The Write Spot Blog by Marlene Cullen

Blog

  • Green Hills Literary Lantern Submissions

    Green Hills Literary Lantern is published annually, in July, by Truman State University, Kirksville, MO.

    GHLL welcomes work from established writers as well as from less experienced writers.

    Historically, the print publication ran between 200-300 pages, consisting of poetry, fiction, reviews, and interviews, and was printed on good quality paper with a glossy, 4-color cover. 

    The digital magazine is of similar proportions and artistic standards.

    GHLL reads submissions year-round, and published a new edition in June/July. Reporting time 3-4 months. 

    Writers are strongly urged to read several sample issues in order to learn what sorts of things GHLL prefers. 

    GHLL Submission Details:

    “What do we like? There are stories I read thirty years ago and still remember. We try to find that sort of thing and publish it. Sometimes it’s a compelling dramatic situation that grabs us by the throat in the first paragraph and won’t let go till the end: Frank O’Connor’s “Guests of the Nation” asks us to imagine what it’s like to be a basically decent sort of person who takes hostages and kills them. We’re not much for alt-worlding, but really good fiction can and does get set in realms that do not exist: you wake up one morning and discover you’ve been transformed into a large insect. Deal. Might be a poignant character we can’t forget, like the protagonist of Joyce’s “Araby,” even if what we remember is profound dislike (“This is My Living Room”). Maybe a setting, like the town in Lardner’s “Haircut.” And maybe it’s style, or a philosophical conundrum given intense emotional embodiment. LeGuin’s “The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas” scores high on both. We’re not crazy about the Big Reveal and the Twist Ending, mere cleverness. Faulkner’s “A Rose for Emily” endures in spite of, not because of that stunt. Very unlikely to publish overtly inspirational material, or genre stuff that doesn’t do anything particularly interesting with the conventions and stage-machinery. We like craft; Alice Walker’s classic “Everyday Use” has everything, including a genuine MacGuffin.” 

  • Worries

    Do you write personal things in your journal?

    Are you able to write what you are really thinking?

    Do you worry about writing something too personal? What if someone finds your notebook and reads it?

    Yes, someone could find your notebook and read it and . . . what? Think lesser of you? Find out what you are really thinking? Would that end your relationship? Or, perhaps change it?

    You could go through life worrying and not doing what you really want to do for fear of what others might think.

    Or, you can trust that your need to express yourself through writing is more powerful and more important than these worries.

    You can burn or destroy your notebooks every so often. But then you wouldn’t be able to access these precious memories that you archived.

    Simple solution: Keep your notebook in a safe place. And trust in the process.

    I’m in the process of reading through twenty years worth of journals. When my daughter heard that I was going to destroy then, she protested. “No, keep them. We’ll want to read them.” Oh. Really? Um . . . about that . . . I wouldn’t want anyone to read everything I’ve written over the years.

    I reached a compromise. I’m tearing out pages I don’t want anyone to see. The tame stuff, the creative stuff, are available for others’ perusal. But the personal stuff? Going, going, gone. Like the dandelion seeds that disperse and float in the wind.

    After all, in my journals, I’m writing for me, not for an audience. But I do understand and agree with my daughter, some things should be written, remembered, and in a way, memorialized. These precious memories are to be shared. But the writer gets to choose what is shared.

    So, keep writing and share only what you want to share.

  • Doorway and light. Prompt # 426

    Picture yourself standing in a doorway.

    What kind of light is in front of you?

    What kind of light is behind you?

    Set a timer for 15 minutes. And write.

  • Comparison is a threat to joy

    “Comparison is a threat to joy. We tend to move through life comparing ourselves to others, and it’s anti-creative and pointless.” — Tony Goldwyn. actor

  • Apparition Lit

    Apparition Lit is open for poetry and short story submissions four times a year. 

    February 15-28

    May 15-31

    August 15-31

    November 15-30

    Submissions received outside of posted open dates will be deleted unread.

    2019 Themes:

    Retribution (Submission period May 15-31, 2019)

    Euphoria (Submission period August 15-31, 2019)

    Apparition Lit also holds monthly flash fiction contests. These stories will follow selected themes and be published online.

    APPARITION LIT

    Apparition Lit is seeking original, unpublished speculative fiction that meets their quarterly theme. Speculative fiction is weird, almost unclassifiable. It’s fantasy, sci-fi, horror, and literary. They want it all. Send your strange, misshapen stories.

    Send stories with enough emotional heft to break a heart, with prose that’s as clear and delicious as broth. They are looking for proactive characters and beautiful language, all wrapped up in a complete story.

    Diversity is as important in fiction as it is in real life. They want a mosaic of stories, from authors of all identities and walks of life.

    PAYMENT:

    Apparition is a semi-pro rate magazine, paying $0.03 per word, minimum of 30.00 dollars (excluding flash contest). If we accept your story, we are purchasing the right to publish the story online and in the quarterly edition. Rights will revert back to the artist after one year.

    Submission Guidelines

  • Animal Crackers. Prompt # 425

    Today’s writing prompt: Animal Crackers.

    Set your timer for 15 minutes and write.

  • Most formal . . . or bizarre event . . . Prompt #424

    Write about the most formal event you have attended.

    Or, write about the most loose, informal, or bizarre event you have attended.

    Just write!

  • Tap into your wellspring . . .

    Today’s Guest Bloggers Georgia James and Deborah Parrish write about:

    Tap into Your Wellspring of Inspiration: Get Off Your Butt and Write

    Want to know how to get the writer’s juices flowing? It’s simple—get moving. And your mind, body and spirit will be all the happier for it. Heaven knows our imaginations can sometimes feel a bit stale if we don’t avail ourselves to new or different surroundings and experiences.

    We were reminded of this after reading a recent article in the Press Democrat, The Sonoma County Bucket List: Everything you need to do in Sonoma County before you die (or move away), This fertile material provided us with new fodder on where to write, especially when we want to feel inspired in our own backyard.  

    One of our favorite things to do is to sit in a crowd of people we don’t know and make up stories about them. What’s their backstory? Why are they there, and what brought them there? What are they thinking as they watch the sunset, dance wildly at a music festival, eat a warm piece of berry pie or have chilled wine on a porch swing. Why do they do what they do?

    Another way we spark ideas is to walk or drive through a neighborhood and create a story for the houses that we pass by: who lives there and for how long? What has happened within those walls over the years? How does the house experience the inhabitants (“if walls could talk”)?

    For example, while writing on a pivotal chapter in the second book of our Home Sweet Home trilogy, we realized we were in a rut and needed a change from our writing routine. We took a drive out to Point Reyes in hopes of visiting the lighthouse where we intended to craft a scene in our story. We felt the need to research the location and examine the accuracy of a particular scene.

    We also carry a notebook wherever we go (heck, we have more than one!) Whenever we get an idea or hear something that ignites our imagination, we jot it down. We collect quotes from people around us, things we overhear in public, and thoughts we have while standing in line. Always at our fingertips, this notebook serves as a reference point when we get stuck, one that we can visit over and over.

    Our souls were rejuvenated by the beautiful landscape and we allowed the ocean to evoke a mood in us: how it felt on our skin, the taste of the sea air, the warmth of the mid-day sun, the sound of the seabirds foraging for lunch. Not only did we benefit from being there, but we could visualize our characters in one of the most dramatic plot turns in our novel.

    Ten things to keep you writing your stories while exploring new areas.

    We made an Inspiration List to help us keep our writing fresh and our stories interesting. This list is for our area of Northern California. We encourage you to make a list for your area.

    1. Journal while watching the sunset on the Sonoma Coast.
    2. Take a walk on Heart’s Desire Beach alone or with your dog or a friend. Studies have shown that being near water invigorates us, relieves stress, and increases creativity.
    3. Try a new dish (or eatery). If you’re near the Sonoma Square, check out the Sunflower Cafe and bask in its artistic ambiance. The back patio is a creative wonder that celebrates food as a living art form that creates new memories and reminds us of times past.
    4. Listen to a stranger’s story while sitting on a bench in the Sonoma Plaza.
    5. Take a slow drive or bike ride along Dry Creek Road in Healdsburg.
    6. Take a tour of historic old barns in the back country roads around Sonoma County.
    7. Visit the bees in the Secret Garden at Quarry Hill Botanical Gardens in Glen Ellen.
    8. Watch cows and horses graze or birds fly over the Petaluma hills.
    9. Kayak along Tomales Bay with a stop for a bowl of delicious Clam Chowder at Nick’s Cove to warm up afterwards.
    10. Take a trip to Jenner at the edge of town where the Russian River meets the ocean. There’s magic where the winding, freshwater flows into the raging salty waters of the Pacific Ocean. An overwhelming number of people say that they associate feeling of calm and peace with the color blue and staring at the ocean can alter the frequency of our brain waves and put us into a mild meditative state. The simple act of touching sand on a beach makes one feel grounded in their body and can bring us back to a younger self that built sand castles and hunted for shells.

    Georgia and Deborah will be the Writers Forum presenters on Thursday, May 16, 6:30 pm at Copperfield’s in Petaluma. They will talk about: How to Write With Your Senses and Ignite your Words onto the Page.

    Colleen Bingham, owner of Poppy Botanicals, will be joining us with her handmade organic products that will captivate your senses and help you focus on letting them tell the story.

    Georgia James is a hopeless romantic and wine country enthusiast. Formerly, a senior executive in the entertainment industry, she turned to writing over a decade ago, and has never looked back. She splits her time between Sonoma, California, and Chicago, Illinois with her husband, two grown sons, one dog, and three cats. James holds a BA in Spanish literature. Home Sweet Sonoma is her first novel.

    Deborah Parrish began writing romance novels on her mother’s old green Smith Corona typewriter at the age of 11. Her heart’s calling was put on hold to raise her daughter, who’s become a successful business woman in her own right. After three decades of masquerading as a financial executive, Deborah’s lifelong dream was reawakened and realized with her first published novel, Home Sweet Sonoma. With her musician husband at her side, she lives in coastal West Marin surrounded by nature’s bounty. When she’s not busy dreaming up a steamy love story, she’s capturing joy-filled moments through her lens as a lifestyle photographer.

    Deborah and Georgia had a blast writing Home Sweet Sonoma, convinced they couldn’t have done it without each other’s encouragement. Having been friends for 20 years, their passion for good love stories finally showed up on the page. Home Sweet Sonoma is really about their shared love affair with romance and the little things in life that truly matter, like small towns, wine and song, pies (lots of pie), sunsets, walks in the park, kissing and of course, the behind-the-curtain passion that is the juice of life.



  • Guest Blogger Suzanne Murray and the power of commitment.

    Today’s blog post is by Suzanne Murray.

    THE POWER OF COMMITMENT

    Let yourself be silently drawn by the strange pull of what you really love. It will not lead you astray. – Rumi  

    I’ve been thinking about the difference between trying and doing and how it applies to our creative lives.   Consider how it feels to say “I’m going to try to write a book versus I am going to write book.”

    The word try brings with it a lot of resistance and a sense of effort, whereas I am going to do it carries the sense “I can do this.”  

    Perhaps the most well-known line in the Star Wars movies is when Yoda says to Luke Skywalker “do or do not, there is no try.”   Yoda is encouraging Luke to commit fully because he know that if Luke is uncertain that he can achieve the goal, he will not be able to.

    Note from Marlene: Pause for a minute. Think about that.  
    If you are uncertain you can achieve a goal, you will not be able to.  

    Back to Suzanne:  There is always a learning curve to anything new we do or to increasing our skill level at something. With commitment we bring our heart to the task which helps fuel our capacity to show up and find pleasure in the doing.

    Suzanne Murray is a gifted creativity and writing coach, soul-based life coach, writer, poet, EFT practitioner and intuitive healer committed to empowering others to find the freedom to ignite their creative fire, unleash their imagination and engage their creative expression in every area of their lives.

    Check out Suzanne’s Blog for ideas about creativity and life coaching. Her April 13, 2019 post tells about how she came up with the name for her business, Creativity Goes Wild.
    The post starts out like this, “When I received the inspiration for the name of my business, Creativity Goes Wild, I was on a modern day vision quest in an extraordinary canyon in southern Utah that allowed me to really open to the flow of new ideas.
    Follow her on Twitter at @wildcreativity where she tweets inspirational quotes for creativity and life.


  • Something special . . . Prompt #423

    Do you have something special that belonged to someone who is no longer alive? Why is it meaningful to you?  

    Or write about something that is meaningful and why.