Gator Talk Newsletter, October 2011
October 2011
President’s Column
“Outside Opportunities”
Last month I shared submission opportunities within our group. This month, I thought I’d share some outside the group. Unfortunately, I haven’t given out submission opportunities at our monthly meetings like Jessica did in the past. Although Jan includes these in the newsletter, with limited space she can only list a few. Peruse the list below and see if something grabs you. See each website for further details.
5X5 Magazine, www.5x5litmag.org, accepts photography, fiction, nonfiction, and poetry. Published on a quarterly basis, with quarterly topics. Pays with a contributor’s copy and a one-year subscription. Also accepts student submissions.
The First Line, www.thefirstline.com, has a quarterly publication and accepts prose. A first line of text is given, and each submission must start with that line; hence the title The First Line. Pays with a contributor copy.
Necon Ebooks, www.neconebooks.com, has a monthly horror contest for flash fiction. Your submission must be 100 words or less. If your piece is selected for publication, it is posted on their website for a month and each month’s winners are included in an anthology at the end of the year. Monthly topics change.
Louisiana Life magazine, www.louisianalife.com, a monthly general-interest magazine devoted to all things Louisiana.
Country Roads magazine, www.countryroadsmagazine.com, a monthly publication about happenings in and around Baton Rouge, New Orleans, and Natchez, MS. They sponsor a free writing contest each spring and publish the winning stories in the publication.
Louisiana Road Trips magazine, www.laroadtrips.com, a monthly magazine from the northern part of the state. Accepts travel, humor, historical, and pretty much anything dealing with Louisiana. Pays $20 an article.
Now, I’ve saved the best for last:
Swamp Lily Review, www.swamplily.com, an online Louisiana journal published biannually with our very own Jessica Ferguson and Jan Rider Newman at the helm. They accept photography, poetry, and prose.
These are only seven, but with thousands of places for you to find a home for your stories, your photos, and your poetry, take a chance and query an editor. Send your stuff out there. “No,” is the worse thing that can happen. On the other hand… what if they say, “Yes!”?
~ Sherry Perkins, President
WHAT’S HAPPENING AT OUR NEXT MEETING?
October 1 – our speaker will be Linda Yezak, rescheduled from the September meeting
November 5 – OFFICER ELECTIONS; business/conference discussion, and speaker, Wendy Lanier, who took part in the panel discussion at the 2010 Bridge to Publication Conference
November 12 – BWG annual conference, A Bridge to Publication
December 3 – BWG annual Christmas party
January 7 – our own Curt Iles will speak
QUOTE FOR THE MONTH: “You must stay drunk on writing so reality cannot destroy you.”
~ Ray Bradbury
Member News
Socializing and critique every Thursday 10 a.m. to noon at Stellar Beans on Broad Street. All writers welcome.
Officer elections are coming up, and we will need to elect a new, or reelect a sitting, president, vice president, secretary, treasurer, historian, publicist, and newsletter editor. The newsletter editor will have to be new. I won’t be handling Gator Talk after the first of next year. Even if current officers plan to run for reelection, that doesn’t mean no one can run against them and give them a run for their money. We need members to step up!!!!
Stan Weeber, Ph.D., has published again: “Terrorism and Extremism.” Pp. 225-238 in William J. Chambliss (Ed.) Crime and Criminal Behavior. Los Angeles: SAGE, 2011.
Michele Abshire has her own column in Gumbeaux magazine. Michele’s writing is Christian & spiritual.
Jessica Ferguson will teach a Leisure Learning course at McNeese in the basics of nonfiction writing. The dates for the course are (Tuesdays) October 11, 18, 25, & November 1, 8, & 15; hours are 6:30 – 8:30 p.m. The class meets in the McNeese Room at the Frazier Memorial Library on campus. During this 6-week course students will learn by doing, discuss and research markets for their work, and come away with the fundamentals of freelance writing for magazines and newspapers. Cost is $69 before September 27, $79 after that date. Email jessyferguson@gmail.com for more information. P.S. She isn’t moving to Mississippi!
Linda Todd sent off the first 25 pages of her novel to The Permanent Press as instructed by the editor she met at Killer Nashville. Linda now has a blog called “An Incurable Itch,” which she is learning how to use.
Stan Klemetson submitted several poems to an annual conference in Utah and has been editing some stories. He says: “Since we bought an older home two months ago most of my time has been spent on the remodeling. We should move in this weekend, but the work could go on for another month. I have been reading some of the books that Jess recommended about writing.”
Conference News
Check our website at http://bayouwritersgroup.com for a printable registration form, information about the On the Wall/First Page Contest, speaker bios, and conference schedule. Or check your email/junk mail. I sent most members a brochure as an attachment.
We need door prizes for the conference. If you can donate something (a book, of your own or by someone else), please do so. If you know of a business that can donate something, please speak to the manager/business owner. Items to ask for include, but aren’t limited to, books, writing supplies, gifts certificates, candy, chocolate, throw blankets, etc.
If you have a book you’d like to sell in the conference bookstore, please read this carefully:
Published authors who wish to include their books in the conference bookstore, please contact Cindy Giglio at Barnes & Noble in Beaumont, TX, crm2127@bn.com, with “Bayou Writers’ Conference” in the Subject line, or call B&N at 409-898-1111. Please Note: Barnes & Noble will only order books which have ISBNs and can be returned to the publisher if not sold. If your book does not meet both these conditions, please plan to bring your own books to sell in the bookstore. Thank you.
The Writing Life
Why do you write what you write? Be one of the first four (4) members at the meeting Saturday, October 1, to hand me a typed paragraph that answers that question will win a book. Disclaimers: 1) Obviously, if you are the fourth, you’ll have the take the last book. [But you might talk someone else into trading if you really hate yours. J] 2) If you’re fifth in line . . . sorry!
Recommended Reading
Pat Marcantel is reading the following—quite a list! Her special favorites are marked with an asterisk:
Growing Up by Russell Baker (prize-winning memoir)*
Water for Elephants by Sara Gruin*
The Pursuit of God by A. W. Tozer
I Called Him Dancer by G. Edward Snipes
Your Book Starts Here by Mary Carroll Moore*
The Art of Writing Memoir by Natalie Goldberg*
You Can Write Children’s Books by Tracey E. Dils
and last, a cliche’-filled book that
surprised me by being a very good read!
Charlotte Figg Takes Over Paradise by Joyce Magnin*
Marcia Dutton is reading a trilogy by Susanne Collins: The Hunger Games, Catching Fire, and Walking Jay, true page turners. The U.S. and its people no longer exist. It is part of a world run by a government which completely rules the lives of each and every individual. In order instill fear of defiance, the government arbitrarily kills any person who threatens its control in any way. The story follows a strong girl who defies the government. Exciting and plausibly written with an underlying love story. A movie is in the offing.
Marcia’s also reading I Was Born Puerto Rican by Esmeralda Santiago. This descriptive, interesting, and critically acclaimed memoir follows the life and development of a young girl growing up in extreme poverty in a family of loving, but troubled, parents. This strong, spirited girl eventually ends up at Harvard.
Linda Todd recommends The 3 A.M. Epiphany and The 4 A.M. Breakthrough by Brian Kitely, full of unusual writing exercises for fiction writers.
Writing Prompts
◊ Write a fortune cookie poem, “a very brief poem that either forecasts the reader’s future or imparts some life advice (can be profound, mind scrambling, or funny).”
(From Poetic Asides by Robert Lee Brewer, September 14, 2011: http://www.writersdigest.com/editor-blogs/ poetic-asides/poetry-prompts/wednesday-poetry-prompts-149.)
◊ Write a letter of rejection to your past self, explaining why you needed to go through the rough patches that complicated your life the past few years to grow as a writer.
(From Writers Digest blog: http://www.writersdigest.com/prompts/rejection-letter-to-your-past-self)
|
2011 Officers/Board Members |
| Sherry Perkins, President Linda F. Todd, Secretary |
| Marsha Kushner, Vice President Georgia Downer, Treasurer |
| Jan Rider Newman, Newsletter Editor, Webmaster Luke Saucier, Publicity Chair |
| Marcia Dutton, Historian Lori Leger, Member-at-Large |
| Meeting Schedule: unless otherwise noted, Bayou Writers Group meets the first Saturday of every month, 10:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m., in the Carnegie Memorial Library meeting room, 411 Pujo Street, Lake Charles, LA (corner of Pujo and Bilbo Streets). We have lunch after every meeting at Ryan’s Family Restaurant on Ryan Street across from K-Mart. |
| Guests are welcome and may attend two (2) free meetings before being required to pay dues. |
NEW BWG LOGO
The Bayou Writers’ Group has a new logo, designed by Bill Ney and adopted by a majority of votes at the group meeting March 2, 2013. Congratulations! Share this:ShareEmailRedditDiggFacebookStumbleUpon
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