Lena Sledge's Blog: May 2013

Thursday, May 30, 2013

Writing Contests for 2013

It's summer time, so take out your pen, paper or laptop and start writing. Here are few writing contests that will be accepting entries this year. You have the entire summer to go ahead and get 'er done. So start writing now, you may just earn the title award winning writer. If you need a boost in your creativity, check out my Wordless Wednesday posts for writing prompts. Happy writing and good luck!

MudfishPoetry Prize
Judged by Charles
Postmark submission deadline: July 15, 2013

Every poem read with care and considered for publication in Mudfish. Deadline extended and prize increased. See for details. New postmark submission deadline: July 15, 2013. $1,200 and publication for the winning poem. Two honorable mentions will also be published. Enclose $15 for three poems and $3 for each additional poem. Include a cover letter with a name, address and titles of poems. Also include an SASE for reply. Include contact info on cover letter page only. Send to: Mudfish Poetry Prize, 184 Franklin Street, New York, NY 10013.

The First Annual Bone Bouquet Experimental Prose Award
Final Judge: Barbara Henning

Online submission deadline: June 30, 2013
Bone Bouquet is now open to submissions for our first annual contest for experimental prose by women-identified writers, which includes transgender and genderqueer writers who identify as female. The winning writer is awarded with $50 and publication in issue 5.1 of Bone Bouquet. Previous issues have featured work by Rachel Levitsky, Carmen Giménez Smith, Becca Klaver, Khadijah Queen and more. Submit your work(s) of experimental prose, up to 5,000 words per entry. Multiple submissions are allowed along with multiple entry fees. Contest deadline: June 30, 2013. Online submissions via Submittable only. Contest fee: $5.00 per entry or $14.00 per entry with a 1-year subscription.

First Annual Otis Nebula Poetry Prize
Online submission deadline: June 15, 2013

Announcing the first annual Otis Nebula Poetry Prize for a book-length volume of poetry. Donald Revell will select the winning entry, along with one runner up. Winner receives book and ebook publication and $250; runner up ebook publication and $50. Manuscripts should be between 40 and 100 pages and accompany a $15 reading fee. Manuscripts may consist of individual poems that have been published, however the manuscript as a whole must be unpublished. Translations not accepted. Winners will be announced on the website on October 1, 2013. Visit Nebula guidelines.

Anna Davidson Rosenberg Poetry Prize 2013
Postmark deadline: November 15, 2013

Anna Davidson Rosenberg Poetry Prize 2013 on the Jewish experience. Please submit 1-2 one-page poems, single space, submit in quadruplicate hard copy, cover page with contact information and list of poems. No email submissions. Deadline: November 15, 2013. NO FEE. For more information, visit Poetic Magazine.

Salamander 2013 Fiction Prize:
Judged by Edith Pearlman

Online/Postmark submission deadline: June 15, 2013
Salamander magazine will award a cash prize of $1,500 plus publication for the best fiction story. All entries will be considered for publication. Send no more than one story per entry. Each story must not exceed 30 double-spaced pages in 12 point font. Multiple entries are acceptable, provided that a separate $15 reading fee is included with each entry. Contest reading fee includes a one-year subscription. Full guidelines: Salamander Magazine.
Judge: Edith Pearlman. Submit Entries Online or by Mail to: 2013 Fiction Prize, Salamander/Suffolk University English Dept., 41 Temple Street, Boston, MA 02114.

Tennessee Williams/New Orleans Literary Festival Poetry Contest
Online/Postmark submission deadline: August 15, 2013
A single entry is 2-4 unpublished poems of any theme with combined length of up to 400 lines. Prize: $1,000, public reading, VIP Festival pass ($500 value) at 28th annual Festival (March 19-23, 2014), and publication. Judge: Robert Pinsky. Deadline: August 15. $20 entry fee. Poetry Contest, 938 Lafayette Street, Suite 514, New Orleans, LA 70113. Guidelines and online submission: Tennessee Williams Literary Festival.

Gulf Coast's Barthelme Prize for Short Prose Now Accepting Entries
Online/Postmark submission deadline: August 31, 2013
Gulf Coastis now accepting entries for the 2013 Barthelme Prize for Short Prose, judged by Robert Coover. The contest is open to pieces of prose poetry, flash fiction, and micro-essays of 500 words or fewer. Established in 2008, the contest awards its winner $1,000 and publication in the journal. Two honorable mentions will also appear in issue 26.2, due out in April 2014, and all entries will be considered for paid publication. All entrants will receive a one-year subscription to Gulf Coast with their contest fee. Entries accepted both online and via postal mail. Visit Gulf Coast Barthelme for more information.

The Second Annual Thomas Morton Memorial Prize in Literary Excellence
Online submission deadline: September 30, 2013

The Puritan is proud to announce the return of the Thomas Morton Memorial Prize in Literary Excellence! Two winners in the fields of poetry and fiction will receive a generous prize package, including cash ($900/fiction and $600/poetry) and a collection of books (approx. $600 for each winner) from Canada’s most celebrated publishers (including Coach House Books, House of Anansi, ECW Press, and many more). The winning entries will also appear in The Puritan Issue XXIII: Fall 2013 and be honoured at a launch party. See our website, for submission details! Deadline: Sept. 30, 2013. Brave the frontier today!

2nd Annual Romancing the Craft of Poetry & Fiction Contest
Online submission deadline: June 30, 2013
There is no entry fee or theme. Poems may be any length or style. Fiction stories should have no more than 3000 words. Three winners will receive cash prizes and publication in Volume VIII of the Torrid Literature Journal. Visit our website for submission guidelines and previous winners: Torrid Literature.

Great Lakes Commonwealth of Letters Inaugural Short Story Contest
Online submission deadline: June 30, 2013
Great Lakes Commonwealth of Letters (GLCL) is thrilled to announce our inaugural Short Story Contest with final judge Caitlin Horrocks. The winning story, in addition to being celebrated at a special reading hosted by GLCL in October, will be published in Passages North in January of 2014. The entry fee per submission is $10.00. In addition to granting entry into the writing contest, your fee also helps GLCL host more author events, writing workshops, and book launches. Submit your story at Great Lakes Sumbittable. For more information, please visit Great Lakes Commonwealth.

Flash Fiction Online Contest
Online submission deadline: May 31, 2013
CALYX Press is accepting short-short fiction (or poetry!) submissions for the 2013 Online Competition from strong women writers. This year’s theme is "A new creation story." Make it the title of your work, a jumping-off point, or a general suggestion that gets you moving in a totally new direction. We accept fiction, poetry, or reeeeeaaalllly short, one-act plays. All we want is innovative, beautiful, edgy, brilliant writing… in 250 words or less. The top five submissions will be published on our website, Calyx.

Tuesday, May 28, 2013

Wordless Wednesday with Linky

I was looking through several of my photo albums and ran across some photos of my kids sleeping in some of the strangest places and positions. My son fell asleep on top of his desk once when he was six years old. He was also caught lying on his desk just like the toddler in the photo below, with his coat and hat on. So I looked for other people who slept in strange places and what do ya know? My kids aren't all that strange after all.

Happy Wordless Wednesday!

Don't forget to leave a link to your Wordless Wednesday post in the linky list below!

Tuesday, May 21, 2013

Wordless Wednesday with Linky

What Happens When Your Grandparents Get on Facebook

Great inspiration for writing. Can you imagine one of these grandparents in your next book or story? Good stuff and funny. I love grandparents!

Happy Wordless Wednesday!!

Don't forget to leave your Wordless Wednesday post on the Linky list below!!

Sunday, May 12, 2013

Kindle Fire Giveaway for May

This is a joint AUTHOR & BLOGGER SPONSORED GIVEAWAY!

Kindle Fire HD 7" Giveaway

The winner will have the option of receiving a 7" Kindle Fire HD (US Only)

Or $199 Amazon.com Gift Card (International)

Or $199 in Paypal Cash (International)

Sponsoring Bloggers & Authors

Giveaway Details

1 winner will receive their choice of a Kindle Fire 7" HD (US Only), $199 Amazon Gift Card or $199 in Paypal Cash (International).

Ends 5/31/13

Open only to those who can legally enter, receive and use an Amazon.com Gift Code or Paypal Cash. Winning Entry will be verified prior to prize being awarded. No purchase necessary. You must be 18 or older to enter or have your parent enter for you. The winner will be chosen by rafflecopter and announced here as well as emailed and will have 48 hours to respond or a new winner will be chosen. This giveaway is in no way associated with Facebook, Twitter, Rafflecopter or any other entity unless otherwise specified. The number of eligible entries received determines the odds of winning. Giveaway was organized by Kathy from I Am A Reader, Not A Writer http://iamareader.com and sponsored by the participating authors & bloggers. VOID WHERE PROHIBITED BY LAW.

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Saturday, May 11, 2013

Sweet Mercy by Ann Tatlock

Interview with Eve Marryat (Main character of Sweet Mercy)

by Ann Tatlock

Introduce us to yourself in a few sentences, Eve.

Well, I’m a 17-year-old girl who grew up mostly in St. Paul, Minnesota. I’m kind of embarrassed to admit that, since everyone knows St. Paul is a notorious haven for gangsters. I mean, soon as one of them escapes from prison, they make a bee-line for St. Paul because they know they’ll be safe there. Bank robbers, murderers, kidnappers, bootleggers, money launderers—they’re drawn to that city like flies to honey and the so –called lawmen just turn a blind eye and let them stay (for a bribe, of course) as long as they do their business outside the city limits. Well, I guess this is telling you more about St. Paul than myself. But I’m just glad Daddy moved us away from there.

It must have been kind of scary, living in such a crime-ridden city.

Scary is the word for it, all right. I’ll tell you, the scariest moment of my life was when I saw a man machine-gunned to death. Mother, Daddy and I were walking in downtown St. Paul when a big black car rolled past us with the barrel of a tommy gun poking out the back window and suddenly the man ahead of us was lifted up off the sidewalk in a hail of bullets. In the next moment his body landed in a bloody heap right on the front doorstep of a Jewish deli. That’s why I was glad when Daddy said we were leaving St. Paul.

So why did you leave and where did you go?

Daddy worked a long time for the Ford plant in St. Paul but like a whole lot of other people he lost his job after the stock market crashed. So he decided to move us to Mercy, Ohio, to work with his brother, “us” being him and me and Mother. My older sister Cassandra stayed in Minnesota, thank goodness. She and I have never gotten along very well. I guess we’re just too different. I mean, she spent years going to speakeasies and drinking out of hip flasks and partying all night. I’m not kidding when I tell you she used to dream of being a moll. If she could have married a gangster like Bugs Moran she would have. Just for the fun of it. But of course she got pregnant and ended up marrying someone else. Serves her right.

Do you like where you’re living now?

I love my new home at Marryat Island Ballroom and Lodge! I love this place and I’m so glad Uncle Cy invited us to come live and work here. The island in the Little Miami River is just heavenly. People come from all over the place to stay at the lodge and to swim, picnic and dance on the island. It’s the sweetest place on earth, and no more gangsters like up in St. Paul.

You have one more year of high school, and then what?

I want to go to college. I study hard and I’m a pretty good student. Every year since Prohibition started, the St. Paul chapter of the Women’s Christian Temperance Union has sponsored an essay contest for high school s students and last year my essay won first prize. Anyway, I’m not sure yet where I want to go to college or what I want to be. All I know for sure is that I want to help people and do something that will make the world a better place. Heaven knows, it sure could use some improving.

What about getting married and having a family?

Cassandra says I’m going to be an old maid and whenever she’s mad at me, which is just about all the time, she calls me an ugly duckling and a mean-faced little rat. Maybe I’ll never get married but I tell her better an old maid than a moll! Secretly, though, I hope she’s wrong because I’d like to be in love one day. Maybe I’m not beautiful like Cassandra, but still, maybe someday someone will love me.

What are you passionate about these days?

I’m passionate about keeping the laws of Prohibition and I think everybody else should be too. The government has said no drinking and they mean NO DRINKING! So what does everybody do? People are making gin at home in their bathtubs and moonshine in a million stills out in the woods. And you know what that moonshine’s got in it, don’t you? Rubbing alcohol, embalming fluid, antifreeze and other toxic stuff that was never meant for human consumption. And people drink it anyway! Of course genuine liquor is being smuggled in over the borders and selling it is what’s making the gangsters like Al Capone rich. You tell people not to drink and suddenly everybody wants to drink! I just don’t understand it.

What is something people would be surprised to know about you?

You’re probably not going to believe this, but I met Al Capone and the man was actually nice to me. I mean, really nice. Of course, at the time I was just a kid and I didn’t even know it was Al Capone. If you want to find out how I met him, you’ll just have to read my story in Sweet Mercy.

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Sweet Mercy

Stunning coming-of-age drama set during the Great Depression and Prohibition

When Eve Marryat's father is laid off from the Ford Motor Company in 1931, he is forced to support his family by leaving St. Paul, Minnesota, and moving back to his Ohio roots. Eve's uncle Cyrus has invited the family to live and work at his Marryat Island Ballroom and Lodge.

Eve can't wait to leave St. Paul, a notorious haven for gangsters. At seventeen, she considers her family to be "good people," not lawbreakers like so many in her neighborhood. Thrilled to be moving to a "safe haven," Eve soon forms an unlikely friendship with a strange young man named Link, blissfully unaware that her uncle's lodge is anything but what it seems.

When the reality of her situation finally becomes clear, Eve is faced with a dilemma. Does she dare risk everything by exposing the man whose love and generosity is keeping her family from ruin? And when things turn dangerous, can she trust Link in spite of appearances?

Barnes & Noble * Amazon * Bethany House

Ann Tatlock

Ann Tatlock is the author of the Christy-Award winning novel Promises to Keep. She has also won the Midwest Independent Publishers Association "Book of the Year" in fiction for both All the Way Home and I'll Watch the Moon. Her novel Things We Once Held Dear received a starred review from Library Journal and Publishers Weekly calls her "one of Christian fiction's better wordsmiths, and her lovely prose reminds readers why it is a joy to savor her stories." Ann lives with her husband and daughter in Asheville, North Carolina.

Website * Facebook * Goodreads

Tour Giveaway

1 winner will receive a copy of 3 of Ann's Books

Sweet Mercy, Travelers Rest and Promises to Keep

Open to US & Canada Only

Ends 5/21/13

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