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WIWA NEWSLETTER
Vol. 016 Aug. -- Sept. 2003
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If you've moved and want to remain on WIWA's mailing list for the 2004 Whidbey Island Writer's Conference brochure, or if you'd like to be added to our mailing list, contact writers@whidbey.com with your address.
CONTENTS
Message From the Editor
Letters to the Editor
On the Island
Off the Island
The Terrible Ten, Part II
-- by Dr. Richard Lederer
Cheers
Ask Mike
-- by Elizabeth Pomada AAR
Recent Releases
To Become Old Time Story Tellers of Nature
-- by Susan Zwinger
Contests and Market Requests
Cyber Surfing
To Contact Us
To Subscribe or Unsubscribe
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MESSAGE FROM THE EDITOR
So we write, edging our way across the minefields of language ... --James J. Kilpatrick
Sunlight glinted across the glass jug and caught my eye like a diamond's flash. From the kitchen window I could see the crystal clear jar that I'd set out earlier to brew sun tea.
If you put teabags into a glass jar and fill it with tap water, the moment you step outside to set the jar in the sunshine, the water near the surface begins to turn amber. By the time you set the jug down the first tannin swirls have drifted to the bottom and turned the water liquid gold.
At that twinkling, when the sun glinted off the glass, I could almost hear the clinking ice cubes and taste the thirst quenching tea. But the moment melted when I realized I'd forgotten the teabags. Preoccupied, or as my sister says, "out to lunch." I'd looked at that bottle of brewing water at least a dozen times before noticing the missing bags. Good thing I don't make my living as a sleuth.
It's the same way with writing; I'll work on a piece for days and not see the errors creeping in before my eyes, errors that could immerse me in hot water sooner than I can dunk a teabag. I transpose letters and words -- "tried" becomes "tired." Dangling participles create impossible scenes -- "Taking photos, the alpacas munched clover." Two independent clauses link up in a bad marriage with the insertion of an improper comma.
Once in a WIWA Newsletter, I absentmindedly combined the first and last names of two agents, creating a fictionalized super-agent who had all the right qualities. I new -- make that knew -- whom I meant, but no one else did. Fortunately, the WIWA team saved me from embarrassment.
I write, edit, proofread and re-proof every Newsletter and then give a copy to the WIWA team for review. No matter how hard I try, they find errors, lots of them, but they never gloat, because as writers they've experienced that glazed-eye phenomenon that comes from reading one's own material. They understand the value of a fresh perspective, of getting a second opinion. Their edits have made me a better editor. Still, mistakes happen.
Sometimes late news arrives for the Newsletter and I rush to write it up -- no time for a peer review. Until the Newsletter slams into cyberspace, I'm skating over the keyboard, sliding and clicking the mouse, slashing words and saving edits to reach my goal until the clock announces the end of a period. With every line change, I invite errors.
And errors happen. In the June/July column, "Recent Releases," I traveled forward in time to the year 2004 and announced books for both Elizabeth Engstrom and Gary Ferguson. In fact, Elizabeth's book, Black Leather, and Gary's book, Hawks Rest: A Season in the Remote Heart of Yellowstone, were released this spring.
"Terrible, just terrible," my husband moaned in anguish while reading the Newsletter.
"What?" I asked, wondering why he was more upset with the botched book dates than the authors were.
"Anyone who knows anything about baseball knows it's s-o-x. Red Sox."
Uh oh. Did I really write S-o-c-k-s in my last letter, as if I were referring to Chelsea's cat or foot warmers instead of the July 4th Red Sox/Yankee double header?
"Why didn't you ask me to read it before you sent it out? No one will ever believe you know anything about baseball."
Bob's right. He looked at my first draft, but then I made a few changes and was hesitant to impose on him again. Silly. He'd have read it gladly, and he'd have caught my error. I had an opportunity and I blew it with Bob, baseball lovers and WIWA's readers.
Word pundit and author of The Writer's Art, James J. Kilpatrick, said, "We must copy-edit, copy-edit, copy-edit! ... We must check our writing right up to the moment of deadline."
If I'd followed that advice, I wouldn't be wondering about my current status among Bob's five passions: baseball, bridge, sailing, programming and me. Next time I write about one of those topics, I'll ask Bob to review the piece and see if I can work my way back into first place. Meanwhile, whatever you're writing, proof it and re-proof it, then give it to someone to review.
Time to go re-check my glass jar for teabags.
May goodwill prevail,
Candace
To read past issues of the newsletter online, go to: http://www.whidbey.com/writers/newsletter
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LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
Writing Group Going Strong
The Wednesday WIWA Southenders (writing) group is going very well with up to ten attending. We all appreciate the sponsorship and support of WIWA.
Julian I. Taber
Encouragement
Excellent newsletter ... sorry I missed the conference. I will attend someday when the time is right. Thanks so much for the heartfelt encouragements and comments of others. They mean a lot on the often barren path I'm traveling. I'm currently working with Tom Bird but find a number of sources enlightening.
All the best, Harry Strunk
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ON THE ISLAND
Adventures in Writing
WIWA is offering a series of one and two-day seminars that combine in-field experience with writing. To register for a seminar, or to propose a seminar for consideration, contact writers@whidbey.com.
Birds and Words: A Day of Nature Writing
Saturday, Aug. 2, 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., Possession Beach Park. Instructor: Frances Woods
Want to jump-start or refine your nature writing skills? Join us for a day with the birds, plants and sea life. In the morning we'll focus on improving your powers of observation, creating colorful and sensuous descriptions of nature, and exploring effective techniques for keeping a nature journal and taking field notes. During the afternoon we'll pull those notes and descriptions into delicious prose and share some excerpts from published nature writers. Bring a lunch, drinks, hat, walking shoes and a journal. Dress for the weather. We'll be exploring both beach and forest. Cost: $35 for WIWA members, $37 for nonmembers.
Writing and the "Law of Accident"
Aug. 9 and 10. Instructor: Drew Kampion, author and editor. www.drewkampion.com.
Meet Saturday, Aug. 9 at 9 a.m. at Maxwelton Beach in appropriate beach attire (sunscreen recommended). Walk the beach south to Maple Point (1-2 miles); explore the low-tide sand flats, estuary life, tide pools, vistas of Seattle and Mt. Rainier; possibly dig a few horse clams or hunt for geoducks. Return north with the rising tide. Meet at Maxwelton to discuss the walk vis-a-vis "The Law of Accident," and end the day with an assigned writing task. Bring a sack lunch. Sunday, August 10, meet at noon at a location to be announced. Participants will read and discuss their writing assignment, including: point of view, coincidence, time, layers, dimensions, etc. End around 5 p.m. with a new perspective of the island and writing. Cost: $45 for WIWA members, $47 for nonmembers.
Freeland Library
Thursday Aug. 7, 7 p.m., Alaska and Other Exotic Places. Bryon Birdsall, a world famous landscape watercolorist, will show slides as he shares his adventures and artwork.
The Golden Otter Bookstore, Langley
Sept. 6, 2 - 4 p.m., Claire Dunne, author of Carl Jung's biography, Wounded Healer of the Soul.
From Idea to Silver-screen with Bill Kerby
Sept. 12 - 13, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., 2 days. By popular demand renowned screenwriter Bill Kerby is offering a second screen writing workshop this year. His screenplay, "The Rose," starred Bette Midler and Frederic Forrest. Bill won the Cowboy Hall of Fame award for best teleplay for "Lakota Woman." He was nominated for a Golden Globe for "On the Beach," which he co-wrote for Showtime. Students will submit their screenplay ideas (not a script) in advance. During the two-day workshop, students will bring their ideas to life in a screenplay format. Registration is limited to five. Cost: $215 for WIWA members, $225 for nonmembers. Location to be announced. To register, email writers@whidbey.com
Fall WIWA Classes
Registration for WIWA's fall writing classes is now open. Classes are ten or eleven weeks. The cost is $75 for WIWA members and $80 for nonmembers. Some scholarships are available. For more information, or to register, contact Susan at writers@whidbey.com
Beginning Poetry: Wednesdays, 2 - 4 p.m., 10 weeks beginning September 17. Instructor: Lorraine Healy. The first part of the class will be devoted to reading and analyzing one or more poems and talking about how they work. During the rest of the class students will write their own poems, sometimes using elements from the poems analyzed to trigger inspiration. Location to be announced.
Advanced Poetry Workshop: Wednesdays, 3 - 5 p.m., 10 weeks beginning September 17. Instructor: Susan Zwinger. A weekly workshop format will allow experienced poets with depth of understanding to further their art and voice through group critique. The instructor will guide feedback as well as offer new information and relevant examples. Location to be announced.
Advanced Nonfiction Workshop: Tuesdays, 3 - 5 p.m., 10 weeks beginning September 16. Instructor: Susan Zwinger. For those familiar with the essay's wide possibilities of expression and those who have written essays before, this class will critique two or three essays each week. The instructor will present specific examples and skills to enhance your essay writing ability. Location to be announced.
Journaling for Art, Heart and Observation: Tuesdays, 3 - 5 p.m., 10 weeks beginning September 16. Instructor: Susan Zwinger. Come learn the techniques of creating wonderful journal pages, whether for fiction or poetry, research or science, school plans or--best of all--for the exploration of self. This hands-on class will offer one exercise after another that will inspire you in new directions. You will be surprised by your new talents. Never will a trip be a simple trip, but rather a journey of deep-seeing and documentation. Location to be announced.
Writing the Memoir: Tuesdays, 7 - 9 p.m. beginning September 16, 10 weeks. Instructor: Barbara Joy Laffey. A continuation of last spring's memoir and life history class, this course is open to both new and returning students. Reading, writing, and in-class exercises illuminate and inform the specific rewards and challenges of writing and sharing our personal stories. This gentle, reflective class will give you the tools to craft your story. Location to be announced.
Craft and Technique in Prose II: Wednesdays, 11 – 1:00 p.m., 10 weeks. Begins September 17 at Trinity Lutheran Church. Instructor: Marian Blue. This course, a continuation of last spring's course, is open to both returning and new students and is intended for new and experienced writers who want to hone their craft. We will use exercises, discussion, and reading to explore craft and how techniques apply to all genres (fiction, poetry, drama, and essay). You will work with craft to weave setting, image, voice, narrative perspective, and character within your writing style, to create a harmonious whole. Wordsmithing at its best! You will participate in specific discussions about revision and editing, word-by-word. We will also analyze writing from the textbook. The text is Imaginative Writing, the Elements of Craft by Janet Burroway.
Advanced Fiction Workshop (2 Sections): Mondays 2 - 4 p.m. or 7 - 9 p.m., 11 weeks beginning September 15 at Trinity Lutheran Church. Limit, 12 students. Instructor: Wayne Ude. This workshop focuses on works written by group members. You will share your own work, either short stories or chapters of longer works, and have the opportunity to present three pieces to be discussed in class and critiqued in depth by the instructor.
Intermediate Fiction: Tuesdays, 7 - 9 p.m., 11 weeks, beginning September 16 at Trinity Lutheran Church. Limit, 12 students. Instructor: Wayne Ude. This class is for those who have begun writing but would like further instruction. Students will read short stories from an anthology of short stories, but the chief focus will be on their own writing. You may bring complete short stories or chapters for discussion, or parts of stories for suggestions on how to continue and extend the story. Students may develop one to three stories over the course.
Beginning Fiction: Wednesdays, 2 - 4 p.m., 11 weeks beginning September 17, at Trinity Lutheran Church. Limit, 12 students. Instructor: Wayne Ude. This class is for those who are just beginning to write fiction. For the first few weeks the class will focus on fiction writing exercises and on stories from an anthology of short stories. Later, you will work on your own short story or chapter, sharing it with the class as it develops.
Choose from Three WIWA-Sponsored Writing Groups
You can choose from three WIWA-sponsored writing groups: an evening group, a north-end daytime group, and a south-end daytime group. Sponsored by WIWA, the groups offer an opportunity to share work, gain insight, and discuss the world of writing and publishing. Featuring a friendly forum and useful critiques, these groups welcome writers of every experience level. Drop-ins are welcome.
Evening Writers' Group
The evening WIWA Writers' Group meets the first Wednesday of every month from 7 to 9 p.m. at the Freeland Library, 5495 Harbor Avenue. For more information, contact Toni Grove at toniandgordy@pioneernet.net.
Day-time Writers' Groups
The North Whidbey Writers' Group meets the second and fourth Wednesday of each month, 1 to 4 p.m., at Great Times Espresso in Coupeville (water-side of Front Street, down one flight of stairs).
The South Whidbey Writers' Group meets the first and third Wednesday of each month, 1 to 4 p.m., at Trinity Lutheran Church in Freeland (Hwy 525 and Woodard Rd.) The meeting is in the small building closest to Highway 525.
For more information, contact Dot Read at: thereads@whidbey.com, or call (360) 331-2038. Or just drop in; you will be welcome.
Literary and Natural History Workshops with Author/Artist Susan Zwinger
September 27 - 28: Natural History, Illustrated Field Journals, Descriptive Writing. Location: South Whidbey State Park, private home, and beaches. Learn to identify, describe, write, and create lovely natural history pages during this two-day romp through the wilds of Whidbey Island. Teachers, gardeners, naturalists, parents and non-writers welcome. $155.
October 18-19: How to Sculpt a Poetry Manuscript. Location: South Whidbey private home overlooking the Strait and Olympics. For any writer wishing to collect individual pieces (essays, poems, life vignettes, stories) into a stunning, cohesive whole. In this intensive workshop students will work with an intuitive, right-brain-inspired organization to carve their manuscripts into a meaningful shape. They will also learn how to best present a manuscript to an editor. Cost: $160.
For more information, call (360) 579-2457.
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OFF THE ISLAND
Bharti Kirchner Reading, Seattle
Past WIWA instructor Bharti Kirchner will read from her fourth novel, Pastries: A Novel of Desserts and Discoveries, at University Bookstore, Aug 6, 7 p.m. (206) 634-3400.
Elizabeth George, Seattle Mystery Bookshop
Elizabeth George, speaker at WIWC 2003, will sign A Place for Hiding, Friday, Aug 15, noon, at 117 Cherry St. For more information, call (206) 587-5737.
Skye Kathleen Moody Readings from Medusa
Friday, Aug. 8, 7 p.m., University Bookstore, Seattle
Sat., Aug. 9, noon, Seattle Mystery Bookshop
Fri., Sept.12, 7 p.m., Port Angeles Library
For more information, check http://www.skyemoody.com/
Songandword Workshops on Shaw Island
See www.songandword.com for details. Or call 360-468-3964; email info@songandword.com.
Aug. 22-24, Writing from the Inside Out, science-fiction author Kay Kenyon.
Sept. 12-14, Creating Songs to Satisfy Body & Soul, singer/songwriter Maggie Savage.
Jerry Wennstrom at Elliott Bay Books, Seattle
August 22 at 7:30 p.m., Film showing, talk and book reading. http://www.elliottbaybook.com/
Sunshine Coast School of Writing Workshop, British Columbia
Sept. 27 - 28, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., Mastering Magazine Articles. Instructor: Daniel Wood. Location: Gibsons Heritage School in Gibsons. Cost for the weekend is $175 including lunches and snacks. For detailed information, contact Carol Hodgson at c_hodgson@sunshine.net or (604) 886-8951.
Seattle Arts and Lectures
Sept. 29, 7:30 p.m., Benaroya Hall. Jeffrey Eugenides, novelist and winner of the Pulitzer Prize for his second novel, Middlesex. http://www.lectures.org/
Literary and Natural History Workshop on Orcas Island
Oct. 10-12: Tools for Depth -- Archetype, Metaphor, Description for the Adventuresome Writer. Instructor: author/artist Susan Zwinger. Orcas Island, private home, wild land. So you've got the content, the urge to communicate, the story line or the poem, but it isn't singing yet. Exercise after exercise will give you tools to dive into the depths, to allow the reverberations of metaphor and allegory to turn a phrase that has the reader inhaling in surprise. Come enjoy Winnie Adams' hospitality and the Orcas community. For more information, call (360) 376-4656. Cost: $135.
Northwest Bookfest and Conference, Seattle
Sand Point Magnuson Park
Oct. 17, Writers' Conference. $90 full day, $50 half day. Call (206) 378-1883 for registration details.
Oct. 18-19, Bookfest. $10 per day, or $15 for a two-day pass. Youth 17 and under admitted free. http://www.nwbookfest.org/
Richard Hugo House in Seattle
See http://www.hugohouse.org/events/ for the latest schedule of events.
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THE TERRIBLE TEN -- Part II
by Dr. Richard Lederer
Dr. Richard Lederer, English professor/comedian extraordinaire will make you giggle, not gag, as he dishes up lessons about our loopy language. He is the author of more than 3,000 books and articles about language and humor, including his best-selling Anguished English series. Richard's syndicated column, Looking at Language, appears in newspapers and magazines throughout the United States. He has been elected International Punster of the Year, named by Toastmasters International as its 2002 Golden Gavel winner and is a board member for Writer's Digest. In December, St. Martin's will publish his latest book, A Man of My Words, my career-capping reflections on the English language. Hardcover; Book of the Month Club, Literary Guild, QPB. WIWC 2003 was fortunate to have Richard entertain and instruct us with his witticisms and his knowledge of our crazy English language. You can explore Richard's Web site at www.verbivore.com.
Which woman is a magician?:
She embellished her talk with a number of allusions.
She embellished her talk with a number of illusions.
Which child is afflicted with a defect?:
Maggie went shopping with her tow-headed son.
Maggie went shopping with her toe-headed son.
The answer to each question is the second sentence. As these distinctions indicate, word choice is not just a matter of diction. Word choice affects meaning.
In the last issue I offered five confused word pairs that you are most likely to hear and read. Here are five more. My experience as a speaker, writer, and teacher tells me that these particular twins often produce the most perplexing and egregious errors:
disinterested/uninterested
Which judge would you prefer?:
At the trial the judge was completely uninterested.
At the trial the judge was completely disinterested.
The answer is that you would prefer the second judge. To be disinterested is to be impartial. To be uninterested is to be unconcerned. At your trial you want a judge who is disinterested, but not uninterested.
farther/further
Use farther for concrete, physical distance, further for abstract, metaphoric distance. Farther means "physically beyond;" further means "additional" or "additionally:"
At times, Uranus is farther away from the sun than is Pluto.
The committee members requested further details about the national health plan so that they could further explore its consequences.
fewer/less
We see them everywhere -- the plague of plaques in supermarket express lines that say, "8 Items or Less." They should read, "8 Items or Fewer."
Less means "not so much" and refers to amount or quantity. Fewer means "not so many" and refers to number, things that are countable -- "less food" but "fewer cookies;" "less nutrition" but (no matter what those over-the-hill jocks say on the Miller Lite commercials) "fewer calories." With those omnipresent supermarket signs and with those contests asking for responses in "25 words or less," when will we ever learn?
imply/infer
Use imply to mean "indicate without saying outright" or "express indirectly." Use infer to mean "draw a conclusion by reasoning:"
His tone implied that he did not really believe us.
We inferred from his tone that he thought we were lying.
lay/lie
Caveat Scriptor -- Writer Beware: more than any of the other troublesome twins, these verbs lie in wait ready to lay confusion and embarrassment upon you. Here's the problem: Lie is a strong, irregular verb that conjugates lie-lay-lain. Lay is a weak, regular verb that conjugates lay-laid-laid. Because lay is both the present tense of to lay and the past tense of to lie and because the weak, regular verb pattern has become dominant in English, many speakers and writers use lay, as in "I like to lay in my hammock" (quite a trick!) when they should use lie.
The most useful way to sort out lie and lay is to bear in mind that lie is an intransitive verb that means "to repose, to rest" while lay is usually a transitive verb that means "to put." Lay almost always takes an object, lie never. Something must be laid, and nothing can be lied. Or try visualizing this cartoon: Two hens are pictured side by side in their nests. One is sitting upright, and she is labeled LAYING; the other is flat on her back and labeled LYING. In another bestial cartoon, a man says to his dog, "Lay down!" and the dog rolls over on its back. Then the master says, "Speak!" -- and the dog says, "It's lie."
Or try memorizing this little ditty I've made up:
Take the Money Enron
The difference between lie and lay
Has fallen into deep decay.
But now we know from Enron's shame
That Lay and "lie" are just the same.
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CHEERS
Your good news cheers us on! Please share your successes with us. email the editor at: candace@whidbey.com.
Brian Ames has new fiction stories in the following online publications: Nighttrain http://www.nighttrainmagazine.com, Thought Magazine http://www.geocities.com/thoughtmagazine, Lunatic Chameleon http://www.geocities.com/nancatbird, Monkeybicycle http://www.monkeybicycle.net, Chapter 1 of the Anemone Sidecar http://www.ravennapress.com/snowmonkey/works/as1.pdf and Small Spiral Notebook http://www.smallspiralnotebook.com.
Past WIWC participant Anjali Banerjee's debut Maya Running was announced July 1, 2003 on www.publishersmarketplace.com in a two-book deal, to Wendy Lamb at Wendy Lamb Books/Random House, at auction, by Winifred Golden at the Castiglia Agency (NA).
Ivon B. Blum, contributor to WIWA's anthology, Sea of Voices, Isle of Story, has a new story "Inquest in Zion" in the recently published anthology, Westward: A Fictional History of the American West (Tor/Forge). Kirkus Review said that Ivon's fictionalization of a notorious wagon train massacre spearheaded by Mormon settlers has the "heft and tang of classics-to-be."
Valentine Dmitriev, Ph.D., writes that her sixth book on child development, Smart Baby, Clever Child, will be published by Adams Media Corporation this fall. Her first book, Time to Begin, was translated into German, Spanish and Japanese, and three other books were published in Japan.
Sam Ivey, WIWC '99 participant, writes that in May he queried PublishAmerica regarding his book Crooked Triangle. Friday the 13th he received the publisher's letter of acceptance. The contract is now en route. Sam is working on the fourth book in the series, hoping that the first one does well enough to warrant the publisher's interest in handling the sequels.
WIWA Member Julian Taber recently sold his story, "Is That All There Is?" to the Cup of Comfort anthology series for publication in its special Christmas edition this fall.
WIWC instructor Wayne Ude's interview, "Having the Picture Coalesce in a Kind of Whoosh!," with Pulitzer Prize Winner and former U.S. Poet Laureate Rita Dove, has been reprinted in Conversations with Rita Dove, edited by Earl G. Ingersol, published by University Press of Mississippi in 2003. The interview originally appeared in the AWP Chronicle.
Candace Allen's latest feature, "Country Refined" is in the September issue of Log Home Living.
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ASK MIKE
If you have a question for Michael Larsen AAR, of the Larsen-Pomada Literary Agency, http://www.larsen-pomada.com, you may email your request to candace@whidbey.com with the subject line, "Question for Mike."
In this issue, Elizabeth Pomada AAR, of Larsen-Pomada Agency, responds for Mike, who was unavailable.
Q. My co-author Deborah Nedelman and I are engaged in a book project designed to tell the real truth about sexual desire in women over 50. We are combining hard science with the art of story telling. We sent out three query letters to agents that Deborah met at WIWC -- one asked that we send our proposal to her. Then, we sent out six additional queries. We've gotten a great response from several of these agents. At their request, we are sending out our full proposal. We're pleased and excited by the interest and want to be fully prepared to negotiate with multiple agents, if it should come to that. We're wondering if you have any suggestions/guidelines for multiple agent negotiation, or could suggest where we might turn for such assistance. We'd like to develop a set of criteria for helping us decide which agency would be the best fit for us and ultimately for the success of our project. Many thanks, Leah Kliger and Deborah Nedelman
A. I can't imagine actually negotiating with an agent. An agent will offer to represent you if he loves the project. Naturally, you will tell each agent that you are sharing the project with other agents. But you will not be going back and forth, having agents bid against each other.
You should ask questions about their passion, their vision for the book, their background and experience (although you should do your homework about them first, checking them out in various listings and on their website). Use your intuition in feeling whether you and the agent are a match. Do you share the same visions and passions? Can you get along with the agent? Do you enjoy each other? That's important in a working marriage, which is how we describe the relationship between agent and author. Some agents will bring ideas on how to make the proposal/book better to the table, which is always a good sign. If you can meet with the agent before signing the contract, that is a good idea. But it's not necessary and you should never make the agent feel she's vying with another to work with you. For example, a speedy response may feel good, but it just might mean that the agent is just starting out and doesn't have much to do!
You must also ask yourself what it is you want from your agent? Do you want a mentor? A friend? An editor? Or a shark? A big name or someone new and fresh? Someone close by or someone in NYC? Different people offer different things.
The Association of Authors' Representatives publishes a list of questions that should be answered before you sign a contract. But do try to find as many of the answers as you can, yourself, before asking. A major agent who has been in business many years will not enjoy being asked how long she's been in business and what publishers she's sold to.
And the Authors' Guild does offer advice on agents contracts. There are three sample contracts in Michael Larsen's book, Literary Agents: What They Do, How They Do It and How to Find & Work With The Right Agent For You (Wiley).
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RECENT RELEASES
Milky Way Marmalade
Mike DiCerto
April 2003
Zumaya Publishing
Take an interstellar hunter-gone-rock star, a perverted android, a sexy computer, a purple-eyed vixen, and a Machiavellian mutt. Throw in a dead guy from the afterlife; a few dozen psychotic, pretentious and impossibly powerful alien nut jobs, and a ton of kick-ass classic rock,and you have a trip of a book.
Black Leather
Elizabeth Engstrom
Triple Tree Press
April 2003
http://www.elizabethengstrom.com
A favorite at WIWC, Elizabeth Engstrom, just released her latest novel -- a dark, erotic thriller with a murder mystery at its heart. In it, you'll find sex, suspicion, infidelity, murder, mayhem, a little blood, and all the other good stuff.
Hawks Rest: A Season in the Remote Heart of Yellowstone
Gary Ferguson
May 2003
National Geographic Books
http://www.wildwords.net/
Popular WIWC instructor Gary Ferguson's latest book gives a vivid account of his 11-week odyssey in the wild and beautiful core of the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem, high in the Rocky Mountains. When he begins his adventure, with a 140-mile hike to the cabin owned by the Forest Service, Gary believes he will spend a tranquil three months tracking the comings and goings of wolves and grizzlies for federal biologists, along with repairing the building, mending fences and communing with nature. The reality he encounters is entirely different. He comes to know this vast area of peaks and valleys "as a kind of sanatorium for the disenfranchised, a way station for men riding and hiding spring to fall to escape whatever curses they imagine hovering in the culture at large. In these upper meadows of the Yellowstone is testosterone enough to light the woods on fire."
An Ant's Day Off
Bonny Becker, author; Nina Laden, illustrator
Simon & Schuster
June 2003
This picture book about the first ant in history to take a day off is receiving great reviews, particularly from the New York Times in its special Kids' Book Supplement. Both the author and illustrator are from Seattle.
Silent Proof
Michael A. Hawley
Penguin Putnam Book
September 2003
http://www.murderhewrites.com/
Whidbey Island's Sheriff Mike Hawley writes another gripping mystery. An unsolved murder from 25 years ago takes front stage with new evidence that plunges homicide detectives Leah Harris and Frank Milkovich into a life and death game with a secret deadly opponent.
Dinosailors
Deb Lund, illustrator Howard Fine
Harcourt Children's Books
September 2003
Whidbey Islander Deb Lund's first picture book is a rollicking tale about dinosaurs on the high seas. A Book of the Month selection, this adventure will have you laughing out loud. Deb's planning a Dinoparty on the Island, complete with a return engagement of the Olsen Brothers acting out the story, and most likely, an appearance by the Shifty Sailors.
Blacklist
Sara Paretsky
Putnam Publishing Group
September 2003
WIWC 2004 presenter Sara Paretsky's eleventh VI Warshawski novel finds VI on a trail that leads back to the McCarthy era. In the process, she becomes penned in by business and political leaders who call on the Patriot Act to shut her up.
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TO BECOME OLD TIME STORY TELLERS OF NATURE
Why sharing stories in fiction, nonfiction, or poetry is essential
by Susan Zwinger
A gathering of people for the purpose of story means sharing the universals of human nature through the particulars of real acts of known people. The immediate situation (tonight's story) is connected to the whole culture (the values enacted by a specific neighbor). Through that connection stories gather meaning to themselves and spin it back through all time. Stories can whip the discouraged out of the torpor of self-pity and point up the courage it takes to live their workaday reality. The task of the storyteller is to keep the possibilities of life and action open. Writers, wise enough to know they do not know, must be open to surprise, to their stories going where they had not planned. Such stories help us remain open to the possibility that there is more to reality than meets the common eye. They explore in order to discover what to value. Since the actual form of reality is known to no one, anyone can tell a tale, give a glimpse of life by bringing their particulars of experience into story.
Full of specifics, stories can fulfill a crucial role in our community. Through telling them, we preserve wisdom, settle disputes, create entertainment, speak to our dilemmas. Without story, local people would have no way to discover themselves, and self and community awareness would grow mindless, reactionary, asleep.
Whidbey Islander and WIWA instructor Susan Zwinger is the author of The Last Wild Edge; One Woman's Journey from the Arctic Circle to the Olympic Coast and two other books, including the 1992 Governor's Award winner, Stalking the Ice Dragon, A Solo Journey through Alaska. Her essays have appeared in numerous anthologies, magazines and journals. In 2002, she was the Schoenfeldt Distinguished Writer in Residence at the University of Portland. For information about Susan's mentoring services, email zbird7@juno.com.
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CONTESTS AND MARKET REQUESTS
Submit a Poem For WIWA's Wheels
Island Transit recently awarded a bus it was retiring from service to WIWA. In celebration, WIWA will display poetry on the bus for six months. If you'd like to see your poetry in motion, submit a short poem, no more than 20 lines, for consideration. Six poems will be selected. Mail your contributions by September 1 to WIWA, P.O. Box 1289, Langley, WA 98260. Watch for the white and blue striped bus with the WIWA logo. The bus seats 20 and has "Celebrate Writing" license plate frames.
The Written Word
One of our readers writes that there is "a new magazine in town. While the quality of the pictures in the first issue weren't that great, I think this has a lot of potential, and the pay is good. They are also having a screenwriting and playwrighting contest." The magazine accepts fiction, nonfiction and poetry. See http://www.creativeonline.com/thewrittenword.html for details.
Oregon Writers Colony Annual Short Fiction and Nonfiction Contest, 2003: Tell Me a Story
Previously unpublished short stories of no more than 3,000 words and/or creative nonfiction of under 1,500 words may be submitted from June 1 to August 15, 2003. Cash prizes of $200, $100, and $50 will be awarded to the top three finishers in each division. Entry fee: $10 for OWC members, $15 for nonmembers. For details, see www.oregonwriterscolony.org.
Saturday Writers 2003 Short Story Contest
Unpublished short stories of no more than 2003 words. Entries must be postmarked by Sept. 15, 2003. Maximum of three entries per person, $5 per entry. Prizes: 1st Place $100, 2nd Place $50, 3rd Place $25. For details, see http://www.saturdaywriters.org/contest.htm.
Prose & Poetry Prizes
Oct. 31, 2003 submission deadline. See http://www.thenewwriter.com/prizes.htm for details.
Celebrate Writing
Whidbey Island writers, dust off your old manuscripts or polish up your new ones in preparation for the 2003 Celebrate Writing Contest in five categories: Poetry (24 lines), Short fiction (2,000 words), Memoir/Life History (1,200 words), Essay (1,200 words) and Children's Literature (2,000 words/32 pages of picture book text). Entries will be accepted in October. Look for dates and details in the next WIWA Newsletter.
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CYBER SURFING
Have you encountered some helpful Internet sites? Send us the address and your brief review.
http://www.literatinw.net/ -- a new clearinghouse and marketing support tool for the northwest literary industry.
For those who need language translations for their writings or readings, Dr. Gerald L. Kovacich suggests Babel Fish Translation at http://world.altavista.com/.You can translate from English into several languages and vice versa. One word of caution, computer translators are not perfect.
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QUOTES
Outside of dogs, books are man's best friend because inside of dogs it is too dark. --Groucho Marx
The hard part is getting to the top of page one. --Tom Stoppard
I have written a great many stories and I still don't know how to go about it except to write it and take my chances. --John Steinbeck
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TO CONTACT US OR SUBMIT AN ARTICLE
We are interested in hearing from you. Perhaps you've been to a recent book fair, heard a favorite author speak, or learned valuable tips from a writing class. Perhaps you're a professional willing to share your expertise. If you would like to submit an article; tell us about your good news for the Cheers or Recent Releases columns; send us your favorite quotes, markets, contests and cyber sites; or contact us about the newsletter for any reason, please email the editor at: candace@whidbey.com
To contact the Whidbey Island Writers Association, email: writers@whidbey.com
Whidbey Island Writers' Conference: March 5 - 7, 2004, The Spirit of Writing
The WIWA Web site is: http://www.whidbey.com/writers
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TO SUBSCRIBE OR UNSUBSCRIBE
The WIWA Newsletter is published approximately every two months and is delivered to subscribers by email. If you would like to subscribe, send an email, with SUBSCRIBE WIWA in the subject line, to the editor at candace@whidbey.com. If you would like to unsubscribe, please reply to this email with UNSUBSCRIBE in the subject, and we will delete you from our records. WIWA will not share or sell your name or email address.