Nann Dunne Editor-in-Chief and
Publisher v Lori L. Lake Associate Editor and
Manager of Lesbian Fiction
Herstory Page v Trish Shields Manager of Lesbian Poet Herstory Page v
Contributing Columnists
Anna Furtado
Fay Jacobs Lori L. Lake Lee Lynch
v Contributing Reviewers Anna Furtado Lynne Pierce RLynne Cheri Rosenberg v Publicity Cheri Rosenberg
· Reviews and Author Bios Death of a Dying Man by J.M. Redmann §§§ In Keisha's Shadow by Sandra Barret §§§ Justice for All by Radclyffe §§§ Lake Effect Snow by C.P. Rowlands §§§ No Strings by Gerri Hill §§§ Out of Left Field: Marlee's Story by Barbara L. Clanton §§§ Suspect Passions by VK Powell §§§ The Veil of Sorrow by Crystal Michallet-Romero
·
Poetic Measures Sweet Reverie by SITN §§§ Arm in Arm by Nann Dunne §§§ Jigsawed by SITN §§§ Homophonic by Sage
· New Book
Releases Clinical Distance by Maria Ciletti §§§ Echo's Crusade by JM Dragon §§§ Fireweed by Mickey Minner §§§ Out of the Pumpkin Shell by Nancy Werking Poling §§§ Small Packages by K.G. MacGregor §§§ Stranded by Blayne Cooper §§§ The Path Taken by Koda Graystone §§§ This One's Going to Last Forever by Nairne Holtz §§§ Waltzing at Midnight by Robbi McCoy §§§ Warming Trend by Karin Kallmaker §§§ Winterkill by Joyce K. Walsh §§§ Wrong Turns by Jackie Calhoun §§§ SCP Books Always More New Books Available
· Announcements
See this section on main page of JAW for details.
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This ezine presents articles
and article archives on writing, editing, and promotion
as well as submissions of poetry that may be of interest
to all writers and readers. Other articles and promotional
areas such as bios, reviews, new releases, and announcements
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Editor's Special Notice
Just About Write will not
publish in July, August, and September this year. I need a rest, folks, but I expect to return in October. Please look for JAW then.
Hope to See You at the Golden Crown
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July 23-26, 2009, in Orlando, FL (See Ongoing Announcements Section, below.)
Timmy's fallen down the well. Lassie arrives at the homestead doorstep. "Bark, bark, bark!"
June Lockhart says, "What is it Lassie? What is it girl?" Lassie tries to lead her away from the front door toward the ill-fated Timmy. Will June go? Will she understand how important it is for her to follow a seemingly crazed dog? The screen fades to black. And the next thing we see is a buck-toothed beaver singing the praises of toothpaste. While we watch, we may sing along with the jingle, but all the while, we're thinking we want the commercial to end so we can see if June actually does follow Lassie so that Timmy can survive to star in another episode.
That's a cliffhanger. The approach isn't the obvious one, though. The last thing we saw before commercial wasn't Timmy sailing toward the bottom of the well (or cliff or waterfall)—that would have been too apparent a cliffhanger. The question would have been: Will Timmy survive the fall? However, with the June Lockhart example, even though we may not be sure if the fallen Timmy is alive or dead, the question becomes: Will his mother get the message and follow Lassie, possibly saving the day and her son?
If you look up "cliffhanger" articles on line, you'll find numerous instances of a single example of a subtle cliffhanger: an article on the Monica Lewinsky conversation with Linda Tripp about the infamous blue dress. The original article by David Finkel (Sunday Magazine, The Washington Post) was divided into 13 chapters. Chapter 8 ends with: "And on they went, only one of them aware of the importance of the conversation they'd just had." Of course, we all know which one of them it was who recognized the importance of the conversation. But back in the day when we were in the midst of revelations, that sentence ending the chapter would have been a real page-turner. No cliffs, no wells, just a little tidbit to make the reader wonder which one figured out the importance of the information, and it would have made us turn the page, continue on, looking for more information.
A Good Technique for Writing Cliffhangers
In past articles, I've mentioned that the best place to end a writing session is when you know exactly how you will continue on in the story. That's a good technique for preventing writer's block. It's also a good technique for writing cliffhangers. Without revealing what will happen next, you stop, leaving the reader dangling from their own mental cliff, wanting more, ready to turn the page to find out what happens next.
When the next chapter begins, even though you know how the disaster will be resolved, you can play up the tension, prolonging the inevitable answer. Instead of putting Timmy's mom at the well, peering over the edge at the start of the next chapter, have her struggling to keep up with Lassie, slipping and sliding up a hill covered in wet, fallen leaves. In the Lewinsky story, Linda Tripp would plot how she might use the information, rather than jumping right into taking action.
A cliffhanger is a dilemma that keeps the reader coming back for more. The tension should rise to a crescendo. Then, fall back toward resolution, only to peak with tension once again. Any fairy tale serves as a good example. Three little pigs, three bears. Huffing-and-puffing as tension builds. Going from one porridge bowl to the next while we lick our lips and watch the front door wondering when the bears will return. Note that three cycles of tension seem to be a good number—a universal or sacred number—a number that is special in our collective psyche that seems to work well regarding conflict in stories.
Finally, cliffhanging is not limited to mystery or suspense. The sultry look, the touch of the hand from the woman we want the heroine to "get"—these are excellent romantic cliffhangers. After a scene where our protagonists have been drawn to one another, but have not yet professed their feelings, something may happen to make one of them wonder if the attraction was all a figment of her imagination. Ending on that note keeps the story—and the reader—teetering on the edge of that cliff.
No matter what the focus is of your cliffhanger, keep in mind the following:
Vary movement from tension-filled scenes to non-tension filled ones. If your character is fleeing for her life, allow her to find a place to hide for a while. While she catches her breath, she can gather information that will move the story along, even if she isn't on the run. In the romance, once tension has built between the two characters, they can separate for a while and information can filter in through encounters with other characters.
To enhance tension, use short, clipped sentences. Likewise, stretch and slow time and events with longer sentences to emphasize anxious, fearful moments.
Consider using a subplot (or subplots) to draw out the tension of a cliffhanger. When Lassie urges Timmy's mom to follow her at the end of one chapter, the next chapter may deal with the next-door neighbor whose daughter can't stop talking about young Timmy and how she wants to bake some cookies for him because she's enamored of him. (Perhaps her attention is what drove Timmy to sit on the edge of the well in the first place, causing him to fall in when he didn't realize he was sitting on a loose edge.) Only in the third chapter, do we finally resume the main plot with Timmy's mom struggling to follow the dog. A word of caution about this technique: Don't prolong the reader's agony too long or she might become bored and lose interest.
Types of conflict that can lend to the tension of the cliffhanger are inner conflicts, clashes between characters, or difficulties with the environment:
Inner conflicts may be caused by a character's inner flaws, fears, or weaknesses.
Conflict between characters may come from competitiveness and rivalry, personality clashes, or love triangles.
Conflicts between the character and nature are legion: storms, raging rivers, tumultuous seas, extreme heat or cold, a lost job and inability to pay the mortgage; all can be conflicts with the character's environment that she or he must struggle to overcome.
The challenge is to find a good place to stop a scene or a chapter that will leave the reader unwilling to put that book down. Polish your cliffhanger techniques and make your writing compelling. Drive your reader to turn page after page long into the night—confirmation that your tale is, truly, a gripping one.
_____ Anna Furtado is the author of The Heart's Desire—Book One of The Briarcrest Chronicles (a Golden Crown Literary Society Award finalist) and The Heart's Strength—Book Two of the Briarcrest Chronicles. Anna is also a featured columnist at Just About Write and contributes book reviews to JAW, as well as at the L-Word fan site in the literature section.
This is a repeat of Fay's May column. She will return in October.
"You can't swing a cat in Rehoboth without hitting a lesbian."
So true. The quote came from a group of gay gals laughing it up along Baltimore Avenue last week in the incredible sunshine and heat. April? Town was packed!
And as one of those in danger of being smacked in the head with a flying feline, it's just great to see the weather change for the good here in Gayberry RFD. Of course, I don't know what the weather is now as you read this, but considering this is Delaware, sizzling April could easily turn into monsoon May.
But that taste of summer wasn't wasted on me. The heck with April in Paris, it was gorgeous in Rehoboth.
Having been cooped up most of the winter, nose to the computer keyboard, I immediately put the convertible top down on my car and drove around town like a tourist. Upon my return to the house I flung open the windows and luxuriated in the fresh scent of cherry tree flowers and blooming plants.
Two Pounds of Pollen
What was I thinking? After one night's sleep with open windows, I had two pounds of pollen packed in my sinus cavities and another bushel blanketing every surface in the house. I'm sniffling and snorting and worried I won't know if I've got allergies or swine flu.
Then, like fools we went to the nursery for annual replacement plants. I don't know why we don't just stick plastic palms in the planters. If all the dollar bills I spend each spring replacing dead stuff were laid end to end they'd reach to the condominium I should be living in. We were toting plants sentenced to death to a car covered in pollen, for an area out back that is basically a dog latrine. Tomorrow we'll go out and plant the greenery on death row, I mean the backyard. Ahchoo!
A glutton for punishment as well as boating, Bonnie and I then accepted an invitation for a day on Rehoboth Bay, fishing. Okay, I've never been a fisherperson. I know you are shocked.
Much to my delight, the generous Captain and First Mate surprised me with my very own fishing rod - and reel, and line and little squiggly hangy-off things. And the fishing pole was pink, with teeny sparkly lights that blinked whenever the reel spun. "I couldn't resist," said the Captain. I was lucky it wasn't a Hannah Montana edition.
Seriously, I loved that I had my own sport fishing gear and we set out across the Bay to find seafood. After drifting for a while near the Indian River Bridge, me with my pink fishing pole dangling professionally from the side of the boat, the first mate landed a big flounder. Mission accomplished. We reeled in to go traveling.
This is where it got interesting.
On our way out of the Indian River Inlet and into the ocean, Bonnie and I sat up front on the speedy fishing boat. I may be a neophyte fisherperson, but I'm an experienced boater, having lived on and traveled in a 29ft. power boat all around the Delaware and Chesapeake Bays, up to New York City and Fire Island and back. The alternate title of my first book was going to be My Life as Ballast.
So imagine my surprise when, as we nosed out toward the ocean, what I can only describe as a mighty rogue wave swelled up in front of the boat and made my eyeballs switch sockets. (FREEZE FRAME)
This gigantic wall of water rose in a colossal swell about, I don't know, a thousand feet higher than the boat deck. Okay, six feet overhead and five feet away. I channeled Shelly Winters, picturing that fierce wave crashing through the cockpit windows on the Poseidon. I marveled at the wave's enormity, its stark green expanse of color, with bubbling white foam on top. I gasped when I saw two more identical waves right behind it. I went into a momentary coma, broken only by the sound of somebody screaming. It was me. (ACTION!)
With a giant crash, the wall of water hit the boat, the bow rose to conquer it and we thumped up, then down like a bathtub toy . Geeze it was scary, seeing all that dark water up close and wondering, omigod, is the nose of the boat going to come back up again? (FREEZE FRAME)
If the bow didn't come back up it was called pitch-poling - "pitch·poled, pitch·pol·ing, pitch·poles Nautical. To flip or cause to flip end over end." I learned the term in Power Squadron boating class, or, as I used to call it, 101 Ways to Drown or Blow Up Your Boat. I know they wanted to frighten us into caution, but they scared the barnacles out of us - and I was flashing back to pitch-pole class. And of course it didn't help in the pitch-pole department that it was my lard-ass sitting up front as, once again, ballast. (ACTION!)
Of course the bow came back up, but we got a thundering, frigid shower. It may have been 90 degrees out but the ocean didn't get the memo.
When we looked back at the captain, who was hollering a reassuring "We're okay, don't worry," the second wave pounded us, sending a fresh freezing tsunami into the boat, then a third. We got glacial facials and held an impromptu wet t-shirt contest.
Amazingly, as soon as the Captain turned left toward Dewey, the water went calm again.
Alrighty now. I was drenched, hoping it was all sea water and I hadn't peed myself. The Captain and First Mate were pretty wet, too. But Bonnie really got the worst of it. She was dripping wet from head to toe and I expected to see her wearing a flounder on her head.
Three of us sopped off with towels, but Bonnie was undryable. She shed her shorts and shirt, wrapped up in a towel and noted it would be an inopportune time to be stopped by pirates vacationing from Somali. We laughed and hooted and hollered. Lucky for me, my Disney fishing pole survived the incident. (FREEZE FRAME)
Really, we were freezing our frames but the sun shone, dolphins swam by, we cruised past the Towers at North Shores and waved to the crowd. How lucky to be invited for a wonderful cruise in the sunshine. The season had begun and all was right with the world.
(ACTION!)
Now I'm off to close up the house, fire up the A/C and over-water the plants.
_____
Contact Fay at: FayJacobsrb@aol.com
Fay's website: www.FayJacobs.com Fay Jacobs, a native New Yorker, spent 30 years in the Washington, DC area working in journalism, theater and public relations. She has contributed feature stories and columns to such publications as The Advocate, OUTtraveler, The Baltimore Sun, Chesapeake Bay Magazine, The Washington Blade, The Wilmington News Journal, Delaware Beach Life and more.
Since 1995 she has been a regular columnist for Letters from CAMP Rehoboth, and won the national 1997 Vice Versa Award for excellence. Her columns are collected in the books, As I Lay Frying: a Rehoboth Beach Memoir and the newly published Fried & True - Tales of Rehoboth Beach.
Fay is Publisher and Managing Editor of A&M Books, the publisher of the 14 classic Sarah Aldridge novels.
She and Bonnie, her partner of 25 years, relocated to Rehoboth Beach, DE in 1999. They have two Miniature Schnauzers and a riding lawn mower.
Not that a lesbian knee is different from, say, a gay male knee, or the knees of a whole congregation praying against gay marriage. But it was my knee, and now it's gone, replaced with ceramic, cement and plastic. It's not the knee that danced in the dark bars of Greenwich Village or the one I knelt on to ask my sweetheart to marry me.
The thing is, with this knee, I can dance again. Last year at Women's Week in Provincetown I made it about five minutes on the dance floor. Total. This year, I can dance till dawn with my sweetheart.
She was with me every possible moment during this increasingly normal ritual of aging: the knee or hip or whatever replacement. I worried that we'd be given a hard time once we told the Florida hospital that we are partners, but, perennially short-staffed, I think they're relieved when patients arrive with do-it-yourself nurses.
Though we didn't have to fight to be together, it wasn't easy on my sweetheart. When you discuss operations with surgeons, they run through the known dangers, which include such minor bloopers as rejection and death. As my poor sweetheart sat in the waiting room, every doctor but ours came to tell families their loved ones had survived. Our surgeon sent his assistant to escort my sweetheart to an office. Scared the heck out of her.
She didn't know what to expect as she followed the assistant to the great man's lair, but the doctor had nothing more to report than my transformation to a six million dollar dyke. Over the months of recovery he never said anything, looking at x-rays of my knee, other than the word "Perfect."
All About Money
That word did not exactly describe the hospital where he kept his instruments of torture. Nor did it describe the staff. This place is all about making money. The employees could have been very good at their jobs, had they been given time to do them. It's not unheard of, we later learned, to leave patients in recovery waiting for a bed all night. Five hours my poor sweetheart waited.
By the time we got to my room I awoke to a panic attack. The nurse on duty seemed not to understand the concept of urgency. As a matter of fact, she couldn't remember what drug she'd already administered. She thought it started with the letter "A." I whispered to my sweetheart about the little red pillbox in my jeans pocket and she slipped me a little white pill before she hit the director's office with all her femme ire. That nurse never came near us again.
The pharmacy itself was filled with incompetents. Because of a food allergy, I need to get intravenous drugs in a saline solution. An ear, nose and throat specialist told me that shooting me up with glucose could cause a pulmonary embolism. The pharmacy, despite clear orders, sent up bags of glucose 50% of the time. My sweetheart wouldn't let them near me until she read the small print.
The pulmonary embolism was discovered the day I was to be released. I was shivering so the nurse, who had taken a shine to my sweetheart, ordered an x-ray. That didn't detect the fatal little stinker lurking inside, but my surgeon kept me for a CT scan. If my sweetheart hadn't been in attendance every hour she wasn't home caring for the animals or grabbing a nap I would have been a goner.
Now that I needed a blood thinner, phlebotomists drew blood regularly. It was bad enough during the day, when those well-meaning vampires fumbled with my veins, but it was at night, when my sweetheart had to be home, that the real horrors happened. One young woman, in the full flower of her sexuality, came by with a retinue of lusty co-workers. I could see them cavorting outside my door like a party scene in a Fellini film. The princess, rushing to rejoin her admirers, would hastily invade the first vein she could find and rattle her cart on to her next victim, glancing at nothing but the crook of my arm.
Although we swore we'd never return to Inferno General, we found ourselves racing back to the E.R. a couple of weeks later when, between the blood thinner for the embolism and coughing from the bronchitis I picked up in the hospital, I blew out my right eye. So I've been walking around seeing shadows of hemorrhaged blood and fragments of vitreous fluid instead of the beautiful world where I can again walk without pain.
Sometimes during a weary day
I'll sit down for a little while
closing my clouded eyes
my mind will wander so far away
distanced in precious moments
rather than miles
as I get lost thinking of you
and know the gift of us
will warmly comfort me
that my heart beats are measured
always in those countless smiles
that feed my timeless reverie
So sweet to have shared love with you
to have shouted this
and whispered it, too...
I love you always
_____
SITN 021605
Arm in Arm
I remember how we used to laugh
When we saw two gray-haired ladies
Walking arm in arm.
"There we go," we used to say,
"in thirty years." Then twenty. Then ten.
But time ran out on us.
Now alone, I see two gray-haired ladies
Walking arm in arm, and I can almost
Hear your bubbling laughter.
I pull my arm close to my body
Pretending that you're really here
Beside me once again.
I feel your warmth next to me
And fleetingly can see your smile
But then you're gone.
Fingers of burning tears touch my eyes
And shadowed recollections haunt my soul
With what might have been.
Wouldn't you know
its those little things
that mean so much
and reach your soul
when they must
When all else
seems to fail
its the little things
that make us feel
and lets us know
we've been touched
_____ SITN 022306
Jigsawed
Bits and pieces
floating inside my head
Wandering thoughts
siphoning away
things I love
leaving instead
things I dread
Coming together
used to mean something else
now separated
by the snap of a thread
Pensive musings
heartfelt feelings
leaving my soul
drifting off everywhere
Nothing fitting together
just torn apart
and being alone
A loud splintering
jagged, uneven, so unfit
drowning out an anguished moan
a thunderous gnashing
pulling apart the pieces
rubbing raw the bits of bone
Frustrated to see
the mirrored puzzle
stamped and cut out
in human error
Love once a gathering force
replaced now
with frazzled terror
______ SITN 111604
Homophonic
Let's start with 'pour'-to cause to flow
One pours tea from a pot
While 'pore', the writer ought to know,
Means go over and over a lot.
But 'pore' is also used to mean
A minute opening
In skin or leaf or between rocks
Or any porous thing.
'Compliment' when in a phrase
Is used to offer up some praise
But 'complement', which sounds the same,
Has naught to do with praise or blame
For 'complement' to be correct,
Let these words be your guides:
"To provide what another lacks—
Or lack what another provides."
These pesky little homophones
Can really be a pain
Words that are spelled differently
But spoken sound the same
When spelled the way they ought to be
But wrongly used by you and me
Because everyone is getting busier and busier, The Lesbian Fiction Herstory and Lesbian Poet Herstory sections will be posted intermittently. I hope to eventually archive these articles on an ongoing basis, so they'll always be available to new and old readers. In the meantime, past articles can be accessed through the links below.
Click the title below and find each poet's history available in the left column of the Lesbian Poet Herstory Page.
35th Anniversary Edition of The Latecomer released
A&M Books announces the publication of the 35th Anniversary Edition of The Latecomer (ISBN 978-0-93004400-8, 137 pages, $17), by Sarah Aldridge.The Latecomer was the first book published by the legendary Naiad Press and one of the first novels to have a happy ending to a lesbian romance. It ushered in a brigade of fierce women writers, musicians, and activists determined to change their self imagery.
Sarah Aldridge was a pen name for Anyda Marchant who went on to write a total of 14 lesbian novels between 1974 and 2003. She and her partner Muriel Crawford were two of the founders of Naiad Press.
The Latecomer introduces Philippa and Kay, strangers who meet aboard a cruise ship and despite very different lives and aspirations, find a surprising bond. Through political and romantic intrigue they uncover the truth about themselves.
The 35th Anniversary Edition includes, in addition to the original ground-breaking novel, its legacy shared by noted writers, musicians, activists and friends. These women went from hoping for even the slightest mention of a lesbian in literature to cherishing even those judgmental books which consigned lesbian protagonists to tragic endings.
Commentary is included by Diane Anderson-Minshall, Ann Bannon, Jinx Beers, Kate Clinton, Stefani Deoul, Katherine Forrest, Anna Furtado, Jewelle Gomez, Ellen Hart, Karin Kallmaker, Lee Lynch, KG MacGregor, Holly Near, Leslea Newman, Bonnie Quesenberry, Radclyffe, JM Redmann, Carol Seajay, Ann Allen Shockley, Cris Williamson and MJ Wood.
The book is available directly from A&M Books at www.aandmbooks.com or www.fayjacobs.com.
E-mail: aandmpublishers@aol.com. The book is also available through Amazon.com.
Alpha World Press is producing book trailers for its most recent releases - and all future releases. The trailers add a unique way for our authors to get their titles out there. The trailers can be viewed on our website - www.AlphaWorldPress.com - or on YouTube, Google video, yahoo video, etc.
Anne Laughlin, author of the forthcoming Bold Strokes Books mystery Veritas, has been awarded a residency at the Ragdale Foundation in Lake Forest, Illinois during the winter/spring season of 2009. This honor is bestowed upon Ms. Laughlin in recognition of outstanding work.
Acceptance to Ragdale is highly competitive. Recipients are chosen through an application process, with primary emphasis placed on anonymous evaluation of the applicant's work sample by professionals in each genre.
For more information contact Regin Igloria
(847)234-1063, extension 206 or email: admissions@ragdale.org
A special thank you for our loyal Bold Strokes customers.
Here's how it works: Add at least 5 books (print versions-not eBooks) to your shopping cart and then visit our Buy 5, Get 1 Free page to select your FREE book. Complete the checkout process and we'll ship your books out within 24 hours!
Questions about our web shop or this promotion should be directed to bookshop@boldstrokesbooks.com or our toll-free line: (877) BOLD-711.
**********
Click Here to read the current Bold Strokes Books Newsletter.
Please see our Call for Submissions notice in the Ongoing Announcements and Calls for Submissions section below.
Double Trouble by RJ Nolan - Romance novel - Audio L-Book includes FREE eBook, all formats. Play on any device that can play mp3 music. Listening time 6.5 hours, 37 tracks, 10 minutes per track, L-Book total file size 274 MB. Available at http://L-Book.com
General Announcement:
L-Book ePublisher has changed its L-Book audio purchase policies.
From now on when you purchase an L-Book you will also receive the eBook in all formats available at no additional cost. This gives the reader a way to listen to their favorite novel at times where reading is just not practical, like when running or driving. Later one can switch to their preferred eReader and read the novel. All L-Books and eBooks will run on the same eReader device if it can play mp3 music or is the mp3 like Mobipocket, iSilo, Adobe on iPhone, Blackberry, Treo, PDA, etc.
We hope all L-Book customers will take advantage of this unique offer that will now be a signature of L-Book. All past L-Book customers, who have their invoice numbers of the L-Book or L-Books they purchased, may write support@L-Book.com to receive their copies. They will be emailed the eBook versions of the L-Books which they purchased.
L-Book ePublisher thanks all our customers for their support their patience in waiting for our new L-Book releases while we upgraded Samantha's voice engine.
Reminder L-Books are available for use on any mp3 device.
Another reminder for all of our L-Book audio customers: all L-Book audio novels can be downloaded and listened to on any mp3 device. You only need to copy the L-Books mp3 files from your computer via the USB connection to the mp3 device, including Kindle, Sony, Blackberry, iPhone, iTouch, iPod, PDA, Treo, laptops, Windows Mobile, XP, Vista, Mac, etc. With some eReaders you can listen to the L-Book and follow along in the eBook, like Kindle 2. You can also enjoy the L-Books on your home stereo systems via network drive, iPods, PDAs and DVR systems or listen and enjoy your novel on car stereo systems by connecting your mp3 player, iPod, PDA's, Blackberry, iPhones, etc. to the car's audio input plug.
The free short stories and excerpts on L-Book.com, the free download web page are 30 to 60 minutes in length and will give you the opportunity to experience Samantha's narrations first hand, as you learn about the authors and their works. Download these excerpts to your mp3 devices and test how to download, transfer and listen to Samantha before purchasing.
We are very excited to announce that we have signed LT Smith's See Right Through Me and Geonn Cannon's The Following Sea. Both are to be published in Summer 2010.
We are very excited to announce that we have signed Lucy di Legge's Life in the District to be published in Summer 2010.
Two Lists Available: Lesbian-Attentive Publishers
and Bibliography of Anthologies
Over on our Read These Lips site, we've conducted extensive research to collate two great
resources for writers and readers. One is a list of lesbian-attentive publishers (http://www.readtheselips.com/RTL2pubs.html) and the other is a bibliography of lesbian anthologies, poetry, and literary collections with a strong lesbian bent: (http://www.readtheselips.com/RTL2bib1.html).
The publishers list is, we think, an innovative concept where we, as a publisher, are providing links to other publishers--not just one or two, but 70 publishers. We found these publishers to be both conscious and encouraging of lesbian content in all its forms. To compile that list, we reviewed and trimmed off publishers that were GLBT friendly in name but not sufficient in practice, or presses that appeared restrictive of the kind of female content they would allow. Our aim is for lesfic writers to consider the wide world of publishers available. Naiad, A&M, and Haworth, are three publishers who have ceased being active, but we felt they were so influential in the history of lesbianlit that they deserved to be mentioned.
The second and faster growing of the two lists is our bibliography that is focused on collections of lesbian stories, poems, and such, not on GLBTIQ collections or het/bi anthologies. At present, the bibliography has 175 entries, excluding serials, including international and out of print anthologies. We plan to include single-author collections soon.
We hope you find these lists useful. Feel free to drop us an email about any content we might have overlooked. We welcome additions and comments about both lists.
The kudos for this go to our bibliographer, Renée, and Evecho.
Linda Lorenzo
Editor
www.ReadTheseLips.com
http://readtheselips.wordpress.com/
The LESBIAN FICTION READERS CHOICE AWARDS were started to provide the readers of lesbian fiction a voice and we are extremely proud to say that the readers have responded.
The LFRCA have just concluded our third award period and I am pleased to inform you that 5 books published by Regal Crest Enterprises were nominated for the 2008 awards with 2 of these being the recipient of Reader Favorite awards in their respective categories.
Award Recipient
Land of Entrapment by Andi Marquette
Mystery
Award Recipient
To Hold Forever by Carrie Carr
Adventure
Nominated
Certain Personal Matters by Vicki Stephenson
Romance
Nominated
The Odd Couple by Q. Kelly
Romance
Nominated
The Sea Hawk by Brenda Adcock
Adventure and Romance
As Administrator of the LESBIAN FICTION READERS CHOICE AWARDS, I would like to congratulate your publishing house and your writers for their wonderful contributions to Lesbian fiction.
Jo Fothergill
Administrator, LFRCA
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/LesbianFictionReadersChoiceAwards/
Please see Regal Crest's Call for Submissions notice in the Ongoing Announcements and Calls for Submissions section below.
Update on The 5th Annual Golden Crown Literary Society Conference
July 23 - July 26, 2009
Keynote Speaker - J.M. Redmann
J.M. Redmann, the Lambda Literary Award-winning author of the New Orleans private detective Michele "Micky" Knight series, will be the Keynote speaker at the 2009 GCLS Literary Conference. We are delighted to have Jean with us this year and look forward to seeing you all in Orlando July 23 through July 26.
Jean's novels include Death By The Riverside, Deaths of Jocasta, The Intersection of Law & Desire, Lost Daughters, and The Death of a Dying Man. Her third book, The Intersection of Law & Desire was the reciepient of a Lambda Literary Award, as well as being an Editor's Choice of the San Francisco Chronicle and featured on National Public Radio's Fresh Air. Her books have been translated into German, Spanish, Dutch and Norwegian.
Jean is Director of Education at the NO/AIDS Task Force, a community based AIDS service organization in New Orleans, Louisanna.
Special Guest Speaker - Melissa (Missy) Good
We are excited to have author and screenwriter Missy Good attending the conference this year. Missy will be leading a presentation on writing screenplays.
Attending Authors List Updated
The attending authors list has been updated recently. If you haven't seen the list lately, you can find it at GCLS Attendees.
Author Auction
The author auction last year was a huge success, so we're bringiing it back again this year. If you are an author and would like to be auctioned off to the highest bidder, send us an email at director@goldencrown.org.
Panels and Presentations
Patty Schramm is our Program Director this year and she is filling up the slots for the panels and presentations fast. If you haven't registered for the conference yet, please do so soon. We only have a few slots left.
Silent Auction
The silent auction is off and running this year. We've already had quite a few donations. If you are interested in donating an item to the silent auction, you can send us the information at the following link:
GCLS Silent Auction
We hope you all will plan on joining us this year in Orlando for another super weekend of exciting events.
For more information and to register visit our website at www.goldencrown.org.
Nuance Books (Bedazzled Ink) Call for Submissions
We're currently looking for stories that are positive, quirky, clever, funny, light, breezy . . . you get the idea. No stories driven exclusively by angst or melodrama or excessive navel-gazing or endless strife or paint-by-number plots. We love stories that make us laugh, or at least smile a lot, and stories that stray from the garden path of expectation in amusing ways. In other words, stories that are fun and original and entertaining and if they have an out-of-the-blue surprise or two, or clever twists, even better.
The protagonist must be a lesbian and the story must be character-driven, well-written, and well-plotted. We are looking for literary, mystery, action/adventure, romance, and those quirky stories the defy category. We're not interested in horror, erotica, strong sexual situations, over-used profanity, or extreme violence.
We're also interested in out-of-print books that deserve to be back in print again for our new Nuance Classics imprint. We welcome suggestions of your favorite out-of-print books, and queries and submissions from owners of the rights for these books.
55,000 words and up.
Special Categories:
Dove Feather Romances - 50,000 to 65,000 words. Short, sweet, funny, quirky romances, with an emphasis on romance rather than sex.
Digital Dove Feather Romances - 20,000 to 45,000 words. Ebook Editions with an option to be included in print collections of novellas.
Cryptic Quill Mysteries - 55,000 to 70,000 words. Light, breezy mysteries that surprise and amuse and contain unexpected twists and turns on the way to solving the mystery.
Digital Cryptic Quill Mysteries - 20,000 to 50,000 words. Ebook Editions with an option to be included in print collections of novellas.
Digital Nuance - Ebook editions of books that are currently in print by other publishers or are out-of-print. If you've published a print edition of a book that features a lesbian protagonist and the book is literary, mystery, action/adventure, or romance and you own the ebooks rights, we would love to publish the ebook edition for you.
Visit http://nuancebooks.wordpress.com/submission-guidelines/ for more information.
We look forward to your submissions.
Mindancer Press (Bedazzled Ink) Call for Submissions
Skulls and Crossbones Deadline for submissions is September 1, 2009
A collection of short stories that features women pirates in any setting, any time period.
Editors: Andi Marquette and R. G. Emanuelle.
Publisher: Mindancer Press (Bedazzled Ink), print and ebook editions
Stipulations:
No longer than 7000 words; no shorter than 4000 words
Will consider original and previously published stories.
$35 per story, paid after contract is signed. Story rights revert back to authors 18 months after date of publication. Each contributor will receive one print copy as well as one ebook copy of the anthology.
GLBTQ/heterosexual characters are welcome BUT EACH STORY MUST FEATURE A WOMAN PIRATE, either as the main character or the focus of the story (e.g. another sailor on the ship who hates the woman pirate and through his/her eyes, we observe the woman pirate). Again, the main character or the focus of the story MUST BE A WOMAN PIRATE. We will consider main characters that identify as transgendered (male to female), but that identity must figure prominently in the story as a driving force and/or something that speaks to the character's experience as a woman pirate.
Extra caveat: The focus of the story cannot be a romantic hook-up/sex/erotica. Sex, eroticism, and romance may be part of the story (as long as they fit within the story's overall plot), but they cannot be the reason for the story or the driving force of the story. We want stories that feature adventure, intrigue, antiheroines/heroines, battles (epic, personal, or small-scale), something to be accomplished/overcome, vengeance, trickery, thievery, and/or assorted banditry and outlaw behavior.
Absolutely NO stories that feature acts of pedophilia, incest, bestiality, or rape.
Deadline for submissions is September 1, 2009
Final selections will be made by October 1, 2009, with publication tentatively slated for January 2010
To submit your story, send as an email attachment in RTF format, double-spaced to pirateanthology@gmail.com
Please include your name, pen name (if applicable), mailing address, email address, story title, and word count on the first page of your submission.
If you have questions, drop us a line at pirateanthology@gmail.com
In case you haven't already heard from or about us, we are ALPHA WORLD PRESS. We are a new, exclusively lesbian publishing company with fresh, intelligent, and sophisticated books. All of our books are available through Baker & Taylor or Ingram. You can - if you prefer - also work directly with us. We pride ourselves on our quality books and also offer outstanding customer service. No matter what the question, you can expect to hear from us within 24 hours. That's our guarantee. Let us know that you're carrying our books in your store or talking about them on your site and we'll add your store/site to our website to give you a little more exposure, too.
Our authors are scattered through North America, so if you're interested in interviewing them or having one (or more) of them visit your store for a signing, we'd be more than happy to help arrange it.
------- Claiming our Past, Present and Future through Lesbian Literature -------
At Bella Books, we believe stories about lesbians are an essential of life-and so do our readers. If you are an author with a great story about gay women to tell, we want to hear from you.
We're looking for imaginative and entertaining stories that illuminate and celebrate possibilities, fantasies and realities in
lesbian lives. Novels that celebrate the girl-next-door, the best friend, the love of our life and the superwoman that exists in all of us.
Our readers have high standards for exciting, fresh plots, and they relish hours spent with engaging characters. They want books they can't put down, stories they think about for days afterward, and characters so compelling they wish they were real.
To provide our readers with the kinds of stories they demand and deserve, we publish general lesbian fiction, romance, mystery,
action/thriller, science-fiction, fantasy, and erotica. If you believe your manuscript will meet our needs, we welcome your
submission.
Click Here to learn more about our Guidelines for Submission and answers to Frequently Asked Questions.
------- About Bella Books -------
As the largest lesbian-owned publisher of lesbian fiction, with over 250 titles in print, Bella Books' editorial and production expertise is completely focused on books for lesbians. Bella authors reap the benefits of accumulated decades of experience, with editorial mentoring and support. Behind each of our writers stands a team of editors, typesetters and proofreaders working together to produce wonderful, absorbing reading.
Linda Hill, Publisher
Karin Kallmaker, Editorial Director editorialdirector@bellabooks.com
Call for Submissions Blue Feather Books
Blue Feather Books, Ltd., is looking for completed manuscripts, mainly in our core market area of lesbian fiction, but are also willing to consider manuscripts outside that genre that feature strong female characters.
The BSB New Author Development Forum is a small online mentoring group for unpublished writers of lesbian romance and mystery who are working on a novel they wish to submit to Bold Strokes Books. The Forum is a venue for craft and manuscript development. BSB senior consulting editor Jennifer Knight will guide members toward making their stories publishable during a series of online workshops. Discussion will be both manuscript-specific and topic-focused. BSB publisher, Len Barot, and other guests will also offer their advice and expertise periodically. The Forum is open to:
Unpublished, uncontracted writers who intend to submit a MS to Bold Strokes in the near future.
Writers who have already submitted a manuscript to Bold Strokes and plan to re-submit the same story with revisions or submit a new manuscript.
Writers who have had a novel(s) accepted for our Eclipse Ebooks line and are now working on a project to submit for one of our other lines.
BSB provides this resource to writers whose work shows potential for our list requirements. Forum discussion is strictly limited to matters of craft. We offer other BSB online forums for general discussion. Membership is limited, for practical reasons, and there is no guarantee of publication, but we will carefully consider all manuscripts developed within the Forum.
To enroll, please send your request to Jennifer Knight at: knight.bsb@gmail.com. With it, send a letter introducing yourself and describing your project and to which BSB line you intend to submit your MS. Please include a 1-2 page synopsis and your manuscript in progress. A minimum of 50 pages is necessary.
Bold Strokes Books offers a diverse collection of LesbianGayBiTransQueer general and genre fiction. BSB category fiction includes romance, action, adventure, crime, mystery/intrigue, speculative fic (sci-fi/fantasy/horror), and erotica. BSB Victory Editions includes literary and popular fiction as well as non-fiction that explore the LGBT experience in its many forms (contemporary, historical, saga) while telling strong human stories with universal themes. BSB Matinee Books are sharp, entertaining romances designed to be fun, relaxing, sexy reads.
We are interested in quality works from serious authors. The review of a manuscript is a time-consuming and, upon occasion, costly procedure. Therefore, we do not review manuscripts that have been simultaneously submitted to multiple publishers. A confirmation email is sent within 48 hours of receiving a manuscript. Please query us if you do not receive one. Every manuscript is individually reviewed, and every attempt is made to provide the author with a decision regarding our interest in publishing the work in a timely fashion. Our average time to decision regarding publication is 12 weeks.
Call for Submissions Clover Valley Press
www.clovervalleypress.com
Clover Valley Press, LLC, specializing in producing quality books written by women of the northland (primarily Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Michigan), is currently accepting submissions for book-length manuscripts to be published in 2010.
Please send a query letter and sample chapter to Clover Valley Press, LLC, 6286 Homestead Rd., Duluth, MN 55804, or e-mail charlene@clovervalleypress.com.
Clover Valley Press offers editorial and design services, assisting authors with the process of turning their manuscripts into finished books. Owner Charlene Brown has worked as a free-lance editor for Spinsters Ink and as a development editor for college textbooks. For more information, go to www.clovervalleypress.com.
Call for Submissions
Intaglio Publications
Intaglio Publications is currently accepting submissions for our 2008 publishing schedule. Intaglio Publications is seeking well-written novel length manuscripts for gay and lesbian genre. Manuscripts should be between 40,000 and 120,000 words.
Intaglio Publications accepts original fiction only, no UBER or Fan Fiction please. Intaglio Publications does not accept manuscripts that have been simultaneously submitted to multiple publishers.
Please indicate if the submitted manuscript has been previously published.
Khimairal Ink is a literary magazine dedicated to the best in both genre and mainstream lesbian fiction. The protagonist must be a lesbian and the story must be character-driven, well-written, and well-plotted. Let your imagination soar and send us only your best writing.
We are looking for original unpublished stories but will also consider previously published stories and short excerpts from novels if the excerpts stand on their own. We don't want to see stories that are widely available on the Internet, but will consider stories previously published in e-zines. No simultaneous submissions please.
Length: Up to 8000 words
For Submission Guidelines and more information, Click Here.
Khimairal Ink is a quarterly publication issued in October, January, April, and July. The format is a full-color pdf e-zine that readers can download for free.
Artists who are interested in doing cover and story art please send a query to queries@bedazzledink.com and we'll send you instructions on how to submit samples of your work.
Authors and artists, we look forward to seeing your work. Readers, stop on by and enjoy our diverse offerings.
New Call for Submissions L-Book ePublisher http://L-Book.com
L-Book ePublisher is an electronic lesbian fiction only publisher. All books are published in a number of eBook formats and one audio Listening in mp3.
If you are an author and believe in the future electronic media, L-Book is taking Lesbian Fiction Only submissions.
Please refer to our guidelines before submitting at http://L-Book.com/authors.html or for a PDF copy of the guidelines http://l-book.com/documents/Submission-Authors.pdf Email electronic version only to Submission@L-Book.com.
L-Book will not edit down stories because of size.
o Novel length stories - 60,000 words minimum to 90,000 words.
o Commuter length novels - 90,000 words minimum to 200,000 words.
o Mini - short stories 20,000 minimum words.
o Nano - stories minimum 10,000 words.
o Anthologies - collection of Nano and/or Mini Stories approximating 60,000 or more words.
If you have questions email info@L-Book.com.
Promotion for Authors, Published or Online
From Lynne Pierce
I have an opportunity that authors may be interested in as a way to
promote their work. On the Lesfic_Unbound group I've started posting
excerpts called Sneak Peeks submitted by authors for the group to read.
The author sends me a chapter or selection from a work that is
published, going to be published or that is online and I post one every
few days for the members to read. So far this has had a good reception
from both the authors and the readers. A number of members have
mentioned that, by having a chapter to read, they've decided to try a
book that they wouldn't normally think they would be interested in.
There is a variety of stories being offered from a range of authors,
including excerpts from Lois C. Hart, Fran Heckrotte, Erin O'Reilly, JM
Dragon, Bett Norris and others.
So far I've only had submissions from group members, but I'm willing to
open it up to other people. Of course, to read the comments when your
selection is posted, you will have to join the group. Go to Yahoo
groups, request Lesfic_Unbound and request membership. It's not hard.
I let everyone in.
These are the provisions:
* the selection can come from a book already published, one that is
going to be published, one you hope to publish or a story that is online
or you want to be online. (I think that covers everyone.)
* whatever condition you send it to me in is how it will be posted.
I'm not doing any clean up or editing.
* I prefer selections be in a Word document since anything else
strains my technological abilities.
* if you have a web site, blog or any other contact information you
would like included with the selection, be sure to include it.
* if the book is slated to be published, give me some idea when so
that I can let the group members know when to expect the book.
Something like Spring 2008 is specific enough.
* the selection will not be used for a review; however, group members
may make comments. Those comments may include points they think will be
helpful to the author.
* the only purpose for doing this is to give authors a chance to
promote their works and to give readers a Sneak Peek at something they
might be willing to read.
* it isn't intended that you write something specifically to post on
this group. This isn't a challenge of any type, just an opportunity to
highlight your work.
If you aren't interested in joining the group, you can still send me
your submission attached to an email. Again, however, you won't be able
to see the comments without joining the group. I will TRY to remember
to notify you when your work has been posted if you don't join the
group.
Work from group members will be posted before those
who do not belong to the group. This looks like it's going to be an
ongoing feature, so whenever you have something you may submit it. I
hope some of you decide to participate.
Second Helpings from ReadTheseLips.com arrives with more stories and an expanded scope. In our new anthology, incredibly talented writers explore what it means to be lesbian and, in so doing, add definition to ours.
Please welcome in Second Helpings the enduring pens of Lee Lynch and Marianne K. Martin; the award-winning insights of Nicola Griffith, Susan Hawthorne and Ruthann Robson; the dynamic voices of Erin Davies and Lorenza Martelli; and the diverse contemporary adult fiction of Ovidia Yu, Fran Walker, Stacia Seaman, Lois Cloarec Hart, Robin Alexander, Fletcher DeLancey, Jac Hills and C.C. Saint-Clair.
But wait, there's more!
To celebrate the release of Second Helpings,we are giving away a free e-book courtesy of Spinifex Press! All you have to do is send us a picture of Second Helpings in a funny or unusual location. (Nothing dangerous or X-rated please, as the winning pic will be posted on our blog.
Click Here to view Spinifex Press's range of e-books.
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Call for Submissions Regal Crest Enterprises
www.regalcrest.biz
Regal Crest is currently seeking submissions for the following:
"Alternative" (lesbian and gay) novels with plots of action, adventure, drama, mystery, thriller, and romance, or romance coupled with sub-plots of action, adventure, mystery, thriller, drama, fantasy, or light science fiction.
We are looking for novel-length stories with a minimum 60,000 words and a maximum of 120,000 words. Longer works will either need to be edited down in size or split into multiple volumes. We publish a number of "serial" stories, so this does not preclude long, involved works.
The kind of stories we publish have flesh and blood characters in settings that don't necessarily have to be real but must come alive in the reader's imagination. Our readers want to be entertained by plots that are original or have common story lines with enough twists to be uniquely memorable.
Please visit Submissions for further guidelines and complete information.
Send by email your bios, reviews, covers,
and any pertinent articles you would care to submit, to pruferblue@aol.com ,
with "JAW Submission" in the Subject line. Please
remember, this newsletter not only hopes to provide
useful information on the writing craft, but also is
available for showcasing your work.
If you would like your
home page link added to my Resource Links list, please
email me via the Contact link at the left.
If you want your
newly released or about-to-be-released book featured in JAW,
send me full information by the fifteenth (15) of
the month preceding issue: synopsis, cover jpg,
publisher, ISBN number, cost, number of pages, and genre. If
you provide an URL for an excerpt, I will include it.
For full details
on submitting contributions, click on the Submission
Guidelines link to the left.
PLEASE NOTE OUR REVIEW POLICY: Because
of the number of independent reviewers on staff, JAW receives as many reviews each month as we are able to handle. JAW, therefore, will no longer accept requests from authors for reviews. Please check the list of reviewers on our Reviews page and contact an individual reviewer with your request.
Subscribe to monthly
announcements of issue posting: E-mail pruferblue@aol.com
and put "Subscribe to JAW" in the Subject line. ____________________________________________________________________ Unsubscribe: E-mail pruferblue@aol.com
and put "Unsubscribe to JAW" in the Subject line. ____________________________________________________________________ Submissions to this newsletter are
for promotional use only. Contributors retain their own
copyrights and all rights to their submitted work. Requests to
reprint should be directed to the individual
contributor—email addresses are included in their signature
boxes. I respectfully ask that the authors' credits state
previous publication in JustAboutWrite.com. All other
material on this site—unless specified otherwise—is
copyright 2004 to Nann Dunne.
Disclaimer: All submitters are
responsible for acquiring permissions to publish any
copyrighted material in this newsletter. Nann Dunne and "Just
About Write" will not be held responsible. If the material
submitted is not accompanied by proof of the permissions, it
will not be accepted.
