Morning All & Apologies for my absence (still smoke-free: yayyyyyyyyyyyyy!!!!!!!!!) I see quite a few of you have checked in (probably wondering when the heck this chick would feed you some writing competitions), so here they are: (PS I'll tell you about my crazy friend in the chair ++ tonight's reading after:) 1. Event Non-Fiction Contest! Deadline: April 15th. Although I tend to stick to fiction, I couldn't pass this one up. Despite the steep entry fee ($29.95) for a maximum word count of 5,000, the prizes are as follows: 3 prizes of $500 each + Publication. See here for more details. 2. The Writers' Union of Canada Writing for Children Competition Deadline: April 24; Entry Fee: $15 per entry. $1,500 Prize + Entries of the winner and finalists will be submitted to three publishers of children's books for consideration. Please see here for more details. Now about my crazy friend!! Tonight, I know a few of you who follow my blog will be at Chris Benjamin's house for a night of readings from the varied voices of Halifax literature where we will carry you to seven new worlds! And I will be resuscitating the world of Isabelle (and her friend Caroline who is based on my crazy friend in the chair:) and taking you to Cape Breton, or what I like to call it: Goddess' country (I let my Newfoundlanders friends have God:) I will be joined by poets Zach Wells and Rachel Lebowitz, as well as novelists Stephanie Domet, Jon Tattrie, Jenni Blackmore, and Chris Benjamin! Oh and Tanya! (aka Caroline) is celebrating a birthday on Monday! Here's to a friendship that has sustained decades and still keeps me smiling! Cheers, TartanFrog P.S. A glimpse of the roads Caroline and I will be driving through in tonight's reading. Even if you can't make it, you can always read the prologue of the book (Garden of the Gods) by clicking here or to read a longer excerpt of the novel you can go to Google Books here.
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Writing Wednesdays: Contests for the writerlies! ++ my two cents on The Birth House by Ami McKay3/9/2011 Ready to submit?! S'Alright, you have a couple of weeks to polish up your contenders - here's the April line-up: 1. April 1st (no it's no April Fool's joke:) Short Grain Writing Contest; Entry Fee: $35; Prizes: $1,000; $750; $500 x 2. For more information, please check out their website. 2. April 15th. From the Shadows Poetry Contest; Entry Fee: $5/3 poems; Prizes: Cash, Membership, Chapbook Publication & Certificates. See their website for details. Two Cents... After listening to Canada Reads I determined to read more Canadian novels. I picked up a few at my local independent bookstore, The Bookmark (great store btw - do check it out if you're in downtown Halifax!!) Last night I finished The Birth House and started The Best Laid Plans. About The Birth House by Ami McKay: In Courtney Klein's review of the Birth House, she began: "Every novel has a message to share, but sometimes the message can come on too strong. The Birth House lacks subtlety and becomes almost overbearing to read." I'm torn by the quote because, on one hand, I agree that instead of letting the message present itself subtly to the reader, the author's opinion shines through the storyline and can prove a little distracting from the plot. Then again, that might not be such a bad thing since the other main weakness I found in The Birth House was its predictable plot points (marrying Hart & falling for Archer - whose characters, like the other men, were somewhat flat). On the other hand, this is a debut novel with MANY fine points, including its writing, which seems to have fallen under the radar amongst the chatter of controversial midwifery and such. McKay is a no-nonsense writer who writes without artifice despite the historical opportunity for flounce and flourish. At its core, The Birth House is a beautiful story with strong female characters. Others have mentioned it, but oh, what's not to love in our techno-age about that rough cut thick paper with all the newspaper clippings, letters, invitations and recipes added in, much the way I imagine a diary or scrapbook would have been kept in that era. And that, together with the fiestiness of Ms. Babineau, is what really drew me in. Set against the historical backdrop of World War 1, the Halifax Explosion (and even the Great Boston Molasses flood), the way Ami Mckay made use of all the stylistics to support the historical content made me want to keep reading despite the fact that I felt the narrative weakened in the last third. All in all, I enjoyed The Birth House (especially timely given the debates going on in Halifax on the topic of midwifery). I would LOVE to see a second edition with an alternate ending that delivers as much spunk as the rest of the novel. In reading about McKay's passion for music, I also can't help wondering whether she might produce another novel set against a musical history backdrop. . . Till then, Pick up some Canadian Fiction!!!!! TartanFrog It's Miscellaneous Mondays - Confused by your own plot, take a break & play with characters instead!3/7/2011 Has the plot of your current story left you feeling a little stumped like this guy above? It happened to me yesterday. So I took a break and worked on a few new characters that will appear in my third novel. So far, my favourite is Dr. Simon Bishop who appears in chapter three: "No one ever forgot Dr. Simon Bishop. Once you laid eyes on him he became a benchmark in your future assessments of how truly bizarre other people you met looked—or came across. Because it wasn’t just how he looked. There was far more to Simon Bishop’s bizarre factor than his physical features though one had to admit his head was quite alarming." So, I've posted two photos below that might inspire you. Personally, I love the photograph of the woman in blue - she could definitely inspire a saga!! If you're looking for more tips on creating interesting characters check out this page from Fiction Factor Magazine. Happy Scribing - TartanFrog That's right - as you wait for those spring colours to appear - the purple hyacinths and yellow tulips - why not submit to a writing contest? 1. Novel competition: Chapter One Contest. $500 Prize; Submit January 3 to March 15, 2011. For more information, please click here. 2. The Gemini Magazine SHORT STORYCONTEST GRAND PRIZE: $1,000; 2nd PLACE: $100; HONORABLE MENTION (3) ENTRY FEE: $4; DEADLINE: March 31, 2011 All Five Finalists Will Be Published intThe June 2011 Issue of Gemini For more information on the contest, please click here. Happy Scribing Writerlies, TartanFrog Prompt 1 (adapted from Writers' Digest): You've left town—ditching your old, miserable life—hoping to start a new life for yourself. You've given yourself a new name, fake background (including a fake mother tongue that you actually don't speak) and personal style. Write about your first encounter in your new town. Prompt 2: You arrive at work to find all the items in your cube packed up in a box. You have no idea what's going on, but there's a note that gives you directions to a boardroom down the hall. You walk in and there's a man at the front who is teaching in a language you don't recognize to a class of five-year-olds. It looks like the class is about trees. He indicates for you to squish your larger frame into one of the desks. Write this scene. Happy scribing writerlies! TartanFrog PS If you're looking for more inspiration, take a stroll to your public library and pick up a book in a language you don't understand - try to read it!! Write a story about what you think you just read... Here are a couple of upcoming competitions for you writerlies: 1. March 28th - Dr. William Henry Drummond Poetry Contest; Entry fee - $5; Prizes - $300, $200, $100, 6 X $50 Please click here for more information. 2. March 31st - Ascent Aspirations Magazine Contest; Entry fee - $5/poetry or $10/fiction; Prizes - $100; $50; $25; $10 x 5 (+ publication for all). Please click here for more information. PS I know it's early for Word-on-the-Street, but there's some wicked music playing at Grand Parade this week during the Winter Games - Go check it out!! Bands like Great Big Sea, Buck 65, Hey Rosetta (TONIGHT!), Matt Mays, etc. Check the Coast Events to find out who plays when! Have a great week! TartanFrog 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?] Brenda, this one's for you! Isn't he cute? Final reminder to the Wired Monk Writerlies: Writers' group is a Chris' house tomorrow at 7 pm. Now for the writing competitions. . . 1. Betty Drevniok Award (Poetry). Deadline is February 14th. See here for more details. 2. Postcard Story Competition (Short Fiction). This is the annual Writers' Union of Canada contest. Deadline is February 14th. Entry Fee is $5.00 with a grand prize of $500.00. See here for more details. REMINDER: Wired Monk Writers meet at Chris' this Thursday at 7 pm!! Using the photographs as a springboard: Prompt 1: Use the following words in a story: Kangaroo, diplomat, jacket, balloon Prompt 2: Pack paper & pen & go for a walk to the nearest art gallery (the walk is part of the experience, but if you're in a remote village with no gallery & it's -15, I'd do some prompt-adjusting). Once in the gallery, go stand in front of a painting and take it in, slowwwwwly...every detail; close your eyes and trace it out in your mind, pay attention to the emotions it evokes. Now, go sit somewhere, preferably with your back to the painting, and write all about it...repeat as needed! Happy scribing! TartanFrog maniacworld.com Here are some of the writing competition deadlines for next week: 1. February 1st (short fiction) Danuta Gleed Literary Award - part of the Writers' Union of Canada. No entry fee and prizes of $10,000, $5000, & $500. click here for more info. 2. February 1st (poetry) Poem of the Year Contest Entry fee: $32/first poem entry & $5/subsequent poems (includes a one-year subscription to ARC; Prizes $1500 + publication; 2nd Prize $1000 + publication; 3rd prize: $750 + publication. For more information, click here. 3. February 1st (poetry). The Malahat Review Long Poem Prize. Entry fee: $35 (includes a one-year subscription to the Malahat Review; Two prizes of $500 + publication (and $40/page). For more information, click here. Good luck everyone & happy scribing! TartanFrog |
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