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Sunday, June 29, 2008

Conceit Magazine Pet Peeve Contest

Pet Peeve Contest

In 100 words or less, let's see if what bothers you, bothers anyone else.

The PET PEEVE that gets the most votes will win as follows:

Crocheted Afghan by Eunice - 1st Prize

$40.00 - 2nd Prize

$30.00 - 3rd Prize

$20.00 - 4th Prize

$10.00 - 5th Prize

$1.00 scratch off lottery ticket - 6th to 10th prizes

(

1st to 5th prize winners will receive a 6 month subscription to CONCEIT MAGAZINE)

A CONCEIT MAGAZINE PET PEEVE DIGEST booklet will be published.

CONCEIT MAGAZINE subscribers, members and contest participants will vote on who wins the prizes. Each voter must vote for

4 contestants.

PET PEEVE DIGEST booklet and reading fee:

$5.00

"ALL" writers welcomed, unlimited entries

DEADLINE: July 31, 2008

Email entries and queries to:

Conceitmagazine2007@yahoo.com

PayPal users go to the

CONCEIT MAGAZINE Website

http://www.myspace.com/conceitmagazine

or

Snail mail entries and fee to:

Perry Terrell, Editor

PET PEEVE CONTEST

P. O. Box 884223

San Francisco, CA 94188-4223 - USA

(Make payable to: PERRY TERRELL)

Friday, June 27, 2008

Riverside Theatre invites playwrights to submit monologues

RIVERSIDE THEATRE ANNOUNCES SEPTEMBER 1ST 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. This Tenth Anniversary celebration of original work features monologues of ten minutes or less by both established and up-and-coming playwrights. The focus for this season’s monologues is: FOOD. Submissions must be postmarked September 1, 2008 or emailed as a Word document and dated by midnight September 1; final selections will be announced no later than October 31. The monologues will be performed March 5-8, 2009 at Riverside Theatre.

Submission Guidelines

1. Riverside Theatre is seeking original monologues surrounding one of our favorite obsessions... food! The quiche the dog ate? A holiday cooking fiasco? If you love Mama, you’ll eat another piece of pie? Why, there’s more possibilities than a 50-foot salad bar!

2. Up to two submissions per author of original, unpublished and unproduced monologues (may be dramatic character or personal memoir) less than ten minutes length (please read it aloud to be certain and include the approximate performance time on the first page of your submission; all lengths of up to ten minutes will be considered, with the objective of choosing monologues of varying lengths). The copy must be easy to read: double spaced in a minimum 12 pt. 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 POSTMARK deadline for submissions is September 1, 2008. Email submissions (Word document attachment) must be dated by midnight September 1. Final selections will be made by October 31, 2009, and posted on Riverside Theatre’s website, www.riversidetheatre.org.

5. Writers will be credited in all marketing and playbill materials; no royalties will be paid for performance. Monologues will be individually rehearsed and coached by the director until the week of the performance when the entire company will rehearse at Riverside Theatre. Area playwrights may perform their own work if available for rehearsal, or may include the name of an actor interested in performing the monologue, although neither is required. Walking the Wire will be produced March 5-8, 2009.

6. Submissions should be mailed to:

Riverside Theatre
Jody Hovland, Artistic Director
Walking the Wire submission
213 N. Gilbert Street
Iowa City, IA 52245

For guideline questions, please contact Jody Hovland, artistic@riversidetheatre.org.

Sunday, June 15, 2008

WV Writers Contest Winners 2008

Ladies and gents, the contest winners for the West Virginia Writers 2008 Writing Contest may be found at the following link...

http://www.wvwriters.org/WINNERS_LIST_2008.pdf



This is just a quick .pdf scan of them. A better looking version will be available within a day or so.

Congratulations to all the winners and thanks to everyone who entered. And thanks to everyone who braved the gas prices and made it out to the conference this weekend. There were certainly a lot of you and I was glad to continue putting faces with names and meeting so many great people.

--eric
el presidente (at least til the end of the month)

Thursday, June 12, 2008

Appalachian Anthology Seeks Submissions

(This news courtesy of George Lies)

Appalachian writers, please forward this email to you friends, colleagues, and contacts who you think might be interested. We encourage submissions of original works of poetry and fiction (up to 2500 words). The submission deadline is September 1, 2008. For information about the anthology and submission guidelines, please see
http://www.shepherd.edu/ahwirweb/anthology. Notification to journals and university writing programs across the region are currently being posted.

Anthology of Appalachian Writers

The Anthology of Appalachian Writers is a publication that encourages a long-established tradition of storytelling, love of language, and creative expression associated broadly with the area of the country known as Appalachia. Though the principal mission of the anthology is to provide a venue for publication of new writers, it also provides a collection of literature and scholarship that contributes to an understanding and appreciation for the region. Poetry, fiction, memoir, heritage writers, as well as new voices appear in each annual volume of the anthology. The anthology is supported by The Shepherd University Foundation and The West Virginia Center for the Book. The Anthology of Appalachian Writers is part of the Appalachian Heritage WIR and Writers Project. Click here to view the past volumes of the anthology.
Submissions: To submit any original, unpublished work of fiction or poetry for consideration by the editors, send an electronic copy, along with the information below, to Dr. S. Bailey Shurbutt, sshurbut@shepherd.edu . All submissions must be in the submission format below.

Name:________________________________________________________________________
Title of Submission:___________________________________________________________
Address:_____________________________________________________________________
E-mail:____________________ Phone:_____________________
Brief Biography (limit 100 words):________________________________________________

Wednesday, June 11, 2008

Working Writer Free Newsletter Offer

Working Writer newsletter offers solid information with a good dose of humor and a spirit of writing camaraderie. WW is filled with articles on promotion, publishing, freelancing, different genres, how-to, and how-not-to, written by readers across the country.

*To receive a FREE copy (no obligation) by e-mail, send a request to workingwriters@aol.com.

Or check us out at www.workingwriter1.com.

Tuesday, June 10, 2008

WVW members do well in Governor's Arts Awards

On June 9, several West Virginia Writers Members were awarded the Governor's Arts Award at the state capitol.

Regional Rep Karin Vingle Fuller, upcoming WVW Conference workshop leader Carter Taylor Seaton, incoming nominated WVW secretary Teresa Newsome and workshop leader and children's book author Marc Harshman were all given this award.

Congratulations to them all!

Monday, June 09, 2008

Morgantown Writers Group Celebrates its 15th Anniversary

The Morgantown Writers Group celebrate its 15th Anniversary in 2008 by hosting a West Virginia Literary Arts program featuring Novelist Meredith Sue Willis; Crime Thriller Novelist, Robert Walker; Port Laureate Irene McKinney; and Graphic Novelist Robert Tinnell. Morgantown Writers Workshops are scheduled for a full day on Saturday, June 21, at the Monongalia Arts Center, Morgantown,WV.

West Virginia Writers members receive a 20% discount on this "mini-conference" that follows the Annual WV State Writers Conference at Cedar Lakes, where 150 or more writers will go this weekend (go to - http://www.wvwriters.org/. We all are really looking forward to the WVW State Writers conference. For the week after, we expect up to 40 writers to attend this first Summer Literary Arts event. Coinciding with the Arts on the River Festival, June 21-22, writers can expect lots of music - jazz, bluegrass, rock music, and more - and wine tasting and art exhibits - a full get-away weekend, more at - http://www.artsontheriver.org/

The Morgantown program features:

- A café style table talk with guest West Virginia authors at 9:30 a.m.: WV Poet Laureate Irene McKinney, Novelist Meredith Sue Willis, Police Thriller Novelist Robert Walker, and Graphic Novelist Robert Tinnell. George Lies is moderator.

Highlights:
- Four workshops in fiction, crime thriller, graphic novels, and poetry, at 10:30 a.m.
- Advance critique workshops in poetry and prose plus a short story workshop, at 1:30 p.m.
- Informal lunches at local restaurants will bring together attendees and guest writers and a reception concludes the day.

Registration is $25 for the full day of literary events; half-day is $15.00. West Virginia Writers Members' rate is only $20.00. High students may attend for only $5. Prose manuscript critiques done by Robert Walker are $15 "optional" for work sent in by June 18. There is no charge for poetry critiques. Fill-in the registration form below. Then send the form via email to: Registrar
Patricia.Patteson@mail.wvu.edu

To submit manuscripts (3,000 to 5,000 words) for critique, send a Word file attachment in an email to Coordinator George.Lies@mail.wvu.edu Registration covers morning refreshments and a reception. Payments: Make checks payable to *Morgantown Writers*. Mail to: MWG Workshops, 1129 Richwood Ave. Morgantown, WV 26505 (Attn: Patricia Patteson).

Guest writers and workshop topics are:

Poetry: Irene McKinney, WV Poet Laureate since 1994, is the author of five books of poetry: The Girl with a Stone in Her Lap (North Atlantic, 1976); The Wasps at the Blue Hexagons (Small Plot Press, 1984); Quick Fire and Slow Fire (North Atlantic, 1988); Six O*Clock Mine Report (Pittsburgh Press, 1989), and Vivid Companion (WVU Press/Vandalia, 2005). More at - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Irene_McKinney

Genre Police Thrillers: Robert W. Walker has 40 novels in genre fiction, including historical and detective crime thrillers. Recent books are City for Ransom, Shadows in the White City, and City of the Absent. His work is on forensic detection, and new PSI Blue and Deja Blue, one set in Charleston. More at - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_W._Walker

Novel Writing: Meredith Sue Willis is the well known WV author of A Space Apart (1979); Higher Ground (1981); and Only Great Changes (1985), all from Scribner's. Other books are Oradell at Sea (WVU Press, 2003); a collection, Dwight's House & Other Stories (Hamilton Stone, 2004); a sf novel for young adults, The City Built of Starships; and Billie of Fish House Lane, a children*s novel, Montemayor Press. For more, go to - http://www.meredithsuewillis.com/

Graphic Novels: Robert Tinnell is a motion picture screenwriter, director, and producer. He's author of comic books and graphic novels, notably with a horror slant, such as The Black Forest, *The Wicked West*, The Living and The Dead. His graphic novel Feast of the Seven Fishes will soon be a movie filmed in WV. For more, go to - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Tinnell

Authors will host a book signing at the MAC while Robert Walker will be at a Books-A-Million book signing, Friday afternoon. A reception at 4:30 p.m. closes the events. The Morgantown Writers Group is supported by registration proceeds as well as the Cyndi Jones Impact Grant.

The low-cost Morgantown workshops are made possible by a Cyndi Jones Impact Grant from Arts Monongahela - http://www.artsmon.org/index.php, Steptoe and Johnson law firm - http://www.steptoe.com/, and the West Virginia Department of Culture and History - http://www.wvculture.org/ Monongalia Arts Center is at - http://monarts.bizland.com/

Sunday, June 08, 2008

Conference Countdown: Entertainment

Once again, WV Writers has lined up two stellar nights of entertainin’ for the Summer Conference.

On Friday night conference attendees will be treated to Joe’s Shorts Part II: The Revenge, a selection of live readings from the short plays of the late Joe McCabe. Before Joe passed away in 2007, we had already been planning on asking him for a repeat performance of Joe’s Shorts, which were a hit as entertainment at the 2006 Summer Conference. With Joe’s passing, it seemed only fitting that we go right ahead with plans for Joe’s Shorts II. We’re currently casting our net for cast members to take on roles in these plays, so if you have a hankering to act or just to honor Joe, please contact El Presidente Eric Fritzius at eric.fritzius@gmail.com.

Saturday night features another reprise of a past conference favorite, Pops Walker. Last year Pops absolutely blew the roof off the assembly hall using a guitar, sound system and his voice alone. Well, almost alone; he did have a particularly memorable special guest join him mid-way through the show, one Mr. Lee Maynard, who read a new short story he’d written while Pops provided musical accompaniment. It was a wholly impressive and appropriate collaboration, being as how Pops is responsible for the music in the Mountain Whispers audio adaptation of Mr. Maynard’s novel, Crum and is also responsible for the tunes in the upcoming adaptation of Crum’s sequel, Screaming With the Cannibals. If you were there to witness the show, you know how great it was. If you weren’t there, man, you missed out—but you now can make up for it with Pops return performance this year.

For Pops grand return he will be accompanied by not one but two very special guests in the forms of Keith and Joan Pitzer. Keith and Joan are known and respected West Virginia musicians. Haling from Kingwood, they’ve appeared as part of the Voices of West Virginia touring group with songwriters John Lilly, Kate Long and Todd Burge. Their song "Underneath a Blackened Moon" is included in the Mountain Whispers adaptation of William Blizzard’s, “When Miners March.” Their musical style is a blend of blend contemporary style with Appalachian and Celtic music. So it shall indeed be an unprecedented event to hear their style mix with Pops Walker’s trademark Southern Fried Zen Mojo style.

Pops and the Pitzers will also be leading two workshops during the conference, one a tag-team workshop on Songwriting and the other a panel discussion on Issues in the Arts.

Saturday, June 07, 2008

Conference Countdown: Literary Agents Workshop

Literary agents Christine Witthohn and Judith Ann Miramontez, with Bookcents Literary Agency of Charleston, will be featured speakers on Saturday afternoon at this year’s Conference. They will bring their knowledge of the publishing industry to give Conference attendees insight as to what editors, publishers and agents are looking for in the current market and how they typically prefer it to appear when submitted to them.

A big part of their session, which will be held in the Assembly Hall, will focus on query letters. Attendees may bring their query letters which we will collect at the start of the session and read aloud for critiquing during the workshop. (If you wish, names and titles in the query letter may be kept anonymous or pseudonymous.)

Because Christine and Judith are only available for a limited amount of time on Saturday, there will not be opportunities for one on one critique sessions as we’ve had with agents in years past. However, while they are not currently accepting open submissions at Book Cents, Christine and Judith have offered make an exception for future queries from West Virginia Writers Conference attendees. You’ll have to be present at her session to learn the secret code word that will get your submission through the door.

Friday, June 06, 2008

Conference Countdown: The Reception Table

A popular feature of the WV Writers Summer Conference for the past few years has been our Reception Table. This is the long table at the back of the assembly hall where snacks, food, drinks and assorted goodies are to be found and enjoyed by all conference attendees. However, all those goodies don't magically appear by themselves.

This is why we are once again asking our members who plan to attend the conference to please bring with either one item of food (such as cookies, pastries, finger foods, maybe a pack of snack-sized candy bars, a pack of full sized candy bars, or, heaven help us, something healthy like trail mix bars, Kashi bars, etc.) or one 12 pack of drinks (non alcoholic, of course, most likely of the soft and fizzy variety). WV Writers will be suppying the water, coffee and veggie/fruit trays. We are also in need of the loan of coolers full of ice to help keep the drinks cool.

If you're headed up next week, how bout stop by your favorite neighborhood store and bring a little something with you. If everyone brings one such item above, we'll be set for the whole weekend. And to say thanks to those of you who donate such items, WV Writers will enter your name in a drawing for one of our soon-to-be-famous WV Writers Prize Packs. Just see the table attendant for your ticket.

Conference Countdown: Conference Program Sponsors

Women's Writing Weekend


Maggie & Lorna Enterprises


Duke of Dubai

Headline Books


Inspiration for Writers

Blood Kin & Other Strangers

Evergreen Syndicate

Ragdoll Angel, by T. W. McNemar

Thursday, June 05, 2008

Conference Countdown: Silent Auction Table

Each year, WV Writers maintains a silent auction table to help offset costs of the conference. Our membership and conference attendees have been very generous in the past by donating items for the auction. So we're putting the word out again this year that the table will be open for new items.

Some suggested items that have been big winners in the past are ones regional to your neck of the state and/or other states. Book lots are nice as are arts, crafts and other unique items. Or, if you're the author of a book, consider donating a copy to the auction. We welcome it all. And if you need a tax receipt for your donation, we can provide you with one as well. So please do consider a donation to the table.

Those who donate to the table may pick up a ticket to be placed in a drawing for a WV Writers Prize Pack, including all sorts of WVW goodness, such as copies of anthologies both old and brand new off the press.

Wednesday, June 04, 2008

Lewisburg Bookstore features WVW author Rody Johnson

Rody Johnson will chat with readers and sign copies of “The Rise and Fall of Dodgertown” during Lewisburg's First Friday, June 6 from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. at the Open Book, on Washington Street in downtown Lewisburg. He is also the author of “In Their Footsteps,” a West Virginia history, and “Different Battles,” the story of a U-boat attack off the Florida coast during World War II. He is currently working on a book on wind energy.

“The Rise and Fall of Dodgertown” is the story of the most hallowed spring training site in baseball. A review in the “Los Angeles Times” said: “For Dodger fans, spring training has meant Vero Beach. The club has been based in the sleepy Florida beach town since 1948, when they were the Boys of Summer from Brooklyn. The symbiotic relationship between the team and the town is the basis for Rody Johnson's “The Rise and Fall of Dodgertown.”

“I've been to Dodgertown many times and I know how special it is,” said Fay Vincent, former Commissioner, Major League Baseball. “There's no other spring training site quite like it. Rody Johnson was there from the beginning so he's able to take us on an entertaining trip down through Dodgertown's long and colorful history.”

Granted special access to the team's archives and personal interviews with players, management, and staff, Rody Johnson presents a fascinating and remarkable history of the sometimes rocky relationship between the city and the team. Beginning with the signing of Jackie Robinson in 1946 and ending with the recent departure of the Dodgers to Arizona, “The Rise and Fall of Dodgertown” traces the changes in baseball and society for more than a half century. It is a story of community, passion, and the beauty of an American sport.

The book was the basis for an ESPN piece on Dodgertown and was featured on Fox and CBS TV affiliates in Florida, nation-wide XM Radio, and Japanese national television.

Rody Johnson is a long--time resident of Vero Beach, was born in Charleston, and spends his summers in Lewisburg.

For more information contact:
Rody Johnson, 647-9905

Greenbrier County Library welcomes Patsy Pittman

The Greenbrier County Library, in Lewisburg, will hold the June edition of its Brown Bag Lunch series on June 6 at noon in the lower level multi-purpose room. For those not familiar with the Brown Bag Lunch Reading concept, it is thus: You bring your lunch, we’ll provide the place to eat it and some literary entertainment. June’s literary entertainment will be readings of short stories and poems from a new collection called Blood Kin & Other Strangers by WV author (and former WV Writers Treasurer) Patsy Evans Pittman.

In Blood Kin and Other Strangers, Pittman explores that most intimate of mysteries—the family. Drawn from her Appalachian heritage, these short stories and poems show all facets of families, from love and loss, revenge and redemption, to even deceit and murder. This carefully crafted collection features stark drama, gentle humor and surprise endings—and characters who will take you on a journey you won’t soon forget.

A resident of Vienna, W. Va., Patsy has been publishing stories and poetry for many years in such regarded publications as FIRST for Women, Woman’s World, Grit and Confluence Literary Magazine, among others. Her first non-fiction has appeared in Guideposts Books’ Cup of Comfort Ideals, Country Woman and others. She has won numerous awards from Writers Digest, West Virginia Writers, Midwest Writers, Alabama Writers Conclave and received a 2007 Fellowship in Literature from the West Virginia Commission on the Arts.

Patsy Pittman will be on hand for the reading and will be available for autographing copies of her book afterward. Assisting Pittman in the readings will be Eric Fritzius, president of WV Writers and former Greenbrier County Library employee who is returning to help continue the brown bag reading series.

So please join us for our next Brown Bag Reading, June 6 at noon in the lower level of the Greenbrier County Library, Lewisburg. Bring your lunch, bring your ears and prepare to be entertained.

Conference Countdown: Writers Wall

All writers are invited to post one or two poems or short pieces of prose (maximum of one page) on the Writers’ Wall at the conference.

The author’s name MUST NOT appear on the piece. A table near the registration table in Assembly Hall will be set up for Writers’ Wall writers to sign up, and sign-up times will coincide with registration hours.

The sign-up sheet will be pre-numbered with a place to enter the author’s name and the title of the piece. The number next to the writer’s name will be written on the manuscript and the manuscript will be thumb-tacked to the wall. In the registration packet, each attendee will receive a card to vote for his or her favorite poems and prose. A ballot box will be available near the wall. Be sure to vote before 4 p.m. Saturday afternoon. Please note that to prevent confusion, the prose wall, sign-up book, ballots and ballot box are lavender. The poetry wall, sign-up book, ballots and ballot box are blue. Be sure to post your entry in the proper book and on the proper wall, and be sure to vote on the correct ballot and place your ballot in the correct box. Votes will be tallied before the Awards Banquet. First, second and third places in each category (poetry and prose) receive a certificate of recognition.

Monday, June 02, 2008

Magazines Accepting Submissions

(This news courtesy of WV Writers own Tovli Simiryan)

Just passing this on….good luck!

Grim Graffitti is accepting submissions. They like crime fiction and dark fiction.
http://www.grimgraffiti.com/current.html


Cricket Magazine has opportunities for writers specializing in children’s literature.

http://www.cricketmag.com/pages_content.asp?page_id=6

Sunday, June 01, 2008

July Literary Press seeks material for new anthology

Guidelines ─ 2009 Anthology

July Literary Press seeks well-crafted stories, essays and poems for a Christmas anthology. Although the central theme is Christmas, related subjects will be considered, including other holidays (Hanukkah, Kwanzaa) or winter-, solstice-, or other related themes.

All submissions must be typed on white 8 ½” x 11” paper. Stories and essays must be double-spaced, poems single-spaced. Include name, address, phone number, email address and word or line count in the upper left corner of the first page.

No previously published except by invitation.
Electronic submissions will be deleted unread.

Stories ─ 5,000 words maximum.
Essays ─ 1,500 words maximum.
Poems ─ 50 lines maximum.

Deadline ─ September 30, 2008.

Stories and essays should be sent to:
July Literary Press
294 Hunters Lane
Williamsville, NY 14221

Poems to:
July Literary Press
274 North Street
East Aurora, NY 14052-1334


SASE for response only. MANUSCRIPTS WILL NOT BE RETURNED.

Entrants chosen for the anthology will receive one free copy plus the opportunity to purchase additional copies at a discount.

July Literary Press does not accept material that is pornographic, profane, sexist, racist or violent.

Check out July Literary Press’ website: www.julyliterarypress.com

N.B. Manuscripts under consideration may be kept as long as 6 months.