Online Magazine for Girls - Call for submissions

If you write for girls, this might be for you. 

" Our readers are young girls in high school and college, so we're looking for work that speaks to them."

Watch this video. It shows what this editor is trying to do for girls. I am already a fan.

Sheryl Monks posted in Calls for Submissions (Poetry, Fiction, Art)

Sheryl Monks 6:39pm Feb 19 Submit Your Lit! The Germ Lit dept. is currently looking for short fiction, creative nonfiction, poetry, songs, short films, short plays, visual art, and photography. 1200 words max. Please attach your work to an email and include your bio. Our readers are young girls in high school and college, so we're looking for work that speaks to them. Please read some of the current selections in our Lit section to get an idea. Recent contributors include Curtis Smith, Bonnie ZoBell, Donna Vitucci, Joseph Mills, Corey Mesler, Janet Dale, Malaika King Albrecht, and Kevin Winchester, to name a few. If you have something that might fit with us, drop an email to sheryl@germmagazine.com.

What is happening in these mountains this spring!

Aren't we lucky to live in Western NC and North Georgia?

2014 Blue Ridge Writers’ Conference

When: April 4-5

Where: Historic Fannin County Courthouse at 420 West Main Street, Blue Ridge, GA 30513.

Website:  www.blueridgewritersconference.com/about-our-speakers.html

17^th Annual Conference for writers

…to learn to write well, we need other writers and mentors and teachers.  We have many wonderful writers in our area, and they are always striving to improve.  The Blue Ridge Writers’ Conference is an opportunity for them to meet professionals in the industry and get accurate information about how to publish a book or find an online market or get an article accepted somewhere.  It’s also a chance to meet other writers and network with them. 

                ---Carol Crawford, Conference Coordinator for Blue Ridge Writers’ Conference

2014 BLUE RIDGE BOOKFEST
When: April 25-26
Where: Blue Ridge Community College, 180 W. Campus Dr., Flat Rock, NC
Website: http://www.blueridge.edu/blueridgebookfest
Join us at the 6th Annual Blue Ridge Bookfest.  Preliminary list of authors: Bill Ramsey, Renee Kumor, Joe Perrone, Jr. The Featured Speakers are Ken Grossman, co-founder of the Sierra Nevada Brewing Company and author of Beyond the Pale, and Cassandra King, author of Moonrise and four other Southern novels.

NETWEST SPRING WRITERS' CONFERENCE
When: Saturday, May 10, 10:00 am - 4:00 pm
Where: Jackson County Library, 310 Keener St. Sylva, NC
Judy Goldman will be our Keynote Speaker in the morning, and will lead an afternoon workshop on writing creative nonfiction.  (We hope to have more information on this event soon)

We are fortunate to live in an area where so many literary events bring us together where we can learn and meet other writers and people in the literary field. I try to take advantage of every opportunity to attend and support these organizations. I have learned that other areas, even in large cities, have few affordable conferences and workshops for local writers. I urge all of you within traveling distance to attend at least one of these events this spring. 

If you live far away, look for similar opportunities in your area. Check with libraries, book stores, colleges and online. Contact writers in your town and ask them about literary events you might attend. Start with attending a writer or poet speaking at a local college. You might hear of something near you or you might meet another writer who takes classes. The best way to improve your own writing is to attend workshops and classes by good teachers and by writing as often as you can. 

Poetry with Karen Paul Holmes

Our first workshop of 2014 will be with poet, Karen Paul Holmes, of Atlanta and Hiawassee, Georgia. We are pleased to have her teach once more at Writers Circle.

She has taught writing at national conferences and at the John C. Campbell Folk School. She has a full-length poetry collection, Untying The Knot, forthcoming from Kelsay Books (August 2014) and recently received an Elizabeth George Foundation grant for poetry. Publishing credits include Poetry East, Atlanta Review, POEM, The Sow’s Ear Poetry Review, and Southern Poetry Anthology Vol 5: Georgia (Texas Review Press). 

To support fellow writers, Holmes originated and hosts a critique group in Atlanta and Writers’ Night Out in Yong Harris, GA. A former VP of Communication at ING, a global financial services company, she says she now leads “a kinder, gentler life” as a freelance writer, poet and teacher.

March 22, Saturday afternoon, 1 - 4 p.m. - Karen Paul Holmes - Fee $35

Express Yourself Through Poetry

Some of us are better than others when it comes to expressing emotion. Yet the feeling in the poem is what connects it to the reader. In this class we'll explore how to free yourself by expressing yourself in third person or through a persona. We'll look at examples of heartfelt poems that do not cross the dangerous bridge of sentimentality. 

We'll also learn how humor can help communicate serious emotions -- like anger, grief, regret --  in poems that are both salty and sweet, that touch readers' emotional cores while also making them smile. 

Class will include an optional prompt ahead of time, so you can bring a poem of your own to share.

For registration information,
contact nightwriter0302@yahoo.com or call 828-389-4441 for more information.
You may send a check for $35 to Writers Circle, 581 Chatuge Lane, Hayesville, NC 28904 

May 10, Netwest Writers Conference - Reserve the date

Saturday, May 10, 2014

If you are a writer and you live in western North Carolina, North Georgia or western South Carolina, be sure the above date is reserved on your calendar now.

NCWN West will host and sponsor a writing conference at the beautiful new library in Sylva, NC. 

Speakers will be announced soon. Stay tuned.

Angela Leigh Tucker and Bill Ramsey - new book

My friend, Bill Ramsey, has written a book on the life of Angela Leigh Tucker, victim of an auto wreck that killed her husband and left her in a coma for a long time. She suffered a traumatic brain injury. I look forward to reading about this young woman who has overcome so much and is learning to be the new Angela2, as she calls herself now.

If you read this book, please comment here or send me an email and let me know what you think. See the website below to read more about Angela and her story in her own words.

http://angelaleightucker.com/

J.D. Salinger's effect on readers

"When we have a premise in mind for a story, we should ask ourselves what we’d least expect to happen and then see if we can make that unexpected turn convincing."  Lee Martin speaking about writing short stories. 

I watched a documentary about J.D. Salinger. He is not one of my favorite writers, but I am intrigued with someone who could sit in a room for forty years and write, alone, isolated from the world, with no plans to publish his work.

His The Catcher in the Rye actually provoked two or more young men to commit murder. John Lennon's murderer said Salinger's book convinced him to put on his people-killing hat and do the deed.

Perhaps Salinger's least expected happening became too convincing to some readers. His writing is said to be so real, he draws his readers deep into his stories, and they have trouble separating themselves from the characters on the page. His fans became devotees, and one man drove 400 miles just to talk with the author, but was disappointed when Salinger brushed him off. "I'm not a counselor," he said to his fan. "I have no answers for you. I ask questions."

Salinger, a recluse for most of his life, died at the age of 91 in 2010. After seeing his life story, I must read some of his work mainly out of curiosity.

Have you read The Catcher in the Rye or other work by Salinger?
What do you think?

Memories of Joan Fontaine and the Other Side of Silence

 Senior Women author Rose Mula. 

For anyone who is a fan of the vintage movies, black and white, and the great stars who were dignified actresses in their day, you will enjoy this post by Mula.

http://www.seniorwomen.com/news/index.php/memories-of-joan-fontaine

About seven years ago I met a delightful older woman online. She lived just outside our Netwest Region in western North Carolina but connected when she found our blog, www.netwestwriters.blogspot.com 

Joan and I have not met in person but have become friends. I like to follow her posts on the Senior Women site. 

Joan L.Cannon is a contributing author for Senior Women.

I agree with her sentiments in this article:

http://www.seniorwomen.com/news/index.php/the-other-side-of-silence

Have you ever met a very famous person as Rose did and become friends with them? Are celebrities of today different from those of Joan Fontaine's era?

Writing Contests in Fiction, Poetry and Creative Nonfiction open now

The North Carolina Writers' Network is holding four annual writing contests, three of which are currently open for submissions (and the fourth opens next week). Whether you write fiction, creative nonfiction or poetry one of these contests are for you. Some contests are for North Carolina residents only. Check the website for each one to see the guidelines. 

1.       The Rose Post Creative Nonfiction Competition encourages the creation of lasting nonfiction work that is outside the realm of conventional journalism and has relevance to North Carolinians. Subjects may include traditional categories such as reviews, travel articles, profiles or interviews, place/history pieces, or culture criticism. The first-, second-, and third-place winners will receive $300, $200, and $100 respectively. The winning entry will be considered for publication by Southern Cultures magazine. The deadline is January 17.

2.       The Thomas Wolfe Fiction Prize honors internationally celebrated North Carolina novelist, Thomas Wolfe. The winner receives $1,000 and possible publication in The Thomas Wolfe Review. The deadline is January 30.

3.       The Doris Betts Fiction Prize awards the first-prize winner $250. Up to ten finalists will be considered for publication in the North Carolina Literary Review. The deadline is February 15.

4.       The Randall Jarrell Poetry Competition awards the winner publication in storySouth and $200. This contest opens January 15 and runs through March 1.