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?

Walking, War, Weather, Welsh, Writers, and Writers' Museum

Walking – People say Scotland is a paradise for ramblers, and I wholeheartedly agree. Some of the best times we had during our visit were spent traveling trails, both hidden and waymarked for the public. Beautiful scenery, variety of terrain, and magnificent coastlines make it difficult to imagine a more beautiful country to explore. Local tourist information centers are always a good place to stop if you are looking for advice or suggested routes.

War – Southern Scotland is a blend of attractive landscapes and historic houses, castles, and abbeys. Sadly, many of these ancient buildings exist only in fortified or ruined form due to the frontier wars that dated from the late 13^th century mostly against the invading English. You can read more datails: http://www.bbc.co.uk/scotland/history/articles/the_wars_of_independence/

Weather – We visited Scotland in mid May which is the beginning of the peak travelling season there. Most visitors come to Scotland from May to August, when they can enjoy the best weather, and longer hours of daylight (the dark only lasted about three hours while we were there). Many people ask me about the rain, and a good joke many share is that “if you don’t like the weather, wait five minutes”. Temperatures, sunshine, and storms all fluctuated throughout our stay, but it only added to the charm and mystery of the country. Out of season, a good winter snowfall in the Highlands can provide great winter sporting opportunities such as skiing and snowboarding.

Welsh - a Scottish novelist, playwright and short story writer. Irvine Welsh is recognized for his novel Trainspotting, which was later made into a film of the same name. http://www.irvinewelsh.net/

Writers – From medieval poets through Robert Burns to Irvine Welsh, writers in the three languages of Scotland – Scots, English, and Gaelic – have created a body of literature expressing both their place in the Europeans mainstream and the diversity within Scotland. I’ve only mentioned a handful of the greats in this months’ posts. There are so may more you can find here.

Writers’ Museum – This fine Old Town mansion was built in 1622 on the Royal Mile in Edinburgh. In the 1720s it was acquired by Elizabeth, Dowager Countess of Stair, and has since been called Lady Stair’s House. Its official title reflects its role as a museum of memorabilia of three of the foremost Scottish writers: Robert Burns, Sir Walter Scott, and Robert Louis Stevenson. I found this location to be a surprising and delightful hidden jewel. Many of the pavers outside building hold quotes from various authors. To learn more: http://www.edinburghmuseums.org.uk/Venues/The-Writers--Museum

As a thank-you to the blogging community, and to celebrate one year since its publication, I am offering FREE e-pub copies of my western short story “Broken Angel” from now through April 30. If you would like to receive a copy, simply email me at writinginwonderland(at)gmail(dot)com