Quick News & Notes:

"A rejection is an opportunity to sell to a different market." -- Michael A. Banks

Ten Political Novels July 1, 2008 (Shelly Lowenkopf) It's that time: the political season is upon us and the politicians are out-doing the writers' of fiction with their creative interpretations of reality. Shelly has compiled this selection of political novels for those who want to read more about everyone's favorite sport. (complete article...)

Improving on the Silence June 24, 2008 (Rita Shaler-Nelson) I have to admit I struggle a bit (OK, a lot!) over the idea of using my life as material for a book. Turning flesh and blood people I knew and loved (not to mention myself) into characters seems questionable to me, at times. Then, I read a quote by a 19th century yogi that granted me a sort of literary permission slip. (complete article...)

And The Answer Is... June 16, 2008 (Beverlye Hyman Fead) My granddaughter called me and said she wanted to do a book with me. That was two years ago. She was eight and in the second grade. She was dead serious. And not only that, it was a great idea for a book. (complete article...)

What Story Should You Tell? June 10, 2008 (Diana M. Raab) Whether your chosen genre is fiction, nonfiction or poetry, you probably have a unique story to tell. The act of reliving and retelling childhood stories are common platforms for writers. We go back to those times either because they were filled with pains, joys or laden with unanswered questions. (complete article...)

The Physics of Story June 4, 2008 (Shelly Lowenkopf) Tired of show, don't tell? Ready for a fresh look at the art of fiction? Shelly Lowenkopf gives us the following exposition of the laws of fiction as Isaac Newton might have laid them out. [Can Special & General Relativity of Fiction be far behind? -- Editor] (complete article...)

The Silicon Amanuensis: Open Office 3.0 is World Class and Free May 23, 2008 (Steve Beisner) Though it is expensive and sometimes frustrating to use, Microsoft Word has long been the standard tool for word crafters. OpenOffice is a cooperatively developed ("open software"), free alternative to MS Office. The OpenOffice word processor (OO Writer) is a drop-in replacement for MS Word. Beyond the cost advantage, there are other good reasons why a professional writer might prefer OO Writer to Microsoft's offering. We review the newly available "beta" release of the next version, OpenOffice 3.0. (complete article...)

The Fiction Toolkit, Part 11 May 11, 2008 (Shelly Lowenkopf) Another in a series of excerpts from Shelly Lowenkopf's The Fiction Writer's Tool Kit: Terms, Concepts, and Devices for Building a Better Story. In this installment Shelly looks at Action, Agenda and Ambiguity. (complete article...)

The Power of the Sword: Poet Martín Espada April 23, 2008 (Melinda Palacio) Martín Espada says he knows the back way, but for this Brooklyn-born Puerto Rican poet, back doors are no longer necessary. He has solved the paradox of political poetry, and the world is ready to listen to his poems about the disenfranchised and those who normally are not the subject of poetry. (complete article...)

Santa Barbara's Perie Longo Talks about Being a City's Poet Laureate April 11, 2008 (Melinda Palacio) Santa Barbara's Poet Laureate Perie Longo has prepared for several decades for the challenging task of being a city's special poet. The citizens and literary community nominated her for her untiring comittment to Poetry in the Schools and Poetry Therapy. Longo succeeds Poet Laureate Emeritus Barry Spacks as the city's second Poet Laureate. Longo also inherits the Poetry Matters column, started by Spacks, in the Santa Barbara Independent. (complete article...)

Relief For Writers March 31, 2008 (Gia Sola) If we were in a meeting right now, a twelve step support-group kind of meeting, I'd be sharing this story about my writing life to show you how far I fell and to tell you how I was saved. But instead of our sitting in a room together, maybe drinking coffee like they do at AA, we sit alone at our computers, a dictionary in one hand, pencil in the other. (complete article...)

A Real Eye Opener March 25, 2008 (Catherine Ryan Hyde) Writing my new novel Chasing Windmills was a real eye-opener for me. It finally proved to me that the labels we put on fiction fall somewhere short of useful. I had suspected this all along, but thought it was my own odd perception. (complete article...)

Write from the Start: Comeuppances and Email. March 17, 2008 (Melinda Palacio) If it weren't for email, my stories and poems would have remained stashed between the pages of the Comeback Chronicles, diary entries where I wrote great comeback lines to the taunts and dumb questions mean kids at school often asked. (complete article...)