Writers Unbound

Tell me your story Photo by Mary MacIntyre

The dead still teach us beyond the grave. How easily we forget and neglect the power of their word, or fragmented pictures of what they endured and saw in their lives. Be us the writer today, it may behoove us to listen and reflect upon these words. Words, visions, and structure can provide each with a springboard for them to fly off into the ethers, that the jumper may experience or transcend what already has been demonstrated.

I am listening to a video about MArianne Moore whilst also listening to Annabel included here. I beg you to experiment. I included these two videos to speculate on what can be inspired from old scripts. Oh Raven come now share your secrets with me and any who will listen.

Write and capture our lives now in your song, and let the muses fill our verse with everlasting meaning. TRy this listening to two at once. Behold the metaphor dancing in our words. Write!
Edgar Allan Poe
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For the attorney general of Maryland, see Edgar Allan Poe (Maryland attorney general).
Edgar Allan Poe

1848 daguerreotype of Poe
Born January 19, 1809(1809-01-19)
Boston, Massachusetts, USA
Died October 7, 1849 (aged 40)
Baltimore, Maryland, USA
Occupation Poet, short-story writer, editor, literary critic
Genres Horror fiction, crime fiction, detective fiction
Literary movement Romanticism
Spouse(s) Virginia Eliza Clemm Poe

Signature

Edgar Allan Poe (January 19, 1809 – October 7, 1849) was an American writer, poet, editor and literary critic, and is considered part of the American Romantic Movement. Best known for his tales of mystery and the macabre, Poe was one of the earliest American practitioners of the short story and is considered the inventor of the detective-fiction genre. He is further credited with contributing to the emerging genre of science fiction.[1] He was the first well-known American writer to try to earn a living through writing alone, resulting in a financially difficult life and career.[2]

He was born as Edgar Poe in Boston, Massachusetts; his parents died when he was young. Poe was taken in by John and Frances Allan, of Richmond, Virginia, but they never formally adopted him. After spending a short period at the University of Virginia and briefly attempting a military career, Poe parted ways with the Allans. Poe’s publishing career began humbly, with an anonymous collection of poems, Tamerlane and Other Poems (1827), credited only to “a Bostonian”.

Poe switched his focus to prose and spent the next several years working for literary journals and periodicals, becoming known for his own style of literary criticism. His work forced him to move between several cities, including Baltimore, Philadelphia, and New York City. In Baltimore in 1835, he married Virginia Clemm, his 13-year-old cousin. In January 1845, Poe published his poem “The Raven” to instant success. His wife died of tuberculosis two years later. He began planning to produce his own journal, The Penn (later renamed The Stylus), though he died before it could be produced. On October 7, 1849, at age 40, Poe died in Baltimore; the cause of his death is unknown and has been variously attributed to alcohol, brain congestion, cholera, drugs, heart disease, rabies, suicide, tuberculosis, and other agents.[3]

Poe and his works influenced literature in the United States and around the world, as well as in specialized fields, such

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edgar_Allan_Poe

Do We Remember? Photo by Mary MacIntyre

[edit] Later years…. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marianne_Moore

Opportunity: Ready and waiting for you

http://writersinthesky.com/writing-newsletter.html

This will be short and sweet. Yvonne Perry’s Writers In the Sky Blog is widely read. Here’s a fun opportunity to share some work for many to see. Have fun…read on…and share!

Write,write,write, and leave me a comment,please.

Full day
runaway to mountain
suuround us with beauty
light openings

Light always abounds within us: celebrate! photo by Mary MacIntyre

I’ve had a very busy week. So this will be a fast(?) update. Remember I am still always looking for writers who would like to publish here. As A writer there are always deadlines. Fortunately, I am in a productive moment in my life. However, sometimes people need tips to help them get work done before deadlines. The following may be self evident, however try them:
1) Grab a folder and start writing notes at the first notice of an assignment and deadline. Perhaps even use a recorder for ideas. Add stuff to folder.
2) Create a specific time reserved for writing. Use that time frequently so you are accustomed to letting words flow. Aren’t ready to work on that assignment? Write on other ideas for future material.
3) Research and make it fun. Remember that going to your local library may break a block and you could quickly find more resources in a lovely quiet environment.
4) Reset the deadline for a week earlier with a bonus if you finish by that time. This gives you time to review and rewrite.

My buffalo day

If you check around my sites you can see theme for Sunday Superbowl blogs by me. It’s a quiet time to reflect on my living and blessings. However we are going back east to a place called Wellfleet.
This was related blog to others I looked at today. Enjoy. I’ll write more in a minute.

Have you ever heard of this tribe or Wellfleet? Could you visit and create a travel article? Check out my coachingcooking blog for some related recipes. Are you curious more about the history of these people? Could this make a great school report? Be creative with these ideas and write.

Twilight to sun set photo by Mary MacIntyre

Welcome you have found a fun interactive blog. I envision lots for this blog: stories, poems, conversations, essays: simply put a healthy playground for writers, aspiring writers, me, and visitors. Unlike many pro sites, we can experiment, hopefully get feedback, and most of all creatively communicate with a world bigger than our own community. I will invite writers from all over to contribute too. First invitation: you. Do you have a story, article(original), suggestions to share or publish?

So you see, I like visuals too. Phat literature.
You really need to listen to this, poetry really comes alive when spoken. “sometimes when we needed safety” powerful phrase. Please leave comments.

13 Contest Ending Soon

1. June 2008 Scribophile Contest. Fiction: mystery, 2000 to 5000 wds, first chapter of mystery novel; First prize: $50 Amazon gift card; Deadline: June 30th.
2. The Shya Scanlon 7-line Contest. 7-line story, any genre; First prize: $1000 and publication; Entry fee: $10; Deadline: August 15th.
3. The Summer 2008 Short Story Warren Adler Contest. Humor: 1000 to 2500 words; First prize: $1000; Entry fee: $15; Deadline: August 15th.
4. The Writer’s Workshop of Asheville, NC, 19th Annual Poetry Contest. Poetry: 3 poems per entry; First prize: $300; Entry fee: $20; Deadline: June 30th.
5. The Writer’s Workshop of Asheville, NC, Hard Times Writing Contest. Memoir: up to 4000 words, overcoming hard times; First prize: $300; Entry fee: $20; Deadline: July 31st.
6. FenCon Short Story Contest. Fiction: science fiction or fantasy, up to 5000 words; First prize: $50; Entry fee: $10; Deadline: July 20th.
7. 2008 First Annual Benu Press Creative Non-Fiction Award. Non-fiction manuscript; First prize: Publication, 7% royalties; Deadline: July 25th.
8. Costa Rica Pages Travel Writing Competition. Non-fiction, 300 to 800 words, favorite vacation moment; First prize: Vacation to Costa Rica; Deadline: July 31st.
9. The TNPR Book Prize Series. Poetry: 45 - 80 pages; First prize: $1000 plus publication; Entry fee: $25; Deadline: August 31st.
10. The American Poet Prize for Poetry. Poetry: 3 poems, up to 10 pages; First Prize: $500 plus publication; Entry Fee: $16.00; Deadline: June 30th.
11. The KeyHole Chapbook Contest. Poetry chapbook, 18 - 36 pages; First prize: $250 and publication; Entry fee: $15; Deadline: July 30th.
12. The Finishing Line Press Prize in Poetry Open Chapbook Competition. Poetry chapbook: up to 26 pages; First prize: $1000 and publication: Entry fee: $15; Deadline: June 30th.
13. The Dream Quest One Poetry and Writing Contest. Poem, up to 30 lines OR Short story, any genre (including creative non-fiction) up to 5 pages; multiple entries accepted; First prize: $500; Entry Fee: $5 for poetry, $10 for short story; Deadline: July 31st.

Make it a good day.

Writing poetry - whether or not you’re a poet - is one of the best ways to strengthen your expression, cull your dead words, and become more aware of the sound and flow of your writing.
Even if you are a poet, getting started can be difficult.

Guardian Books hosts a Poetry Workshop each month. Here’s the summary: “Every month, our poetry workshop is hosted by a different poet who sets an exercise, chooses the most interesting responses and offers an appraisal of them…” Past poets include Sean O’Brien in February, David Morley for January, and Jean Sprackland for the last month of 2007. Matthew Francis was the poet for March’s workshop; he received submissions until April 27 and will, I assume, soon post his short list and responses. I don’t see a new workshop listed for April/May, but I’m hoping that’s just a delay on the part of the WebMaster.

I took a little time to go through Francis’s workshop for March. His first instruction is simple: Complete the sentence, “When I think of summer, I think of…”
Easy enough, and not exactly inspiring yet. My list was lack luster and predictable at the beginning: grass, playgrounds, vacations. (For some reason I went straight to summers as a child, not summers now, as an adult. Hm.) But, as Francis said, I started thinking of things “very personal to you, the sort of associations that not everyone else would have, while others may be general experiences that nevertheless wouldn’t occur to many people.” Thing such as (more…)

I know I know: I write about freelancing way too much. Let’s veer away from that for a bit, shall we?

On Monday, my 7 year old had the day off school, so it was just her and I here at home, which she doesn’t get a whole lot of. I was helping her fill out her iPOD with song selections from the the video library on cable TV. I was happy with her tastes in music: J. Lo, (Latina) and Ingrid Michaelson (talented writer) among others. (Although I’m a little dismayed with her crush on Justin Timberlake- but, hey, she’s 7, she can’t be perfect. Yet)

I was also pleased that she wanted to read the captions during the videos. Sometimes the words just pop, you know, and you can tell the songwriter is also a poet. People like Tori Amos come to mind here. I was happy to introduce my little to-be writer to the concept.

I was reminded of this one teacher I had in high school who actually got my younger brother interested in poetry by exploring Pearl Jam lyrics (yes it was the 90s).

Another place I’ve found some inspiration lately is from my photo albums. My WIP is set mostly in Mexico, and it helps to access the photos and get me into the right frame of mind.

I’ve mentioned my WIP before, and that it’s set in Mexico, partially, and that I wrote it in Mexico. I’ve talked about this before. I’ve really got to make it come to fruition, so that I don’t reread this post someday and want to kick myself.

I’ve really got to get rid of the IP part of my WIP.