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| Not actively writing these days (still collecting rejection letters, though!) but I check in once and a while to stay in touch. Hello to all. |
| Hello. |
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| *roars a greeting before giving a derg hug* |
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| Miss you being around. Tell your wife hi! Thanks for stopping by. |
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| -43C when I got up this morning. Radio & TV warning everybody to cut down on unnecessary lights, etc. with threat of rolling blackouts. Kicked the dog out so she could do her business in the back yard, twenty seconds and she was done and begging to be let in. If you're out working in that cold, stay warm and keep all your digits! |
| I tried The Most Dangerous Writing App at squibler. The idea is to write continuously for a specified time (default is five minutes, max is 60 minutes) and learn to write with momentum. You can use one of the generated prompts or just start writing. If you pause for more than a few seconds, your text will turn red, then blurry, and then it will disappear. The key is to keep going. You don’t have to write quickly, but you must press forward, or your story will be lost. If you like what you've done, you can export your work. https://www.squibler.io/dangerous-writing-prompt-app I'm something of a pantser so I tend to stop occasionally to reconsider where the story is going. My story turned red a half dozen times in only five minutes. Still, fun to try. |
| My poem "Love's Redemption" was published in Flicker, A Collection of Canadian Poems by Polar Expressions Publishing. My second published poem. Out of three winners and ten honorable mentions, only ONE used rhyme; the rest were blank verse. I'm not fond of blank verse*. But I guess I'll have to try that for next year's contest (and then, just watch, twelve of the top 13 will be rhymed). *A couple of years back, I found something I wrote to express my opinion about what was in the university's student poetry journal: Aborted images lie bleeding on the page while English major butchers conceal their lack of meaning in an equal lack of form. For some reason, the journal didn't publish my comment. |
| Came on this gem in Max Gladstone's Two Serpents Rising: Sea wind bore the scent of fish and salt off the shark-infested bay. A few blocks in from shore, the stench of crowds, pavement, and livestock mugged the wind in a dark alley and took its place. |
| Uncharted Magazine has a contest for historical stories. Top prize is $500 plus publication; others $200 plus publication. $20 reading fee. "We’re seeking stories that significantly and enticingly engage with history. We want to see your characters interact with (in)famous people, dwell deeply and fully in past eras, and teach us how the world operated in bygone times. We want history, and its learned lessons, brought to life in our pages." https://www.unchartedmag.com/historical-fiction-challenge/ |
| Took part in an Author Fair at our library. A chance to meet and network with other local authors, to chat about writing and publishing. A few members of the public wandered in to meet us and buy books--the lady next to me sold a dozen of her children's books and said it was her best single event ever. Most of the writers were self-published and reported that the bulk of their sales were on Amazon or other online sites. One fellow told me he was on his second hundred of the paperback version. A couple were dynamic public speakers who flog their books after their talks. Both seemed quite successful and I wondered what they were doing there! Since I don't have a book out, I displayed the books in which my work has been published. I could have sold two of those if I'd had spare copies. TLDR version: I'm thinking of putting all my WdC stories and poems together in a collection and doing something with them. Suggestions? |
| The online tech site NotebookCheck is looking for specialist technical news writers and magazine writers. Details here: https://www.notebookcheck.net/Jobs.2095.0.html |
| Our local library is hosting an "Author's Fair & Book Blitz", inviting local authors, illustrators, & readers to come together. We authors and illustrators are to provide samples of our work (sell our books, or display books in which our work appears). I'll be there, with books in which I have been published; if I have time, I might print out some of my WdC stories to sell for $1 each or something. Any ideas? Anybody done a similar event? |
| What the heck, I'm sure I wrote 'crabapples' but here it says 'cranberries" Our cranberry tree has a huge crop this year. Beautiful red golf-ball-sized cranberries. Cranberry muffins. Cranberry pie. Cranberry jelly. Cranberry butter. Cranberry liqueur. Cranberry pie filling, frozen. Cranberry pie filling, canned. Cranberry syrup. I know we'll be enjoying these all winter, but oooh! I'm gonna be so tired of picking cranberries! Meantime, anybody got a good recipe to use up cranberries? |
I've never heard of a cranberry tree – or such big cranberries. Is your tree a European Cranberry or "highbush cranberry"? I have a chocolate and cranberry muffin recipe that's wonderful, but I don't know how it would work with cranberries you have to cut up...probably amazing, still  . The recipe is vegan, but it doesn't have to be. "Ruby Chocolate Muffins (Vegan)" |
| I joined WdC eleven years ago in an attempt to learn to write better fiction. Of 26 contests I have entered here since last June, my stories have earned Honorable Mention or better in 19, with three still unannounced. That's a 73% acceptance rate, so I think I've at least partly met my goal of better writing. Now if only I get that acceptance rate with paying publishers! |
I've just edited an item in my portfolio:
This is an item marked private, in a Portfolio marked private, and you shouldn't be able to see it. But I'm having concerns about the security of the site. |
| No, direct links are the same as clicking the link on the item here. It's the same thing. I take site security very seriously. Item privacy is a very well tested thing. Given the accusations here and how serious they are, I'd really love it if the person who was able to access the item can email over a screenshot that shows the whole of the browser window, including the site time, so we can see what's going on. You're lobbing a very, very serious accusation about our system, as I truly feel security is paramount to what we offer. Please know that I'm 100% available to look more into if you really feel there is actually a lapse in Item Access restriction security. I will note, however, from the Item Edit Log on this item, I do see it had been marked public until it was edit today at 4:42pm and made Private. Public items, as the setting would describe, are publicly available. Please note that you can view the edit logs for any of your items via the "Portfolio" -> "Item Edit Logs" menu navigation. To keep things on the level, settings such as the privacy restriction are always logged. Hope this helps and I certainly look forward to hearing more. ~~SM |
| Just to be clear about my post on caution for publication and posting. My caution was to fellow writers on WDC. The WDC system is good for writers, if an item is PUBLIC then it’s out there for anyone to find and read. Which is great! But that means it is published, so realize that if you want to offer it to a publisher. The WDC private setting allows you to find reviewers and beta readers without publication. From my experience on the site it works as intended. |
Finished the eighth rewrite of
I have a month before deadline to submit this to a contest, so lots of time for further rewrites. Thanks in advance for critical reviews. |
un: 
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