Spreading The News--Another Contest...

I received an e-mail this morning from The First Line Literary Journal. They are running a contest and I just had to pass it along to all my wonderful followers. Here you go:

The First Line First Line Contest

To celebrate our 15th year, we’re giving you a chance to inspire the world. Send us your best (original and unpublished) starter sentences, and we’ll pick four to use for next year’s first lines.

You have until August 31st to submit. The winners will receive $50 and five copies of the issue that was inspired by your first line.

The rules:
1. Sentences must be your ORIGINAL, previously unpublished creations.
2. You may submit up to two (2) sentences for consideration.
3. Send entries in the body of an email to: contest@thefirstline.com. Do not send attachments.

4. Include your email or mailing address for notification.
5. All entries must be received by 6 p.m. (EST) on August 31, 2012.

Oh yeah, there’s NO entry fee.

Good luck!

Spreading The News (February)

I went through my e-mail inbox and gathered together a whole load of cool stuff to pass along.

Dropbox

I write at home and sometimes, at work. (Shhh. Don't tell my boss! Oh, wait...I AM the boss.) Anyway, I use Word at work and Works or OpenOffice at home. Whenever I wanted to work on a document at work, I would have to copy, paste, and e-mail it to myself or use a thumb drive. Then, I'd have to re-format it and do it all over again. Until...one of our customers works for AT&T. Whenever he comes in for an oil change, he shows me the newest gadget and lets me try it out. This last time, he told me about Dropbox.

When you download Dropbox on your computer, you can create a public space for files and photos. So, I can drop Chapter 11 into the dropbox at home and open it at work. I can type where I left off and then save it. when I open Chapter 11 at home, I can continue on. I love it!! Now, there's no more excuses for not writing during a slow afternoon or during my lunch break.

Although I haven't tried it yet, Dropbox would be great for critique groups. Dropbox gives you 2GB of storage. Every time you invite a friend to join, BOTH you AND your friend get an additional 250MB of storage.

Want to give it a try? Send me an e-mail at deestan62 @ gmail (dot) com. I will send you an invite and we'll both win. Did I mention this is all FREE???

No White Space

Peter Halasz, a writer from Australia, created these cheat sheets for NaNoWriMo and they are available for download. There is one sheet for Characters and another for Plot. I printed them out and read through them once. More than a dozen story ideas popped into my head! These sheets are prominently tacked to my new gigantor-humongous bulletin board. Enjoy!

The First Line

I know I've mentioned them in another post here but that was so 'last year'. Sign up for Blue Cubicle Press' newsletters and they will e-mail you their first line prompts. Use the first line in a story (see Guidelines)

They pay $30 for fiction and $20 for non-fiction.

Here are the remaining prompts for 2012:

Summer 2012 (Submissions due May 1, 2012)--Rachel's first trip to England didn't go as planned.

Fall 2012 (Submissions due August 1, 2012)--A light snow was falling as Charlie Reardon left the diner and made his way down Madison Street.

Winter 2012 (Submissions due November 1, 2012)--Sometimes, when it's quiet, I can remember what my life was like before moving to Cedar Springs.

Writers On The Move

Sign up for their free newsletter and receive 2 free e-books! They also offer free workshops and valuable info on writing, publishing, and marketing. That's a whole lot of FREE stuff and FREE is always good.

New Agents

Carlie Webber of the Jane Rotrosen Agency:

Seeking YA (any and all genres) horror, mystery, thriller, romance. On her wish list: anything set in the grunge era, GLBTQ for YA, High-concept YA, genre mash ups (like paranormal romantic suspense.)  Read all submission guidelines carefully before querying.

Rachael Dugas of Talcott Notch Literary:

Seeking YA, MG, and adult fiction in the contemporary, paranormal, women's, and romance genres. Cookbooks with a unique perspective, beautifully written historical and/or literary fiction are also on her wish list. Read all query guidelines before submitting.

Erin Harris of Skolnick Literary:

Seeking literary novels with compelling plots and international settings, noirs, literary thrillers, and YA and MG novels that transport her to magical places. Please read the submission guidelines before querying.

PROMPTS

Here's an idea for a never-ending supply of writing prompts: Choose a completed story by another author (or use one of your own!) Use the last line to begin a new story. You can use the same characters or create new ones.

Well, that's all I have for you this month, but don't worry, I've got lots more stuff to share next month!

Call For Submissions--The First Line

I know, NaNoWriMo has just begun and here I am updating my blog.  Well, as a matter of fact, I already have 1244 words under my belt and while that is still a bit short of the recommended 1667 words, I'm happy with it for right now. 

Some of you may know that I don't only concentrate on writing for children, I also dabble in essays and adult fiction and poetry.  I figure I should diversify and try a little bit of everything until I find my passion genre.

Although I have a large box filled with story ideas, I really enjoy prompts.  I usually jump at the chance to try my hand at writing a short story from an idea, a sentence, or even a word supplied by a market.

One of the markets I've submitted to in the past is The First Line.  A publication of Blue Cubicle Press, LLC, The First Line is published quarterly.  Their mission is to jump start an author's imagination.  Each issue contains short stories that all start with a common first line.  The First Line is an exercise in creativity and shows readers how even though we are all starting from the same place, writers can branch out in many different directions.

Every story MUST start with the given sentence.  No variations are allowed.

Every November, the prompts for the following year are chosen.  Please feel free to visit the website and expand your horizons. 

www.thefirstline.com

Have fun!