IWSG: Imagine Life as a Writer

It’s time for another group posting of the Insecure Writer’s Support Group! founded by Alex J. Cavanaugh. Time to release our fears to the world – or offer encouragement to those who are feeling neurotic. If you’d like to join us, click on the tab above and sign up. We post the first Wednesday of every month. Your words might be the encouragement someone needs. You can also join us on twitter using the hashtag #IWSG, or on the Facebook page.

Now, IWSG hosts have changed up the format in an effort to make it more fun and interactive. Every month, they will announce a question that members can answer in their IWSG Day post. These questions may prompt you to share advice, insight, a personal experience or story. Include your answer to the question in your IWSG post or let it inspire your post if you are struggling with something to say. 

Don’t forget to visit others that day to see their answers. Want to join, or learn more? Visit our - Sign-up List.

NOVEMBER QUESTION - When you began writing, what did you imagine your life as a writer would be like? Were you right, or has this experience presented you with some surprises along the way?

MY ANSWER: When I was really young, I was a huge SUPERMAN fan and I thought I would be the next Lois Lane (without being fooled by men wearing glasses :-) As I got older, I discovered ALL THE PRESIDENT'S MEN and thought I would be the next Woodward or Bernstein. Clearly, I had a nostalgic view of myself as the next great journalist. However, as I entered life in first my high school newspaper and then college newspaper, I quickly realized how little glamour (and even less pay) there was - even though I became editor of both. By the time I graduated college and was offered a position with the city newspaper, I realized my passion lies just as much with the teaching of journalism as the actual practice of working in the field. By that time, I had also published a few pieces of poetry and began working as a freelance writer for magazines too. I also started submitting and publishing fiction as well. Today, I continue my passion for teaching and still enjoy writing my own pieces.

How about you? When you began writing, what did you imagine your life as a writer would be like? Were you right, or has this experience presented you with some surprises along the way?

Weather Days: Reading, Writing, and Submitting

We've been enjoying some unexpected weather in southeast Texas lately: snow. While it's normal for us to get sleet and ice in the winter months, we only see snow every few years. Even then, it usually melts as it lands or at the most you might get a few pockets of an inch or so that melts withing a few hours. This past week, however, we received six to seven inches that coated our neighborhoods for several days. 

Unfortunately, because it is such a rare occurrence here, no one knows how to cope. Literally, everything closed down for a few days including schools and most businesses. Officials advised people to stay home and not drive if possible. Many didn't listen and there was an abundance of wrecks in our area including overturned vehicles in ditches, pileups on the interstate, and in a couple of cases people driving into buildings (at least one restaurant and one home in separate incidents).

I was lucky. I enjoyed a couple of extra days off to stay home, play in the snow with my family, snuggle with my dog, and enjoy some extra reading and writing time. It felt like a blessing to me.

As a result, I found a dozen writing opportunities I thought I would share:

1. BEAUTIFUL TRAGEDIES 4 - Hellbound books' anthology of dark poetry: A Dark Poetry Anthology project now accepting submissions for an anti-romance poetry anthology. Give us your darkest nights, your most pain- filled and heart wrenching moments in prose. Deadline: when full. For more information, click here.

2.- 6. Road Kill: Texas Horror by Texas Writers, Vol. 10. - is looking for original horror stories 1,500-10,000 words in length. This is one of six different anthologies this publisher is currently open to submissions. Deadline: May 1 2025 (BEGINS FEB 1 2025). For more information, click here.

7. hotpoet has launched Equinox, a biannual digital multimedia journal that showcases poets, writers, and artists. We invite you to send us your poems, flash fiction, flash essay, photography, and art. We look for contemplative, argumentative, globally aware, despair-resistant, and apathy-abolishing works. Deadline Feb. 18. For more information, click here.

8. - 12. Grapevine - Fort Worth, Texas "Quicksilver Poetry Festival" on March 29. This group is also open to multiple submission and contest opportunities. To learn more, click here.

How about you? Have you been enjoying any unusual weather? Have you read an excellent book lately that you'd like to recommend? Have you found any great submission opportunities?

7 Fast Approaching Submission Deadlines

Seven fast approaching deadlines...

Chicken Soup for the Soul: Miracles, messages from heaven, angels - The deadline for submissions is FEBRUARY 28, 2024. Stories about miracles, angels, messages from heaven, premonitions, amazing coincidences and other unexplainable but good events! We are looking for powerful, astounding, stories that will make people say "wow" or give them chills. This book is for everyone, whether religious or non-religious.

Chicken Soup for the Soul: The power of thinking positive - The deadline for submission is FEBRUARY 28, 2024. We know that using the power of thinking positive helps you to achieve your goals and lead a happy, purposeful, and productive life. Almost anything is possible if you think you can. You can dream big, overcome challenges, create the best life possible for yourself, and turn adversity into opportunity. What do you do to think positive and how did it change your life? Tell us your success story about using the power of thinking positive!

GRAYWOLF PRESS NONFICTION PRIZE
https://www.graywolfpress.org/about-us/submissions
NO MENTION OF ENTRY FEE. Deadline February 29, 2024. A $20,000 advance and publication by Graywolf Press will be awarded to the most promising and innovative literary nonfiction project by a writer not yet established in the genre. The winning author will also receive a $2,000 stipend intended to support the completion of their project. The Graywolf editors are particularly interested in new approaches to the personal essay, cultural and literary criticism, creative scholarship, and books exploring complex ideas from unexpected angles. Must live in the United States, regardless of citizenship status. Must have published at least one piece of nonfiction in a literary journal or magazine.

SEJONG WRITING COMPETITION
https://www.sejongculturalsociety.org/writing/current/sijo.php?fbclid=IwAR3dsNgV_I0yqv-oCp4MFqmMihAVk6cwHbmBCsihV0iPfrSQIjIDtbDwdKU
Deadline February 29, 2024. Divisions: adult division (age 19 and older) and pre-college division (age 18 and younger). Write one sijo in English on a topic of your choice. Only one entry per applicant. Adult division: First ($1,000), Second ($750), Third ($500). Pre-college division: First ($500), Second ($400), Third ($300). Must be a resident of USA or Canada.

LITTLE TOKYO HISTORICAL SOCIETY SHORT STORY CONTEST
https://www.littletokyohs.org/
NO ENTRY FEE. Deadline February 29, 2024. The Little Tokyo Historical Society (LTHS) seeks fictional short stories for its 11th annual Imagine Little Tokyo short story contest in the categories of English language, Japanese language and youth (18 and younger). The purpose of the contest is to raise awareness of Little Tokyo through a creative story that takes place in Little Tokyo. Each category winner will be awarded $500 in cash with their short story being published in The Rafu Shimpo, Discover Nikkei and Little Tokyo Historical Society website.

ALPINE POETRY PRIZE
https://alpinefellowship.com/poetry-prize
NO ENTRY FEE. Deadline March 1, 2024. Theme: Language. You may submit one poem or a collection of poems as long as ALL the poems in the collection speak to the theme. There is a maximum of 500 words per entry. There is no minimum required word count. First place: £3,000. Second place: £1,000. Third place: £1,000. The winner and runners-up will be invited to the annual symposium. Up to £500 travel expenses to help with travel to the event and meals and accommodation.

 

ALPINE WRITING PRIZE
https://alpinefellowship.com/writing-prize
NO ENTRY FEE. Deadline March 1, 2024. Theme: Language. All genres of writing are permitted, including fiction, non-fiction, and non-academic essays. Open to all nationalities. First place: £3,000. Second place: £1,000. Third place: £1,000. The winner and runners-up will be invited to the annual symposium. Up to £500 travel expenses to help with travel to the event and meals and accommodation. A maximum of 2,500 words per entry.

Autumn Writing

It's finally Fall, and we just had our first big cool front here in southeast Texas. Although, highs are still near 80, we are getting into the 50's at night. Just a few weeks ago temperatures were still hitting near 100 degrees. I'm glad to see the changing season. 

I'm also hoping to change and increase my writing output as I've been too busy to write as much as I would like lately. I'm teaching both high school and college classes, and my kids are involved in a lot of extracurriculars which require a lot of travel. Don't get me wrong - I'm grateful for everything we have and share. It can all just be overwhelming at times and writing continually takes a backseat when it isn't directly related to work. In that vein, I thought I would share some writing prompts - not all of them are season related, but you can make them such if you wish. I hope they inspire some wickedly wonderful Autumn tales!

1) Write a Fall or Halloween special for your favorite television show.

2) Design your own school of magic: what does it look like? what subjects are taught? Who are the teachers? What are some of the back-to-school traditions?

3) Create a legend about your city.

4) Write an acrostic poem.

5) Write about a Thanksgiving dinner attended by your favorite fictional character.

6) Write a scene from the POV of Alexa or Siri.

7) Create a fake news report.

8) Write a retelling of your favorite Shakespeare play.

9) Write a scene that takes place in your favorite bookstore or coffee shop.

10) Write about a character who has terrible luck.

11) Write a Fall scene without using the word pumpkin.

12) Write about the worst possible break up you could imagine.

13) Make up your own conspiracy theory.

14) Write a story that takes place in a corn maze.

15) Write a ghost story.

16) Take a favorite Christmas song and rewrite the words to be about Halloween, or Thanksgiving.

What are you writing? Are you trying any of these? Any other prompts you want to share?

14+ Spring Writing Opportunities

It's finally Spring, the busiest time of year for my family. It's also the time of year when many submission calls are open, and deadlines are fast approaching. 

1) Chicken Soup for the Soul: https://www.chickensoup.com/story-submissions/possible-book-topics - This is one company I have experience with and will continue to recommend. They always have a call out for multiple topics. They also pay fairly well in both cash and contributor copies. If you are interested in writing creative nonfiction, please check out the link above.

2) THE EVERY ANIMAL PROJECT https://www.everyanimalproject.com/contact/ -
Deadline March 31, 2023 We are currently accepting submissions around the theme of courageous animals for our first anthology, debuting in December 2023, The Dog Who Wooed at the World. Stories should explain how an animal’s bravery inspired and moved you. Stories must be true (non-fiction). They must relate to non-human animals (of any species) and can be about your personal experiences/growth because of an animal, an issue threatening animals today, or other aspects of the human/non-human animal relationship. One winning author will receive a $300 prize, and the second place author will receive $200. All other authors with stories chosen for the book will receive a $50 award, along with a free copy of the book upon its publication in 2023 a week before its release to the general public. Stories not chosen for the book will have the opportunity to be featured online on the blog, with a $20 award. Please keep your submission roughly between 500 and 3,000 words.

3) SEJONG WRITING COMPETITION https://www.sejongculturalsociety.org/writing/current/sijo.php -
NO ENTRY FEE NOTED. Deadline March 31, 2023. Divisions: adult division (age 19 and older) and pre-college division (age 18 and younger). Write one sijo in English on a topic of your choice. A title for the sijo is not required. Adult division: First ($1,000), Second ($750), Third ($500). Pre-college division: First ($500), Second ($400), Third ($300). Honorable mention (for both divisions listed above): Friends of Pacific Rim Awards ($50 each). (Thanks to www.erikadreifus.com)

4) THE FOLEY POETRY CONTEST https://americamedia.submittable.com/submit -
NO ENTRY FEE NOTED. Deadline March 31, 2023. Submit one poem of 45 lines or fewer. Poems should not be under consideration elsewhere. Poems may address any topic. The winning poem will be announced in early June and published in the print edition of America. The cash prize is $1,000. Three runners-up will also be published in subsequent issues.

5) BAEN FANTASY ADVENTURE AWARD https://www.baen.com/contest-faa -
NO ENTRY FEE. Deadline April 30, 2023. Write and submit a short story of no more than 8,000 words. It must be a work of fantasy, though all fantasy genres are open, e.g. epic fantasy, heroic fantasy, sword and sorcery, contemporary fantasy, etc. The grand prize winner will be published as the featured story on the Baen Books main website and paid at industry-standard rates for professional story submittals. The author will also receive a handsome engraved award and a prize package containing $500 of free Baen Books. Second place winner will receive a prize package containing $500 of free Baen Books. Third place winner will receive a prize package containing $300 of free Baen Books.

6) The First Line: https://www.thefirstline.com/ - Accepting fiction, nonfiction, and poetry, the next available deadlines are May 1, August 1, and November 1. Please click the link above to learn more.

7) FLASH 500 COMPETITION:     http://www.flash500.com/ - This is an annual set of three competitions for 500 words or less - in the categories of flash fiction, short story, and novel opening! This quarterly open-themed competition has closing dates of March 31, June 30, September 30 and December 31. The results will be announced within six weeks of each closing date and the three winning entries each quarter will be published on this website. Entry fee: £5 for one story, £8 for two stories. Optional critiques: £15 per story. The competition is open to anyone over the age of 18, including non-UK entrants. Only manuscripts which are within the 500-word limit will be accepted. Entries must be in English.

8) FURIOUS FICTION https://www.writerscentre.com.au/furious-fiction/ -
NO ENTRY FEE. Deadline quarterly. Your story must OPEN with a 12-word sentence. Your story must be 500 words or fewer (hyphenated words and contractions each count as just one word) and the winning story will earn its talented author $500AU. Maximum 500 words – hyphenated compounds count as just one word. This contest is open to anyone in the world. But you must be 17 or older to enter and you can only enter ONCE per competition round. On each competition weekend, we’ll reveal a set of story prompts and you’ll have 55 hours to submit your best story of 500-words (or fewer).

9) MONTHLY SHORT STORY CONTEST https://shortstory.substack.com/p/coming-soon - Deadline the end of each month. Winner chosen by the 15th of the following month. Their missioin is to revive the art of the short story, support artists, and produce something wonderful. The winner each month receives $100 for the chosen story plus half of subscription revenue to be sent by Paypal, Zelle, or check. For example, the  payout for Jan should be $225 or higher. Send submission to shortstorystack@gmail.com. Reprints are fine. Word limit ranges from only six words to as much as 10,000 words. Only the winner will be published and rights will only transfer for the winning story. 

10) EATON LITERARY AGENCY SHORT STORY/ARTICLE AWARD http://www.eatonliterary.com/submissions.htm - A $3000 prize will be awarded to the winner of our short story and article program, open to any unpublished short story or nonfiction work less than 10,000 words. 

11) WERGLE FLOMP HUMOR POETRY CONTEST https://winningwriters.com/our-contests/wergle-flomp-humor-poetry-contest-free - Deadline April 1, 2023. First Prize: $2,000 plus a two-year gift certificate from our co-sponsor, Duotrope (a $100 value). Second Prize: $500. Honorable Mentions: 10 awards of $100 each. Top 12 entries published online. Length limit: 250 lines maximum. No restriction on age of author. Both unpublished and previously published work accepted. Authors from all countries eligible except Syria, Iran, North Korea, and Crimea (due to US government restrictions). The poem you submit should be in English. 

12)  BRILLIANT FLASH FICTION WRITING CONTEST https://brilliantflashfiction.com/2023/01/01/lets-be-brilliant/- Deadline April 15, 2023. Limit 500 words. First prize $200. Second prize $100. Third prize $50. Shortlisted stories receive publication and $20. One entry per author. Open to writers worldwide, no age requirement. Fiction only, please. No poetry or essays.

13) Thrill of the Hunt Anthology #9- Paranormal Paradox: Submissions | PALMAS PUBLISHING (palmaspress.com) - Deadline August 1, 2023. Premise: The world has been through hell. Millions dead and millions more still sick and dying. What if the pandemic did something to us? What if the vaccine the government provided changed us at the cellular level? What if those who died came back?

14) Hellbound http://www.hellboundbookspublishing.com/subs-anthologies.html - Deadlines of various horror poetry, short stories and novels from now through the end of summer.

What about you? Is this a particularly busy time for you? Are there any great books we should read? How about great submission opportunities?

Fall Writing

It's finally Fall! Although, you wouldn't know it in southeast Texas with temperatures hitting near 100 degrees as I'm writing this. I'm looking forward to the changing season. I'm also hoping to increase my writing output as I've been too distracted to write as much as I would like lately. I'm working full time, going to school full time, my kids are involved in a lot of extracurriculars which require a lot of travel, and we've had several family and friend losses lately. Don't get me wrong - I'm grateful for everything we have and share. It can all just be overwhelming at times and writing continually takes a backseat when it isn't directly related to a school or work assignment. In that vein, I thought I would share some writing prompts - not all of them are season related, but you can make them such if you wish. I hope they inspire some wickedly wonderful Autumn tales!

1) Write a Fall or Halloween special for your favorite television show.

2) Design your own school of magic: what does it look like? what subjects are taught? Who are the teachers? What are some of the back-to-school traditions?

3) Create a legend about your city.

4) Write an acrostic poem.

5) Write about a Thanksgiving dinner attended by your favorite fictional character.

6) Write a scene from the POV of Alexa or Siri.

7) Create a fake news report.

8) Write a retelling of your favorite Shakespeare play.

9) Write a scene that takes place in your favorite bookstore or coffee shop.

10) Write about a character who has terrible luck.

11) Write a Fall scene without using the word pumpkin.

12) Write about the worst possible break up you could imagine.

13) Make up your own conspiracy theory.

14) Write a story that takes place in a corn maze.

15) Write a ghost story.

16) Take a favorite Christmas song and rewrite the words to be about Halloween, or Thanksgiving.

What are you writing? Are you trying any of these? Any other prompts you want to share?

17 More Writing Contests

 Many of these contests are about to begin accepting submission. Please click each one for more specific details.

1. Sitcom Writing Contest, write a 22 minutes sitcom episode with the winner receiving a prize of $10,000 if the script is the sole winner (or shared if more than single winner) and another $5,000 if the script is used on sitcom independent production studios. Due July 1, 2022.
2. Screenplay Writing Contest, write a screenplay / teleplay about drama comedy on today's political environment and a culture difference between individuals involved in the story limited to a maximum of 5,000 words. This is jointly sponsored by Teen America Foundation and Los Angeles-based motion picture production. Due March 31st, 2023.
3. Poetry Writing Contest, Springfield Film Festival and Springfield Art Institute have united their prize budgets to offer a writing competition for all levels and all ages to submit their own original poetry about Climate Change for a two round contests. Due June 30th, 2023.
4. Satirist Comedy Writing Contest, looking for the next George Carlin, the man referred to as, "a major force in comedy since 1960s and there will be no substitute for his insight, nor his tireless and hilarious attacks on the enfranchised. Due August 30th, 2023.
5. Love Story Writing Contest, is a contest for romance novelists and new writers who want to try writing about the magic of love and the everlasting love between a couple and their journey into deepest emotional bond that can be experienced. Due June 1st, 2023.
6. Romantic Poetry Writing Contest, by Franklin Arts Institute Grant offering new writers an opportunity to earn a cash prize for writing romantic poetry. All work submitted must be original work by the contestant and all contestants are expected to be. Due February 1st, 2023.
7. Ocean Dream Cruise Liner Writing Contest, sponsored by Fairview is looking for the best ocean dream poem that captured the mood of cruise passengers on the seas and the nostalgic emotional creativity that is brought to one's heart at the deep ocean at night making hearts speak of love and romance, desperation and agony, or dreams. Due December 21st, 2022.
8. Short Story Writing Contest, by grant offered through Georgetown English Literature Institute and Winchester Creative Writing School together uniting to promote short story competition that is both ambitious and exciting for new writers. Due May 31st, 2023.
9. Amazon Novel Contest, a novel writing contest for original, unpublished or self-published, fictional, English language manuscripts of any genre that is not offensive, pornography, publicity, indecent proposals, technical manuals or guides. Only accepting the first 10,000 entries.
10. Dayton National Story Award Contest, is aimed at providing a competition that would result in constructive and, we hope, inspiring short stories by writers of all levels, but particularly new writers joining the profession for the first time.  Due January 30th, 2023.
11. Halloween Poetry Writing Contest, is a writing competition organized each year by Salem Writing Arts Foundation with the intention to create out of the ordinary poetry and allow the development of dark poetry as a means of communicating arts. Due January 31st, 2023.
12. Writers Village Writing Contest, offers a national contest for a work of fiction without a pre-defined theme and all styles are welcome. Genre-based fiction would be crime, mystery, science fiction, political, suspense, horror, or historical and all levels. Due May 30th, 2023.
13. Emerald City Writing Competitions Contest, a writing award contest with the famous writer Scott Moore as the panelist judge for the best new original fiction about American history that is both enticing fiction and based on an even in American history. Due June 15th, 2023.
14. Centerville Leaf eBooks Writing Contest, is once again presenting its annual creative writing contests and this year the theme/genre is best original work of fiction in mystery or drama that is presented and distributed in eBook format in North America. Due June 1st, 2023.
15. Winchester Commonwealth Short Story Prize Writing Contest, sponsors an annual $10,000 award for its short story writing competition to introduce new writers and new artistic work into the industry and is open to everyone in U.S. and a few others. Due May 21st, 2023.
16. Madison Poetry Writing Contest, is open to all U.S. and international poets of all levels who may consider themselves hopeless romantics, dreamers, visionaries, idealists, or just normal people gazing into art of expression, poetically. Due February 1st, 2023.
17. Alexandra Manchester Fiction Writing Contest, is a joint sponsorship with publishing houses and Clinton Literary Awards Foundationthat offering a semi-annual writing competition for debut fiction, fiction, nonfiction, and young author. Due January 31st, 2023.

HAPPY WRITING!

12 Spring and Summer Writing Opportunities

It's finally Spring, the busiest time of year for my family. It's also the time of year when many submission calls are open and deadlines are fast approaching. 

1) Chicken Soup for the Soul: https://www.chickensoup.com/story-submissions/possible-book-topics - This is one company I have experience with and will continue to recommend. They always have a call out for multiple topics. They also pay fairly well in both cash and contributor copies. If you are interested in writing creative nonfiction, please check out the link above.

2) The First Line: https://www.thefirstline.com/ - Accepting fiction, nonfiction, and poetry, the next available deadlines are May 1, August 1, and November 1. Please click the link above to learn more.

3) FLASH 500 COMPETITION:     http://www.flash500.com/ - This is an annual set of three competitions for 500 words or less - in the categories of flash fiction, short story, and novel opening! This quarterly open-themed competition has closing dates of March 31, June 30, September 30 and December 31. The results will be announced within six weeks of each closing date and the three winning entries each quarter will be published on this website. Entry fee: £5 for one story, £8 for two stories. Optional critiques: £15 per story. The competition is open to anyone over the age of 18, including non-UK entrants. Only manuscripts which are within the 500-word limit will be accepted. Entries must be in English.

4) MONTHLY SHORT STORY CONTEST https://shortstory.substack.com/p/coming-soon - Deadline the end of each month. Winner chosen by the 15th of the following month. Their missioin is to revive the art of the short story, support artists, and produce something wonderful. The winner each month receives $100 for the chosen story plus half of subscription revenue to be sent by Paypal, Zelle, or check. For example, the  payout for Jan should be $225 or higher. Send submission to shortstorystack@gmail.com. Reprints are fine. Word limit ranges from only six words to as much as 10,000 words. Only the winner will be published and rights will only transfer for the winning story. 

5) EATON LITERARY AGENCY SHORT STORY/ARTICLE AWARD http://www.eatonliterary.com/submissions.htm - Deadline March 31, 2022. A $500 prize will be awarded to the winner of our short story and article program, open to any unpublished short story or nonfiction work less than 10,000 words. 

6) WERGLE FLOMP HUMOR POETRY CONTEST https://winningwriters.com/our-contests/wergle-flomp-humor-poetry-contest-free - Deadline April 1, 2022. First Prize: $2,000 plus a two-year gift certificate from our co-sponsor, Duotrope (a $100 value). Second Prize: $500. Honorable Mentions: 10 awards of $100 each. Top 12 entries published online. Length limit: 250 lines maximum. No restriction on age of author. Both unpublished and previously published work accepted. Authors from all countries eligible except Syria, Iran, North Korea, and Crimea (due to US government restrictions). The poem you submit should be in English. 

7) ALPINE FELLOWSHIP WRITING PRIZE https://alpinefellowship.com/writing-prize - Deadline April 1, 2022. The winner will receive a £10,000 cash prize. A £3,000 cash prize will go to the second place, and £2,000 to the third place runner up. The winner and two runners up are invited to attend the symposium. Awarded for the best piece of writing on the theme of the Alpine Fellowship 2022 - Freedom. Open to all nationalities and to anyone aged 18 and above. All genres permitted. A maximum of 2,500 words per entry. Limited to one entry per person. 

8) FABLE COMPETITION https://www.mrrls.com/fable - Deadline April 2, 2022. Pays £500 for Winner - £100 Second. In no more than 350 words enter to write a 21st Century Fable in the style of the great master, Robert Louis Stevenson.

9) BRILLIANT FLASH FICTION WRITING CONTEST https://brilliantflashfiction.com/2022/01/05/welcome-2022-writing-contest/#more-5044 - Deadline April 15, 2022. Limit 500 words. First prize $200. Second prize $100. Third prize $50. Shortlisted stories receive publication and $20. One entry per author. Open to writers worldwide, no age requirement. Fiction only, please. No poetry or essays.

10) Thrill of the Hunt Anthology #8- Paranormal Paradox: Submissions | PALMAS PUBLISHING (palmaspress.com) - Deadline April 30, 2022. Normally, every species of being stays in their lane, mingling and confronting only when necessary. Paranormals are the norm, but now a different kind of paranormal is breeding. One seeking to end all others and become the dominant species. Who will win? Who will rule? Vampires, werewolves, shifters, witches, reapers, astrals and more are determined to be the dominant species. Throw in the human variant and the paranormal paradox begins. 

11) THE BLACK ORCHID NOVELLA AWARD https://www.nerowolfe.org/htm/literary_awards/black_orchid_award/Black_Orchid_award_intro.htm  - Deadline May 31, 2022. Entries must be 15,000 to 20,000 words in length, and submitted by the deadline. Each entry must be an original unpublished work of fiction that conforms to the tradition of the Nero Wolfe series. The mystery should be "traditional" in flavor. The crime must be solved using the deductive abilities of the sleuth. No coincidences. The killer must be known to the victim. No random psycho shootings. The characters (male or female) must have an engaging relationship.

12) Hellbound http://www.hellboundbookspublishing.com/subs-anthologies.html - Deadlines of various horror poetry, short stories and novels from now hrough the end of summer.

What about you? Is this a particularly busy time for you? Are there any great books we should read? How about great submission opportunities?

15 Fall Writing Prompts

It's finally Fall! I'm looking forward to the changing season. I'm also hoping to increase my writing output as I've been too distracted to write as much as I would like lately. In that vein, I thought I would share some writing prompts - not all of them are season related, but you can make them such if you wish. I hope they inspire some wickedly wonderful Autumn tales!

1) Write a Fall or Halloween special for your favorite television show.

2) Design your own school of magic: what does it look like? what subjects are taught? Who are the teachers? What are the back to school traditions?

3) Create a legend about your city.

4) Write an acrostic poem.

5) Write about a Thanksgiving dinner attended by your favorite fictional character.

6) Write a scene from the POV of Alexa or Siri.

7) Create a fake news report.

8) Write a retelling of your favorite Shakespeare play.

9) Write a scene that takes place in your favorite bookstore or coffee shop.

10) Write about a character who has terrible luck.

11) Write a Fall scene without using the word pumpkin.

12) Write about the worst possible break up you could imagine.

13) Make up your own conspiracy theory.

14) Write a story that takes place in a corn maze.

15) Write a ghost story.

What are you writing? Are you trying any of these? Any other prompts you want to share?

IWSG: Learning Language Has Power

It’s time for another group posting of the Insecure Writer’s Support Group! founded by Alex J. Cavanaugh. Time to release our fears to the world – or offer encouragement to those who are feeling neurotic. If you’d like to join us, click on the tab above and sign up. We post the first Wednesday of every month. Your words might be the encouragement someone needs. You can also join us on twitter using the hashtag #IWSG, or on the Facebook page.

Now, IWSG hosts have changed up the format in an effort to make it more fun and interactive.Every month, they will announce a question that members can answer in their IWSG Day post. These questions may prompt you to share advice, insight, a personal experience or story. Include your answer to the question in your IWSG post or let it inspire your post if you are struggling with something to say. 

Don’t forget to visit others that day to see their answers. Want to join, or learn more? Visit our - Sign-up List.

MAY QUESTION: What was an early experience where you learned that language had power?

MY ANSWER: I think on some level, I always knew. However, my most conscious recognition would have been in elementary school. I was an extremely shy girl. We moved a lot, family situations kept changing, and I felt an overwhelming sense of confusion and even worthlessness at times as a result. Music helped a lot. I can remember not just feeling and connecting to the songs on the radio, but to receiving cassette tapes (yes, I'm that old) and studying the lyrics included. I can remember connecting with individual artists after realizing they could give voice through their words to what I was feeling and experiencing. Some of my earliest writing includes poetry and short stories that I attempted after studying lyrical style.

Don't forget, the IWSG anthology contest begins today. This year the genre is – Middle Grade Historical – adventure or fantasy. To learn more about the theme , check out: http://www.insecurewriterssupportgroup.com/

Previous IWSG anthologies can be found: http://iwsganthologies.blogspot.com/

Sharing Your First Conference

On March 3, I took my ten year-old to her first writer's conference. While she enjoys writing, I was worried she wouldn't like attending a conference. After all, how many preteens want to spend a Saturday in classes? My mom went with us. You can see her and my daughter, to the left, getting their first look around the conference location during registration. That's right, three generations of women in my family at the same conference. Clearly, writing is in the blood.

If you've never been to the Jambalaya Writers Conference, or one similar, there are usually multiple sessions at every hour and you pick the ones you want to attend. 

For the first hour, all three of us chose to take part in the "Tale of Two Authors" session. Both authors write romance and spoke briefly about the genre itself, but the main focus of the session was the varying approaches to publishing - Liz Talley got her start with traditional publishing houses such as Harlequin while Jaycee Ford started Indie. Now, the balance seems to be using both methods. These women were engaging and interesting. While my daughter has no interest in Romance (for now), I felt this was a nice, relaxing, open, and even fun first session.

At most conferences I attend, I have a specific goal. All of my day is spent towards one achievement, genre, editor, agent, etc. However, I decided to try a variety of sessions this time since I enjoy writing in a variety of styles. While I encouraged my daughter to attend any of the sessions that interested her, she generally chose the same ones I was interested in attending.

My mother chose a different speaker for the second session, but my daughter and I went to one hosted by Louisiana Poet Laureate Jack Bedell. I found this experience to be quite interesting and enjoyable. We particularly related to his comments on how writers can get too caught up in form and expecting the first draft to be perfection right out of the gate that it interferes with the story of the poem itself. He showed examples of other poets work, and his , where the poem started as a story or free writing with no form. We looked at their development from early draft to publication. Notice I say publication and not completion. Many authors go back a tweak following publication. The end of the class we spent writing our own freestyle story - no line breaks, no punctuation, etc. We both left that room with a promising first draft of our own.

My mother rejoined us in the next class on short stories. While I often write short, I didn't enjoy this one nearly as much because nothing seemed new, interesting, or particularly inspiring. However, I think this was my daughters second favorite, so you just never know what or who will inspire.

Next, we took a lunch break. And of course, we ate Jambalaya!

Afterwards, the keynote speaker, R.L. Stine, regaled us all with funny tales and humorous notes. Did you know he got his start writing jokes? He also shared some interesting news - including upcoming books and movies! This was easily our favorite part of the day. 

Unfortunately, the conference organizers opened his following autograph session up for FREE to the public. So, we waited in line for nearly two hours behind people who HAD NOT paid to be there. We were one of the last ones to get his signature as he had to leave for another presentation.

While I applaud the library hosting the event for trying to bring FREE programs to their community, this should not have happened at the same time as, or even ahead of, those who PAID to be there - very tacky!

Our next session, hosted by Pamela Kopfler, was on writing the cozy mystery. She gave a brief explanation of the difference between regular mysteries and cozies. The remainder of the class was spent in a collaborative effort from the entire group on outlining a cozy mystery. I found this EXTREMELY interesting, because even though everyone present wanted something different (so many opinions and desires) it also offered a rare chance at collaboration that you don't usually get in a 45-60 minute session. I think we all left with a better understanding of what would and would NOT work in a cozy. We also left armed with a basic plot we could make our own.

While there were several more sessions available for the day. We chose to leave after this one as all three of us were getting tired, and we had a five hour drive yet to get home.

Overall, this is a good conference, and was a great first experience for my daughter who truly seemed to enjoy it.

What about you? Do you remember your first conference? Have you shared the experience with family members?