writerlies waiting for the competition deadlines and/or prompts: My theme today is, you guessed it, APPLES: Why not put pen to paper inspired by one of these provocative photos? Competition deadlines below... Here are two upcoming competitions:
1. February 19th - Wyn Lit 24 Hour Short Story Writing Contest. If you're a member it's free; otherwise a one-time entry fee of $5. This is a cool one! When you enter, Wynterblue Publishing sends you a theme and you have 24 hours to write the story. For more info, click here. 2. March 1st - Jason A. Hannah Medal (book award). Now this one has me stumped!! Although it's listed in my calendar, I can't find any information on their website www.rsc.ca. My calendar, does however, offer an e-mail. So if anyone has a book they would like to nominate or to nominate themselves, I'd suggest e-mailing their contact at [email protected]. [the organization is the Royal Society of Canada - they usually recognize scholarly works mostly, but this may be something new?] Some mornings, I look up at the sky & my view of possibilities & dreams is obstructed by these little cages I've created or 'inherited'. Floating Cages by ~missdanger Photography / Street I know that letting those damn cages go is the greatest gift we can all give the world. And yet, so far all I've managed is to identify a few key cage-dwellers and keep track of them as they float around. What I need is a good old Cheticamp suete!! Imagine 2011 as a world where everyone let go of their old baggage, the limiting beliefs, childhood conditioning, judgments & resentments. Imagine the connections & synergies between people & communities. Letting go involves starting fresh in the present moment. Innocent little line!! That sentence could scare the pants off anyone. I'll be the first to admit that I've held onto problems, unhealthy situations, and outworn roles and relationships because I felt safe in their familiarity. Here's what I'm thinking. I'm gonna start this thing bit by bit. So it's not the most ORIGINAL resolution conjured, so what? It's mine! I'm gonna start paying more attention to where I resist & where I struggle, and then I'm gonna try to nudge those cages away...I'll start with three particularly pesky cages: ♦ The cage of habits that interfere with writing. ♦ The cage of obsessive thinking & analysing. [Now this should be a good one for me!!] ♦ The cage of old stories & roles & beliefs. [Everyone knows how much I love stories, but...] What I'm referring to here are the stories that limit the depth and expansiveness of who we are past roles and stories. I read somewhere that you could imagine taking the old stories and roles off like pieces of clothing & then stepping away from them & leaving the room. My wish to each of you - May you tune into who you are without your stories. Dig deep to find those core limiting beliefs that are not your highest truth and release them. May 2011 be the year you share your true self with the world!! TartanFrog Isn't this photograph, by Helena Normark, stunning?! And this, by someone who can't stand winter... It ALMOST makes me want to start one of those long sagas set in Russia or Finland, but I probably won't, so I'll let it inspire someone else instead:) Btw, if you happen to be on my 'best person' list - you might receive a card by late January (if you're lucky) that looks like a botched up version of the very cool card below! I saw it on etsy.com and considered buying it, but why make life easy? I'm a writer! Torture is just part of the process...groan. Tonight, the old gang gets together for writers' group!! Can't wait to hear all of Chris Benjamin's tales of his book release (see archived post of November 23 for a review). Cheers, TartanFrog I know the bad rep...writers................uhh, boring..............bombastic know-it-alls.... WELL, WE NEED TO LAUGH TOO!!!! And at this time of year, we especially need a good laugh...as everyone tries to get a piece of us for the holidays and writing is relegated to oblivion. That's who New Year's resolutions are really for, all the writers secretly pining for the smell of--no, not gift-wrapping paper, but--real paper, fresh out of the typewriter (err, I mean printer)... Anyway MY BELOVED WRITERLIES, this one's for you! If you get past the guy in minute 1:01ish without laughing, you are in need of serious writerly intervention -- Good thing we have writers' group this Wednesday (with the old gang)!!! Here's to laughing, TartanFrog Photograph by streetbonersandtvcarnage.com Here's an image to spur on those awful memories in your head, you know the ones... someone you thought you could count on throws you under the bus... Hell, for me that's easy! I attended my personal stoning last night. Nothing like a 'kind-spirited' community of writers to inspire you to burn every last word on every last page you've ever dared to waste ink on. Oh, and the icing on the cake: I said thank you! Yes, thank you for letting me know that I have great ideas, but can't write anything worth shit!! Thank YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Contest: Once you've written down your version of the cruel-hearted bastards who threw you under the bus, you might want to try your luck in: The Writer's Digest 11th Annual Short Short Story Competition ( in 1,500 words or fewer). But don't be too long about it—the deadline is Thursday, December 1, 2010 First Place: $3,000 and a trip to the Writer's Digest Conference in New York City Second Place: $1,500 Third Place: $500 Fourth Through Tenth Place: $100 See http://www.writersdigest.com/short for more details. Cheers, TartanFrog |
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December 2015
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