Author: Gabi Coatsworth

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Want someone to look at your writing? Read on…

Our Vibrant Group Makes In-Roads to Support Writers Working in Solitude

Last Wednesday’s Writers’ Cafe was a blast, as always. Ina presented the critiques without the writing, and the writers she and Margaret had paired up using the anonymous forms.

For those who don’t know about this… writers  who are members of the non-fee based group, but who communicate with us and/or attend some meetings are invited to submit up to 1500 words as a blind submission for a critique by another writer, not necessarily in the same genre. It was valuable to hear the critiques, which gave each writer something to think about vis a vis our own writing, and our writers agreed that this was what they were looking for. These critiques stood alone from the writing and were handed out to the writer afterwards.

  • Quite a bit of bragging, which we encourage,  went on – I think we even made enough to pay for the coffee and cookies…Each step forward means donating a dollar if you want to feel good about your own progress.

The MouseMuse storytelling program, Stories on the Green, (which branched of the original writers artists cafe)  has been picked up for another winter season at the Fairfield Museum and History center. Finalizing all of next season’s dates at various venues and posting them is the challenge for the next two months. A writing contest is in the works. Stay tuned.

We bought stage lights  for our multiple venues which make all the storytellers look wonderful. (These are also available to rent at fabulously inexpensive rates, if you need them. Get in touch with Ina@mousemuse or Rozannegates@optonline.net.  Rozanne is the tech expert should you need one.

Check our mousmuse programs page for updates as they are added www.mousemuse.com

And finally, MouseMuse Storytelling has its own n radio program at WPKN (89.5FM). The show airs Monday, February 27 at 11:00 pm. Bill Bosch and Ina will be hosting live to introduce the programs and the best of our years worth of Storytelling culled from  recordings. MouseMuse will be airing the storytelling recordings and as we progress we will develop on-air readings by writers. Stay tuned as we find our way around this one. We have programming freedom, but planning this requires much attention.

MORE BRAGS

Elsie Ferrara has been asked to contribute to a booklet of Lenten Reflections by her church.

Jane Sherman is working hard on her memoir. An excerpt from it will be published in the next issue of the Weston Magazine (and in all its associated magazines, 8 in total).

Valerie Austin gave us her new favorite word: sesquipedelian, explaining that it means characterized by long words, or long-winded. She’s determined to avoid this in her writing.

Dee Andrian will be joining some 20 other actors/writers to read from her memoir at the Westport country Playhouse in a performance entitled, provocatively, Under the Covers. The performance will take place on may 4 and 5.

Lisa Calderonewas set to launch her new website Mahjongg Memoirs yesterday (Sunday). Designed as a tribute to Lisa’s mother on her birthday, Lisa is now looking fro other memoirs of Mahjong, to publish on the site. She asked writers to look at the site and give her any feedback/suggestions they could. (I’ve seen it; it’s fascinating and I think Lisa could give us all some tips on how to produce a really professional site.)

Sophie Barnes read two minutes of her first ever fiction writing. Until now she’s been writing memoir.

Leslie Chess Feller joined the group and asked who would be interested in starting a grandmother’s writing group. Most of us declined but since Leslie is a new grandmother, we applaud her. If we forgot your brag, please contact us. It’s a voluble group. Fun, vibrant and full of ideas.

Among the more general announcements:

The Fairfield Museum and History Center is presenting Thinking Outside the Box: original 10 Minute Play Fest on March 4 and 11. organized by Jeanine DeFalco, founder of the Falcon Repertory Company these short plays have been written by Connecticut writers. Ina wondered whether our writers might like to stretch their play-writing muscles by trying to write a 10 minute play too.

In addition, Lisa is Founding and Executive Editor of Mason’s Road, the literary magazine of Fairfield University, and announced their new reading period. Submissions have to be in by May 15.

Among the more general information:

Here’s the link to find out more about Poets & Writers submissions database
http://writeconnexion.wordpress.com/2012/02/16/looking-for-somewhere-to-submit/

Our next meeting will be on Wednesday, March 14. See you there 🙂

HOW TO BE PART OF THE BLIND CRITiQUE PROCESS : At this particular point we welcome all writers who have attended one or more of our monthly meetings and whose participation within a group has been felt to be positive and adherent to professional standards.

Submission Dates for Writers Artists Collaborative Blind Submission Process:

The Writers Artists Collaborative provides a monthly opportunity to get blind feedback on pieces we’re writing. We submit a piece or work-in-progress anonymously, and that piece is matched with a reviewer who briefly describes what hit the target, was missed or didn’t grab them. Pieces are also rated with a number between 1 and 10 (with 1 being “needs a rewrite” and 10 being “will win a Pulitzer” — well, at least we can dream!) and discussed, time permitting, at our Writers’ Cafe.  Please visit www.mousemuse.com for more details.

March Deadlines:

  • Submit pieces: By midnight on Thursday, 3/1/12

  • Anonymous pieces sent to reviewers: Tuesday, 3/6

  • Reviewer comments due electronically: by Tuesday, 3/13, 5pm

  • Discussion: Wednesday, 3/14, during our March Writers’ Cafe

April Deadlines:

  • Submit pieces: By midnight on Friday, 3/30/12

  • Anonymous pieces sent to reviewers: Tuesday, 4/3

  • Reviewer comments due electronically: by Tuesday, 4/10, 5pm

  • Discussion: Wednesday, 4/11, during our April Writers’ Cafe

May Deadlines:

  • Submit pieces: By midnight on Friday, 5/4/12

  • Anonymous pieces sent to reviewers: Tuesday, 5/8

  • Reviewer comments due electronically: by Tuesday, 5/15, 5pm

  • Discussion: Wednesday, 5/16, during our May Writers’ Cafe

We are homing in on our agenda for our Writers’ Cafe meetings which have become wonderful sharing points, but many people don’t have the time in the middle of the day. In all fairness to them, we are trying to stick to an agenda that takes the best of the best and helps you all stay in touch at other times.

  • 12:30pm to 12:40pm: Arrivals and Making Tea (10 minutes?)

  • 12:40pm to 12:50pm/1:00pm: Introductions and Brags… what writing success have you had during the last month (could be about 30 seconds to 1 minute/person, so 10 to 20 minutes?)

  • 1:00pm to 1:10pm: Writers Artists Collaborative and Mouse Muse Updates/News (5 to 10 minutes?)

  • 1:10pm to 1:40pm: Blind Submissions Discussion (30 minutes?)

  • 1:40pm to 1:50pm/1:55pm: Two-Minute Readings (10 to 15 minutes, figure about 5 to 7 people per meeting?)

  • 1:55pm to 2:00pm:

Email: Margaret H. Wagner <margaret_wagner@hotmail.com> for submission forms and any other information.

Thanks to all, Ina@mousemuse



 

 

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Writers Artist Cafe Grows

Margaret Wagner was kind enough to take notes at the last Writers’ Cafe since I couldn’t be there. Here’s what she wrote:

We had a small but mighty Writers’ Cafe on 12/14/11 before the holidays – seven people attended. Here are some of the highlights:

TWO-MINUTE READINGS

We continued reading something we’ve written for two minutes, in an effort to get to know each other better and start the conversation about having people writing in similar genres pair up and work with each other.

We also talked about doing a survey, so we’re clear about everyone’s intentions for being in the group. It should also provide an opportunity for suggestions and determine how to best serve our collaboration.  Look for a short online survey in the new year.

BLIND FEEDBACK

No, Mouse Muse is not producing Three Blind Mice!  Rather, the group thought it would be helpful to provide a monthly way to get blind feedback on pieces we’re writing.  So, for anyone who would like to participate, here’s the process:

  • Written piece length: 1,500 words maximum as a Word document (please use .doc only).
  • Use the attached cover sheet to identify your piece.  No identification beyond the piece title and page numbers should be on the body of the piece.
  • Email piece and cover sheet to ina@mousemuse.com no later than Tuesday, 1/3/12, midnight.
  • Although it may be possible to have comments back to you by our next meeting on Wednesday, 1/11/12, we’ll see what everyone can do.
  • If you submit a piece, we’ll assume you will also volunteer to be a reviewer.
  • If you’d like to be a reviewer, but don’t have a piece to submit, please email Ina no later than Tuesday, 1/3/12, midnight at ina@mousemuse.com

We’re excited to offer this, so let’s see how it goes for the first month, and we’ll make refinements from there.

BRAGGING RIGHTS

  • Linda Clearwater illustrated four flipbooks for Zonder Kids.
  • Jane Sherman will have the first chapter of her memoir excerpted by the Weston Magazine Group.
  • Catherine Onyemelukwe, whose birthday was that day, finished the first chapter of her memoir.
  • Sophie Barnes won a first prize gold coin and will be printed in the World Poetry Collective.
  • Ina Chadwick had “Daddy’s Gunslinging Daughter, JFK, Marilyn Monroe and Me” published by the Weston Magazine Group (check out page 182 of their Fall issue: http://twurl.nl/25lnjk)
  • Margaret Wagner organized a writing/dance workshop for 12/30/11.

FUTURE 2012 MEETINGS

Location: Future Writers’ Cafes will be held at Ina Chadwick’s home, 2 Redcoat Lane in Westport, CT (near Exit 41 on the Merritt/Route 15).  For directions, please email Ina at: Ina@mousemuse.com.  (NOTE: We are no longer meeting at the Westport Arts Center.)

Parking: Please park as neatly as possible in the driveway, and use the second door on the side of the house (the first side door is the entrance to the dentist’s office; the second door is the one at the beginning of the walkway).Time: 12:30pm to 2pm

Options to bring:

  • A piece or portion of a piece to read – we’ll cut you off at the two-minute mark.
  • $1.00 for bragging dollars, if you have any news to share!

Save these dates for future Writers’ Cafes in 2012:

  • January 11
  • February 15
  • March 14
  • April 11
  • May 16

 

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Westport Writers’ Cafe shares its talent

We had a really great group at the Writers’ Cafe on Wednesday. Rather than having a particular topic this time, we decided to ask people to bring a 2 minute reading of something they;’d written. The idea was partly to get to know each other better, and partly to see what genres we were writing in, and whether there were people writing in similar genres who’d like to pair up and work with each other as editor, mentors, and general encouragers. (OK, that’s not a word, but you know what I mean.)
The results were interesting.
First, we decided that 2 minutes wasn’t quite long enough. And that isn’t because we’re all narcissists who love to hear ourselves read aloud. (That’s just me.) On the other hand, if we’d had a larger group of people reading (we were about 12 people with 9 people brave enough to read) there might not have been time for everyone. We read without explaining what we were reading, when we’d written it, what it was about, and which genre it was in (memoir, fiction, journalism, essay, etc).
We had two writers who were writing memoirs that involved travel, two essays, one journalism piece, two short fiction pieces, and two memoirs.
As it turned out, when it came to bragging time, many people were writing in more than one genre.
Margaret Rumford had a story accepted for the Winter issue of Mused.
Jane Sherman is editing her memoir
Sally Allen is now Westport editor of Hamlet Hub www.hamlethub.com
What she didn’t mention (probably because she didn’t want to pay the dollar…) is that she also has a great book blog on Open Salon: http://open.salon.com/blog/sally_allen
Robert Steven Williams has had another article published at the Good Men Project. Read it here: http://goodmenproject.com/ethics-values/money-and-the-moral-compass/
Tricia Tierney sent out two query letters to agents this month regarding her memoir here’s her blog: http://triciatierneyblog.com/
Ina is working on a piece about how she found out that her mother had been married before for a New York publication
Margaret Wagner wrote a guest blog on branding for a foodie blog.
Catherine Onyemelukwe is halfway through writing a book proposal and a memoir.
And I finished my NaNoWriMo horrible draft of a first novel, and came second in the EChook ‘Tis the Season story contest. Find out how to submit your work here: http://echook.com/submissions/.

Finally, we took a vote on where to continue our meetings, and the overwhelming choice was Ina’s house, where her welcome make me, for one, feel like I’m in some famous salon. And the coffee’s good too.
So the next meeting will be on DECEMBER 14 – that’s only two weeks away. Ina’s address is 2 Redcoat Road, Westport. The time is 12.30-2.
In the meantime, keep writing!

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A Landmark Night

Our storytelling evening at Landmark Academy in Westport saw 80 audience members and seven storytellers connecting, laughing and sharing. Her are some of Larry Untermeyer’s photos of a fabulous evening:

Our seven storytellers enjoyed it too!
Blake Schnirring - a New York baby makes its mark
Ben Jalet's little girl needs her blankie right now
Suzanne Sheridan is a mom to her siblings...
Rebecca Toon - Queen of Disney
Pete Pastorelli nearly comes unglued when wallpapering with his dad
Rob Jackson's kids nearly get him arrested
Joe Limone can babysit without getting into trouble, can't he?
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Writers’ Cafe Gaining Momentum

Another great Writers’ Cafe yesterday – 15 enthusiastic writers came to share, learn and connect at Ina Chadwick’s house. There was so much bragging that we made $18 (at $1 per brag, that’s a lot of progress being made by people…)
Here are some of the highlights, with links you may find useful if you’d like more information:

WRITING CONTEST DEADLINE EXTENDED
Our writing contest with the Center for Contemporary Printmaking has had its deadline extended to October 10 at midnight due to Hurricane Irene, and because of some apparent confusion about the subject. The prompt is Deja Vu – Have you been here before? Do you wish you’d been here before? Did you only dream this? Did the dream come true? We’re looking for personal memoirs. You may use Jack Boul’s art to inspire you, but you needn’t use his subjects. Here’s the link for submissions
http://www.contemprints.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=146:writing-competition&catid=2:latest&Itemid=4
STORYTELLING NEXT MONDAY
Ina’s company, Mouse Muse Productions, organizes storytelling evenings throughout the year. Our next one is on Monday September 19th, at the Landmark Academy in Westport. The topic: “Adventures in parenting”. Come and hear 8 friends and neighbors tell their stories of parenting joys, disasters and poignant memories. As writers, you’ll be interested in the way in which we help them craft their stories into 8 minute gems. $20 buys you entrance, drinks, food and a chance to connect with others. Email me if you’d like me to hold tickets for you, or walk in.

ECHOOK LAUNCH NEXT TUESDAY AT B&N
Ina and I will be among the eight writers helping to launch Echook’s short story app at Barnes and Noble next Tuesday at 7pm. This is a great networking event for writers, with local authors, writers, publicists and editors. And it’s free! Here’s the link for full details: http://echook.com/sept-20-event/

BRAGGING RIGHTS
Alex McNab has snared Robert Ellis (author of the Lena Gamble police thrillers) as a guest blogger for the October issue of the Fairfield Writer’s blog fairfieldwriter.wordpress.com/

Christine Shaffer’s winning entry for the Fairfield Library’s writing contest has been published in a volume entitled “Around the Table”. I’m nagging the Library to provide copies for purchase and will keep you updated.

Margaret Wagner submitted a mixed media piece to the Westport Arts Center’s current show. (Not accepted, but it’s doing it that counts.) I love crossover creativity!

Penny Pearlman’s 2009 book Pretty Smart, has been chosen as a class textbook for a sociology class in pop culture Suffolk University in Boston, and she’ll be guest lecturing there. She’ll also be a judge in the next Miss Boston contest…you never know where writing will take you. In addition, she will be teaching a class at the Hudson Valley Writers’ Center: Secrets of Successful Interviewing for Writers. http://www.writerscenter.org/, and is helping to organize an authors luncheon with Danny Meyer (Shake Shack etc) to raise money for the Leukemia Society on Nov 2. www.lls.org/ct/starwrite

Robert Steven Williams, had 8 stories published in a comic book which has been nominated for the Oscar of comic books – The Harvey. Way to go!

Jane Sherman is submitting work, and reworking her memoir.

Ryan Devlin has written a pilot for a TV show, and his wife Kara Holden, is currently being paid to write for the screen.

Barbara Stokes has written an article she’d going to submit. Her first ever. Great!

Lisa Calderone is developing a new website: http://mahjonggmemoirs.com as a tribute to her mother Millie, who’s been playing for 70 years. And she’ll be teaching an online class in Literary journalism during the January semester at Fairfield U.

Ivy Eisenberg was a runner up in a contest for America’s Funniest Humor. Personally, I think she should have won – here’s the link so you can judge for yourself. http://humorpress.com/Results/Essays-200812-200901/aa-Winners/Essay-200812-200901-Winners.htm#4

MFA’s – Worth the time and money?
This provoked an interesting conversation. MFA graduate Lisa Calderone, Christine Shaffer and Jane Sherman who had all taken low-residency MFA’s at Fairfield U were in agreement on the main benefits of an MFA:
An MFA produces a sense of community and a thorough education in the craft of writing.
Having academic expectations and deadlines makes people focus on their writing.
You can teach writing with an MFA degree
You develop a network of connections among both students and faculty.

Kara Holden had taken an MPW (Master of Professional writing at USC. This was a full time course, and she agreed that the benefits were great. Among them, in particular, was the quality of teachers and mentors.

Here’s the link to Writers’ Relief, a submissions agency,  requested by people yesterday: http://www.writersrelief.com/

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Writers Cafe – get connected

Great Writers’ Café last Wednesday with 16 lively writers who showed up in addition to Ina and me. They had plenty to brag about, too. So much so, in fact, that I can’t put everything down here, or you’d never get to the end of the post.

Ina reiterated that the submission forms for the Memoir writing contest, entitled Déjà vu, that we’re running for the Center for contemporary Printmaking is live online this week. Here’s the link:

https://www.contemprints.org/writers/index.php

I saw an interesting article by the people at Writers’ Relief, about the benefits of print vs. ebook publishing. I left my printed copy at home so here’s the link. (The benefit of online publishing!)

http://www.writersrelief.com/blog/2011/08/print-online-digital-publishing/

Ivy Eisenberg has just started a new humorous blog (tag line: Nothing is off limits) about trying to follow a weightwatchers diet. Check it out here:

http://schmeightschmatchers.wordpress.com

We discussed some of the many topics related to creating a writer’s platform. Essentially, a platform is a marketing campaign and the product you’re selling is you.

As a result, we’re wondering whether anyone would be interested in a short workshop which would enable you to get yourself organized on Facebook and/or Twitter. We could also do workshops on how to set up a website and how to start a blog. These workshops would be hands-on. Let us know if you’re interested.

Jane Sherman had attended Adair Heitmann’s presentation on how to create a writer’s platform the night before (Tuesday) at the Darien Library. She found it interesting because it covered so many topics. Our workshop would be complementary in that it would show you not only why you should do it, but how to do it. Here’s the link to Adair’s blog:

http://creativityandwellness.wordpress.com/

If you’d like to contact Jane for more details about the presentation, email me at Gabi@mousemuse.com, and I’ll forward your email to her.

And then the following day, the New York Times ran a couple of articles on the issue of whether people are becoming swamped with social media, and what to do about that. Even Ina and I were intimidated simply by the number of social media sites out there. That’s why we’re sticking to something simpler to start with.  Here are the links for those articles:

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/08/11/fashion/digitally-fatigued-networkers-try-new-sites-but-strategize-to-avoid-burnout.html?emc=eta1

 

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/08/11/fashion/tips-for-managing-social-networking-burnout.html?emc=eta1

SO – plenty to think about…and we’ll keep you updated on when and where next month’s Café will be.

If you’d like to take a look at my brand new blog, here’s the link to it:

http://gabicoatsworth.wordpress.com/

 

 

 

 

 

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July 13th Storytelling photo gallery

Our fabulous storytelling event at Matt Davies’ Barn in Connecticut was a great success. Suzanne Sheridan took these photos as the sun went slowly down but the level of heat stayed up – way up!

 

 

 

 

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Writers’ Cafe Keeps getting better

We had a great Writers’ Café last Wednesday at the Westport Arts Center. There were plenty of brags to start us off:

Ina bragged that she’s had her latest piece published in the Good Men Project online magazine:

http://goodmenproject.com/featured-content/facing-my-fathers-demons/.

She also had a review of her favorite short story published on Echook’s website as a guest blog:

http://echook.com/guest-blog-ina-chadwicks-favorite-short-story/

Robert Steven Williams had two pieces published in the Good Men Project, both sports related (kind of – the Phillies and yoga).

http://goodmenproject.com/sports-2/to-philly-fans-chill-out/

http://goodmenproject.com/sports-2/yoga-a-mans-view-from-the-mat/

Elsie Ferrara had her memoir piece included in Writing Your Life 2011, published by the New Canaan Library.

I bragged that I had, in fact, completed 30 creative things in the 30 days of June. (I’d rashly said I would do this at the last meeting.) I learned that it’s OK to fail, and can even be fun. I also discovered some different creative skills I didn’t know I had. (See my Facebook photos for details, and my friends hilarious comments.)

Ina gave a preview of our next writing contest, to be undertaken for the Center for Contemporary Printmaking in Norwalk. The theme will be Deja Vu, and writers will be asked to look at the work of Jack Boul, Master print-maker, for inspiration. The contest will officially be announced on August 2, and entries will be accepted until September 19. Check the MouseMuse website for more details (link below).

 

Ina also mentioned that she had a very good editor available at a very reasonable fee for people who’d like someone to work with. Please send all requests to Ina, who will pass them on.


We spent a little time discussing social media as a way of building a platform for writers who’d like to publish. Facebook and Twitter seem to be the minimum requirements, so long as they don’t stop one from actually writing! We may discuss this further at a future meeting if our writers would like to.

Our Next Writers’ Café is on Wednesday, August 10, from 1-2 at the Westport Arts Center.  Please come, and do send this on to any of your writing friends you think might be interested.

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Big brag for Writers’ Cafe member Mary Grace Dembeck

Dreams can come true!  One of our Writers’ Cafe supporters, Mary Grace Dembeck, has had a short story made into a 30-minute movie by British director, Jack Ryder. Act of Memory, based on an incident from Mary Grace’s life and originally set in Brooklyn, has been transposed to England in 1948. The film stars Anna Massey, Claire Skinner and Grace Cooper Milton. It will be shown on British TV this Christmas.

Multi-talented Mary Grace Dembeck has exhibited paintings at The National Academy of Design
in New York City. Her writing has been published in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal
and Reader’s Digest. She is also the author of a collection of children’s poetry, MOONSNACKS
And Assorted Nuts, and she delights in the Steve Allen quote found in the back of the book.
She has collaborated on a number of songs with renowned singer Maureen McGovern, many of which were turned into  the children’s musical The Bengal Tiger’s Ball, and performed in Florida.

You can fnd out more by checking out the press release at: http://actofmemory.com/

Mary Grace – you owe the Writers’ Cafe a dollar for this brag! (That’s what writers put into the kitty when they brag about something at the Cafe.  Next one is on July 13 from 1-2ish at the Westport Arts Center.

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We Have Ways of Making You Submit Now!

Great Writers’ Café on Wednesday – we were a select group, and I had a number of topics I’d thought of covering. In the event, one of our writers asked if anyone had any ideas for how to overcome resistance, not to writing, but to submitting.

We shared our experiences and suggestions. Here are a few.

If you really can’t face the work, or don’t have the time, try Writers’ Relief, a New Jersey company that will take your work (if they feel they can place it) and find suitable places for you to submit it.  Ina explained that she had sent them a novel, which they had looked at and suggested 25 possible agents. They’d provided cover letters and Ina had replies from 14 of them – three of them very interested. Other people had submitted short fiction and had been given some editing suggestions, a final copy correctly presented, and a cover letters for around 30 literary journals to which to send the work. There are several levels of service – pick what you need.  Here’s the link:

http://www.writersrelief.com/submission-guidelines-for-review-board.aspx

Jessica Bram of the Westport Writers’ workshop suggested two websites that provide lists of literary agents:

http://aaronline.org/ and    http://www.agentquery.com/

Online magazines suggested included Open Salon,  http://open.salon.com/cover Mused, http://www.bellaonline.com/review/submissions/ and the Good Men Project http://goodmenproject.com/. All of these take non-fiction (including some memoir) and Mused takes fiction as well.

Completely off topic – I found a funny website that re-titles famous books so that you know what to expect when you buy them. http://betterbooktitles.com/ So The Great Gatsby becomes Drink Responsibly, James and the Giant Peach becomes It’s OK If Giant Fruit Kills Your Aunts So Long As They Were Bitches, etc.  The Guardian Newspaper in Britain took this and ran with it, providing a further 200 or so titles submitted by their readers. My favourite: Winnie-the-Pooh – Fat, Greedy Bear Annoys His Neighbours.  Here’s that link: http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/booksblog/2011/apr/29/book-titles-describe-content

Happy Submitting!

Gabi Coatsworth

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April Storytelling – What a night!

The April 26 storytelling at the Westport Arts Center was a rip-roaring success. Six great storytellers told tales on the theme “Money Talks” and wowed the audience.

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Writers’ Cafe considers blogs, submissions and more

We had a great Cafe last Wednesday. Thanks to all of you who came! We discussed some of the best blogs for writers, and here are a few of them:

http://storyfix.com/

http://zenhabits.net/

http://www.advancedfictionwriting.com/index.php

http://inkygirl.com/

http://writerunboxed.com/

http://www.thecreativepenn.com/

http://writingcontests.wordpress.com/

http://procrastinatingwritersblog.com/

http://www.bestcollegesonline.com/blog/2009/02/05/top-100-creative-writing-blogs/

The last one on the list has its own list of 100 best blogs, so there are plenty to choose from.
Robert Stephen Williams commented that he felt that people were no longer reading blogs because so much information consisted of sound bites.  He felt that Twitter and Facebook status updates have overtaken blogging as the preferred web communication method.. He said “It’s all about your network, followers and connections, like those on Linked-In.”

What do you think? It seems to me that even Twitter and Facebook updates often refer readers to longer articles or blogs online.

One of our writers was asking which literary magazines were the best ones to submit to. Plenty of advice here, but it really boiled down to: know the literary magazine before you submit to it. It’s no good sending a story about your childhood to a magazine that specializes in writing translated from other languages, for example. Places to find literary magazines to read/buy – the library, and Barnes and Noble.

Christine Schaffer’s advice was similar. She told us about how she gets articles placed in food related publications like Edibles. Research the publications first to find out which ones carry the sort of article you write. The pitch a story on a topic you’re familiar with, and if you don’t sell it first time, keep pitching!