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Monday, July 31, 2006

Ron Buckalew chosen as finalist in WV New Writers Fiction Competition

WV Writers Secretary Rhonda White wrote:

Ron Buckalew, a relatively new member of WV Writers and the WVW Roundtable, has just been chosen as a finalist in the West Virginia New Writers Fiction Competition, which is part of the Appalachian Heritage Writer in Residence Project at Shepherd University.

Terry Kay is the Writer in Residence at Shepherd University this year, and made the selections. Kay told Buckalew, "If I were into stealing from the material I read, I suspect this story would be too tempting to pass up."

What a compliment!

Congratulations and Good Luck to Ron Buckalew!

Saturday, July 29, 2006

Literary Festival Brings Together Big-Name Writers

Literary Festival Brings Together Big-Name Writers Sept. 21-23

Seventeen of the most revered writers from Appalachia will unite at Emory & Henry Sept. 21-23 for a celebration of the 25th anniversary of the Appalachian Literary Festival, which many of these writers consider the single-most important event for advancing the reputation and uniqueness of Appalachian literature.Writers expected to return for the anniversary event include Lisa Alther, Maggie Anderson, Kathryn Stripling Byer, Jo Carson, Fred Chappell, John Ehle, Denise Giardina, David Huddle, George Ella Lyon, Jeff Daniel Marion, Sharyn McCrumb, Michael McFee, Robert Morgan, Gurney Norman, Ron Rash, Lee Smith and Meredith Sue Willis.

The Literary Festival is presented under the auspices of the Department of English, the Leidig Lectureship in Poetry and the Iron Mountain Review. The event is funded in part by a grant from the Virginia Foundation for the Humanities.For additional information, contact Lang at P.O. Box 947, Emory & Henry College, Emory, VA, 24327; 276-944-1643 or at jlang@ehc.edu

For more info: http://www.ehc.edu/cgi-bin/MySQLdb?VIEW=/news/viewone.txt&newsid=1046

Friday, July 28, 2006

Ballyhoostories Submission Request

Ballyhoo Stories, a national print and online literary magazine of fiction and creative nonfiction is assembling an online anthology called The 50 States Project. The anthology is a companion to their biannual print publication, and aims to collect one story or essay with each of the states as the subject or the setting. Ballyhoostories.com currently features stories from the states of Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, New York, Connecticut, Delaware, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Indiana and Texas. Ballyhoostories invites writers from other states to help fill in the remaining states.

From now until December 31, unpublished stories of 5,000 words or less are being accepted for West Virginia, as well as California, Louisiana, Kentucky, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, New Jersey, New Mexico, Oregon, Rhode Island, Washington, and Wisconsin. Manuscripts should be e-mailed to mailto:fiftystates@ballyhoostoriescom as an attachment (.doc or .txt). Do not paste the story into the body of the e-mail, and please specify the state for which you are submitting in the subject line. Wait to hear from Ballyhoo Stories before sending additional submissions.

"At Ballyhoo Stories, we believe independent literary publications are an enduring record of cultural activity, providing an essential alternative to the voices heard through large-scale commercial publishing. In The 50 States Project we seek to curate such living accounts in a format that is both publicly accessible, and one which allows the storytelling to illuminate the ever-shifting undertones of circumstance and landscape, the obvious and the subtle which bond, disconnect, and ultimately compose our nation."

If you have any questions, contact Kate Axelrod, Editorial Intern at www.ballyhoostories.com.

Thursday, July 27, 2006

Walk Free Press launches first title

Dr. Delilah O'Haynes, creative writing instructor at Concord University and owner of Walk Free Press Publishing Company, says they're launching their first ‘title’ this Friday! The first book, The Character of Mountains, a collection of poetry and photography and penned by Delilah has been juried and will be available at tourism centers in these Appalachian Mountains. For more information contact Dr. O’Haynes at:

Dr. Delilah O’Haynes
P.O. Box 754 Athens, WV 24712
Phone: 304-952-1927

Wednesday, July 26, 2006

A letter from Meredith Sue Willis

Dear West Virginia Writers,

I wanted to let you know a couple of things I have available for writers online. Two are free, and one is a four session class that is not free.

The free ones are:

-- Free writing exercises at http://www.meredithsuewillis.com/writingexercises.html
-- Free newsletter for writers and readers at http://www.meredithsuewillis.com/booksforreaders.html online or subscribe to the email version by sending a blank email to Readerbooks-subscribe@topica.com

The not-free one is my next online class, "Film Techniques for Writers of Prose Narrative." For information, go to http://www.meredithsuewillis.com/mswclasses.html .

Thanks for considering these announcements!
Meredith Sue

Tuesday, July 25, 2006

Entries Now Being Accepted for the 2006 Children's Book Writing Contest

The 2006 Next Great Kid's Book contest is underway and manuscripts are currently being accepted. Contestants will write a children's story that will be illustrated professionally and published through Avant Garde Publishing. Choose any topic that can be illustrated. Manuscripts must be 1,000 words or less. Deadline for submission is Sept. 1, 2006. For additional details, go to www.avantgardepublishing.com and click on the Writing Contest link.

This is the second annual competition offered by Avant Garde Publishing. The 2005 Winner was Celeste Vingle of Charleston, WV with her book "When Good Babies Go Bad" which will be released this month.

Who can enter? The 2006 Next Great Kid's Book Contest is open to all writers and aspiring writers. Entrants under the age of 18 may must have the written consent of a parent or legal guardian.

Sunday, July 23, 2006

Mountain Whispers signs Pops Walker for "Crum" music

From WV Writers Secretary Rhonda white:

Ross Ballard, producer of MountainWhispers.com Audiobooks has just signed well known blues singer/songwriter Pops Walker (see www.PopsWalker.com and www.CDBaby.com) to do the music for their upcoming audiobook: Crum. The plan is to include a stand alone 10 song CD of the music soundtrack along with the anticipated 5 CD story. Nine of the songs will come from his current CD releases and one will be written specifically for Crum.

Pop says, "Ross sent me a copy of the book and asked if I'd like to be a part of the production. After reading Crum, which I gotta tell ya I absolutely loved, I called him to discuss what he had in mind. I've heard their other audiobooks so I said I'd be only too happy to be involved."

Gonna be a good one!

Wednesday, July 19, 2006

Wallpaper Writing Youth Contest

The 2007 Wallpaper Writing Contest is accepting entries from writers 13 - 19 years old. This year's contest has three categories: the Dear Diary Short Fiction contest, the What's Really Important Poetry contest and the Haiku Me, Baby Haiku contest.

Submit your short story of no more than 1000 words in the form of a diary entry, or a poem of no more than 20 lines/200 words, or an original haiku. There are cash prizes, and no entry fee. Entry deadline is April 30, 2007.

For more information, check out
http://www.markpeterhughes.com/Contests.html


(Thanks to Tovli Simiryan for the information)

Tuesday, July 18, 2006

Belinda Anderson signing this weekend

This Saturday, July 22, WV Writers member and Literary Map resident Belinda Anderson will be signing copies of her latest short story collection, The Bingo Cheaters from 1 to 3 p.m. at the Open Book book store in downtown Lewisburg.

Tuesday, July 04, 2006

Monologue Contest at Riverside Theatre

RIVERSIDE THEATRE ANNOUNCES AUGUST 15th DEADLINE FOR MONOLOGUE SUBMISSIONS TO WALKING THE WIRE: MONOLOGUES AT RIVERSIDE

Iowa City, IA - Riverside Theatre invites playwrights to submit monologues for performance in Walking the Wire: Monologues at Riverside, directed this year by Tim Budd. This eighth annual evening of original work features 10-minute monologues by both established and up-and-coming playwrights. Submissions are due Tuesday, August 15; final selections will be announced by August 25. The monologues will be performed September 22-24 at Riverside
Theatre.

Submission Guidelines

1. Up to two submissions per author of original, unpublished monologues (may be dramatic character or personal memoir) under ten minutes length (please perform it aloud to be certain).

2. The copy must be easy to read: double spaced in a minimum 12pt. font, and should include the playwright's name, mailing address, email address, and phone number.

3. Simple is best. Since "Walking the Wire" typically includes a large number of monologues, it is important that each one require as little production as possible; set-pieces, props, or effects needing set-up, strike, or special technical support may disqualify an otherwise excellent submission.

4. The deadline for submissions is Tuesday, August 15, 2006. All writers will be notified of the status of their submission by August 25. Monologues will be independently rehearsed until the week of the performance when the show will rehearse at Riverside Theatre. Area playwrights may indicate an interest in performing their own work, or include the name of an actor interested in performing the monologue, although neither is required. Walking the Wire will take place September 22-24.

5. Submissions should be mailed to:

Attn: Jody Hovland, Artistic Director
Riverside Theatre
213 N. Gilbert Street
Iowa City, IA 52245

For more information, contact Rachelle Saunders, Marketing Director, at 319-887-1360, marketing@riversidetheatreorg.

Monday, July 03, 2006

Robert Walker Serial Fiction

For all those looking for a true "horror jolt" that puts Stephen King to shame....in fact, makes his work look like that of a boy scout, for a mere 49 cents find FLESHWAR...a novel of a pandemic created from a monster that answers the question of "spontaneous human combustion" -- but of course, there's a monster involved, a monster the likes of which horror fiction has not seen in decades. You can find FleshWar on Amazon.com\shorts -- an original, never before published serialzied novel by Robert W. Walker who teaches writing at Mountain State University and Mountain State Academy in Beckley, WV. FleshWar is Rob's 50th novel and it is sitting at #2 in the horror category just below Bently Little's The Mall.

For those of you who detest horror but love suspense and mystery go on an Amazon search for Rob's City for Ransom. The character of Inspector Alastair Ransom has now been likened to Holmes, Nero Wolf, Nick Charles, and to the films of Wes Craven. It has also been called "the best pairing of a fictional couple in decades" by Galway suspense author Ken Bruen.

Thanks -- Rob Walker
www.RobertWWalker.com