The Five

Shades

of Grey

Issue

Grind Writers

Newsnovember 2013

2

3 RUMBLE ON MAIN STREET: The Grind Writers and the Main Street Gang meet up. Pix on pages 3, 8, and 12

4 Federation of BC Writers 2nd Annual Writers’ Retreat & Workshop Smorgasbord

4 Truth Be Told Conference coming

5 THE QUERY SHARK: Get you know her. You’ll be glad you did.

Sample gorings starting on pg 5

6 Here’s Why You Do Really Need to Care About Typos, Transpos, & Spelling Errors in MSs You Submit

9 Things to do/people to see/ places…

9 RAINDANCE - a new self-pubbed authors’ fair in Richmond

13 1st Annual Lynn Manuel Children’s Fiction Contest

14 Submit. (you know you want to)

15 Grind Writers’ Group - meeting schedule

16 Free-write picture prompt: C’mon, just do it!

Where

the

Grind

Writers

meet

and

write

page 15

in

SIDE

a brand new, all-day festival

for self-published authors in

Richmond on November 9th.

See page 9

November 2013

3

RUMBLE

ON MAIN ST.

Main St. gang members waiting for the Grind Writers to arrive….

by Margo Lamont

The first time I ever heard anyone say the “F Word” was out of the tough mouth of the black-haired blue eyed Johnny

Deppish leader of the fabled Main Street Gang. It was 1963; he was standing by a water fountain in the high school

hallway and his comments were addressed to the leader of the rival Robson Park Gang.

This summer, two gangs met up on Main Street

but under slightly different and far more civil

circumstances. James, a member of both groups, had written a piece (“The Walking Wounded”) about the 21st century iteration of the Main Street Gang. A retired historian and professor of English, he has likened the leader to Hamlet and other characters to King Lear, Othello, Ophelia, and Lady MacBeth, a circumstance which prompted this literary rumble. continued on page 8…

Grind Writers Daniel and Elizabeth Our host James and (r) our hostess, his daughter

The Grind Writers

meet The Main

Street Gang

4

BC BOOKS

autonomous Grind Writers Daniel and Elizabeth

truth be told

conference

February 6, 2014

Stay tuned for more info about

the Truth be Told conference -

co-presented by the Kwantlen

Creative Writing Department

and the Kwantlen

Journalism Department.

Info here.

creative writing

Federation of BC Writers 2

nd Annual Writers’ Retreat and

Workshop Smorgasbord November 14 -17, 2013 Rosemary Heights, Surrey, BC Website for info: http://bcwriters.ca/annual-writers-retreat-2/ Are you always thinking about not finding the time to write? Have a particular problem in your piece or novel that needs some concentrated work? Perhaps you want to look at putting together a poetry manuscript. This is the opportunity for you. This year the retreat is being set up a little differently. For people who’d like to come for the entire weekend, you’ll arrive Thursday night to begin your writing and/or reflect on your work. There will be an optional social event that evening with sharing.

Friday and Saturday - you’ll write, have a blue pencil session and have the option of attending your choice of workshops with Lois Peterson, Ben Nuttall-Smith, or George Opacic. Once again as will be the case every night, there will be an optional social event for retreatants with sharing and reading.

Saturday and Sunday – we’ll be offering a full-day conference with workshops – see the weblink regarding topics etc. Sunday morning, retreatants will get their last chance for blue pencils sessions.

For the retreatants, everything is optional. If you want to spend 3 days of quiet time writing, do that. It’s your retreat.

Rooms and all meals are provided for the duration of the retreat. The cost to the retreaters is $400.

For those of you coming in from YVR or the Ferry terminal (Tsawwassen only) we will do what we can to help you find rides. We will be looking for member volunteer drivers.

For those who’d care to come only for the workshops, the costs are as follows: --4 workshops per day – price per day (lunch included): Federation of BC members $85 Students & Seniors $75 non-members $105 --Price for 2 days (lunches included): Federation of BC members $150 Students & Seniors $100 non-members $185 --Day Conferencers can sign up for a 30-minute blue pencil session for $25.

5

Janet Reid is a New York literary agent. She’s brilliant, outspoken, a bit of a curmudgeon—and often hilarious. I went to her masterclass at the Surrey International Writers’ Festival one year.

We had to submit a query letter which she projected in front of the whole class, then ripped to shr—er, “critiqued.”

But Janet’s so funny that she manages to point out all your appalling bits without making you feel bad. After she critiqued our query letters, we had to revise them, then put post them again – and she did another round. That was worse because by then we’d had some instruction from her, so should know better.

It was a wonderful learning experience. And happily – she also does it online in her blog THE QUERY SHARK. People submit their query letters an she critiques them, line by line. Ouch.

You probably know that the average amount of time an agent gives an email submission is about 11 seconds, their finger hovering over the Delete key as they read. (They may receive up to 100 queries a day and reading queries apparently is not the main part of their jobs.)

Those first few sentences are crucial. They are crucial in query letters – but also in job application cover letters and press releases – so there’s lots to learn from TQS. Check out that blog. Reid’s inimitable commentary is in bold white type.

What she wants What I am looking for: Fiction and narrative nonfiction. Good stories. I am looking for: Thrillers; mysteries; crime fiction of all kinds; commercial fiction; literary fiction. NOT looking for: science fiction; fantasy; speculative fiction; horror; westerns; romance. Looking for: biography; history; science.

I am particularly interested in: the Pacific Northwest; death penalty issues; justice issues; contemporary (not pop) music; contemporary (not modern) art. NOT looking for: self-help; personal growth; parenting; health; I do NOT do YA or middle-grade books even though I've sold them. Forms I don’t consider: screenplays, poetry Additional help: If you have a SHORT question about what to put in a query, or how to format your query, send me an email with QUERY QUESTION in the subject line. If I can answer I will. Bottom line: When in doubt, query me. I'd rather see something that's not right for me than miss something fabulous.

Note: QUERY HIATUS June 1–Dec 31, 2013

The Query Shark: Get to know her

You’ll be glad you did

#247: A sample goring

Dear QueryShark:

An old diary, a stone bench, a poisonous flower, Irish folklore. Jen McKenna has to find the connection in order to save her grand-mother’s life and possibly her own.

I'm voting for both of them to die in a wolverine attack.

The problem with starting out with stakes like "she'll die" is that I don't yet give a rat's

patootie about the characters. Thus I can channel my inner Queen of Hearts and shout "off with their heads" with nary a second thought.

That response (and believe me it's not a response limited to sharks) is why you start with the main character and the problem s/he faces.

Further, the list itself is just plain boring. Now if you started with: a wolverine, a shark, an author and a jetpack, I'd be intrigued. You absolutely positively cannot be boring in the first line of your query. Q.S.

6

Here*’s why you do really need to care about typos, transpos, spelling errors in the manuscripts you submit

And why you should not get in a knot

when people giving you feedback

on your manuscript, who

make the effort & take the time

to alert you to them.

This is Janet Reid (aka

the Query Shark), the

New York literay

agent, writing to a

submitter about typos,

the stuff copy editors

look for. Notice the

kind of mood those

typos generated in

her. You want your

M.S. to go in typofree.

A word about your typos:

dairy for diary. This tells me you didn't read this aloud before you hit send. You're either writing too fast, or not letting your query sit long enough before sending. Fresh eyes would have caught it. ther new-found gift. This tells me you didn't even run spell czech, and that's a problem. I'm not rabid on the subject of typos unless they indicate you simply aren't paying attention.

These two say exactly that.

The reason this is a red flag for me is that I envision copy-editing your manuscript for these little errors, and honestly that's not the best use of my time. Your query letter is NOT the time to be casual about spelling. Q.S.

“

7

v

#245 One more blisterer, and then one she likes

Dear QueryShark,

(1) Fallville, CA is a beautiful little community in the Sunshine State, with tall aged trees, flowing green hills, and a festering gash right down the middle: Rollings Blvd.

Flowing green hills? How fast are those hills flowing? This phrase in the very first paragraph of your query stops me cold for two reasons: hills don't flow, and you didn't catch it when you were revising.

"Flowing green hills" doesn't actually illuminate something in a new way which is the primary purpose of a metaphor.

And something that makes me totally crazy in books (and in queries) is getting stuff WRONG. California is The Golden State. FLORIDA is the Sunshine State. A quick google search elicits this info. These two red flags: error of fact and opaque metaphor mean I stop reading right here. I've read 28 words and I'm sending a form rejection. This is Not What You Want! Q.S.

Yes, every word counts. Every phrase, every metaphor, every sentence.

It’s a tough world out there. Give your MS to

several people to scour before you submit

#246

One that she liked!

Dear QueryShark: When Nix’s father locates a good map of Honolulu in 1868, she knows she’s in trouble. It’s not the trouble of time travel -- Nix grew up sailing from map to map and era to era. Nor is it her father’s opium habit -- she’s only too used to dealing with that. No, Honolulu in 1868 poses a threat she’s never faced -- the threat of remaking her own past. Her father is undeterred; Honolulu in 1868 was when he last saw Nix’s mother alive, and, for a chance to see her again, he seems willing to sacrifice anything -- or, Nix fears, anyone. In an effort to get his hands on the map, he leads Nix into a political intrigue involving sugar barons, opium dealers, and a plot against the last King of Hawaii, and Nix has to decide how much she will

sacrifice to free her father -- and herself -- from the yoke of their own history. THE GIRL FROM EVERYWHERE is a young adult Historical Fantasy, complete at 101,000 words. Thank you for your time and consideration.

This works.

The first sentence catches my attention.

The rest of the letter tells me who the main character is, what her problem is, who the antagonist is and what he wants, and what's at stake. If I took on YA novels, I'd ask for pages.

Q.S.

8

RUMBLE

ON MAIN ST.

more pics

Clockwise from above – James; Tiki; one of many house & garden signs; garden gnome who ate too much; Grind Writers l to r, Marlene, Daniel, Gillian and Beth enjoying the south patio shade; dragon; the feast; Hamlet barbequing; and Chinese dieties.

More Rumble pics page

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9

BOOK TALKS B O O K C L U B

2nd Wednesday of the month 6:30 – 8:30 pm

Britannia Branch Library 1661 Napier Street, Vancouver

Bring your favourite passages, points of interest, and share your reading experiences. Drop-ins are welcome.

Schedule and books:

Nov 13 - Notes from Underground by Fyodor Dostoevsky

Dec 11 - Beyond Belief: My Secret Life Inside Scientology and My Harrowing Escape by Jenna Miscavige Hill

Jan 8, 2014 - Perfume: The Story of a Murderer by Patrick Suskind

Feb 12 – Books We Love - Book Recommendation Night

March 12 - Love in the Time of Cholera by Gabriel Garcia Marquez

Presented by Pandora’s Collective Hosts: Mary Duffy and Sita Carboni

More info here.

Places to go, people to see,

things to . . .

New festival for self-published authors

Richmond Nov 9

Book Festival for Self-published Authors

“Sundance for Books” Sat. November 9, 2013 10 AM to 4 PM At Lansdowne Centre, 5300 No. 3 Road, Richmond Visitors will be able to meet authors and browse a fascinating range of books, while aspiring authors will be able to attend a range of informative workshops and events.

Book Fair Workshop Blue Pencil Sessions

Book Drive Reception

A highlight of the reception will be the Round Table Critiques: on-the-spot critiques of writing submitted anonymously by one of the attendees.

Twisted Poets LITERARY SALON

Twisted Poets runs the 2nd Wednesday and

4th Thursday of the month. More info

Short Story Open Mic “No poetry”

2nd and 4th Wednesdays

of every month | 7 – 9 pm Heritage Grill, 447 Columbia Street,

New Westminster (Map) close to SkyTrain hosted by Margo Prentice

No poetry just short stories, or reading from books (that readers are writing),

or original storytelling.

10

OMG: Harry Potter: British/ American

text comparison

At first, reading this, and imagining Helena sitting at her table in Newfoundland with the two books side by side – or worse yet, propped up in her bed at night with the two editions side by side on her knees -- I thought that she probably urgently needed to get a life (or maybe a new husband or a hot lover?) because she must have been so cosmically bored to have undertaken this task at all. Wait til you see the list.

My husband and I spent three years in Newfoundland and bought our Harry Potter books there. The Canadian editions are the same as the British text. I thought it wold be interesting to do a line-by-line comparison with the American edition and see where the differences were.

This is not meant to be a comprehensive list--I have not included every instance of an alternate word's usage. There are also many minor punctuation differences which I have not included. The American edition has quite a few more commas than the British.

The American edition has a slightly larger typeface, and also has small illustrations at the beginning of each chapter, which the British edition does not.

But the more I read through that list, the more I saw what an interesting comparison this is (or am I perhaps also that bored?). Not interesting just for a copy editor, but culturally as well. Interesting that some of the expressions we take for granted in North America are just slightly different in the U.K.—things we might edit in error.

I also found it interesting because, having grown up reading a lot of British material, I sometimes don’t even realize I’m using British forms. So in that respect, it’s a good review for we former (Britain) and current (U.S.) colonial types.

See what you think.

And let me know about the lover.

Cat Writers’

Association

Yes, there really is an association of people who write about cats Website: http://catwriters.com/wp_meow/

And their annual conference is underway in Texas.

“CWA is a journalism organization founded to encourage professionalism among cat writers, photographers, artists, and broadcasters. Cats are our muses.”

“As an agent, I still see these issues.

Sadly, they often give me a reason

to decline.”

Meaning she rejects manuscripts

because of sloppy copy editnig errors.

Don’t believe me – read what she says:

“Seven Common Writing Wrongs.”

11

Hundreds of free magazines - loads

of writers’ mags and much much more.

Volunteer with Room magazine Help shape the future of the Canadian literary landscape, and feminism too! Join the volunteer collective of Canada's oldest literary journal by and for women. We are looking for literature-loving women in the Metro Vancouver area able to commit approximately 2-4+ hours a week to running a literary journal.

No direct experience necessary. Must be willing to jump in and learn! Most work is done remotely, with monthly in-person 2-hour administrative meetings.

Current opportunities include:

Circulation (subscriber communications, database maintenance, coordinating mail-outs)

Ad coordination (selling ad space, seeking new places to advertise)

Fiction submissions coordinator (assigning incoming submissions to readers, communicating with submitters)

Contest coordinating (Planning and managing Room's literary contest)

Incoming mail pick-up and distribution (ideal if in the Kitsilano area)

Proofreading Assistant editing

Please email us your resume and cover letter to humanresources@roommagazine.com.

12

James reflected; Main St. Gang member on right

RUMBLE

ON MAIN ST.

more pics

Clockwise from

right: garden

statutary;

recycled glass

garden light;

Hamlet’s BBQ;

13

Deadline: March 1, 2014 Prize: $500 plus publication with a $1000 advance on royalties Judge: Governor-General's Award-winning children's author Arthur Slade Contest rules: www.grasmerepublishing.com

“My mother, Lynn Manuel,

was a children's author in BC. She published over

two dozen books and she was a mentor to many

young writers in our province until she passed

away from cancer three years ago. In collaboration

with a network of children's librarians, other

Canadian authors, and publishing professionals,

we have organized the first annual Lynn Manuel

Children's Fiction Contest. I am passing along this

information in case there are writers in your group

that have an interest in writing for children, or they

may know of other writers who aspire in this

genre.

Writers must be unpublished in children's fiction as

we wish to discover and support new children's

writers.

I wanted to connect personally with writing groups

in BC. I am very appreciative if you are able to let

your members know. In addition to the website, I

am available at this email or the numbers below if

anybody has any questions.

Kindest regards, Jennifer Manuel Publisher, Grasmere Publishing www.grasmerepublishing.com Tel: 250-732-3388 Cell: 250-732-.2225 Twitter: @grasmerepublish

About Lynn Manuel from ABCBookworld, a searchable database of BC writers from the year dot to present:

When asked what information she would like to share about herself, Lynn Manuel once told her publisher, "I am a grandmother. And I've seen Paris."

Lynn trained as an historian and teacher and “twice incorporated Lucy Maud Montgomery into her books. The Summer of the Marco Polo (Orca 2007) is partially based on journal entries made by Montgomery that recall the excitement in Cavendish, Prince Edward Island, after a clipper ship ran aground near her grandparents' home in 1883. Manuel recalls how the strait-laced grandparents responded when the captain of the Marco Polo, launched from Saint John in 1851 [and] stayed at their home following the maritime mishap. The girl who would grow up to write Anne of Green Gables was also living the house at the time. Born in 1948, Lynne Manuel died in 2010 after a year-long battle with uterine cancer. She lived in White Rock. She published eight picture books and six chapter books, as well as ghostwriting 13 Boxcar Children Mysteries. Her Camels Always Do (Orca) was nominated for the Chocolate Lily Awards; Lucy Maud and the Cavendish Cat (McClelland and Steward) was a best-selling picture book. The Night the Moon Blew Kisses (Houghton Mifflin) was a CLA Notable Book.” Some of Lynn’s books:

The Night the Moon Blew Kisses

Fifty-Five Grandmas and a Llama

Lucy Maud and the Cavendish Cat

The Cherry-Pit Princess

The Lickety-Split Princess

Mystery at Cranberry Farm

Camels Always Do (Orca 2004)

The Summer of the Marco Polo (Orca 2007). Illustrated by Kasia Charko.

“

14

"

L

LITERARY MAGAZINES

Listings for every type of literary magazine.

Contests and calls for submissions

Calls for submissions listed by deadline date Deadline: Novemer 10, 2013 Prism magazine Submissions for the Love & Sex issue We are now accepting submissions of poetry, fiction, non-fiction, drama, and translation for our Love & Sex theme issue. Theme issue submissions will be accepted from July 2 to Nov. 10, 2013. Before you submit, go here, and read all about it. Editors will also be posting info on what they are looking for in submissions. Literary Review of Canada (LRC) Submissions beginning May 1st for publication July/Aug–Dec 2013 For 2013, each issue will feature poems that share a common form or theme. For more information, check out our full submissions guidelines here. Ongoing calls Poetry Is Dead magazine. Call for Submissions for The Humour Issue Deadline: “before Dec. 1, 2013” We’re interested in funny. We’re interested in weird and strange. We’re interested. We’re calling out to the Louis CKs and Sarah Silvermans of poetry. Send us poems with humour because we’re seeking submissions for the Humour Issue of Poetry Is Dead. Send your poems (maximum of 5 per submission) along with a cover letter and bio to

dina@poetryisdead.ca before December 1st, 2013.

Call for submissions No deadline as at Jan 2013. Two-Countries: Daughters and Sons of Immigrant Parents seeks poems, essays and flash memoir. For details, please go to this link.

Ongoing calls Call for submissions Roundup of poetry contests here. Ongoing call Geist Emerging Writer-of-the-Month Emerging writers are invited to submit short written works online. Read the FAQ.

Ongoing call Dead Beats The Beats are dead; long live Dead Beats - focused on bringing you the highest quality literature from talented unpublished writers. We are happy to receive submissions from everyone, regardless of experience, of poems, short stories (max. 2000 words), experimental pieces and reviews, the best of which we will publish on the site. If you would like to submit some of your work please send it in the body of an email to: deadbeats@live.co.uk. We aim to reply to all emails, though this may take some time given the number of submissions we receive. http://www.deadbeats.eu/submission Ongoing call Are you over 60? - Wit and Wisdom of the Sages Have insightful stories you’d like to share with your grand-children? Great

Depression/ WW2/ Vietnam era? Seeking narratives up to 3,500 words. Send manuscripts, or for guidelines email jnjscher@yahoo.com. 1966 - An online journal of creative nonfiction, seeks pieces of literary nonfiction with a research component—anything from immersion memoir to nature writing to reportage to travel writing to—? For submission guidelines: www.1966journal.org. Ongoing call Anderbo.com -- “Best New Online Literary Journal.” Publishes writers in fiction, “fact” (creative nonfiction), and poetry. We’re always looking for new voices. We’ll also consider nonfiction features, short memoirs, novellas, published-book excerpts, photography, essays, and photo essays. Now in our 9th year! For submission information and guidelines, visit www.anderbo.com. Changes in Life A monthly online newsletter is seeking personal essays from women of all ages. New writers are encouraged to submit their work. For details and submission guidelines, see www.changesinlife.com. The Holler Box Rolling submissions year-round. All submissions are completely free. You may submit in multiple genres. If so, send a separate submission per genre. If your submission does not get accepted you may continue to submit, we encourage it. Please wait at least 30 days before submitting something new. Read the guidelines: https://thehollerbox.submittable.com/submit. Submissions that do not follow the guidelines may not be considered. The Evening Street Review The ESR is centered on the belief that all men and women are created equal. Reads poetry/prose submissions year-round. Replies in 3 months or less. Sometimes includes comments. Send 4–6 poems or 1–2 prose pieces. 7652 Sawmill Rd., #352,

Submit. you know you want to

15

Grind Writers

Meeting Schedule 2013

Sat Nov 2

Sun Nov 17

Sat Nov 30

Sun Dec 15? TBD

Submit … continued

WHERE WE MEET

Grind Gallery Café 4124 Main Street at 25th

In the back room 10 am–12:30 pm

THANKS To Mr & Mrs Kim, the Grind’s owners, for allowing us meet in the Back Room for the last six years - and for their support of the arts in general. They provide gallery space to many local artists. PLEASE buy something while you’re there to support the Grind

GRIND WRITERS

MEETUPS

Please email before you attend for the first time.

We occasionally meet outside.

Dublin, OH 43016 or editor@eveningstreetpress.com. For contests and guidelines visit: www.eveningstreetpress.com. Ongoing call “Got a poem?” Submit any subject, any style, any length, any number, any time by e-mail or by mail with SASE. Previously published poems and simultaneous submissions are welcome. The Great American Poetry Show, P.O. Box 69506, West Hollywood, CA 90069. Email: info@tgaps.net. Website: www.tgaps.net (Caveat emptor – check it out). Subterranean Blue Poetry Subterranean Blue Poetry is an Internet Poetry and Art Publishing Café. We thrive on new original words and New Age art. All poets and their poetry are welcome and we are especially looking for homegrown poets from the Canadian first nations/American Indian Community; Quebec; small town Canada; international poets and anyone who was ever considered “the other.” New Age art offerings are for the masthead of each issue. Read all info here. Sassafras Literary Magazine We will frown or smile upon your piece, and reply within 1 week (2 weeks max) with a muffin or a tumbleweed. Multiple submissions are allowed, but single submissions are preferred.

All things minimalistic and mind-slicing wanted. The occasional selfless snark and sneer accepted. True wit appreciated, along with foldable grit, pocket-size memoir moments and frame by frame congeniality. Perspective: any—as long as artfully executed and self reflecting; avoid sending ego balloons and unintended mirroring. Mirrors and led wanted. Gates, doors, and attics most appreciated. THERE’S MORE—READ SUB GUIDELINES HERE

Ongoing call The Quotable This online magazine wants writer-readers to submit stories based on their monthly prompts. Info here.

Regime magazine - Short stories, poetry & performance writing. Not only do they want your work but they offer that you can tack $20 on your submission and they’ll send you back a detailed one-page critique. Note: do your due diligence. Read it all carefully. Full submission info here. Calling all poets! Coastal Spectator A new arts-based review and commentary site operating independently out of the U. Vic. We want to publish, on our home site, one new poem each week for a year, so if you have a new piece of work -- that is a haiku or up to 25 lines long -- do submit. Read all about it here. Multimedia journal: 5OVER4 5 OVER 4. New multimedia journal seeks cross-genre work made by jazzy, creative people who embrace the unknown. Poetry videos, multi-media sculpture, hand-stitched book art, JPEGs collaged with audio, sound poems via video chat, interactive projects. Live and online events. Web: 5over4.blogspot.com. Email Monique Avakian: monava9@gmaom

Pithead Chapel – “An online journal of gutsy narratives” We’re looking for engaging stories told in honest voices. Most of all, we want to feel something. We want to reach the last word and immediately crave more. We want your work to leave a brilliant bruise. Send us your gutsiest narrative and we’ll do our best to get your voice heard. Submission guidelines here.

16

The Grind Writers News

©2013 Margo Lamont

Email: grindwriters@gmail.com

Grind Writers Blog: http://grindwriters.blogspot.ca/

Previous issues: http://issuu.com/grindwriters/docs

Free-writes: easy rule

Write what comes to mind when you look at the photo: what does it evoke for you? Don’t think. Just start writing, and see where it goes. Write for 15 minutes by a timer. Don’t stop, don’t correct. Keep writing -- you can edit later. Bring your output to the next Grind Writers.

1

free-write

photo

prompt