It's the 30th of June. Have to have a couple things postmarked today, so I'm off.
Have a grand (and productive ) day :)
Friday, June 30, 2006
Writing quote for 6-30-06
Writing is the hardest work in the world. I have been a bricklayer and a truck driver, and I tell you -- as if you haven't been told a million times already -- that writing is harder. Lonelier. And nobler and more enriching.
--Harlan Ellison
--Harlan Ellison
It's not like they held a gun to my head or nothin'
The other day, in reference to this guy, I said that men have been able to distract me from what I've wanted. That's not true.
I made those choices. For whatever reasons, I have given up whatever in order to have a man in my life. Wasn't always a wise choice, but a choice I made nonetheless.
I take responsibility for that.
I made those choices. For whatever reasons, I have given up whatever in order to have a man in my life. Wasn't always a wise choice, but a choice I made nonetheless.
I take responsibility for that.
Susan, hot & sexy
Susan Diplacido is going to be in not one, not two but THREE erotic anthologies. Heavy hitters to boot! Two of the annual "Best" publications and one edited by Zane!
I told her she was "lucky" to get into the Mammoth Book of New Erotica, but she's not lucky, she's very, very talented. Evidenced
here and here.(I soooooooooo love this story.)
A HUGE (and horny) congrats to Susan.
(Hey, did you buy her books yet? Over there --> under BUY THESE BOOKS. Please don't make me tell you again.)
I told her she was "lucky" to get into the Mammoth Book of New Erotica, but she's not lucky, she's very, very talented. Evidenced
here and here.(I soooooooooo love this story.)
A HUGE (and horny) congrats to Susan.
(Hey, did you buy her books yet? Over there --> under BUY THESE BOOKS. Please don't make me tell you again.)
Thursday, June 29, 2006
Wild Strawberries contest
"One Black Cat, One Chicken" Contest
_Wild Strawberries: a journal of flash fiction and prose poetry_ is running a contest. We are looking for the best flash fiction story or prose poem about an animal or animals left behind and living in New Orleans after the flood. We are a small press print publication, and we publish literary flash fiction and prose poetry.
Entries for this contest should be between 250 and 700 words. One entry per writer, please. Deadline July 7. No entry fee. Please send your entry in plain text in the body of an email to: wildstrawberries@earthlink.net
Winner will be announced July 14 on the _Wild Strawberries_ website: wildstrawberries.org
The winning entry will be published in _Wild Strawberries_ issue four, and the winner will receive the usual author payment (choice of: two copies of the issue in which the piece appears plus a $10US honorarium, two copies plus a one-year subscription, or four copies). We ask for first serial rights (print and electronic) and six months exclusive publication.
Looking forward to reading your work!
Best,
Utahna Faith
Editor, Wild Strawberries: a journal of flash fiction and prose poetry
_Wild Strawberries: a journal of flash fiction and prose poetry_ is running a contest. We are looking for the best flash fiction story or prose poem about an animal or animals left behind and living in New Orleans after the flood. We are a small press print publication, and we publish literary flash fiction and prose poetry.
Entries for this contest should be between 250 and 700 words. One entry per writer, please. Deadline July 7. No entry fee. Please send your entry in plain text in the body of an email to: wildstrawberries@earthlink.net
Winner will be announced July 14 on the _Wild Strawberries_ website: wildstrawberries.org
The winning entry will be published in _Wild Strawberries_ issue four, and the winner will receive the usual author payment (choice of: two copies of the issue in which the piece appears plus a $10US honorarium, two copies plus a one-year subscription, or four copies). We ask for first serial rights (print and electronic) and six months exclusive publication.
Looking forward to reading your work!
Best,
Utahna Faith
Editor, Wild Strawberries: a journal of flash fiction and prose poetry
Quote for 6-29-30
You may be on the right track, but if you just sit there you'll get run over.
-- Paul H. Dunn
-- Paul H. Dunn
Writing quote for 6-29-06
The strokes of the pen need deliberation as much as the sword needs swiftness.
--Julia Ward Howe
--Julia Ward Howe
Tuesday, June 27, 2006
One hellavu turtle!
I have never gone to this event, though I've wanted to. Sunday I had to work and missed it yet again. Still check out that 10-year old's turtle!
HUGE! Only in pictures of those roaming the Galapagos, have I seen bigger!
Tortugas Turtle Race
HUGE! Only in pictures of those roaming the Galapagos, have I seen bigger!
Tortugas Turtle Race
Creative quote for 6-27-06
Ideas are like rabbits. You get a couple and learn how to handle them, and pretty soon you have a dozen.
--John Steinbeck
--John Steinbeck
Quote for 6-27-06
I don't wish to be everything to everyone, but I would like to be something to someone.
--Javan
--Javan
You decide to give up drinking and a buddy shows up with a six-pack
or you finally start saving money and your car breaks down.
It's always like that, isn't it?
There's this guy I just met who has only one of the five qualities I want in a man and it's not number 1 even, yet I find him so freaking attractive. I'll catch him watching me or I'm watching him. . . we flirt and joke . . . it's all in fun, I think, I'm moving, still he could prove a distraction as there has been a man or three who've moved me away from what I was working for/towards . . .
FOCUS, GWENDOLYN, FOCUS
It's always like that, isn't it?
There's this guy I just met who has only one of the five qualities I want in a man and it's not number 1 even, yet I find him so freaking attractive. I'll catch him watching me or I'm watching him. . . we flirt and joke . . . it's all in fun, I think, I'm moving, still he could prove a distraction as there has been a man or three who've moved me away from what I was working for/towards . . .
FOCUS, GWENDOLYN, FOCUS
Well, that stinks
I've been saying I wish Winnow Press would announce their fiction chapbook winner but that may not happen for awhile or at all. I'd mentioned before the problem they had with the First Fiction contest.
Now a piece in Poets & Writers says that all of the contests are on hold. Okay.
One question: Where the f*** is my money?
Now a piece in Poets & Writers says that all of the contests are on hold. Okay.
One question: Where the f*** is my money?
Kids ask the silliest things
"Have you ever heard of a band called Lynard Skynard?" my daughter asked.
I stared at her.
Uhm. . . possibly. . .
I stared at her.
Uhm. . . possibly. . .
Monday, June 26, 2006
Thank Heaven for contest deadline extensions!
Gives one hope. Since I knew on the 15th that the deadline had been extended, I slacked off. But TODAY Gwendolyn--TODAY!
Writing quote for 6-26-06
Writing is no trouble: you just jot down ideas as they occur to you. The jotting is simplicity itself - it is the occurring which is difficult.
-- Stephen Leacock
-- Stephen Leacock
Quote for 6-26-06
You must take personal responsibility. You cannot change the circumstances, the seasons, or the wind, but you can change yourself. That is something you have charge of.
-- Jim Rohn
-- Jim Rohn
0 for 2
I got a rejection from Maxim Jakubowski this weekend, the editor for the Mammoth New Erotica series.
"I did enjoy it but felt it wasn't quite strong enough for me." It was a story more sweet than sexy, though it had erotic elements in it.
Last year, the story I submitted did much better-- it got cut in the final round, but that story had masturbation and the allusion of oral sex in it.
I think not "quite strong enough" really translates to not "quite nasty enough."
Next year, I'll have to return to down and dirty.
"I did enjoy it but felt it wasn't quite strong enough for me." It was a story more sweet than sexy, though it had erotic elements in it.
Last year, the story I submitted did much better-- it got cut in the final round, but that story had masturbation and the allusion of oral sex in it.
I think not "quite strong enough" really translates to not "quite nasty enough."
Next year, I'll have to return to down and dirty.
You wake up and it's Monday and you're about to enter "crunch time"
It's almost July! Yikes! Still so much to do. I didn't mention that I changed jobs and I now work full-time and that makes it hard for me to get stuff done 'cause I'm tired!!!!!!! I was so loving the four days off thing but I was also pretty lazy -- don't think I did as much as I could have in that time but oh well those days are gone. Two days off now-- a big BOO HOO there.
I called U-Pack this morning and for about an additional $400-500, they'll haul my stuff cross country insteads of me driving a truck, which is what I'm probably going to do.
Goodwill/Good Start came to the house for the 6th and final time. There are three boxes still on my back porch that I did not go through. That can wait until Vermont-- I'm tired of sorting through stuff.
My son and his friend were jumping on and plunging onto the open futon in the family room. It broke and I was quite happy 'cause it's one less thing I've got to move! [Either I've got this perspective thing down or I'm heading toward delirium :-)]
I called U-Pack this morning and for about an additional $400-500, they'll haul my stuff cross country insteads of me driving a truck, which is what I'm probably going to do.
Goodwill/Good Start came to the house for the 6th and final time. There are three boxes still on my back porch that I did not go through. That can wait until Vermont-- I'm tired of sorting through stuff.
My son and his friend were jumping on and plunging onto the open futon in the family room. It broke and I was quite happy 'cause it's one less thing I've got to move! [Either I've got this perspective thing down or I'm heading toward delirium :-)]
Friday, June 23, 2006
Quote for 6-23-06
No matter how little money and how few possessions you own, having a dog makes you rich.
--Louis Sabin
--Louis Sabin
For a buck
The university bookstore was getting rid of books and any one in the bin was $1. A Tony Hoagland collection, Ana Castillo AND a book of "Contemporary Poetry of New England"!!!
So much talk about snow and birch trees and woods and things I've never heard of or seen or experienced, but I'm looking forward to finding out what they are!
Maybe you're getting tired of this. I don't know, but it matters so much to me to FINALLY be where I'm supposed to be.
So much talk about snow and birch trees and woods and things I've never heard of or seen or experienced, but I'm looking forward to finding out what they are!
Maybe you're getting tired of this. I don't know, but it matters so much to me to FINALLY be where I'm supposed to be.
Thursday, June 22, 2006
Writing quote for 6-22-06
The novelist must be his own most harsh critic and also his own most loving admirer and about both he must say nothing.
--Angus Wilson
--Angus Wilson
Wednesday, June 21, 2006
Sister, can you spare a. . .
I was waiting outside a building for a ride which did not seem to be forthcoming. A woman was passing and I stopped her.
"Could I bother you for the time?" I asked.
"No," she said and walked on.
Moments later she returned. "What did you say?" she asked.
"I asked for the time," I said.
"Oh," she told me, looking at her watch. "I thought you asked for a dime."
Uhm, okay. And what if I had? I mean what's a DIME???????
Was she afraid that if I asked her and 9,999,999 other people and got those dimes, I'd become a millionaire by begging????
"Could I bother you for the time?" I asked.
"No," she said and walked on.
Moments later she returned. "What did you say?" she asked.
"I asked for the time," I said.
"Oh," she told me, looking at her watch. "I thought you asked for a dime."
Uhm, okay. And what if I had? I mean what's a DIME???????
Was she afraid that if I asked her and 9,999,999 other people and got those dimes, I'd become a millionaire by begging????
"The heat is on, the heat is on, on. . ."
"The heat is on, on the street
Inside your head, on every beat
And the beat's so loud, deep inside
The pressure's high, just to stay alive
'Cause the heat is on. . .
You can make a break, you can win or lose
That's a chance you take, when the heat's on you
When the heat is on
-- Glenn Frey
I love Shaq.
Inside your head, on every beat
And the beat's so loud, deep inside
The pressure's high, just to stay alive
'Cause the heat is on. . .
You can make a break, you can win or lose
That's a chance you take, when the heat's on you
When the heat is on
-- Glenn Frey
I love Shaq.
Quote for 6-21-06
We must be willing to get rid of the life we've planned, so as to have the life that is waiting for us.
-- Joseph Campbell
-- Joseph Campbell
Writing quote for 6-21-06
There are significant moments in everyone's day that can make literature. That's what you ought to write about.
— Raymond Carver
— Raymond Carver
Tuesday, June 20, 2006
Monday, June 19, 2006
another good thing that happened
so TWO good things happened last week. #2 is that I had a story accepted at Poor Mojo's.
Writing quote for 6-19-06
There is no royal path to good writing; and such paths as exist do not lead through neat critical gardens, various as they are, but through the jungles of self, the world, and of craft.
--Jessamyn West
--Jessamyn West
Quote for 6-19-06
Dreams are illustrations from the book your soul is writing about you.
--Marsha Norman
--Marsha Norman
Not one bleeping thing
did I get accomplished off that list from last week. No contest entries, no regular submissions, nada. Two disconnect notices--ouch-- so that's where the money went and then I had to call my landlord-- "Remember when I said I was sending the rent this week, well I'm not. Uhm, yes again." My landlord is nicer to me than he should be but he has a daughter who's an artist and so he understands the struggle, but I hate having to be such a doof.
The only good thing that happened was I got a lead on a NYC reading series. The coordinator wrote me this morning and said possibly-- let me see your stuff first so that makes me happy 'cause anything that gets me to NY makes me very happy.
The only good thing that happened was I got a lead on a NYC reading series. The coordinator wrote me this morning and said possibly-- let me see your stuff first so that makes me happy 'cause anything that gets me to NY makes me very happy.
Saturday, June 17, 2006
Mail call
My books from Doubleday came in and I was there to get (read:intercept) them. The Best Sex Writing is a reference book. I bought it for profit. I'm going to do some non-fiction writing and put that journalism degree back to work.
Five Minute Erotic is for reading, uhm, pleasure.
Flash fiction isn't as easy as it may appear; and being able to do it within a genre even more admirable. I'm "enjoying" the book (hee hee).. There's one entitled "Gwen Is Wet." Hmmm, how appropriate.
Five Minute Erotic is for reading, uhm, pleasure.
Flash fiction isn't as easy as it may appear; and being able to do it within a genre even more admirable. I'm "enjoying" the book (hee hee).. There's one entitled "Gwen Is Wet." Hmmm, how appropriate.
Friday, June 16, 2006
Tomorrow is Juneteenth
You don't know what that is? I could tell you but I won't. Google it. Go learn yourself something.
Quote for 6-16-06
There are two types of people who will tell you that you cannot make a difference in this world: Those who are afraid to try themselves, and those who are afraid that you will succeed.
-- Ray Goforth
-- Ray Goforth
The "Short-List" (though it seems kinda long) for the Binnacle Ultra Short Competition
Yes--I'm on it!
That's cool, but at this point, I'm just glad there's finally some word about the competition. Now, if only Winnow Press would announce its Fiction Chapbook winner. . . .
---------------------
The Binnacle judges are working feverishly on deciding the Ultra-Short 2006 winners. They have wittled the field down to 100 pieces for their short list. They have promised to cut this list in half in a few short days and announce the winners.
Here is the top 100 (or so) pieces. (There is no order.)
Lindsay Milburn * Jonathon's First
Leo Banks * [Untitled - Quigley the writer]
Hal Ackerman * “Fourteen”
Hal Ackerman * Pentimento
Lenore Weiss * CellPhone Poem 3: A Lot
Make a Wish * Robin M. Allen
Laura Loomis * Confession
Laura Loomis * Quitting Time
Adrianne Marcus * The World Cares Nothing of War
Scott Wiggerman * My Shadow
Greg Beatty * Anti-corporeal Activities
Greg Beatty * The Organ Donor
Cathy Cox * Vanishing Ballerina
Ashley De Meo * The Man on the Pedestal
Ashley De Meo * Requiem
Magdalena Ball * In the Aftermath
Dave Kessler * One Never Knows
Debra Grace Khattab * desert sacrifice
Debra Grace Khattab * the death of moths
Ellen Birkett Morris * [Untitled - The world ignores all grief]
Diane Smith * When the Carnival Comes to Town
Ginger Hamilton Caudill * Eden
Jeanne Lesinski * Personal Pompeii
Arthur Chappell * A Marriage of Other People's Convenience
Gary Glauber * Doll
Helen Meikle * Fantasy on a Theme of Two Doves.
Robert A. Lindblom * A Chance Meeting
Evan Guilford-Blake * In Reply to a Message from Barbara
Mark Budman * Cat's Magic
William Blaine * The Brightest Light
SuzAnne C. Cole * The Woman Whose Husband Did Nothing
Clifford Garstang * Tornado Weather
Ellen LaFleche * Working in the Ashland Mill during World War Two
Don Mahan Durbin * Mala Fides: Jane v. John
Don Mahan Durbin * Harry Unrequited
Beebe Barksdale-Bruner * Computer Prayer
Josh Maday * The Great I AM: One Young American's Interior Monologue
Sarah Mcllrath * [Untitled - Coleridge and Wordsworth were Romantics I hear]
Christina Lovin * Family Plot, Memorial Day
Christina Lovin * attraction:
Brenda Maureen Brennan * Diversions
Timothy Russell * pppppp & qqqqqq
S. Asher Sund * True Story
Paula Boon * Pride and Joy
Paula Boon * Winter’s End
Edward Durbin * A Cheesy Kindness
Nadine Darling * Nineteen
Kenneth Ryan * The Office
Anne Earney * Goodbye
Emily Lowery * Crushing Problems
Cami Park * Word of Mouth
Bradd Howard * noJ
Tania Rochelle * God's Love Is Like Duct Tape
Tessa Smith McGovern * Sunday Roast
Anna Montfort * First Day
Peggy Dunagan * Bluebird Sonnet
Carole Bugge * The Crow
Nina Bayer * Ten-Thirty Appointment
Ed Kline * Ebb Tide
Benjamin Vogt * Loving Apparitions on High Street
Diane Elayne Dees * Cleaning the Astoria
Cheryl Loetscher * Einstein’s Parrot
Charyl Loetscher * At the Window, Dancing
Hanqing Li * The ATM Machine
Stace Budzco * Top of the Hour
Nancy Bunich * The Real Child
Jennifer Merrifield * Still So Just Let’s No
Ania Vesenny * Love Child
Cheryl Chambers * Halved Hands
Caroline Robinson * Broken Glass.
Caroline Robinson * The Story Of The Snow.
Aline Soules * Blank Slate
Maria Lynam Fitzpatrick * Under Christian Crosses.
Kathy Helmer * Love Gone Bad
Mary Hamrick * An Image of a Single Woman
Diane P. Smith * Mon Ami
Raquelle Azran * He, She and They
Joyce Laird * After The Storm
F.I. Goldhaber * Shopping Mall
Ramon Collins * Smell of Rain
Yakov Azriel * Painting “The Murder of Abel”
Yakov Azriel * When Minds Are Scraped By Doubt
Yuan Kai Peng * Requiem for Alexander
Jeanine Durbin McMahon * Cancer Crab
Bernadette Geyer * Chasing the Sun to Tokyo
Emily Heebner * Art
Julie Adams * Skin of Manyoshu
Betty Dobson * Scrape Rattle Bang
F.J. Bergmann * Astroculture
Sally Bellerose * Memere Does Time in the Shirtwaist Factory
Donna Vineyard * Patron of the Arts
Cati Porter * Where She Is
Amina Hafiz * When Jake
Stephen Ausherman * Temporary Divinity
Fern Polsky-Hilyard * Coop(ed)
Gwendolyn Joyce Mintz * Sometimes
Chris Crittenden * Butterfly
Gloria Watts * The Letter
Will Carpenter * Sea Dreams
Michael Ernest Sweet * nude
Robert M. Craig * History Lesson
Mary Rudbeck Stanko * August Rendezvous
Jane Knechtel * The Place to Shoot
UMM Students
Gary Bushee * I Sing the Body Caloric
Jeanne Lilly * Thanks and Praises-
That's cool, but at this point, I'm just glad there's finally some word about the competition. Now, if only Winnow Press would announce its Fiction Chapbook winner. . . .
---------------------
The Binnacle judges are working feverishly on deciding the Ultra-Short 2006 winners. They have wittled the field down to 100 pieces for their short list. They have promised to cut this list in half in a few short days and announce the winners.
Here is the top 100 (or so) pieces. (There is no order.)
Lindsay Milburn * Jonathon's First
Leo Banks * [Untitled - Quigley the writer]
Hal Ackerman * “Fourteen”
Hal Ackerman * Pentimento
Lenore Weiss * CellPhone Poem 3: A Lot
Make a Wish * Robin M. Allen
Laura Loomis * Confession
Laura Loomis * Quitting Time
Adrianne Marcus * The World Cares Nothing of War
Scott Wiggerman * My Shadow
Greg Beatty * Anti-corporeal Activities
Greg Beatty * The Organ Donor
Cathy Cox * Vanishing Ballerina
Ashley De Meo * The Man on the Pedestal
Ashley De Meo * Requiem
Magdalena Ball * In the Aftermath
Dave Kessler * One Never Knows
Debra Grace Khattab * desert sacrifice
Debra Grace Khattab * the death of moths
Ellen Birkett Morris * [Untitled - The world ignores all grief]
Diane Smith * When the Carnival Comes to Town
Ginger Hamilton Caudill * Eden
Jeanne Lesinski * Personal Pompeii
Arthur Chappell * A Marriage of Other People's Convenience
Gary Glauber * Doll
Helen Meikle * Fantasy on a Theme of Two Doves.
Robert A. Lindblom * A Chance Meeting
Evan Guilford-Blake * In Reply to a Message from Barbara
Mark Budman * Cat's Magic
William Blaine * The Brightest Light
SuzAnne C. Cole * The Woman Whose Husband Did Nothing
Clifford Garstang * Tornado Weather
Ellen LaFleche * Working in the Ashland Mill during World War Two
Don Mahan Durbin * Mala Fides: Jane v. John
Don Mahan Durbin * Harry Unrequited
Beebe Barksdale-Bruner * Computer Prayer
Josh Maday * The Great I AM: One Young American's Interior Monologue
Sarah Mcllrath * [Untitled - Coleridge and Wordsworth were Romantics I hear]
Christina Lovin * Family Plot, Memorial Day
Christina Lovin * attraction:
Brenda Maureen Brennan * Diversions
Timothy Russell * pppppp & qqqqqq
S. Asher Sund * True Story
Paula Boon * Pride and Joy
Paula Boon * Winter’s End
Edward Durbin * A Cheesy Kindness
Nadine Darling * Nineteen
Kenneth Ryan * The Office
Anne Earney * Goodbye
Emily Lowery * Crushing Problems
Cami Park * Word of Mouth
Bradd Howard * noJ
Tania Rochelle * God's Love Is Like Duct Tape
Tessa Smith McGovern * Sunday Roast
Anna Montfort * First Day
Peggy Dunagan * Bluebird Sonnet
Carole Bugge * The Crow
Nina Bayer * Ten-Thirty Appointment
Ed Kline * Ebb Tide
Benjamin Vogt * Loving Apparitions on High Street
Diane Elayne Dees * Cleaning the Astoria
Cheryl Loetscher * Einstein’s Parrot
Charyl Loetscher * At the Window, Dancing
Hanqing Li * The ATM Machine
Stace Budzco * Top of the Hour
Nancy Bunich * The Real Child
Jennifer Merrifield * Still So Just Let’s No
Ania Vesenny * Love Child
Cheryl Chambers * Halved Hands
Caroline Robinson * Broken Glass.
Caroline Robinson * The Story Of The Snow.
Aline Soules * Blank Slate
Maria Lynam Fitzpatrick * Under Christian Crosses.
Kathy Helmer * Love Gone Bad
Mary Hamrick * An Image of a Single Woman
Diane P. Smith * Mon Ami
Raquelle Azran * He, She and They
Joyce Laird * After The Storm
F.I. Goldhaber * Shopping Mall
Ramon Collins * Smell of Rain
Yakov Azriel * Painting “The Murder of Abel”
Yakov Azriel * When Minds Are Scraped By Doubt
Yuan Kai Peng * Requiem for Alexander
Jeanine Durbin McMahon * Cancer Crab
Bernadette Geyer * Chasing the Sun to Tokyo
Emily Heebner * Art
Julie Adams * Skin of Manyoshu
Betty Dobson * Scrape Rattle Bang
F.J. Bergmann * Astroculture
Sally Bellerose * Memere Does Time in the Shirtwaist Factory
Donna Vineyard * Patron of the Arts
Cati Porter * Where She Is
Amina Hafiz * When Jake
Stephen Ausherman * Temporary Divinity
Fern Polsky-Hilyard * Coop(ed)
Gwendolyn Joyce Mintz * Sometimes
Chris Crittenden * Butterfly
Gloria Watts * The Letter
Will Carpenter * Sea Dreams
Michael Ernest Sweet * nude
Robert M. Craig * History Lesson
Mary Rudbeck Stanko * August Rendezvous
Jane Knechtel * The Place to Shoot
UMM Students
Gary Bushee * I Sing the Body Caloric
Jeanne Lilly * Thanks and Praises-
Thursday, June 15, 2006
Uproar!
NY is seeking to ban cell phones in schools and it's causing an uproar.
Why do some people need to take their cell phones EVERYWHERE? (I know someone who takes it to the bathroom when she showers.)
I think they should be banned.
I went back to teaching one semester after not teaching for several years. Cell phones had made their debut. One day, this guy's phone rang and, during an in-class exercise, he proceeded to hold a conversation. No, no, no. I interrupted him, asked him to put it away. Which he did. "You can't be talking on your phone in my classroom," I told the class as a whole.
But, same scenario another day.
The guy got up though and left. When he returned, I asked him what he thought he was doing.
"You said we couldn't talk in the room," he told me. "I went out in the hall."
Well!
Why do some people need to take their cell phones EVERYWHERE? (I know someone who takes it to the bathroom when she showers.)
I think they should be banned.
I went back to teaching one semester after not teaching for several years. Cell phones had made their debut. One day, this guy's phone rang and, during an in-class exercise, he proceeded to hold a conversation. No, no, no. I interrupted him, asked him to put it away. Which he did. "You can't be talking on your phone in my classroom," I told the class as a whole.
But, same scenario another day.
The guy got up though and left. When he returned, I asked him what he thought he was doing.
"You said we couldn't talk in the room," he told me. "I went out in the hall."
Well!
The Top 5
I did this exercise where you list all the things you'd like in a mate and then chose the absolute top 5 you could not do without. These are mine:
1) He must have a job. How else could he buy me everything I want?
2) He must know that he has a second job--me-- and if he isn't at job #1, then he's working job #2. What exactly can I do for you now, Gwendolyn?
3) The stamina of an 18-year old. Or a current viagra prescription.
4) Be able to vocalize his responses. "Yes, Dear." "Anything you say, Gwendolyn." "I'll get to that right now." Addressing me as "Your Highness," "Your Majesty" and "O Supreme Goddess" will get him bonus points (but not cookies 'cause I don't plan to bake).
5) Be comfortable with whatever position he holds in relation to my kids, my turtles and the dog. He won't have to compete with my plants (I'm considerate like that) but he has to be okay with whereever he falls on the list of the 20 Most Important Living Things in Gwendolyn's Life.
-------------
Just kidding.
But I did do the exercise and I came up with the 5 qualities that my guy should have and the 5 qualities I want to bring and the 5 qualities that our relationship would have.
What I learned: I could have saved me and some guys some time and heartache if I'd stuck to my list. Non-negotiable.
This time last year, but a few months earlier, me and this guy were dancing around the possibililty of a relationship. I'd had a thing for him for over 16 years. Over the years, we never seemed to hook up-- he was with someone, I wasn't or vice versa or we were both in something. I took a class he was teaching some years ago and I was sure that everything I felt for him was evident to him and the rest of the class.
Nothing ever happened ( I dropped the class 'cause I was also taking two writing classes and that took up most of my time). But last year we started running into each other and one day he hugged me and there was a bit of electricity and we talked about it and decided to follow it. Which was a mistake and now when I run into him, it's kind of uncomfortable and I'm thinking it could have all been avoided if I'd just known what I was truly wanting in a man and settled for nothing less.
Which is what I'm going to do. I know the 5 qualities my guy will have. They will allow me the freedom and safety to be truly me and to bring my 5 finest qualities to a relationship where he will be free and safe to be everything that he is as well.
1) He must have a job. How else could he buy me everything I want?
2) He must know that he has a second job--me-- and if he isn't at job #1, then he's working job #2. What exactly can I do for you now, Gwendolyn?
3) The stamina of an 18-year old. Or a current viagra prescription.
4) Be able to vocalize his responses. "Yes, Dear." "Anything you say, Gwendolyn." "I'll get to that right now." Addressing me as "Your Highness," "Your Majesty" and "O Supreme Goddess" will get him bonus points (but not cookies 'cause I don't plan to bake).
5) Be comfortable with whatever position he holds in relation to my kids, my turtles and the dog. He won't have to compete with my plants (I'm considerate like that) but he has to be okay with whereever he falls on the list of the 20 Most Important Living Things in Gwendolyn's Life.
-------------
Just kidding.
But I did do the exercise and I came up with the 5 qualities that my guy should have and the 5 qualities I want to bring and the 5 qualities that our relationship would have.
What I learned: I could have saved me and some guys some time and heartache if I'd stuck to my list. Non-negotiable.
This time last year, but a few months earlier, me and this guy were dancing around the possibililty of a relationship. I'd had a thing for him for over 16 years. Over the years, we never seemed to hook up-- he was with someone, I wasn't or vice versa or we were both in something. I took a class he was teaching some years ago and I was sure that everything I felt for him was evident to him and the rest of the class.
Nothing ever happened ( I dropped the class 'cause I was also taking two writing classes and that took up most of my time). But last year we started running into each other and one day he hugged me and there was a bit of electricity and we talked about it and decided to follow it. Which was a mistake and now when I run into him, it's kind of uncomfortable and I'm thinking it could have all been avoided if I'd just known what I was truly wanting in a man and settled for nothing less.
Which is what I'm going to do. I know the 5 qualities my guy will have. They will allow me the freedom and safety to be truly me and to bring my 5 finest qualities to a relationship where he will be free and safe to be everything that he is as well.
Writing quote for 6-15-06
Dear Editor,
Why do you keep sending my stories back? You're supposed to print them and make me rich and famous. What is it with you????
- Snoopy
Why do you keep sending my stories back? You're supposed to print them and make me rich and famous. What is it with you????
- Snoopy
Quote for 6-15-06
Someday perhaps the inner light will shine forth from us, and then we'll need no other light.
-- Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
-- Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
Wednesday, June 14, 2006
The Timbertoes
I LOVED them in Highlights, a magazine I hope to one day be in. Today, the one-billionth (WOW!) copy was printed. Read about it here.
Kelly Spitzer
Another wonderful writer and person. Visit her site here.
Now let's see if I can link her without losing everything on the template.
Now let's see if I can link her without losing everything on the template.
Do you write nasty stuff? So do I!!
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Addressee is Gwendolyn Mintz-- Can you read that?
My fifteen-year old is a voracious reader. A book order from Doubleday came and she'd opened the box and began reading my books before I got home. I'd forgotten to return the order card so it was popular fiction, a Danielle Steele, Mary Higgins Clark, etc. BUT I was expecting another book shipment- - Best Sex Writing and Erotic Quickies.
DON'T open mail addressed to me!!!! I warned.
New movies came in the other day. I arrived home to find my kids had opened the box 'cause they wanted to watch a movie. GRRRRRRR
I'm gonna have to have that instructional strip-tease video sent elsewhere!
DON'T open mail addressed to me!!!! I warned.
New movies came in the other day. I arrived home to find my kids had opened the box 'cause they wanted to watch a movie. GRRRRRRR
I'm gonna have to have that instructional strip-tease video sent elsewhere!
How I found a copy of Opal Mehta, almost bought it and wasted my money
Two copies in the "New Fiction" section at Hastings. I was surprised and asked if the books were supposed to be returned. The book clerk put something in the computer and said, "No, they're for sale."
Hmmmm, buy one or not?
Not.
On Sunday, there's one copy. I ask the book clerk (a different one) can the book still be ordered. She checks and says no, adds that it's odd that they have this one copy. Ditto. I have the book held.
Hmmmm, return and buy it or not? (Could be the last one available) Ultimately, decide against it. I'd flipped through and scanned the work and I just didn't "get" all the praise.
I didn't get all the praise being heaped on Packer's "Drinking Coffee Elsewhere" or Danticat's "The Dew Breaker" but I know that that's just me. There's evidently talent there with Packer and Danticat. How Kaavya Viswanathan pulled down (temporarily, of course) half a mil with her "writing talent" is beyond me.
No collector's value in it for me either. In terms of literary scandals, I'd rather have Brad Vice's former O'Connor winner.
Hmmmm, buy one or not?
Not.
On Sunday, there's one copy. I ask the book clerk (a different one) can the book still be ordered. She checks and says no, adds that it's odd that they have this one copy. Ditto. I have the book held.
Hmmmm, return and buy it or not? (Could be the last one available) Ultimately, decide against it. I'd flipped through and scanned the work and I just didn't "get" all the praise.
I didn't get all the praise being heaped on Packer's "Drinking Coffee Elsewhere" or Danticat's "The Dew Breaker" but I know that that's just me. There's evidently talent there with Packer and Danticat. How Kaavya Viswanathan pulled down (temporarily, of course) half a mil with her "writing talent" is beyond me.
No collector's value in it for me either. In terms of literary scandals, I'd rather have Brad Vice's former O'Connor winner.
Writing quote 6-14-06
We must encourage our own black authors who have character, who are loyal to their race, who feel proud to be black and in every way let them feel that we appreciate their efforts to advance our race through healthy and decent literature.
-- Marcus Garvey
-- Marcus Garvey
Tuesday, June 13, 2006
Excellent poem!
Yeah, sure. . .
I sent this poem:
I wish I could stop the tears I cry.
I wish I could have made your dreams really fly.
I wish I could still hold your hand.
I wish I could understand
why you had to go.
I wish the reason I could know.
to poetry.com and I got a letter yesterday accepting it for publication--ha!
I'm going to send them a letter asking them not to publish the poem (not that it matters; my name is misspelled on the "PROOF" they sent) and let them know I was just "scamming" them with my submission;-)
I sent this poem:
I wish I could stop the tears I cry.
I wish I could have made your dreams really fly.
I wish I could still hold your hand.
I wish I could understand
why you had to go.
I wish the reason I could know.
to poetry.com and I got a letter yesterday accepting it for publication--ha!
I'm going to send them a letter asking them not to publish the poem (not that it matters; my name is misspelled on the "PROOF" they sent) and let them know I was just "scamming" them with my submission;-)
Writing quote for 6-13-06
I perceived that to express those impressions, to write that essential book, which is the only true one, a great writer does not, in the current meaning of the word, invent it, but, since it exists already in each one of us, interprets it. The duty and the task of a writer are those of an interpreter.
--Marcel Proust
--Marcel Proust
Monday, June 12, 2006
If I can behave this week
sometimes I get all distracted and/or lazy. Or my weekly schedule just doesn't go the way I plan for it on Monday.
But if things go my way, by the week's end, I will put 7 stories in the mail.
And three bears.
And my book club payments.
And, hopefully, the rent!
But if things go my way, by the week's end, I will put 7 stories in the mail.
And three bears.
And my book club payments.
And, hopefully, the rent!
So what's the point?
I belong to Friendster and MySpace because friends invite me and to be nice, I sign up. I rarely go to either sites-- is Friendster even still around? Anyway, I got an e-mail that I'd received mail so I went to my account to find that a man in Las Cruces had viewed my profile and wanted me to call him--he sent his number.
"I'm not a pervert and I don't talk dirty over the phone," he wrote.
I ask you-- where's the fun in that??
"I'm not a pervert and I don't talk dirty over the phone," he wrote.
I ask you-- where's the fun in that??
Saturday, June 10, 2006
My son Charlie came home the other night with a black eye and a fat lip after a game fo basketball. He and his friends play it rough. Earlier this year, when he still had his own place, he came over and asked me to go to the hospital with him. He'd run into a wall trying to keep a ball from going out of bounds and got a gash above his eye. He had felt dizzy and his arm hurt.
I'd just bought a new tv stand that I was trying to put together; I'd waited all the day for the chance to do it.
"Come here," I said.
Charlie leaned over and I looked at it. After 7 children and having gone through chicken pox and hernias and car accidentsand other assorted, I had a fairly workable medical knowledge. "You can go to the hospital and they'll probably give you stitches. Or you don't and it'll heal itself, you'll just have a more noticeable scar. Take some aspirin but don't go to sleep; you don't want a concussion," I said, before going back to the tv stand instructions.
"That's all? You're not going with me?"
I explained to my son that he didn't have insurance and that the public hospital had been sold shortly after a private hospital came to town and I wasn't sure if they still had to see you if you went to the emergency room.
"Can't you just come with me to see? Mooooooooooooooom."
I sighed and set the instructions and the shelf aside.
In the car, Charlie turned the key in the ignition and said, "You can't move. I'm a Mama's boy. What am I going to do without you?"
Hmmmm-- grow up?
I'd just bought a new tv stand that I was trying to put together; I'd waited all the day for the chance to do it.
"Come here," I said.
Charlie leaned over and I looked at it. After 7 children and having gone through chicken pox and hernias and car accidentsand other assorted, I had a fairly workable medical knowledge. "You can go to the hospital and they'll probably give you stitches. Or you don't and it'll heal itself, you'll just have a more noticeable scar. Take some aspirin but don't go to sleep; you don't want a concussion," I said, before going back to the tv stand instructions.
"That's all? You're not going with me?"
I explained to my son that he didn't have insurance and that the public hospital had been sold shortly after a private hospital came to town and I wasn't sure if they still had to see you if you went to the emergency room.
"Can't you just come with me to see? Mooooooooooooooom."
I sighed and set the instructions and the shelf aside.
In the car, Charlie turned the key in the ignition and said, "You can't move. I'm a Mama's boy. What am I going to do without you?"
Hmmmm-- grow up?
Writing quote for 6-10-06
It begins with a character, usually, and once he stands up on his feet and begins to move, all I can do is trot along behind him with a paper and pencil trying to keep up long enough to put down what he says and does.
--William Faulkner
--William Faulkner
Friday, June 09, 2006
Thursday, June 08, 2006
I've read that somewhere before
Today I am sending out reprints. There are a few (very, very few) print mags that will consider reprints so I'm hitting one of them today with several flashes and I'm sending some works to an anthology.
I wanted to work on a story that's one scene from being done but that scene I need help with and I went looking for Richard who races cars 'cause I need a car to be run off the road in a specific way and I need to know if my idea is plausible but he's not in his office so I won't be working on that today.
None of the reprint submissions will count toward the hundred. Nope, I am going to make myself follow through and finish the stories I've started -- even if it means I HAVE TO WRITE EVERY DAY! HA!
I wanted to work on a story that's one scene from being done but that scene I need help with and I went looking for Richard who races cars 'cause I need a car to be run off the road in a specific way and I need to know if my idea is plausible but he's not in his office so I won't be working on that today.
None of the reprint submissions will count toward the hundred. Nope, I am going to make myself follow through and finish the stories I've started -- even if it means I HAVE TO WRITE EVERY DAY! HA!
Maple syrup
A couple who were regulars at the restaurant gave me a bottle of syrup from Vermont and an article from a newspaper about how syrup is made.
Some of my co-workers thought it an odd gift, but I see it as most thoughtful-- a taste of home!
Some of my co-workers thought it an odd gift, but I see it as most thoughtful-- a taste of home!
Quote for 6-8-06
The art of life lies in a constant readjustment to our surroundings.
-- Okakura Kakuzo
-- Okakura Kakuzo
Writing qote for 6-8-06
Talent isn't enough. You need motivation-- and persistence too: what Steinbeck called a blend of faith and arrogance.
-- Leon Uris
-- Leon Uris
Tuesday, June 06, 2006
Writing quote for 6-6-06
Writing is a form of personal freedom. It frees us from the mass identity we see in the making all around us. In the end, writers will write not to be outlaw heroes of some underculture but mainly to save themselves, to survive as individuals.
-- Don Delillo
-- Don Delillo
Quote for 6-6-06 (no, it's not from "The Omen")
The highest courage is to dare to appear to be what one is.
--John Lancaster Spalding
--John Lancaster Spalding
Are most people crazy or is it just me?
Do people really care that Janet Jackson lost weight? Really are there no more important things in the world that could be featured on the front cover of a magazine?
Is this not America? Can a person say what he/she wants? People who diss the Dixie Chicks are dumb, dumb, dumb. It was just a comment-- how much space in your head is your brain not occupying??????? People who hold onto ideas (like supporting a very dumb president when there is no evidence that he's deserving of such) in such rigid ways annoy the hell out of me.
Did Brad and Angelina hook up during the making of "Mr. & Mrs. Smith"? Is Angelina a homewrecker? I mean there was that thing with Laura Dern and Billy Bob. . . Do people have too much time on their hands? I hit a link to an online story about the new baby 'cause I love hearing about new babies and there was a message board accompanying and it was just CRAZY!! Really, people get a life. Go create one. Brad and Angelina are giving you no thought. They're busy creating a life-- together-- whether you or Jennifer like it or not.
But for the record: Britney's gotten just what she deserved. He had a pregnant girlfriend when he hooked up with you, sweetie. Can you say "no integrity"? Maybe you should call Whitney up and ask how she copes with a loafer/loser of a husband -- oh, well, maybe not. . .
Is this not America? Can a person say what he/she wants? People who diss the Dixie Chicks are dumb, dumb, dumb. It was just a comment-- how much space in your head is your brain not occupying??????? People who hold onto ideas (like supporting a very dumb president when there is no evidence that he's deserving of such) in such rigid ways annoy the hell out of me.
Did Brad and Angelina hook up during the making of "Mr. & Mrs. Smith"? Is Angelina a homewrecker? I mean there was that thing with Laura Dern and Billy Bob. . . Do people have too much time on their hands? I hit a link to an online story about the new baby 'cause I love hearing about new babies and there was a message board accompanying and it was just CRAZY!! Really, people get a life. Go create one. Brad and Angelina are giving you no thought. They're busy creating a life-- together-- whether you or Jennifer like it or not.
But for the record: Britney's gotten just what she deserved. He had a pregnant girlfriend when he hooked up with you, sweetie. Can you say "no integrity"? Maybe you should call Whitney up and ask how she copes with a loafer/loser of a husband -- oh, well, maybe not. . .
This time last year
I was getting a contest entry ready [the deadline was June 15th and we know I most always send things out at the very end;-)] -- a contest entry that would have won had I not had to withdraw it due to a ugly mix-up that was not my fault.
Both judges, the publisher told me, thought my story was the best of those received. :( I had to forfeit $500 and a book deal.
When the list of winners arrived in the mail, I looked at XXXX's name and thought, "You didn't really win-- I did." Not that she cared--ha!
I have another kickass entry for this year's contest. It will go out on the 15th 'cause I'm consistent like that. This year I'm hoping to win AND claim the prize!
Both judges, the publisher told me, thought my story was the best of those received. :( I had to forfeit $500 and a book deal.
When the list of winners arrived in the mail, I looked at XXXX's name and thought, "You didn't really win-- I did." Not that she cared--ha!
I have another kickass entry for this year's contest. It will go out on the 15th 'cause I'm consistent like that. This year I'm hoping to win AND claim the prize!
Sunday, June 04, 2006
And the novel. . .
Have the opening line. So important and I'm quite proud of it. Took me enough writing to come up with it. Also, I'm bizarre like this: I have to know the last line before I can really get into writing something. So the last line came to me the other day and upped my motivation level.
The first words to draw a reader in, the last words that hopefully leave the reader satisfied.
What I need now is all the words in-between!
The first words to draw a reader in, the last words that hopefully leave the reader satisfied.
What I need now is all the words in-between!
100 acts of submission
No, we're not talking about my sex life, though I will consider submitting as many times/ways as my future guy wants. What I'm talking about is stories.
I'm submitting 100 works to magazines this summer. That's right. 100! [ A crisp Ben Franklin if we were talking dollars and damn it, with my water bill due, I wish we were;-)].
Have enough drafts and interesting/lines to work on. I'm cheating a little, though. I have 2 stories already out to print publications, so I'm looking at 98 works.
Only 98-- ha! But # 3 gets worked on today and sent out manana.
I'm submitting 100 works to magazines this summer. That's right. 100! [ A crisp Ben Franklin if we were talking dollars and damn it, with my water bill due, I wish we were;-)].
Have enough drafts and interesting/lines to work on. I'm cheating a little, though. I have 2 stories already out to print publications, so I'm looking at 98 works.
Only 98-- ha! But # 3 gets worked on today and sent out manana.
Gwendolyn the gardener
Working on my flower garden. The last one I will ever have in Las Cruces, New Mexico. Planting more sunflowers than I ever have ( one, of course, for Myfanwy). For the longest time, I refused to plant them, though I love them so. I hated watching them go. But I learned to appreciate the beauty and enjoy it for however long.
I recognize now that life is a series of hellos and goodbyes, birth and death, times of suffucating darkness and times of brilliant light. One can't exist without the other and task of life is to open oneself to each in equal measure.
I recognize now that life is a series of hellos and goodbyes, birth and death, times of suffucating darkness and times of brilliant light. One can't exist without the other and task of life is to open oneself to each in equal measure.
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