Writing Assignment for July 23rd:

Your assignment is to write no more than 500 words, inspired by one of these photos. You can do 500 words on both, if you wish, or you can choose one of them. Let your imagination run free!
Bring your work to the meeting this Saturday, July 23, at 10:00am in Quad 4.

Guess what I'm reading?

It's a fine book which will be published very soon! You can find out more about the festivities by attending this week's SCRIBE meeting, Saturday, June 25th, at 10:00am in Quad 4.
We'll also be sharing our 500-word pieces inspired by the black and white photo in the post below. If you can't make the meeting, you can email me your work and I'll read it to the group. We'll also be talking about the upcoming book release party in July.

Writing exercise for our next meeting

This exercise will help you expand your creativity. Look at the photo I've attached to this post. Then write 500 words inspired by this image. There are an infinite number of approaches you can use. Who's in the costume? What does the owner of the mailbox think about this kid? What event inspired the costume. Why is the child running? Where did the materials come from? What if that was a real alien? Find your own handle on your own story and write it in no more than 500 words. We'll share them at our next meeting. Have fun!

There Is No End: here's what's inside!

The selection process is now complete and here are the pieces which will be in our literary anthology, There Is No End, to be published later this summer. Congratulations to all our writers; this is going to be an eclectic and fascinating volume with something for every type of reader. Start spreading the word to your family and friends; we'll announce soon when the release party/book signing will take place. And remember, all proceeds from sales go to Riverbend's building program. Here are the contents:

Writer’s Block—Bob Moore
A Short Story About the Life of Dave—Stan Lackey
The Knife Is Hidden—Lauren Kinzie
Animal Legendry—Glenda Rhyne
The Scariest Holiday—Lisa Robertson
Origin of a Poem—Darwyn Hanna
The Gift—Kim Kelley
Origin of a Poem—Darwyn Hanna
Blue Eyes—Dana Hood
One Man Band—Denise Fitch
Summer Samaritan—Glenda Rhyne
New Year Angel—Patty Buchanan
Memorial Day—Bob Moore
Fly Away Home—Joan Carson
Venice in the “Hood”—Marty McAllister
A Pie to Die For—Stan Lackey
All With Reason—Salli Ehlers Smith
Trail of Tides—Nancy Bode Bussey
The Prodigal’s Odyssey—Peter A. Hubbard
Labels—Bob Moore
1965—Scarlett Spivey
Grandpa’s Christmas Blessings—Peter A. Hubbard
Green Bananas—Gloria Gene Moore
My Fear of Flying Monkeys—Kathy Souther
My Life As I Know It—Marie Monroe
S.S. Dozier, Esquire—Murlene Johnston
Shadows of Joy—Joan Costello
Letters to Terri—Bob Allen
Reunion—Bob Moore
Hood Ornament—Lauren Kinzie
The Strongest Broken Heart—Lori Garrigus
Excerpt from Blood On the Bed—Karin Richmond
It’s Not Bravery—Dana Hood
My Path (A Prayer)—Salli Ehlers Smith
As I Lie Dying—Glenda Rhyne
Valentine’s Day, A Massacre—Lauren Kinzie
Bunny—Scarlett Spivey
Faces—Deborah Register
An Unprecedented Opportunity—Stan Lackey
God’s Love Language—Lee Ann Penick
The Husk—Lauren Kinzie
Old Friends—Bob Moore
The Windmill—Darwyn Hanna

The deadline approacheth...

It's almost here. The deadline for submissions to There Is No End, the first anthology by SCRIBE, the Riverbend Writers Group, is this Saturday, April 30th at midnight. Many of you have already submitted, but there's still (a little) time! Make sure your submission is under 2500 words; longer pieces will be rejected. Email your piece in Word format to Mike Robertson via the usual email address. If you can't send a digital file, make sure your printed pieces are to me by Saturday.
We'll have a SCRIBE meeting this Saturday, too, where we'll talk about the next step in the publication process and maybe celebrate the close of submissions. We'll look at some possible cover designs, too. Join us at 10:00am this Saturday, April 30th.

Amazon's Breakthrough Novel Award

I entered my novel, This Is Where I Came In, in Amazon's annual Breakthrough Novel Award competition several weeks ago. They accepted five thousand entries and then started the winnowing process. Today (Feb. 24) they picked the top one thousand, eliminating 4,000 hopefuls. I'm happy to say that I made the cut! The next step will further narrow the field to 500; that result will be announced on March 22nd. While I don't hold much hope for winning the contest, I've found that entering such competitions does some beneficial things for a writer. It forces you to come up with a brief summary of your book, something that is much harder than it seems. If you only have 300 words to hook someone's attention and make them want to read your story, what do you say? How much plot do you give away? You begin to realize how difficult it is to write the blurb for a book cover, those few words which often make the difference between a sale and a rejection. Honing a pitch is crucial if you ever intend to try to get a literary agent or get an editor to read your stuff. You must learn to briefly tell what your book is about, why it's worth reading, why it's different from other books, who the audience is, etc. It's a lot to sum up in 300 words. Try it.
Meanwhile, I'll be trying not to think about March 22nd.

YOU could be published...in the SCRIBE anthology

Sometimes we all need a little push to get us going in the right direction. This is particularly true for writers; it's way too easy to put off writing until "tomorrow" which likely never comes. So here's your push: Later this year, SCRIBE will publish There Is No End, an anthology of writings by the members of Scribe, the Riverbend Writers Group. We are now accepting submissions for this project; in fact I've already received a couple. If you submit a piece which is accepted, it will be printed in the anthology and you will be part of the book launch party where selected authors will read from their work and all included authors will be invited to sign copies of the book.
Submissions for the anthology may be short stories, memoirs, poems, short plays, anecdotes, essays, etc. Your submission should relate in some way to one of the following themes: Grace. Hope. Faith. Love. Don’t think of this as a “devotional” book; themes should be subtle and need not be “religious” in nature. Not all submissions will be printed. Submissions will be edited and in some cases, given back to authors for further fine-tuning. Do your very best work!
Proceeds from the sale of the book will be donated to Riverbend’s building fund.

Submission guidelines:
• Submissions must be in electronic format, in a Microsoft Word document or compatible format.
• Submissions must be no longer than 2,500 words. No exceptions.
• Submissions should relate in some way to the subject of grace, faith, hope or love.
• Deadline for submissions is midnight Saturday, April 30, 2011.
• Email submissions to Mike Robertson, or submit your work on a CD or flash drive.

If you have any questions, please email me. You now have a reason to write. I can't wait to read what you come up with.