BLW members participating in the Writer's Digest November PAD Chapbook Challenge

Bearlodge Writers members Pat Frolander, Maureen Blake, Amanda Fall, and I are participating in the Writer's Digest November Poem-A-Day Chapbook Challenge. Each day in November, Robert Lee Brewer, poet blogger for Writer's Digest, is giving a prompt, and those of us taking the challenge then write a poem tied to the prompt.

Participants can post their work, or not; all four of us have been posting our daily poems. The poems are to be written after receiving the prompt, not previously written work.

The chapbook challenge comes into play after the November prompts have concluded. All participants will have the month of December to revise and organize their November poems into manuscripts of 10-20 pages, emailing the manuscript to Brewer by midnight January 5, 2010. He and his wife, poet Tammy Foster Brewer, will announce a winner on Groundhog Day.

Check out our poems, and those of many other poets, at http://blog.writersdigest.com/poeticasides/
(after linking through to the comments page, use your browser's "find on this page" function to locate our names easier; most days have had well over 100 poems posted in the comments)

We are enjoying the process, though it is a bit scary to post poems that have had little (if any) editing. And very interesting to see how the prompt materializes in the poem from each writer.

For me, this is a personal challenge, too, writing on demand to a particular idea--trying to craft a poem on the fly, and create something worthwhile.

Wish us luck! Jeanne Rogers

Open House\Book Signing for Pat Frolander

All are invited to an open house and book signing honoring award-winning Sundance poet Patricia Frolander on Monday, October 26 at the Community Room of the Crook County Library in Sundance, Wyoming. The event, which will run from 4 p.m. until 7 p.m., is hosted by Bearlodge Writers and friends of the poet, and will debut Frolander's new chapbook, Grassland Genealogy (Finishing Line Press, July, 2009).

Frolander, who promises to entertain those attending the event with poetry about raising children, weathering ranch life, and life in general, is celebrating more than a new book. She was recently notified that her poem, "Father, when You call," was named the 2009 winner of the 17th Annual National Senior Poets Laureate Competition. Sponsored by Amy Kitchener's Angels Without Wings Foundation, the competition draws entries from all over the United States. Picked as best from more than 700 entries for this year, "Father, when You call" brings its author both prestigious recognition and a cash award.

Frolander has also recently been notified that U. S. Poet Laureate Ted Kooser (2004-2006) selected her poem, "Denial," for use in his weekly column, American Life in Poetry. Kooser's column is supported by the Poetry Foundation and Frolander's piece will be used in the June, 2010 publication.

This poet, who admits to digging deep when she pens her lines, is definitely on a roll. Determined to keep the momentum going, she's submitting more—-already has a new manuscript making the rounds—-and is also on the schedule for a reading and workshop (with fellow Sundance poet Jeanne Rogers) at the Campbell County Library in Gillette, and other upcoming events. Her work has appeared in a number of anthologies, newspapers, and magazines, and she often speaks to the joys and problems of Wyoming ranch life when she shares her lines at gatherings throughout the region. One recent event was an old-fashioned parlor reading in Glendo, Wyoming, with fellow poets Katie Smith and Jeanne Rogers.

Grassland Genealogy will be available for purchase at the signing. You may also pick up a copy from the author or from your favorite local bookstore, or order it from Backpocket Books, 364 Farrall Road, Sundance, WY 82729 (307-283-2665) for $14 plus shipping and handling. It is also available from the publisher, Finishing Line Press, at http://www.finishinglinepress.com/NewReleasesandForthcomingTitles.htm.

Please join us October 26, 2009, at the Crook County Library meeting room from 4:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. to celebrate poet Patricia Frolander and her new chapbook, Grassland Genealogy. (We'll be serving some fabulous refreshments, too!)

Wyoming State Historical Society Book Awards

Standing Witness: Devils Tower National Monument, A History (National Park Service) was in the very good company of works by fellow Wyoming Writers, Inc. members at the awards given at the Wyoming State Historical Society annual meeting in September.

My book won an honorable mention in the Publication-Books-Nonfiction category, along with Marcia Meredith Hensley's Staking Her Claim: Women Homesteading the West (High Plains Press) and Diana Allen Kouris for Riding the Edge of an Era: Growing up Cowboy on the Outlaw Trail (High Plains Press). Top honor for nonfiction went to Nancy Heyl Ruskowsky for Two Dot Ranch: A Biography of Place (Pronghorn Press).

Another WWInc member, Mackie d'Arge, received the top award for fiction with her novel, Lifting the Sky (Bloomsbury USA Children's Books).

Congratulations, all!

Jeanne

Cancellation of open house-book signing for Pat Frolander

The open house-book signing event scheduled for tonight, Monday, September 21, 2009, from 4:00 p.m.-7:00 p.m. at the Crook County library meeting room has been cancelled. Pat is very, very ill.

We will reschedule for a Monday in October, but no date has been selected yet.

Sponsored by the Bearlodge Writers, the event will be a celebration of the publication of Pat's first chapbook, Grassland Genealogy. Please check back for further information.

Parenting Anthology Call For Submissions

Parenthood

City Works Press seeks poetry, fiction, prose and art on motherhood and/or fatherhood for our upcoming anthology. Give us your moments of sublime joy as well your dark nights of the soul. Talk about birth, nursing, relationships, adoption, same-sex parenting, high tech conception loss, etc. Tell us what it means NOT to have children. Limit 2,500 words for fiction/prose or 4 poems. Please attach a short bio.

DEADLINE: January 4, 2010

Send to:
City Works Press
ATTN: Mamas and Papas
San Diego City College
1313 Park Blvd
San Diego, CA 92101

National award for Pat Frolander

Pat Frolander is the 2009 winner of the 17th Annual National Senior Poets Laureate Competition sponsored by Amy Kitchener's Angels Without Wings Foundation headquartered in Monterey, California. Her award-winning poem, "Father, when You call"--selected from over 700 entries--also garnered a cash award.

Congratulations, Pat!!

Patricia Frolander's Grasslands Genealogy

Now Available:

Patricia Frolander's Grasslands Genealogy

The distance between Bearlodge poet Patricia Frolander's Boston, Massachusetts childhood experiences and her life as a Wyoming ranch wife must be counted in more than miles. It is a cultural revolution of sorts, a self-development that is more than simply "a growing up." It is the story of a woman not afraid to dig deep . . . a woman willing to take a hard look at the grassland she loves . . . a woman who will readily admit she is not in absolute control of her life.

In her newly-published Grassland Genealogy (Finishing Line Press, July, 2009), Frolander shares forty years of ranching, raising children, and poetry. Her lines sing "a heart-deep melody." They capture the essence of the land and its people, revel in the blessings of close friends and closer family, and reflect upon hardships caused by unpredictable weather, markets, and livestock.

Frolander's authenticity evokes laughter . . . and tears. With it she plays the reader's life experiences by sharing hers. She coaxes, nurtures, calls us out past that safe zone we build around our memories; she makes us see that everything, including life's smallest mishaps, must be engaged. Robert Roripaugh, Wyoming Poet Laureate 1995-2002, sums up Frolander's poetry when he says it will "develop a reader's appreciation for her understanding of the subtle strands of heart and mind that tie humans and animals to each other and the grasslands they share."

Grassland Genealogy, a paperback, is Pat Frolander's first book. It is available for $14.00 plus shipping and handling from Backpocket Books (click on "Books" on this website) or from your favorite bookstore. You may also purchase a copy from the publisher, Finishing Line Press, P. O. Box 1626, Georgetown, KY 40324, or check their website,
http://www.finishinglinepress.com/NewReleasesandForthcomingTitles.htm for ordering information.

Microfiction Call for Submissions

Cinnamon Press

Call for submissions for new anthology of microfiction/prose poetry

We are looking for pieces of microfiction, sometimes called short short fiction or flash fiction, and pieces of prose poetry that tell a story in under 600 words. There is no minimum word limit.

Microfiction and prose poetry are very short prose pieces that harness a poetic world but still contain a story with a beginning, middle and end, and imply a lot more than their small structure can contain. They are flashes of something – an epiphany, perhaps – that often subvert expectation and work in a minimal structure. Some argue that there is a definitive boundary between prose poetry and microfiction, but you may submit either for this publication.

You may submit as many pieces as you wish, and those chosen will appear in a new Cinnamon microfiction and prose anthology to be published in late 2010, co-edited by Holly Howitt and Jan Fortune-Wood.

Submission Guidelines

Please read these carefully. Due to the large volume of submissions expected we will only be able to process those submissions that conform to the guidelines.

• The deadline for submissions is: 15th August 2009
• Each piece must be no longer than 600 words. There is no minimum length.
• Pieces can be on any subject and you may send several pieces, but please submit them as a single word attachment using a .doc or .rtf format
• Submit pieces to both - Holly Howitt and Jan Fortune-Wood
• with ‘microfiction anthology’ in the subject line.
• In the body of the email please type your name and location.
• Submissions without virus protection will not be opened and read so please ensure your virus protection is up to date.
• We hope to inform everyone who has sent a submission of which pieces will be included by late November 2009. Please ensure that you inform us if your email address changes after sending the submission.
• The decisions of the editors are final.
• All those whose work is selected will receive a copy of the anthology.

The Consequence Prize in Poetry

Consequence Magazine announces The Consequence Prize in Poetry

Volume I

The prize will be awarded in October, 2009 for the best poem addressing current war or armed conflict.

The winner will receive $100, have the selected poem published in both print and online editions of Consequence, be invited to read at the launch of Consequence Magazine's next print edition, and receive a three years subscription to the magazine.

All poems submitted will be considered for publication in both print and online editions.

Our Judge this year is poet and translator Kevin Bowen who will also present the award.

Submission Guidelines

• No entry fee is required.
• Entry deadline is September 1, 2009.
• All poems must be in English: no translations please.
• Submit up to three original and unpublished poems.
• The total number of pages submitted should not exceed six pages.
• Submissions must be accompanied by a cover letter with biographical information, address, phone number and email address.

Email submissions

• Send to: Poetry Editor, consequence.magazine@gmail.com
• Email submissions can be in the form of a Microsoft Word document or embedded in the email.

Mailed submissions

• Send to: Poetry Editor, Consequence Magazine, P. O. Box 323, Cohasset, MA 02025-0323
• Please include a SASE for notification of results and returns.

The Sylvan Echo Call for Submissions

The Sylvan Echo accepts original writing of the highest quality in the categories of fiction, poetry, creative nonfiction, book reviews, critical writing, and editorials from new and established writers. We are also interested in original artwork and photography. Submissions may be previously published as long as you own the rights or can obtain permission to reprint the work. We accept - nay, encourage - simultaneous submissions. (We do ask, however, that you notify us immediately if your work is accepted elsewhere.) All vivid, well-written work will be considered.

Please, no gratuitous or graphic sex or violence. If you’re considering submitting the same piece to both The Sylvan Echo and Penthouse, we’re probably not your market.

Authors and artists retain all rights.

More HERE

Visit the Bearlodge Writers

The following link is to a post written by Laurie Pawlik-Kienlen at The Adventurous Writer blog. She created the list from comments made by editors, agents, and publishers attending the Surrey International Writers' Conference.

Though the list was posted awhile ago on the AW blog, Chuck Sambuchino, editor of Writer's Digest Guide to Literary Agents thought it worth circulating again.

(Not that any readers of the BLW blog have any of these problems with their book manuscript, no siree, just some helpful info to pass on to those writers who are having some trouble.)

http://theadventurouswriter.com/blogwriting/freelance-writing/17-reasons-book-manuscripts-are-rejected/

Poetry Publishers Who Accept Electronic Submissions

A listing of places that take electronic submissions, including links to the editor. It appears to be up to date. From Rutgers University.

Poetry Publishers

The Press Pause Now Anthology Project

Call for Submissions: Women Writers

Press Pause NowTM is pleased to announce that it is now accepting submissions for its first anthology. Press Pause NowTM is a unique retreat, workshop, and coaching program whose purpose is to help successful women rethink, refocus, and reenergize their lives. This anthology will capture the stories of successful transitions. Thanks for considering making a submission. Follow updates on Twitter at ppnanthology.

Main Focus

Life is about change. As human beings we’re always changing, growing, tranforming, and transitioning our lives – whether we’re seeking a new job, new career, or new direction. Whether it’s our circumstances that lead us to take a new path or a desire to pursue a goal or dream, we learn that as women we have the power to choose who we want to be, what we want to do, and what kind of life we want to lead.

This inspirational and motivational collection of essays and articles will focus on stories about women and their “press pause moments,” those points of transition when they have decided to take a different path, pursue a passion, or go after a goal or dream. The catalyst and outcome of the journey may be personal, professional, or both. Most importantly we are looking for diversity in the types of stories. We want to hear from all kinds of women doing all kinds of things (in other words, don’t hesitate to submit for fear your story won’t ‘fit!”) This anthology will celebrate the “go for it” spirit shared by women everywhere who define succses on their own terms and find the strength within themselves and among their network of supporters to make it happen.

Guidelines

• Nonfiction essays and articles should be between 800-2500 words in length, double-spaced.
• Only email submissions will be accepted and should be sent electronically as attachments (word doc) to anne@presspausenow.com . Please put the word ‘Anthology’ in the subject line.
• Include a 65-70 word bio as you would like it to appear in the published anthology should your submission be accepted. You may include a website address for consideration.
• You will greatly increase your chances of inclusion if you take care to proofread your work and run a spell check prior to submitting.
• You may submit up to two essays or articles for consideration. Each submission should be sent in a separate email.
• Deadline for submissions is midnight, September 25, 2009.
• Publication is anticipated by early 2010.
• You can stay up-to-date about the anthology’s progress on this blog or follow on Twitter: ppnanthology.

Please Note

Publishing this anthology is a new endeavor; unfortunately at this time we cannot pay for contributions that are accepted. However we will actively promote the anthology and your writing. Inclusion will provide writers with a focused publishing credit.

About the Editor

Anne Witkavitch is currently president of C-Suite Communications, a strategic marketing and communications firm, and founder of Press Pause NowTM, a life design and coaching program that helps successful women rethink, refocus, and reenergize their lives. She is a former Fortune 100 communications executive. Anne’s press pause story began when she decided to pursue a lifetime dream to become a published writer by returning to graduate school at the age of 42. Juggling fulltime career, parenthood, and studies, she earned her M.F.A. in Professional Writing and has published her work in a variety of publications. She also teaches, mentors, and speaks about writing, communications, leadership, and work/life balance.

Narrative Magazine First Annual Poetry Contest

Narrative’s first annual poetry contest runs from now until July 18. In a continuing effort to encourage and support poetry, we’re offering prizes, publication to the top three winners, and a public announcement of all winners and finalists via the Internet and in hard-copy literary trade publications. Wide attention will be brought to the winners and finalists in the contest.

The contest is open to all poets. Entries must be previously unpublished and must not have been previously chosen as a winner, finalist, or honorable mention in another contest. Each entry may contain up to five poems. You may enter as many times as you wish, but we encourage you to be selective and to send your best work. All entries will be considered for publication.

Awards: First Prize is $1,500, Second Prize is $750, Third Prize is $300, and ten finalists will receive $75 each. All entries will be considered for publication.

Submission Fee: There is a $20 fee for each entry. And with your entry, you’ll receive three months of complimentary access to Narrative Backstage.

Read more on the Narrative Magazine Website

Call for Submissions - On and About Mothers

The Mom Egg Call for Submissions

5 June 2009

We are currently seeking submissions for a special online issue of The Mom Egg, a literary journal, to be released in Fall 2009. Deadline for poetry, fiction, creative prose and art for this issue is July 31, 2009. We are also accepting submissions of other material, such as reviews and interviews. Submission guidelines may be found on the website, www.themomegg.com.

The Mom Egg publishes work by mothers about everything, and by everyone about mothers and motherhood.

Purloined from Creative Writing Contests Blog









Visit the Bearlodge Writers

Moon Poem Contest

Moon Poem Broadside Contest

Do you have a poem about the Moon? Moonlight? Phases or effects of the moon? What waxes or wanes? Clever personifications? Something new under the moon?

Twin Cranes Press is sponsoring a free Moon poem broadside contest. The winning entry will be produced in a limited, numbered edition of 100 copies, of which 25 go to the author and 75 will be sold to raise funds to support Moonlit, a Chicago-based literary journal edited by Lisa Janssen and Claire McMahon. In the event of a tie, the press may publish co-winners.

The fundraising event for Moonlit will be held in Cleveland on June 13th, and the winning poet will be invited to attend and read the winning entry. Twin Cranes Press of Canton, Ohio publishes occasional projects to raise funds to support journals, literary centers, and causes it deems worth. Winner(s) will be selected by the editors, Robert Miltner and Lisa Vargas.

The guidelines are simple and are as follows:

All forms of poetry considered

Include author contact information—name, address, phone number, email—on each submission

Poets should submit no more than three entries

Limit poems to approximately 30 lines

12 point font, please

Previously published poems considered if poet holds copyright and publication information (journal, issue, year, page or website) is provided
Poems may be co-authored

Rights revert back to author upon printing

Electronic submissions only.

Send submissions to twincranespress@gmail.com

Put your last name in the subject line. Attach your poem(s) in a word file AND paste the poem(s) in 12 point font in the body of the email.

Deadline is midnight, May 31, 2009

Results of contest will be sent electronically after decisions are made

For questions, contact editors at twincranespess@gmail.com. Put “Question” in the subject line.

(From Creative Writing Contests)

Diverse Voices Quarterly

Call for Submissions

www.diversevoicesquarterly.com is a new online literary journal looking for submissions from all walks of life.

Deadline for consideration into the first issue is MAY 1, 2009.

Submission guidelines are:

Poetry: 3-5 poems, 40 lines MAX. Please send in one file, separated by a page break between poems.

Short stories: 3,000 words MAX. You may submit up to two short shorts that add up to 1,000 words. If sending two shorts, please send two separate files.

Personal essays/creative nonfiction: 3,000 words MAX. Send only one essay at a time.

Artwork accepted in .jpg or .png format. Send only two images at a time.

–Simultaneous submissions are accepted but multiple submissions are not.
–We will not read any material previously published online; this includes works published in other online journals or from any message board or blogs.
–While we will read submissions from everyone, the work MUST BE in English.
–Be sure to include your last name and type of submission in the subject line (Example: Kaling – Short Story Submission).
–Include a cover letter, a short bio, and your complete contact information in the body of the e-mail.
–Only attachments are accepted, either as MS Word (.doc or .rtf) or WordPerfect (.wpd) files. Pasted-in submissions WILL BE deleted.
–Send your submissions to: submit@diversevoicesquarterly.com

BLW News and Notes

The writers of Bearlodge have been busy—the news snippets below for late 2008\early 2009 are in a loose chronological order:

Last fall, long before we added this newsy blog to our BLW web site, Helen’s book, Eco-Friendly Families, was published by Alpha Books (a division of Penguin), ISBN-13: 978-1592577613. Her additional fantastic news: on November 19, 2008, Helen appeared on the Today Show (!!!) with Al Roker (and another reporter); video here: http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/26184891/vp/18424824#27802999. The following is a Today show link to a front-page online article excerpted from Helen’s book. http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/27721336.

"Take Back Your Life", a piece on anorexia by Jackie Lindstrom, is included in Chicken Soup for the Soul: Teens Talk High School: 101 stories of Life, Love, and Learning for Older Teens. ISBN-13: 978-1-935096-25-2. http://www.chickensoup.com/. The Chicken Soup books are distributed to the book trade by Simon & Schuster.

Last October, Bathsheba Monk, author with Farrar, Straus & Giroux, announced a short story contest via her web site http://www.bathshebamonk.blogspot.com/, complete with prize money and publication on her site for the winner. Amanda retrieved an answering machine message in February informing her that her story, “Tybee Island,” had won. Her winning entry (along with a gorgeous photo of Amanda) is front and center of the contest blog site, http://bathshebamonkssc.blogspot.com/, with links or posts on Monk’s other web pages.

On February 10, Kathy received this email from Writer’s Digest: Congratulations! Your piece has been selected as a finalist in our contest. You can see the full list here: http://writersdigest.com/article/redheart-blackheart-finalists. Kathy had entered a poem, “Moment,” in the WD Red Heart::Black Heart Valentine’s Day contest. Scroll partway down the page to see Kathy’s name listed with the Black Poems.

Dave Wagner’s first book, Powder River Odyssey, is now available for purchase! http://www.bearlodgewriters.com/bearbooks.html Published by the Arthur H. Clark Company, an imprint of the University of Oklahoma Press, http://www.ahclark.com/, this book brings to life the ill-fated 1865 Powder River Expedition (the story is continued in his second book, Patrick Connor’s War, due for publication this fall). We remain saddened by Dave’s untimely death last November; he would have been so proud to see this result of the almost forty years he spent as a serious student of the military history of the West, and we would have been delighted to share this with him. Books available from Backpocket Books http://www.bearlodgewriters.com/bearbooks.html.

Andi Hummel and Lanette Bousa have poems in the March 2009 issue of WREN (Wyoming Rural Electric News), a monthly publication with a circulation of over 40,000 readers.

Helen’s article on barrel racing, "Take 'er to the Line," is in the March-April 2009 edition of I. M. Cowgirl (International Magazine of Cowgirls), a classy, fairly new magazine celebrating “The Life of the Western Woman.” A short blurb on her article is the third snippet down on this page: http://www.imcowgirl.com/html/thisedition.html.

Connie received this email in early March: We wanted to let you know your poem entitled “Searching for Proteus” has made the "1st Cut" by our judges. Less than 15% make it this far. Overall winners will be announced March 15th. Franklin-Christoph. The maker of fine pens hosts a poetry contest every year. Another email was sent to all entrants on March 13: Earlier this week our university judges realized they had some 120 extra poems they had not yet judged for the contest. Rather than try to rush to make the March 15th date, I've asked them to extend the date to April 13th. Unfortunately, no one in BLW made the final cut.

Maureen will have an essay, “Harvesting Hope, One Tomato at a Time,” in The Ultimate Gardener: The Best Experts’ Advice for Cultivating a Magnificent Garden with Photos and Stories, a 248-page paperback by HCI, publisher of the Chicken Soup books. http://www.hcibooks.com/ ISBN-13: 9780757313523. The book is scheduled for an April publication.

My poem (Jeanne), "Lady of the Manor," has been accepted for publication in Plains Song Review, volume XI (Spring 2009), an annual journal from The Center for Great Plains Studies at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. http://www.unl.edu/plains/publications/PSR/psr.shtml. A reception and reading will be held April 22 at the Great Plains Art Museum in Lincoln. View the invitation here, with the journal cover photo and contributors’ names: http://www.unl.edu/plains/CGPS_images/publications/psr/PSR%2011%20invite%204-09.pdf.

My other news: The second printing of Standing Witness: Devils Tower National Monument, A History has arrived at the Tower. With revised text (no more 21-foot-bison-horn-span!), wider margins, corrected typos, and a properly-laminated cover, the new edition feels and reads much better than the first. I remain extremely thankful to Linda Tokarczyk, business manager of the Devils Tower Natural History Association, for her continued diligence to have a quality product. Books are available from the DTNHA bookshop http://www.nps.gov/archive/deto/bookshop.htm or from Backpocket Books http://www.bearlodgewriters.com/bearbooks.html.

Pat has a chapbook, Grassland Genealogy, in the publication pipeline with Finishing Line Press, http://www.finishinglinepress.com/, with a due date of July 31, 2009.

BLW members presenting program

Visit the Bearlodge Writers

On Wednesday, April 8, Pat Frolander and I will be presenting the April Brown Bag program at Matthews Opera House in Spearfish to help celebrate National Poetry Month. We will be reading and discussing our poetry, working in tandem to showcase the similarities and disparities in our work.

http://www.spearfishartscenter.org/EventDetail.aspx?EventID=180

The Brown Bag will begin at noon and conclude at 1:00 p.m. at the Opera House at 612 Main Street in Spearfish, South Dakota.

The Bellman Brown Bag series is a humanities program designed to explore ideas, history, literature, art, and culture. Programs are presented on the second Wednesday of each month, noon to 1:00 p.m. at the historic Matthews Opera House. Designed to begin and end within the lunch hour, patrons are invited to bring their lunch, or simply enjoy an hour of learning and entertainment. (from the Spearfish Arts Center web site: www.spearfishartscenter.org/)

Please join us! Jeanne Rogers

Men Only Contest

“More Than a Few Good Men” Anthology Call for Submissions

5 April 2009

www.goodmenbook.org./writing-contest.html

Do you have a compelling story to tell about a defining moment in your life? The editors of More Than a Few Good Men are sponsoring a national writing contest and are accepting submissions from March 1 through May 1. The contest is open to men ages 35 to 60. Each writer should submit an original essay focused on a defining moment in his life, when the challenges of childhood, coming of age, work, relationships, fatherhood or death caused a fundamental change in his understanding of himself as a man. Essays should be from 1,000 to 3,000 words long and written in the first person. More Than a Few Good Men is an anthology of essays about what it means to be a man in America today. Contributors include such accomplished writers as Mad Men creator Matt Wiener, Memoires of a Geisha novelist Arthur Golden, and Not That You Asked essayist Steve Almond. An NFL Hall of Famer, a former Sing Sing inmate, a one-time Wall Street wunderkind, and a photojournalist embedded with U.S. troops in Iraq are among the other contributors. More Than a Few Good Men will be published in spring 2010. All proceeds from the book will benefit the Good Men Foundation, a charitable organization founded to support men and boys at risk. For more information about the book, the contributors or the contest, visit www.goodmenbook.org.

Women Only Contest

Remarriage in Midlife Call for Submissions (Women Only)

5 April 2009

Personal stories needed for self-help book: Remarriage in Midlife: 10 Things Women Over 50 Should Think About Before Saying I Do a Second—or Third—Time! Author (and FFWA member) Catherine Rain invites midlife women writers approaching and/or over the age of 50 who have contemplated a midlife remarriage, or made one, to send in first-person stories about their experiences. Stories needed in these areas: Reasons for marrying in midlife as well as staying single; Working through financial issues including prenuptial agreements; Learning to live with a man again; Sharing decision-making power; Step-family issues for midlife couples; Working with/around Exes, including toxic and troublesome types; Establishing new traditions; Merging households; Life stage/empty nest; and Personal growth. If your story does not fit these areas, but you think it is something midlife women should know, beware of, avoid, or celebrate, send it anyway. The book’s tone is upbeat and proactive. Writers’ stories will be used anecdotally as examples of the book’s narrative. No payment, as the book is targeted to a small press. However, I will credit you as a contributor, and anyone whose story is used will receive a copy of the book when published. Since stories may be personal in nature, please let me know if you want me to use a pseudonym and/or to change any details that might reveal your identity. In all cases, I will use first names only. Submit stories to c3brain@gmail.com

Deadline: May 20, 2009.
Double-space submissions and provide contact information.

Narrative Story Contest

ENTER TO WIN

FINAL WEEK. ENTRY DEADLINE: MARCH 31.

The contest is open to short shorts, short stories, essays, memoirs, all forms of literary nonfiction, and excerpts from longer works of both fiction and nonfiction.

$3,000 First Prize

$1,500 Second Prize

$750 Third Prize

Ten finalists receive $100 each.

All entries will be considered for publication.