News
Grind Writers
December 2013
december 2013
in
SIDE
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Douglas Coupland breaking new ground – serialized fiction in Vancouver Metro
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Dog at Y’s . . . Joan reads
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BED mag wants you to submit!
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Do you know the 9 subgenres of mystery fiction? You’d better!
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Becoming the next Agatha Christie
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Congratulations, Beth!
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Merry X from iVersity – free writing course
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Cold words: writers’ retreat in……… ICELAND
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Things to do/people to see/ places………
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Nothing against poetry but …: Short story open mic – “No poetry”
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Ninja editing – Twisted Poets – Book Talks
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Amazon launches a literary journal
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$1,000 esssay contest
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Submit. (you know you want to)
How do you find a good editor and avoid the amateurs?
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Grind Writers group meeting schedule 2013. 2014’s is on pg. 13.
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The most BRUTAL short story contest on Earth! and 953 places for your writing.
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Ho ho ho: you’ve been a good writer: 3 free gifts.
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Free-write picture prompt: C’mon, just do it!
Where the Grind Writers meet and write see page 10 and 13
new [free] writing group at ubc Free Writing Group
If you would like to join a community of Writing Centre students and instructors to meet regularly and receive feedback on your work, please email us by January 13 to attend the next meeting, scheduled for Wednesday, January 22.
Saturday Writing Workshops
Do you love writing but don’t have time to commit to a long course? Beginning in January, our new four-week Saturday workshops each focus on a specific area of creative writing craft, including Writing in Character and Yadda, Yadda, Yadda: Crafting Dialogue. Find out more.
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autonomous Douglas Coupland is breaking old ground at Vancouver Metro – and it could be good [daily] news for all fiction writers
BC BOOKS
FREE event at VPL for writers on Self Publishing
He’s serializing a new novel, TEMP, in the bus stop mini-tab Vancouver Metro. It may be he is starting something. As with the popularity of cellphone novels in Japan, with Alice Munro’s Nobel win giving CPR to the short story form – short is in, small is the new mega – and Coupland may be carving out a new market for very very short fiction in daily newspapers. Daily papers! Imagine trade outlets wanting fiction 365 days a year. Go DC!
Dog at Y’s:
Ernie Sunndwn Shergold recently placed his book Hitching with Dog (parts of which he came an read at Grind Writers) at the new Y’s Book Store. 4307 Main St. at about 27th in case you’d like to swing by for a copy. He says that, according to the clerk, Y’s is doing quite well.
They have a section for BC authors. They give 60% of the sale to the author and keep 40% for the shop. New and used books. So this may be a place for your selfpubbed book. 3
Introduction to Self-Publishing: Author Panel Sat. December 7 1 – 4 pm Seating limited – registration required In the Alice MacKay room at the central library dowtown. More info link to our online event calendar page. Facebook Event page. The event starts with a panel presentation on the stage, where each panelist will have 5 minutes to share their publishing experiences and background with the audience. This will take approximately 45 minutes. Seating is limited and registration is required. To register please call: 604-331-3603.
Watch and listen to our Joan Boxall reading at the North Shore Writers’ Association here. Find out why Joan considers herself “genreless.” Intro to Joan starts at 1:43”. This was part of the NVCL Local Author Series.
Becoming the next Agatha Christie
Do you know the 9 subgenres of mystery
f i c t i o n ?
Analyzing Aggie here
Check your recall against the list here.
Now, how do you find a good editor and avoid the amateurs? “There are editors, and there are people who call themselves editors. There are those in both groups who say they are good editors, but many are clearly not. This is a painful reality for the authors who put their money, faith and precious words in the hands of
such editors, only to be disappointed when the text comes back with basic errors missed or, worse still, their voice and style usurped by the editor’s.” By Anna Yeadell-Moore, Novel Gazing on Publishing Perspectives. Rest of article here.
Congratulations to Grind Writer Beth B., who in her other life as a pediatric audiologist, is the recipient of the 2013 Noelle Lamb Award for Excellence in Clinical Education. Beth was nominated by her colleagues and strongly supported by many of her previous Masters Degree studetns. She has done research in ototoxiity and aural rehabilitation, and has taught speechreading at Vancouver Community College. She is the Audiologist for the Oncology, Visual Impaired and Hearing Loss teams.
BED mag wants you to submit. ‘Sexy and sensual literary arts magazine’ IN MY BED (Canada) is back and is seeking submissions for an upcoming print issue.
Looking for poetry, short fiction, novel excerpts, painting, photography, and art. Theme: Sex toys. Prefers work that transcends traditional erotica and uses art and writing to explore, observe, and exhibit themes in an experimental and abstract manner. Deadline: Dec. 1, 2013. Guidelines: inmybedmagazine.com/html/submissions.html
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Places to go, people to see, things to . . .
Short Story Open Mic
“No poetry” 2nd and 4th Wednesdays of every month | 7 – 9 pm
Writers’ Retreat in Iceland
Heritage Grill, 447 Columbia Street, New Westminster (Map) close to
April 9-13, 2014 The Iceland Writers Retreat invites published and aspiring book writers (fiction and non-fiction) to participate in a series of workshops and panels led by a team of international writers including Joseph Boyden. Between intimate workshops and lectures tour the spectacular Golden Circle, sit in the cozy cafés of Reykjavik, soak in hot geothermal pools, listen to new Icelandic music, and learn about the country's rich literary tradition.
SkyTrain. Hosted by Margo Prentice No poetry just short stories, or reading from books (that readers are writing), or original storytelling.
More info: www.IcelandWritersRetreat.com
SFU's writer-in-residence spoke out at the literASIAN writers festival banquet in Vancouver The issue “raised publicly” at the literASIAN writers festival celebratory banquet in Vancouver where author Madeleine Thien alleged a bias against female writers of colour within the Canadian literary establishment. Read on—here.
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cul
sweet
Good,local practice.
BOOK TALKS B O O K
C L U B
Write about your cat and
nd
2 Wednesday of the month 6:30 – 8:30 pm Britannia Branch Library 1661 Napier Street, Vancouver
send photos to VIA’s weekly feature,
VanCity Kitty. This feature has a
Bring your favourite passages, points of interest, and share your reading experiences. Drop-ins are welcome.
format to stick to, so it’s a good creative exercise and practice at writing to
Schedule and books:
guidelines.
Dec 11 - Beyond Belief: My Secret Life Inside Scientology and My Harrowing Escape by Jenna Miscavige Hill
Jan 8, 2014 - Perfume: The Story of a Murderer by Patrick Suskind
Feb 12 – Books We Love - Book Recommendation Night
March 12 - Love in the Time of Cholera by Gabriel Garcia Marquez
Check it out here and give your felines their fifteen fussy minutes of fame.
Presented by Pandora’s Collective Hosts: Mary Duffy and Sita Carboni More info here.
Twisted Poets
ninja editing
LITERARY SALON Twisted Poets runs the 2nd Wednesday and the 4th Thursday of the month.
culminating in this Canadian writer winning
a $5,000
More info
prize in the CBC short story contest. Check it out. 7
Amazon launches a literary journal
Do you write essays?
New market for short fiction, poetry
The New Quarterly’s Edna Staebler Personal Essay Contest: || $1000 for one winning essay ||
SEATTLE--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- (AMZN)—
Deadline is in March of the year so plenty of time to whip something up for 2014.
Amazon Publishing today announced Day One, a weekly digital publication dedicated to short
“…we are interested in essays of
fiction—including work from debut authors
any length,
and stories from around the world translated
on any topic, in which the writer's personal
into English—and poetry.
engagement with the topic provides the frame or through-line. Our only restrictions are that the work
Day One will showcase one So they’re going to need to buy 52 poems and 52 short stories a year.
writer and one poet per week.
be previously
unpublished and the
The first issue is available today
writer Canadian (citizen or resident).
and features the short story We offer a $1,000 prize for the winning essay;
“Sheila,” by Rebecca Adams
all submissions will be considered for paid
Wright, and “Wrought,” a
publication ($250) in the magazine.”
poem by Zack Strait. […] Day One will be delivered seamlessly to customers’ Kindles or free Kindle reading app each week. Each issue will include a note from the editor introducing the writer and poet, as well as occasional bonus content such as playlists, illustrations or brief interviews with the authors. All Day One issues will feature cover art commissioned from emerging artists and illustrators, and readers will be able to learn more about the cover and its designer each week.
rest of story here.
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literary magazines
Submit.
Listings for every type of literary magazine.
(you know you want to.)
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Poetry: Deadline: Jan. 23, 2014 Grand Prize $1,000 prismmagazine.ca/contests
Contests and calls for submissions
Ongoing calls
Calls for submissions
Geist Emerging Writer-of-the-Month Emerging writers are invited to submit short written works online. Read the FAQ.
listed by deadline date Literary Review of Canada (LRC) Submissions beginning May 1st for publication July/Aug–Dec 2013 For 2013, each issue will feature poems that share a common form or theme. For more information, check out our full submissions guidelines here. Call for submissions Poetry Is Dead magazine. For The Humour Issue Deadline: “before Dec. 1, 2013” We’re interested in funny. We’re interested in weird and strange. We’re interested. We’re calling out to the Louis CKs and Sarah Silvermans of poetry. Send us poems with humour because we’re seeking submissions for the Humour Issue of Poetry Is Dead. Send your poems (maximum of 5 per submission) along with a cover letter and bio to dina@poetryisdead.ca before December 1st, 2013. Call for submissions No deadline as at Jan 2013. Two-Countries: Daughters and Sons of Immigrant Parents seeks poems, essays and flash memoir. For details, please go to this link. Call for submissions Prism Magazine Short fiction: Deadline Jan 23, 2014 Grand Prize $2,000
Roundup of poetry contests here.
Dead Beats The Beats are dead; long live Dead Beats focused on bringing you the highest quality literature from talented unpublished writers. We are happy to receive submissions from everyone, regardless of experience, of poems, short stories (max. 2000 words), experimental pieces and reviews, the best of which we will publish on the site. If you would like to submit some of your work please send it in the body of an email to: deadbeats@live.co.uk. We aim to reply to all emails, though this may take some time given the number of submissions we receive. http://www.deadbeats.eu/submission Are you over 60? - Wit and Wisdom of the Sages Have insightful stories you’d like to share with your grand-children? Great Depression/ WW2/ Vietnam era? Seeking narratives up to 3,500 words. Send manuscripts, or for guidelines email jnjscher@yahoo.com. 1966 - An online journal of creative nonfiction, seeks pieces of literary nonfiction with a research component— anything from immersion memoir to nature writing to reportage to travel writing to—? For submission guidelines: www.1966journal.org. 9
Anderbo.com -- “Best New Online Literary Journal.” Publishes writers in fiction, “fact” (creative nonfiction), and poetry. We’re always looking for new voices. We’ll also consider nonfiction features, short memoirs, novellas, published-book excerpts, photography, essays, and photo essays. Now in our 9th year! For submission information and guidelines, visit www.anderbo.com. Changes in Life A monthly online newsletter is seeking personal essays from women of all ages. New writers are encouraged to submit their work. For details and submission guidelines, see www.changesinlife.com. The Holler Box Rolling submissions year-round. All submissions are completely free. You may submit in multiple genres. If so, send a separate submission per genre. If your submission does not get accepted you may continue to submit, we encourage it. Please wait at least 30 days before submitting something new. Read the guidelines: https://thehollerbox.submittable.com/subm it. Submissions that do not follow the guidelines may not be considered. The Evening Street Review The ESR is centered on the belief that all men and women are created equal. Reads poetry/prose submissions year-round. Replies in 3 months or less. Sometimes includes comments. Send 4–6 poems or 1–2 prose pieces. 7652 Sawmill Rd., #352, Dublin, OH 43016 or editor@eveningstreetpress.com. For contests and guidelines visit: www.eveningstreetpress.com. “Got a poem?” Submit any subject, any style, any length, any number, any time by e-mail or by mail with SASE. Previously published poems and simultaneous submissions are welcome. The Great American Poetry Show, P.O. Box
Submit. continued
69506, West Hollywood, CA 90069. Email: info@tgaps.net. Website: www.tgaps.net (Caveat emptor – check it out). Subterranean Blue Poetry Subterranean Blue Poetry is an Internet Poetry and Art Publishing Café. We thrive on new original words and New Age art. All poets and their poetry are welcome and we are especially looking for homegrown poets from the Canadian first nations/American Indian Community; Quebec; small town Canada; international poets and anyone who was ever considered “the other.” New Age art offerings are for the masthead of each issue. Read all info here. Sassafras Literary Magazine We will frown or smile upon your piece, and reply within 1 week (2 weeks max) with a muffin or a tumbleweed. Multiple submissions are allowed, but single submissions are preferred. All things minimalistic and mind-slicing wanted. The occasional selfless snark and sneer accepted. True wit appreciated, along with foldable grit, pocket-size memoir moments and frame by frame congeniality. Perspective: any—as long as artfully executed and self reflecting; avoid sending ego balloons and unintended mirroring. Mirrors and led wanted. Gates, doors, and attics most appreciated. THERE’S MORE—READ SUBMISSION GUIDELINES HERE
Regime magazine - Short stories, poetry & performance writing. Not only do they want your work but they offer that you can tack $20 on your submission and they’ll send you back a detailed onepage critique. Note: do your due diligence. Read it all carefully. Full submission info here. Calling all poets! Coastal Spectator A new arts-based review and commentary site operating independently out of the U. Vic. We want to publish, on our home site, one new poem each week for a year, so if you have a new piece of work -- that is a haiku or up to 25 lines long -- do submit. Read all about it here. Multimedia journal: 5OVER4 5 OVER 4. New multimedia journal seeks cross-genre work made by jazzy, creative people who embrace the unknown. Poetry videos, multi-media sculpture, handstitched book art, JPEGs collaged with audio, sound poems via video chat, interactive projects. Live and online events. Web: 5over4.blogspot.com. Email Monique Avakian: monava9@gmaom Pithead Chapel – “An online journal of gutsy narratives” We’re looking for engaging stories told in honest voices. Most of all, we want to feel something. We want to reach the last word and immediately crave more. We want your work to leave a brilliant bruise. Send us your gutsiest narrative and we’ll do our best to get your voice heard. Submission guidelines here.
Ongoing call The Quotable This online magazine wants writer-readers to submit stories based on their monthly prompts. Info here.
GRIND WRITERS MEETUPS Please email before you attend for the first time. We occasionally meet outside.
WHERE WE MEET
Grind Gallery Café 4124 Main Street at 25th In the back room 10 am–12:30 pm THANKS To Mr & Mrs Kim, the Grind’s owners, for allowing us meet in the Back Room for the last six years - and for their support of the arts in general. They provide gallery space to many local artists. PLEASE buy something while you’re there to support the Grind
Grind Writers Meeting Schedule 2013 Sun Dec 15 last one for 2013
Issuu .com
see pg 13 for 2014 dates
Hundreds of free magazines Loads of writers’ mags and much much more. 10
The most BRUTAL short story contest on Earth!
‘
Only One Will Triumph The most brutal short story contest on Earth returns for its seventh straight year! Last year, frantic voting in the championship round actually crashed the Deathmatch site! This year we'll pick up where we left off with new contestants vying for an indie writer's makeover that could change their lives! 8 stories will go head-to-head in our Online Arena, but only one will triumph.
The PRIZE! The Complete Indie Writers Makeover Whoever emerges victorious will be awarded The Complete Indie Writers' Makeover: a consultation with literary agent Sam Hiyate of the Rights Factory; a consultation with novelist and Globe & Mail columnist Russell Smith; and a meeting and feedback-session with Coach House Press, one of Canada’s top independent presses; plus publication in the Spring 2014 issue of Broken Pencil.
Now Accepting Submissions The Deathmatch is now taking short story entries. Stories must be 3,000 words or less. Entries are accepted until December 31st, 2013. The first round of Deathmatch begins January 20th, 2014.
953 places
for your work. Seriously.
High Stakes Second Round Rule! Rewrite to Move On Contestants who survive the first round must revise their story before moving on – will they take their critics’ fevered, and sometimes hurtful, suggestions to heart? Or strike out on their own and polish each word to a razor-sharp edge? Only one thing is certain: somebody will emerge with an unprecedented opportunity to show off their writing to some of the best in the business.
How the Deathmatch works It's simple really. 8 stories are chosen by Broken Pencil. Two at a time they battle against each other. The winners are decided by the Deathmatch readers who descend on the site in a frenzy of voting (they can vote once an hour), pithy observation and, of course, trash-talk. The winners advance to face each other until there is only one story standing. Last year over 35,000 votes were cast!
And in a searchable (by genre or sub-genre) database. It’s all right here at Poets & Writers. 11
Turn Your Tagline into a Manifesto Share your brilliant message with the *right* people, and build a thriving community around your Big Ideas. by Dana Sitar WritersBucketList.com Get the free PDF workbook here.
The Writer's Studio (SFU) -
free writing consults Tuesday December 3 / 4-4:45 pm At numerous VPL branch libraries (Kits, Hastings, downtown, etc.) Need an expert opinion on your writing? The Writer's Studio (SFU) is offering a free 45minute consult on 7-10 pages of you poetry or prose.
Write!—or Santa will swack you with that jolly holly switch! Hold CTRL + click on the picture
The gift of a free online STORY WORKSHOP from iVersity
A program for adults. Free but registration required. For more information please contact Vancouver Public Library at 604-331-3603 Program ID 38979.
The Future Of Storytelling by Prof. Winfried Gerling, Prof. Constanze Langer, Christina Maria Schollerer, and Julian van Dieken 12
Another Editors’ Assoc. of Canada workshop Saturday, January 18, 2014 SFU Harbour Centre Rm. 125, 515 West Hastings St. Vancouver,
THANKS as always to Lesley Prentice for creating the dates calendar
2014 GRIND WRITERS MEETING DATES
Eight-Step Editing with Jim Taylor Whether you’re a novice or a seasoned editor, a would-be writer or a supervisor of others’ writing, this course will help you make your words work better. Using a step-by-step process, the program identifies the most common factors that become obstacles for readers. It not only helps recognize the problems, it shows quick and simple techniques for fixing them. Professional editors tend to make these corrections intuitively. Eight-Step Editing helps them ensure they haven’t overlooked some crucial readability factor in their zeal to track down spelling or punctuation inconsistencies. Novice editors often suffer from paralysis. Eight-Step Editing gives them a starting point that doesn’t depend on subjective assessments of a manuscript’s worth. Freelance writers can use the Eight-Step process to improve their own materials before submission, enhancing their chances of acceptance. Jim Taylor developed Eight-Step Editing as a workshop for the Editors’ Association of Canada in 1985. He has led Eight-Step workshops in Toronto, Ottawa, Vancouver, Halifax, Montreal, Edmonton, Calgary, and Victoria. A graduate of the University of British Columbia, Jim Taylor has over 50 years experience in writing and editing. He has produced programs in both private and public radio; he was for 13 years managing editor of a 300,000 circulation national magazine; he has also been editor of two other magazines and seven newsletters. In 1981, he co-founded a publishing house, Wood Lake Books Inc., which has since published over 200 titles. He is himself the author of 17 books, and has had “somewhere over 800” periodical articles published. He writes two newspaper columns a week (also available on the Internet). He regularly teaches writing and editing workshops all across Canada. Special note: $5 has been added to the regular seminar fee to cover the cost of handouts. REGISTER ONLINE NOW here Early Bird on or before December 28, 2013 Member: $125 Non: $185 Rate after December 28, 2013 Member: $145 Non: $20 ►►►REGISTRATION CLOSES JANUARY 10, 2014, AT 5 PM◄◄◄
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free-write photo prompt
Free-writes:
1 easy rule
Write what comes to mind when you look at the photo: what does it evoke for you? Don’t think. Just start writing, and see where it goes. Write for 15 minutes by a timer. Don’t stop, don’t correct. Keep writing -you can edit later. Bring your output to the next Grind Writers.
The Grind Writers News ©2013 Margo Lamont Email Grind Writers’ blog Previous issues at
grindwriters@gmail.com http://grindwriters.blogspot.ca/ http://issuu.com/grindwriters/docs 14