Contest entries (so far) part two

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  Heather Kamins 6:42am
On my date with Satan,
we were talking dirty to the gods
and negotiating with the dead
in the skin of a lion.
How beautiful the beloved
stern men
circling the drain,
the women on the edge
of moral disorder.
Attention please now:
the girl in the flammable skirt
takes a streetcar named desire,
happily
minding her own business.
Her party of one
is a question of gravity and light,
her one hundred years of solitude
dressing up for the carnival
as beautiful and pointless
as imaginary words.



------------------------------
Adrienne 7:55am

Only a spark

THE SHATTERING of
THE POWER AND THE GLORY
followed behind A CLASH OF KINGS.
MAGYK disappeared,
remained only AN ECHO IN THE BONE.
It was DEAD. UNTIL DARK.
It hides in A MIDSUMMER NIGHT'S DREAM,
and sparks in the embers of THE FIERY CROSS.

I am the OUTLANDER,
leading my TOY SOLDIERS
to THE BURNING.
I am THE GIRL WHO PLAYED WITH FIRE.
WICKED to some.
THE LOST SYMBOL to others.













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Steve 8:56am

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Deborah 9:22am

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Victor 9:25am

 round the bend, snow
on the road, slow is beautiful
almost there











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 Steph 9:45 am

Error Between Brain and Keyboard

The DEATH OF A NATIONALIST
in THE WORLD OF THE SHINING PRINCE
under THE CARPENTER'S PENCIL
isn't CRACKED UP TO BE
STARDUST but
BAD LUCK AND TROUBLE
SUPERNATURALLY so
a FATAL SYSTEM ERROR
in THE ELECTRIC CHURCH








-----------------

David 10:20am

When EVERYTHING'S EVENTUAL

WHILE I WAS GONE,
THE HELP called.
"She's CATCHING FIRE.
"THE LOVELY BONES smoke."

At THE DEAD ZONE,
her burnt ROOM,
I was but NUMB.
ANGELA'S ASHES.

A HEART-SHAPED BOX,
a PLAIN TRUTH;
THESE THINGS HIDDEN
down THE GIVING TREE.

A WICKED thing,
the BIBLE;
FULL DARK, NO STARS, 
no BRIGHT FOREVER.

----------------------------

Melinda 10:31am

 Candor

Audrey, Wait!
The Truth About Forever is
it’s Something Like Fate.
This World We Live In is
So Much Closer
to the Fire
than the Dawn.
Just Listen,
Hush, Hush.
The Dead And The Gone
Fade
while Rebel Angels
Wake.
Across The Universe,
the Uninvited
Rot and Ruin in
The Dark And Hollow Places,
The Dead-Tossed Waves.
But Waiting For You is
a Fragile Eternity,
an Autumn Bridge,
A Northern Light.
The Last Days
Linger,
Unwind,
like A Kiss In Time:
Delicious,
Forever.
This Lullaby is because
I Most Wanted
Someone Like You
Along For The Ride.

Contest entries (so far!)

Nicola 3:31am

We are just the SKELETON CREW,
the last WARM BODIES
after WORLD WAR Z.
I, a LIVING DEAD GIRL,
exist in THE SHADOW OF THE WIND,
dreaming of THE DEAD AND THE GONE,
HAUNTED by the
TORMENT OF OTHERS.
I LINGER
in THE DEAD ZONE,
waiting for the ALL CLEAR,
but I'll never BEG FOR MERCY.










-------------------------
Alia 2:59am

 DR NO has an 
AFFINITY for SHARP OBJECTS.
He's in THE BUSINESS of ALTERED CARBON,
Practising THE ART OF DECEPTION,
Answering the MIRROR, MIRROR prayers of a NATION.
After THE RITUAL, THE SCAR will be GONE FOREVER.
I have NOTHING TO LOSE.
So why do I LINGER on THE ROAD?
THE TRUTH is,
That MONSTROUS REGIMENT of BEAUTIFUL CREATURES makes me SHIVER.
Among 400 BILLION STARS, how do you tell
THE ONE FROM THE OTHER?
















----------------
Tina 2:02 am

 THE STORY OF ZAHRA

One of PRINCESS SULTANA’S DAUGHTERS
THE WOMEN OF SAND AND MYRRH
Full of GRANDMOTHER’S SECRETS
And ARAB FOLKTALES
Traveling THE ROAD TO TAHRIR SQUARE
Wearing a VEIL OF ROSES
She leaves the THE HOUSE OF OBEDIENCE
And DREAMS OF TRESPASS
Or an EXIT TO EDEN
THE ARABIAN NIGHTS
Are full of NADIA’S SONG
SAND CASTLES
Like ATLANTIS RISING
Remembering STOLEN LIVES
SEVEN DAUGHTERS AND SEVEN SONS
Making THE CHOICE
A TRUST BETRAYED
UNEXPLAINED
Chasing TOMORROW’S DREAM
SCHEHEREZADE GOES WEST
Whispering to ANGELS & DEMONS
Searching for the EYE OF THE PYRAMID
Through the fog of the EMPIRES OF SAND
But, wait, MIRAGE
THE PERFUMED GARDEN OF CHEIKH NEFZAOUI
She never left the HAREM









------------------------
Rena 12:50am

 THE BRIEF HISTORY OF THE DEAD

ONE THOUSAND WHITE WOMEN go
TO THE END OF THE LAND for
THE LAST GREAT DANCE ON EARTH.
They SHIVER
in THE CLOTHES ON THEIR BACKS,
A THOUSAND YEARS OF GOOD PRAYERS
their only CONSOLATION.
There are DREAMS UNDERFOOT.
These DEAD SOULS
MARCH to meet
the MASTER OF THE CROSSROADS.
The UNDERWORLD
is FOR THE RELIEF OF UNBEARABLE URGES,
Where the WICKED
are FOREVER
SILENT IN THE GRAVE.
The CHOSEN
those REMARKABLE CREATURES
are for THE WORLD TO COME
where ALL SHALL BE WELL AND ALL SHALL BE WELL AND ALL MANNER OF THINGS SHALL BE WELL.


----------------------------

Megan 12:05am

 The Last Song plays.
I am Forever bested,
by A Bend In The Road.
Matched step for step,
left pleading for Twilight,
I whisper "Hush Hush, my darling
I have only just Fallen."
If I Stay,
I shall Wake,
If I Linger,
I shall Fade.
And after the First Drop of Crimson,
I shall drift into the Shadowland.
















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Gayle 12:04am

 Finding What I Knew

In search of MIRACLES,
I left THE KNOWN WORLD
To go WALKING ON WATER
Toward a LOST HORIZON.

RIDING BETWEEN THE WORLDS,
I was a WANDERER OF THE WASTELAND.

THE STRANGER took me,
I was SOLD INTO EGYPT
Until THE GOOD SHEPHERD
Sent me THROUGH THE LOOKING GLASS
To THE THURBER CARNIVAL.

IT'S A MAGICAL WORLD, after all.




----------------------

Lyra 12:03am

 Stained
Juliet, Naked,
The Woman Warrior,
a Fraud
at The Edge of Reason.
The Secret History of
The Whore's Child
Written on the Body,
The Human Stain.
Fear and Loathing
on all The Places in Between.
Men and Cartoons
Their Perfect Women,
Naked,
Lost in the Funhouse
Their White Teeth,
Skinny Legs and All
A Teenage Wasteland.
A Compass Error.
The Infinite Jest.

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Gemma 5:59am

 this is a STORY OF A GIRL

ONCE
I was a GEEK TRAGEDY
and THE DUFF.
You were BEAUTY QUEENS
perfect IMAGINARY GIRLS

With THE PULL OF GRAVITY
YOU
became THE ENEMY
because SOME GIRLS ARE
BEASTLY.
After  AN UNFORTUNATE SERIES OF EVENTS
I cried RED TEARS
I was NUMB

THEN
was THE SUMMER I TURNED PRETTY
and I learnt HOW TO BE A WOMAN
WHAT I WAS
turned to ASHES
and OUT OF SHADOWS
stepped THE GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATTOO

NOW
THE SKY’S THE LIMIT
I’m A TINY BIT MARVELLOUS
THE HAPPINESS PROJECT
is HOW I LIVE NOW

But BEFORE I DIE
I’ll look UP AND DOWN
and ONE DAY
I SHALL WEAR MIDNIGHT
and WHEN YOU REACH ME
you’ll feel my EMBER FURY




















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Kitty  6:02am

my PERFORATED HEART

those ELEVEN DAYS
were A TIME TO REMEMBER.
but 1933 WAS A BAD YEAR,
when HITLER STOLE PINK RABBIT,
when VERY BAD MEN
in THE DEAD OF WINTER
ended THE AGE OF INNOCENCE.
I ESCAPED FROM AUSCHWITZ,
found HAVEN
in WYOMING.
but I STILL DREAM ABOUT YOU.
still MISSING JOSEPH







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Jennifer 6:15am

I freefall
into the kiss -
no shame, no fear.
The choice is mine.
And I am fearless.









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Brandy 6:18am

 HOW BEAUTIFUL THE ORDINARY
but THE STRANGER
A HERO OF OUR TIME
is NOT THAT KIND OF GIRL
she SHINE’s
a DARK GODDESS
WICKED LOVELY
EVERMORE
her WINGS
CATCHING FIRE
A GREAT AND TERRIBLE BEAUTY
until ASH
in a CITY OF ASHES
EVENFALL
BETWEEN SHADES OF GRAY
a STRANGER IN A STRANGE LAND
but EVERYTHING’S EVENTUAL
and THIS LULLABY
is THE LAST SONG

Contest open now!

This one is going to be different!


Here's the premise:

Make a poem with your books.

I stole this idea from an extraordinary writer Tahereh Mafi***

You'll need to add a word here and there, but each line of the poem must include the title of a book.

Pictures REQUIRED to enter! (time to learn how to upload jpgs!)

You can use any book or books. They don't have to be titles I've sold or authors I represent (that said, you know I love my Fabulosity Posse!)

They can be library books. They can be kids books, picture books, religious books.

I'll ask you to avoid porn. Amazingly enough, some parents haven't blocked this blog from tender eyeballs.

The contest  opens NOW, Friday, 9/16, 12:01am.  You'll EMAIL me the poem and the jpg. Poem in the body of the email, jpg attached. (janet @ fineprintlit . com) removing the spaces of course.

The contest will CLOSE on Sunday 9/18 at noon (12:00pm)

When I receive your email, I'll let you know. If you have NOT heard from me 24 hours after sending, RESEND.
 NOTE: there are a LOT of entries, more than I imagined. And I'm having a REALLY good time at Bouchercon. So, if you don't hear from me by Tuesday 9/20, resend. I'm behind. (no kidding!)

That means do not email to ask if I got it, just RESEND.

I'm at Bouchercon while you're creating art, so I'll be busy drinking in the bar and it will take a minute to acknowledge all these.



Ready? Set? CREATE!

*** and if you're not reading her blog 

and following her on twitter, 

I won't call you an idiot just yet.  

You have 24 hours.

The times they are a'changin', yes indeed

For as long as we've had websites and electronic addresses for writers, it's been a truism that most agents won't clink on a link, won't go to a website, won't do anything but read queries to find new work.

That's still 85% true (I made up the number but what ever it is, it's less than the 99.5% it was two years ago.)

What changed? Twitter and Facebook arrived.

Here's what that means to you:

I follow 224 people on Twitter.  I see everything those 224  write in general; everything they write to me (@janet_reid); and everything they write to people I follow (those 224 folks again).

But, I can also see, if I want, people who write to me or about me by clicking on the "Mentions" tab.  And I see a couple tweets a day from people I don't know, and often it links to their blog, or their site, or something that ...ta daaa... I click on.

So, yes, you're more likely to see a shark swimming in your backyard pool now than you were two years ago.


Here's why knowing this is important. You want to  BE READY.

(I've yammered about Being Ready before--this is the electronic equivalent)

If you have pages of your novel posted on your website, you should also have what could be thought of as an introduction, an overview.  It might be your query. It might just be a paragraph that gives me the time period of a historical novel. It's a brief statement that you use to answer the question: What is your book about?


I've gone to hundreds of websites in the last year and looked at 20-25 books posted there. Almost no one has an intro. It's like standing in a forest. I can see the trees, but I don't know where I am or which direction to go.

Think of the overview as giving me a map.

I know I know, one more thing.  But, if it gets your work read, if it makes serendipity and luck work in your favor, you'll do it.  Won't you?

Next contest!

This one is going to be different!


Here's the premise:

Make a poem with your books.

I stole this idea from an extraordinary writer Tahereh Mafi***

You'll need to add a word here and there, but each line of the poem must include the title of a book.

Pictures REQUIRED to enter! (time to learn how to upload jpgs!)

You can use any book or books. They don't have to be titles I've sold or authors I represent (that said, you know I love my Fabulosity Posse!)

They can be library books. They can be kids books, picture books, religious books.

I'll ask you to avoid porn. Amazingly enough, some parents haven't blocked this blog from tender eyeballs.

The contest will OPEN on Friday, 9/16. You'll EMAIL me the poem and the jpg. Poem in the body of the email, jpg attached. (janet @ fineprintlit . com) removing the spaces of course.

The contest will CLOSE on Sunday 9/18.

When I receive your email, I'll let you know. If you have NOT heard from me 24 hours after sending, RESEND. That means do not email to ask if I got it, just RESEND.

I'm at Bouchercon while you're creating art, so I'll be busy drinking in the bar and it will take a minute to acknowledge all these.

Ask questions in the comment column of THIS POST! The actual contest will have a new post.

Ready? Set? CREATE!

*** and if you're not reading her blog 

and following her on twitter, 

I won't call you an idiot just yet.  

You have 24 hours.

VERY interesting...but not for the reason you think it is

In PW Daily this morning there's an article about  Omar Tyree and his new self-published novel CORRUPTED:


Despite having publishing deals with four major houses, bestselling African-American novelist Omar Tyree is experimenting with technology, self-publishing his latest novel, Corrupted, a feverish portrayal of power and ambition in the book industry, as a serialized Kindle edition e-book, releasing a chapter every week. Since July 15 and each Friday thereafter, Tyree has posted a chapter for readers to download for $1 each on Amazon.com, on his website omartyree.com, or at other e-book retail sites.


The rest of the article is here


Now, what caught my eye is the last line:  Tyree has posted a chapter for readers to download for $1 each on Amazon.com

My question is this: how many chapters does that book have? There are seven up at Amazon as of this morning.  If he gets $1 for each, and I wanted the whole book, I'd be paying ...$25? $35? $50? for the whole book.

Ummm...no.

No no no.

I'm all for selling content segments but if you choose to do this, you need to tell me how many segments make up the whole and if there are many segments, the price of the whole book.

I was all set to order this --I'm the exact target reader for this book cause it's about publishing--but I'm not going to just buy chapter after chapter without a limit on spending.

September 11, 2011

This is a profoundly sad day for all of us, particularly those who mourn the direct losses of 9/11.  I did not know any amongst those who perished in the twin towers on 9/11 but they changed my life, collectively and individually.

In the dark days that followed, I read every word of the "Portraits of Grief" series in the New York Times. It was the first thing I read in the paper, every day, for all the days it ran.

And of course I wept. How could you not.

But as I read, I came to see a common thread among all those who died. They were vibrant, full of life.  People up and about, at work at the dreadful hour of 9am. People who wanted to live here, and work here. People who loved NYC with a passion. I knew not a single one, but I felt a connection because I too love NYC with a passion.

Today we will gather to celebrate their lives, to mark their too-soon-absence, to renew our vows to use this time they did not get to live wisely and well.  Yes, we shall weep. How could we not.

But when we turn away from the place of remembrance and mourning, let us dance!

Let us crank up the volume of the most energized music we can find, kick up our heels and dance! With wild abandon let us embrace life, let us embrace what comes next.

We have been given the most precious gift of all: more time. 

We will never forget those who lost their lives on 9/11.

Let us never forget to celebrate their lives with life.

Let us dance!