W. Joy's Writing and Photography Journey

My New Camera

2009-01-23T11:41:00.000-08:00

What I really wanted for Christmas this year was a new camera. I had been using Dan’s dad’s for the past few years and it has been a very nice digital camera (my first, I believe). But for the past couple of years it has had two spots on the inside of the lens that has been messing up my shots. Since I like to try to get some of my photos published, this has been an issue with me. Some of my best shots have been messed up by these two little dots. If I have a lot of color in my shots, you can’t tell that they are there, but if I do a sky shot or a sand shot (many taken in New Mexico), you can tell.

Well I told people for Christmas I was collecting money to get a new camera. I knew what I wanted and it would be $350. I thought I would have to hold the money and get more money next year in order to get the camera, but when I went to eBay, I found a new opened box one for $148 and now it is mine. So the money had already begun to save and the money Dan’s mom and my parents gave me was enough to buy me my new camera.

I was using an Olympus Camedia C-3040Zoom with 3.3 megapixels. It had a 3x optical zoom and a 2.5x digital zoom. This nice camera also had f1.8 super bright zoom lens. This thing shot well and it was a lot brighter than the one I have now. In fact I would take pictures at a football game from the stance while Dan took shots from the sidelines and mine where brighter than his.

My new one is the same as the first nice camera Dan used while working at the Pender Post. The first one he had wasn’t very good so he did some research and the newspaper bought him a different one to use while he was there. The paper paid around $350 for theirs and I was very excited to pay only $148 for mine. Dan and I loved to use this camera as it had a wonderful zoom and it had a micro. After awhile, the paper got Dan an even fancier camera to use, and the little Minolta went to the next reporter. I did offer to buy theirs from them, but they wanted a little point and shot in the office for other reporters.

So yes, my new camera is a Minolta. It is a Konica Minolta Dimage Z3 in fact. It has 4.0 megapixels and 12x optical zoom.

Recently we have gone to the Moores Creek Battle Field and NC Aquarium. We have had a Young People’s Game night at our house and a teen activity. And believe it or not we have even a snow fall. So I have been playing with my new camera.

Sandlapper's Nice Rejection

2009-01-23T11:36:00.000-08:00

Awhile ago, I told you about Sandlapper’s nice rejection letter. Well, here it is;

[begin quote]
Dear Joy:

Elaine Gillespie, Sandlapper’s design consultant, really liked your photos (particularly the albino peacock) and would like to encourage you to submit more for future consideration. As I may have said previously, Ms. Gillespie and Bob Wilkins, Sandlapper’s editor emeritus, are interested in showing more action on our covers and endpapers, so if you have any vertical of people working and playing in South Carolina, send them on. (We get our share of lighthouses, waterfalls, shorebirds, wildflowers, and beach sunsets.)

{Here she placed the deadlines for photos.}

We look forward to seeing more of your work, and appreciate your interest in us. Happy New Year!

Sincerely,
Adia Rogers
[end quote]

Then at the end of the letter she had wrote:

[begin quote]
P.S. Your package was damaged when it arrived – I think it got wet somehow – but we were able to access the CD.
[end quote]

See, I told you it was a very nice rejection and this is from a whole lot bigger magazine than Haruah. Ms. Rogers and I did quite a bit of corresponding back and forth before I got my photos sent in and I don’t recall her saying anything about action shots of people. Right now the computer that has these shots is crashed; but I don’t think I have what she is looking for.

I guess I’ll have to take another trip down to South Carolina. ;-)

Rejected by Sandlapper - though very positive

2009-01-09T11:31:00.000-08:00

Though it took awhile, I did finally hear back from Sandlapper. I guess my package with my photos and CD got wet and damaged in the mail, but they were able to open the CD to look at the photos.

Though they did not accept my shots, they did send a VERY positive rejection letter and asked me to send in more photos (if I have any action shots of people in SC).

I’ll have to bring the letter here to church, since I don’t have internet at the house, and type out what it says another day.

I never did hear from NM Magazine, so I’m guessing that is a no.

I did get a start on the photos I want to send to Our State Magazine, but the computer with those shots crashed and we haven’t been able to get it up yet.

I also have another South Carolina magazine that was interested in looking at my pictures if Sandlapper didn’t accept them, but once again those are on the crashed computer.

Waiting to hear back from Two

2008-10-26T13:02:00.000-07:00

I did send photos into Sandlapper before their Sept. 8th deadline, but I haven’t heard from them. I’ll send them an email in a few days to see what I can find out.

I also sent photos to the NM Magazine photo contest before their Oct. 15th deadline. They said that they would contact the winners by the end of the month, so I’m still waiting to hear from them.

I know what photos I’m going to send to Our State Magazine, but unfortunately at the moment, the computer with all of the photos on it is out for lunch. I hope that we will be able to get back in there and recover all of our photos and documents. It will be very, very, sad loss if we can’t.

Submitted to Sandlapper, rejected by Carolina Counry

2008-09-04T15:51:00.000-07:00

Well, I finally got my submission off to Sandlapper. The dead-line is September 8th. I have no idea if I did my submission correctly. Their submission guidelines weren’t very clear.

I so need to find a place that will help tell and show how to set up a professional photo submission. I know how to for writing, because my husband found out and told me.

My photo of Anna peeking through a rotted stump did not make it into either the print or on-line version of Carolina Country. So that is one submission turned down.

I have stated, once again, to work on my submission to Our State.

I wrote NM Magazine a question and am still waiting to hear back from them.

Well, not much to talk about in the photo and writing deparment.

Back to Photo Submitting

2008-08-09T10:42:00.000-07:00

Hi, all. Yes, I know long time no hear.

In late June 2007, we moved to North Carolina. I got a job baby-sitting, which took time away from writing and photography submitting. Then January 2008, we bought a house that needed some fixing up.

Due to a tight budget, getting tighter I have returned to trying to get photos published.

On June 29, I sent inquiry emails to:
Carolina Scene Magazine (www.carolinascene.com)
Carolina Country Magazine (www.carolinacountry.com)
WNC Magazine (www.wncmagazine.com)

Only June 30th, I heard from MNC Magazine stating that they would “gladly consider submissions” and told me the name of person to contact (while including her email address).

On July 6, I sent inquiry emails to:
Sandlapper Magazine (www.sandlapper.org)
South Carolina Magazine (www.scmagazine.net)

On July 7th, I heard from Sandlapper saying that they did take free-lance material and sent me a copy of their submission guidelines. I have been in contact with the editor there several times now. They are interested in photo essays and some stand along photos. As I don’t have enough photos for an essay, I sent a list of the 9 photos that I had. She contacted me back and there are 3 shots (of the same thing) that she isn’t interested in; but I could send the others. I emailed her today to get the formatting for the submission.

On July 8th, I heard from South Carolina Magazine. The editor stated that they don’t normally accept photos that hadn’t been assigned to an article, but I could send her a few to take a look at.

My plan for my few South Carolina photos that I took last year while vacationing there with my parents and my family is to send them to Sandlapper and then to South Carolina Magazine.

I don’t remember the date, but I sent an inquiry email to Master Sunday Bulletins to see if they take free-lance material. I see the photos on the bulletins every week and I often think that I could have taken a shot like that. I let them know that I was a pastor’s wife and that I have had photos published else where.

Well, on July 4th, I got my answer:

[begin quote]
Thank you for asking about our use of unsolicited images for publication by Master Sunday Bulletins.

We have a long term contract with a group of photographers who supply our images.

We wish you every success on monetizing your photography!!

James E. Johnson, Director and Advisor to the publisher of Master Sunday Bulletins.
[end quote]

While looking in our issue of Carolina Country, I found that they were having a photo contest. The contest was “My Favorite Photo.” The photos that get published in the magazine get $50. There will be photos that don’t make the print magazine that will make the on-line magazine (though those aren’t paid anything). Only
July 7th, I submitted a photo to this contest. The winning photos will be printed in the September issue.

So, I have one submission out. I am trying to finish a submission of six photos with Sandlapper Magazine. I have information about sending to Our State North Carolina Magazine. I just need to sit down and prepare my photos according to their submission guidelines. I just got back from a mission trip to New Mexico and before I left I found a photo contest to send photos to; so, I have to choose my six photos and prepare those for according their guidelines.

It feels good to be getting photo submissions out there again and hopefully, God willing, I’ll get a few published.

Re-submitted to Agency

2007-12-20T10:33:00.001-08:00

After waiting 161 days to hear back from Agency about my story “Home and Home Again,” I sent them an email asking if they have received my story and if they had how it was fairing.

I got an email back the same day and I found out that they never received my story has they had had several trouble in the summer (when I sent it).

Yesterday, I resent my story to them. However, after I sent it I realized that I think I sent it to the wrong address. They didn’t post the email address on their submission page, so I used the one at the top of the web-site, the same one I used to send the inquiry, so hopefully they got it. I also realized that this story talks about the American shore and it hints at the war we are in right now and Agency is a Canadian publication....so I doubt it will be accepted.

Sending Inquiries

2007-12-15T13:03:00.000-08:00

It has been such a long time since I have done anything with my writing and submitting. I recalled the other day that I had three submissions out there that I haven’t heard from so yesterday I sent inquiry emails to see how my stuff was doing.

On July 6th, I sent my story “Home and Home Again” to Agency and after waiting 161 days to hear from them (the average being 139), I sent them an email to see if they received my story and how it was going.

This is the response I got from them yesterday:

[quote]
Hello Joy,

Unfortunately, we did not receive your story. We have had some problems with our server – especially over the summer months – which may account for that. Our apologies. Please do send it again if you are still interested in appearing in AGENCY.

Thank you for checking in.

Olivia Jacques
Assistant, AGENCY magazine
[end quote]

I sent the same story out to The Bergen Street Review on August 3rd. The average response time is 21 days and I have now been waiting 134 days. I sent them an inquiry yesterday as well, but have not heard back from them.

The third inquiry I emailed yesterday was to do with some photos that I had emailed out on September 17th to Baker’s Dozen Review.

This is the response I got today from them:

[quote]
Ms. Robelen:

I apologize for the delay. I thought I had already responded to your submission. Your photography was not quite what our magazine is looking for. We appreciate your time and effort in submitting, and hope you will feel free to submit new material for consideration in the future.

Sincerely, (with apologies)
John Hocter
Editor, Baker's Dozen Review
[end quote]

I’ll let you know what The Bergen Street Review says when I find out.

Two More Haruah Publications

2007-11-12T13:24:00.000-08:00

On November 1st I was surprised to see I had two photos published at Haruah. On the first day of the month, a cover art photo and illustration of mine were published.

What was the surprise was that the cover art was submitted and accepted as an illustration for a poem. I had no idea that it would grace the cover.

In the Cover Art/Illustration thread at Haruah the managing editor had this to say, “Our cover art for November isn't a bird we traditionally eat on Thanksgiving, but its colors rival those of any fall display. This bird really does have something to boast about.”

Another editor had this to say, “Wow! That is gorgeous! Nice work, Joy. And thanks for sharing it with us. Can I use it as the desktop on my computer? This picture reminds me that God is an artist.”
I have never had anyone ask me to use my photo as computer wallpaper. It was a thrill.

When I thanked them for their comments and stated my surprise to see it on the cover, the managing editor replied, “Looking around at our stash of photos, this one stood out as a good fit for November, and we really liked the colors in it. So, it just seemed a natural cover photo for Nov. I couldn't help myself but use it! Nice work, Joy.”

Another nice comment.

If you would like to see what all the fuss is about, find out here – “Boasting Peacock.”

The other publication credit I got on the first was a photo illustration. I took the picture as my husband and I were driving through West Virginia. We had been up there with some of our church members helping a local church hand out gospel tracts and going whitewater rafting. Since the name of the piece was “Tangerine Sky,” I added my own “tangerine” sky to the picture by using the free computer software GIMP.

To see this photo click here – “Mountain Stream.”

Haruah is back up

2007-11-10T09:40:00.000-08:00

I did want to let you know that Haruah is back up. I made links to my story and photos and shortly after Haruah went down. The company they host with sold to some else and there was a big glitch, but all is well now. So do please, try the links and see my story and my photos.

My Story and Two Photos Are Now in Print

2007-11-02T08:25:00.000-07:00

I just realized yesterday that my first story ever published is now in print. My first, and only, story to be published is titled, “A Mother’s Love.” I also self-illustrated my piece with a photo titled, “A Mother’s Love Letter.” This story and photo was first published in Haruah: Breath of Heaven and then reprinted in Turn the Page.

Haruah now has their Spring 2007, Issue 11-13 in print. This issue has the most gorgeous cover photo and has selections by: Bill Snodgrass, R. F. Long, Kevin Shaw, Richard Sederstrom, Sangay Glass, Marianne Watts, and J. M. Munsil.

From cover to end, everyone published in issue 11 is from a writing community that I work with called The NoteBored. Rachel A. Marks with a news piece and cover art; J. M. Munsil with poetry, R. F. Long with fiction, and me with a fiction piece and two photo illustrations.

Issue 12 has two NoteBored members published in it. Keith McKendry did the cover photo and Kevin Shaw did a piece of fiction and self-illustrated it.

R. F. Long of the NoteBored also is published in issue 13 with a poetry piece which she self-illustrated.

To see my publications in the printed spring issue, click below:
“A Mother’s Love” with photo “A Mother’s Love Letter” – here
“Silent Upon the Grave” – here

If you desire to have my work in print, click below:
Printed in full color – here
Printed in black and white – here

My First Wedding Gig

2007-10-04T07:00:00.000-07:00

Dan preformed his first wedding ceremony on June 30th. I was asked by the bride’s mother to take the pictures. I was honored by this, yet very nervous. I know how upset I got at my photographer. Dan wanted me to nicely reject the offer, also remembering how upset I got at mine and not wanting the church folk upset with me.

However, I didn’t. I talked the bride about what pictures she might be interested in, but she really didn’t know. I guess it is hard to make some one upset if they don’t know what they want.

Well the day of the very small wedding came and I had borrowed someone’s camera from the church. I would have used the one that we have, but it is older and the card only holds 40 shots. I have used the borrowed camera before and took some lovely shots with it, so I felt comfortable with it.

But then I remembered that the camera likes to throw heavy shadows so I borrowed a flash from someone else. I don’t know if the camera and the flash weren’t “talking” well together but the day of the wedding I had a terrible time.

Either the flash would work or it wouldn’t. If it did it was either too bright or not bright enough. I don’t think I was helped that the bride was white wearing a white dress and the groom is Hispanic wearing a black suit and all the decorations were white. The flash wanted to bounce off the bride and absorb into the groom.

It also didn’t help me that there were 4-5 other people with their cameras taking pictures as well. I couldn’t get in were I needed to me and sometimes their flash would bother my shot. I was asked to be the wedding photographer and the others needed to let me in. I guess I’m just not forceful enough to make them.

Another hindrance to me is that the bride was so shy and nervous it was had to get a natural look.

I took over 400 shots and then I had to go through them and sort them out. The wedding itself was very small. There was only the bride and groom and only family and a few friends witnessed the ceremony. After the wedding there was big reception and I took several shots of the people who were there milling around. After the reception, I did get the couple to stand and do some poses for me. I wanted to take photos before the wedding, but they didn’t desire to.

Wanting the couple to have some special pictures to choose from, I did some playing around with some of them. The ones I really like are the ones with the photos and the words on the backgrounds.

Well, all that said, I’ll post some of my shots for you to take a peek at. If there is one you want to see, just click on it.

Getting paid for a photo!

2007-09-17T06:18:00.000-07:00

Hahoo! I’m getting paid for a photo! My first photo payment!

I heard back from Haruah yesterday about a cover art photo that I sent them.

On the same day I sent them an illustration photo and a cover art photo. They have accepted the illustration (“Boasting Peacock”), but the formatting for the cover photo was a little off. They wanted the dragonfly to be lower down in the picture, but because of how the picture was taken, I didn’t know how.

I sent the original shot to the editor and asked him if he could tell me how to fix it – if there was way. But he sent it back to me already fixed. I resubmitted it and I waited.

I just heard yesterday that they wanted to accept it and when I started to get the contract ready to sign, I got a very pleasant surprise – I was being paid $5!

Yes, it isn’t much, but it is my first photo payment and it is very exciting.

I have now had to sales – “A Mother’s Love” a fiction flash piece and “Blue Dragonfly” a photo; and both of them to Haruah.

Rejected by Baker's Dozen Review

2007-09-17T06:10:00.000-07:00

I was away 24 hours from Friday to Saturday at a Ladies’ Retreat with our church ladies. I enjoyed this years speakers better than last years as they had more meat.

Anyway while I was gone I heard from Baker’s Dozen Review.

[quote]
Ms. Robelen:

Thank-you for showing us the pictures, but they are not quite what we're looking for. I would love to include some photography in the November issue, so if you have any other's that you feel proud of please feel free to send them to us for review. Sorry about the delay, any new submission of yours will receive top priority.

Sincerely,
John Hocter
Editor
[end quote]

I am going to send them more....the only trouble is I don’t know want to send them. They are a new magazine and they only submission guidelines stated are:

“Art: Submit photographs, drawings, paintings, prints and other artwork to the editor as attachments. No graphic pornography or violence. All styles accepted.”

I see that they are a literary magazine, so that means they want stranger stuff – I guess. The art pictures that were accepted for the second issue are strange, or at least I’d call them strange.

I’ll send them more and I’ll let you know what they say.

Baker's Dozen Review

2007-09-14T10:20:00.001-07:00

Still waiting and hoping.

On July 6 I sent three photos from my South Carolina vacation to Baker’s Dozen Review magazine. They say to allow 2-4 weeks to get a response.

On August 15th I sent them an inquiry to see if they received my three photos and if they could let me know how they are doing.

Since I still haven’t heard from them, I sent them a second inquiry today.

I went to their website and I see that they have put out their 2nd issue and they asking for submissions for the third. I’m going to take it that they deiced that they didn’t want mine. Well, I guess I’ll just have to wait and see.

I would love so much to have a photo(s) published in another magazine. I have several in Haruah, but I would love to branch out some.

I’ll let you know when I know.

Two more rejections for "Home and Home Again"

2007-08-09T11:39:00.000-07:00

My short story, “Home and Home Again,” has received two more rejections.

The magazine 10x10x10 is for people who have written 10 stories and has at least 10 rejections. When the editor has 10 stories she wants to publish, then the online magazine is published. Thus the name 10x10x10. I received a 3 day rejection:

[quote]
Dear Joy,

I'm sorry, but this story isn't of sufficient quality for 10X10X10. The central conflict is interesting, but you have overwritten to the max, explaining every nuance of the characters' emotions, thoughts, etc. when it is not really necessary. Try to imply emotions and events without going on at length about them--trust your reader to connect the dots.

Thanks very much for letting me read your work.

Sincerely,
Katharine Coldiron
Editor, 10X10X10
[end quote]

I just got word today from Barn Owl Review. I didn’t think my story was a good fit there, but they are a new magazine and I thought I’d give it a try. This rejection took 34 days.

[quote]
Dear Joy:

Thank you for allowing us to consider your submission. Regretfully, we are unable to use your work at this time, although we read it with much interest. Many thanks for sharing your talents with us, and very best wishes for placing this work elsewhere.

Sincerely,
The Barn Owl Review Editors
[end quote]

I think I’ll hang this story up for a little bit. I hope to do some catching up on things and then will be able to do some more writing. I still have a column entry to finish and I have a true-to-life story I would like to write. Many in a few months, I’ll be able to have some of my writer friends look over this piece again and see what they have to say to make it a stronger piece.

Once again, here is the long rejection story for this piece:
1. Happy-11 days
2. Haruah-12 days
3. Gambara-126 days (but made final reading)
4. The King’s English-25 days
5. Plunge-111 days
6. Bewildering Stories-2 days (after re-write request)
7. The Pedestal-28 days
8. Literary Mama-64 days
9. Four Volts-8 days
10. Front Porch Journal-59 days
11. Euphony-59 days
12. Eclectica Magazine-23 days
13. GUD-4 days
14. Fiction Warehouse-20 days
15. 42 Opus-76 days
16. Armada Quarterly-92 days (letter received-magazine closed)
17. Dicey Brown-163 days (assumed rejection-magazine seems to be down)
18. Whistling Shade-44 days
19. Avery Anthology-59 days
20. Xelas-239 days
21. 10x10x10-3 days
22. Barn Owl Review-34 days

“Home and Home Again” is still out at:
Agency-34 days
The Bergen Street Review-6 days

Photo Gallery Rejected

2007-07-12T06:45:00.000-07:00

Wanting to have my pictures published in besides the local newspaper, The Pender Post, and at Haruah, I branched out to Gambara on March 21, 2007. I sent them a photo gallery of seven shots.

These pictures were taken at Moores Creek National Battle Field in North Carolina. Re-enactors dressed to play the part and did camp actives which were common during the colonial period in remembrance of the 231st anniversary of the 1776 Patriot victory. This victory over the Loyalists made the royal governor realize that North Carolina couldn’t be regained for the British crown. Shortly after their victory, the colony of North Carolina voted to declare it’s independence from Great Britain.

After waiting a little over the three month waiting time, I sent an inquiry:

[quote]
Dear Editors,

I was checking on the status of my seven shot photo gallery I submitted to you on March 21, 2007, titled "Living History." This was my first attempt in formatting and submitting a photo gallery to you and I wanted to make sure that you received it and it was formatted correctly. Thanks for your time.

Sincerely,
W. Joy Robelen
[end quote]

On July 11, I got my answer:

[quote]
Hello there,

I got the gallery fine and was able to check it out with no problems. I liked the way you formatted that, with each caption followed by a link to third-party hosting; I haven't seen that format in any other submission, but it was very clear and I thought it was a good idea. Anyway, the gallery was interesting but we're going to pass on it. Sorry about the long wait -- I'm hoping that I'll be able to stay more on top of submissions in my new situation. Best of luck in the future!

--Scott Johnson
[end quote]

My husband told me that what I sent was not what the wanted. Which I kind of knew, but they said that they really wanted pictures and I thought the might like mine. I have another idea or two to send them, but those will have to wait.

One reason, one of the photos that I thought of using is already subbed out else where and secondly, I have gotten around to talking the other shots.

Rejected by Clockwise Cat

2007-07-12T06:38:00.000-07:00

On July 6, I sent out “A Mother’s Love” to Clockwise Cat. I didn’t think it was a great fit, but sometimes you just don’t know until you try and they were going to be closing their submission time shortly.

If you recall, “A Mother’s Love” was published in the 11th issue of Haruah and in the 1st issue of Turn the Page. I decided to see if anyone else would be interested in this little flash piece.

I got my answer on July 9, only 3 days later.

[quote]
Hi Joy,

I am sorry to report that we are passing on your piece, "A Mother's Love." Though well-written, the story does not fit the tenor of Clockwise Cat. Perhaps in the future you will have a submission more suitable to the publication's style.

Thanks,
Alison Ross
Editor, Clockwise Cat
[end quote]

Well, at least a got a personal rejection and an upbeat one at that. Well, worth three days.

Rejected by Xelas -- 239 days

2007-07-12T06:37:00.000-07:00

On March 31, I sent my third inquiry to the Xelas Magazine. After not hearing from them, I sent a forth.

On July 6, 2007, I received this from them:

[quote]
Dear Joy,

Thank you for your continued patience with us. I apologize for not
replying to your second inquiry. The past few months have seen us all here pulled in different directions; I'm sure you understand.

I am sorry to say that we are unable to publish your story in our
Forthcoming issue. We hope that you will consider us in the future, though, and we wish you the best of luck in your writing endeavors.

Regards,
Jennifer Armentrout
[end quote]

This was a 239 day rejection.

If anyone tells you that getting published is easy....they’re telling you the biggest whooper ever.

Picks 2-6 of "My Heart Aches: But Goodbye"

2007-06-07T17:08:00.000-07:00

The poet and author J. M. Munsil asked me to illustrate a three poem set that had been accepted at Haruah. I informed the author, one of my writing friends, that I would give it a try. Mr. Munsil gave me a few ideas and I took off from there.

I have already written about taking these shots and how much trouble I had taking a good rain shot. So, if you have been reading along, you all ready know those long details.

I’ll write about how this photo came about, but right now I just want to show with you the other shots that I was considering on sending to Haruah. I took several and I picked out my top 6 shots. My first pick (and the author’s as well) was accepted by Haruah, but I liked the other five picks as well. And instead of just deleting them from the hard drive, I thought I’d show them to you.

So here are picks 2-6:

Inquring Xelas Again

2007-05-31T06:18:00.000-07:00

Well, “Home and Home Again” is only out to Xelas. The last time I heard from them was on March 27, 2007. So today I sent the following email to them:

[quote]
Dear Editors,

I was inquiring about my story, “Home and Home Again.” I submitted it on November 9, 2006. On March 27th, I received word that my story was still under consideration.

I was wondering if you could update me on how my story is standing. Is it still in the slush pile waiting to be read, or has it moved on past that point?

Thank you for your time and for the work that you do.

Sincerely,
W. Joy Robelen
[end quote]

Only 1 out of 4

2007-05-30T06:52:00.000-07:00

Well, I heard from Haruah yesterday about my four photo submissions. I must admit was a surprised and hurt.

Out of 4 only 1 was accepted.

Illustration-“My Heart Aches: But Goodbye” was submitted on March 29th. This is the only one that was accepted.

[quote]
This is wonderful!
[end quote]

Illustration-“Falling Through” was submitted on March 30th.

[quote]
It was just too hard to see. Sorry.
[end quote]

Cover Art-“The Long Bridge” was submitted on April 24th.

[quote]
This photo is nice, but has no center. The flowers in the foreground,
tree in the background overshadowing it all, and the bridge itself all
seem to be fighting to be the focus of the photo. Too crowded.

******

Wow, it's so pretty there.
[end quote]

Illustration-“Prayer” was submitted on April 26th.

[quote]
This piece has already been illustrated.

Thanks anyway. It's a very cute pic.
[end quote]

I don’t mind that last one so much. The author, herself, illustrated the piece. I do wish that when I wrote Haruah expressing my interest to illustrate it, that they would have written me back and let me know that the author sent a photo in.

The “Falling Through” is a nuisance as I went out three times during two different storms to get the shot and they say it still isn’t good enough. I thought it went with the poem very well and the picture wasn’t that bad. Oh, well it isn’t my magazine.

The real heartbreak of them all was with the cover art, “The Long Bridge.” That shot was just beautiful. I don’t understand the comment on it. This bridge has been photographed over and over again and my shot is as good as the one on the website. Oh well. Maybe I can find another place for this beautiful picture.

Only one out of four photos accepted at Haruah is a real discouragement. I normally do so well there. Maybe they are tried of me submitting. I guess I’ll give this magazine a rest.

"Artistic" Southern Pictures

2007-05-21T15:02:00.000-07:00

Here are some more shots from our vacation in South Carolina:

1: Taken at North Myrtle Beach – trails in the sand

2: Taken at North Myrtle Beach – shadow fisherman

3: Taken at Medieval Times – swords

4: Taken at Magnolia Plantation and Gardens – Azalea bushes

5: Taken at Magnolia Plantation and Gardens – The Long Bridge

6: Taken at Hunting Island – lighthouse

7: Taken at Hunting Island – looking to the top of the lighthouse, while inside it

8: Taken at Hunting Island – lighthouse shadow

9: Taken at Hunting Island – millions of fiddler crabs

10: Taken at Hunting Island – wave action upon the sand of sandbar

Pictures of my daughter

2007-05-18T09:15:00.000-07:00

Ok, so this blog is about my writing and my photos. I can't put my stories or pictures here that I desire to publish. But I can put stories and photos that I don't plan on trying to publish.

So, lets add some color and fun to this site, shall we?

Here are some shots I took of my duaghter in early April 2007 while we vacationed with my parents:

Whats Still Out There

2007-05-17T17:06:00.000-07:00

What I have out waiting to be accepted:

Photos:
“Living History,” a photo gallery, at Gambara sent March 21
“My Heart Aches: But Good Bye,” an illustration, at Haruah sent March 29
“Falling Through,” an illustration, at Haruah sent March 30
“The Long Bridge,” cover art, at Haruah sent April 24
“Prayer,” an illustration, at Haruah sent April 26

Story:
“Home and Home Again,” to Xelas Magazine sent November 9, 2006

19th Rejection for "Home and Home Again"

2007-05-08T06:24:00.000-07:00

Update total rejections for “Home and Home Again”:

Happy-11 days
Haruah-12 days
Gambara-126 days (but made final reading)
The King’s English-25 days
Plunge-111 days
Bewildering Stories-2 days (after re-write request)
The Pedestal-28 days
Literary Mama-64 days
Four Volts-8 days
Front Porch Journal-59 days
Euphony-59 days
Eclectica Magazine-23 days
GUD-4 days
Fiction Warehouse-20 days
42Opus-76 days
Armada Quarterly-92 days (letter received-magazine closed)
Dicey Brown-163 days (assumed rejection-magazine seems to be down)

On May 2nd I got a 44 day rejection from Whistling Shade:

[quote]
Hi Joy - our editors didn't select "Home and Home Again" for Whistling Shade, but thanks for considering us.

Kind regards,
Joel Van Valin
Whistling Shade
[end quote]

Yesterday I just got a 59 day rejection from Avery Anthology:

[quote]
Hi Joy, Thanks so much for letting us read your work. Unfortunately, we can't find a place for it in Avery. We wish you the best of luck as you continue to find a place for your stories, and we hope that you’ll consider us in the future.

Sincerely,
Stephanie, Adam, and Andrew
[end quote]

This story is as of right now, only out to one place – Xelas. It has been there for180 days. Over a month ago I got word from them that my story is still in consideration. Now what I don’t know is if that means that someone has read it and passed it on or if no one has had time and it is still sitting in the slush pile.

I’m going to find some more places to send this out. Or maybe I need to workshop it again and get some fresh eyes to read it. When I first started to send this story out, I got positive feedback from the editors. Now, I’m just getting form letters.

Second Year Anniversary

2007-04-27T06:30:00.000-07:00

April 21, 2007 marked my second year anniversary with The NoteBored. And April 22, 2007 marked my second year with Liberty Hall.

What has this second year brought me? Well, due to a move and a job I haven’t written as much as I did the first year. But I have had several photos published, a few column pieces, and one story. I even have had a reprint of my story accepted.

For full publication/acceptance list during my second year at NB and LH:

"Fiction Story-"A Mother's Love"(reprint) forthcoming in Turn the Page,
"Illustration-"A Mother's Love Letter" (reprint) forthcoming in Turn the Page,
"Illustration-The Handoff" forthcoming in Haruah,
"Interview-"An Interview with Aliette de Bodard" forthcoming in Turn the Page,
"Illustration-Silent Upon the Grave" in Haruah, March 2007
"Fiction Story-A Mother's Love" in Haruah, March 2007
"Illustration-A Mother's Love Letter" in Haruah, March 2007
"Illustration-Violin Solo for Two" in Haruah, October 2006
"Cover Art-Water Lillies" forthcoming in Haruah,
"Column-Paul Wright-Missioanry to Argentina" in Haruah, September 2006
"Illustration-Blue Butterfly" in Harauh, September 2006
"Column-Evangelist Dr. Bill Rice in Africa" in Haruah, August 2006
"Column-David Livingstone-Pathfinder of Africa" in Haruah, July 2006
"Illustration-Water over Stones" in Haruah, July 2006
"Illustration-Spring Marriage" in Haruah, July 2006
"Cover Art-Bridal Veil Falls" forthcoming in Haruah,
"Coulmn-Amy Carmichael in Japan" in Haruah, June 2006
"Column-Jim and Roni Bowers-Missionaries to Peru" in Haruah, May 2006

Two magazines folded on me

2007-04-23T06:47:00.000-07:00

On November 10, 2006 I sent “Home and Home Again” to Dicey Brown. I noticed about 2 months ago that Duotrope stated that this magazine was closed for submissions. I clicked on the website posted on Duotrope and then on the picture on the website and nothing came up. On February 14th and again on March 19th, I sent an inquiry email to see how things were coming along. I still have not heard back from them. And now when I click on the web link on Duotrope, it just says that it is a bad link. So after 163 days of waiting, I’m assuming that this magazine is no longer in existence and those another rejection for my story.

On April 21, 2007 I received this:

[quote]
We regret to announce that Armada Quarterly is on indefinite hiatus. It is our hope to return at some point with renewed commitment, as athriving, paying publication. We apologize to those of you who have been waiting for feedback on a submission; we’re sorry for every inconvenience we’ve caused.
Dave and Bill
[end quote]

So I guess that is another rejection for “Home and Home Again.” At least Armada was kind enough to tell those who submitted to them that they closed up. They had my story for 92 days and their average time was 80 days.

The last time I checked they had had my story for 85 days and in a few days I was going to send an inquiry out to them. Oh well, so much for getting my hopes up a little.

“Home and Home Again” is still out to:
Xelas Magazine – 165 days
Avery Anthology – 45 days
Whistling Shade – 35 days

Umm, it looks like I need to find some more markets for this story. I didn’t realize it was only out to three places.

Creating-"Silent Upon the Grave"

2007-04-16T11:42:00.000-07:00

One of Dan’s first writing assignments at the Pender Post was at Moores Creek National Battlefield. Since then we have made more visits to this battlefield (some for Dan’s work and a few for fun).

On the second to last trip there we were coming around to the end of the paved path and I looked up and once again saw this statue with the Spanish Moss behind her. I thought it would make a nice picture and something that I could submit to Haruah.

I took several shots, but never got the one that was in my mind’s eye. I finally gave up. The digital shots were downloaded onto the computer and forgotten about.

Until I read J. M. Munsil’s poem, “Speak to Me.” I thought that this shot would be a nice picture to add to his wonderful poem.

So, I went to where the pictures are stored and found the shot that I wanted and submitted it.

I was born in South Carolina, but my family moved when I was around three. When I was around thirteen, we took a trip to the south to Disneyland and to see my brother’s and mine home town. On this trip, I fell in love with the Spanish Moss.

In truth that is what attracted me to this shot the most. The Spanish Moss behind the statue of the lady.

I was asked to illustrate

2007-03-29T17:34:00.001-07:00

A writer friend of mine, Mike Munsil, asked me about a month ago to try to illustrate his three newly accepted poems at Haruah. I told him that I would give it a try and he gave me an idea for each poem.

I finished the shot for poem #1 a couple of days after the conversation. I used my husband the boy I baby-sit as actors. We took a trip to the local park and Dan played football with Caleb. I ended up with a shot with Caleb’s feet off the ground. I emailed Mr. Munsil the shots so he could choose which one he liked. I submitted that one to Haruah, “The Handoff,” and they have accepted it.

I waited for about 2.5 weeks for the shot for poem #2. I need rain and a leaky porch. After three trips out in the rain and getting damp to very wet, I ended up with some shots. I emailed Mike the best ones I had, he picked one, and I sent it to Haruah. But they rejected it. They said the rain looked too much like ice. After looking closer, I saw what they meant. I told them that I’d give it another try.

Well, we were to have rain this morning (about a week after I found out the first one was no good) so I went to bed early to get up early so I could take some pictures before the kiddos got here at 10. But I woke up to a beautiful morning. It started to rain, once the kiddos showed up. I called Dan to see if he could come home and watch two of the kids while I took Caleb out to take some more pictures at the museum (the shot that Mike liked before). He wasn’t too thrilled about it, but he came home and set the camera up at 250 shutter speed. I went out, took some shots, came home, and they were no good. Dan adjusted the camera to a 500 shutter speed and I went out again. But the rain had died down. Dan then went back to work.

Of course then it started to rain again. I im’d him to see if he would humor me again and come home, but he was on the phone. I ended up putting on an adult disposable rain poncho on Caleb, a rain jacket on Anna, and a garbage bag with a hole on the top over Grace. I pulled the three children (ages 1, 4, and 5) in the stroller for about 3 blocks to Dan’s job.

I left Anna and Grace with him and Caleb and I went back to the museum to take more shots. After taking several, I came home and downloaded them onto the computer. Then we went to the grocery store to buy peanut butter and candy treats for each of the children for being so good.

After lunch, I went through the shots and I had maybe 5 decent ones. I emailed them to the Haruah editor who has been very helpful in helping me to get the rain shots. He said that they needed an “active” shot and sent me an example. I told him that I could have gotten one like that, but the author wanted a shot with a leaky porch.

I then told him that if the shots were no good, to either publish the poem without a photo or use one of his own (which he says he doesn’t want to do, since the other ones were going to be mine). I told him that I guess rain photography was beyond my ability. I hope that I didn’t sound too many or upset as I told him that it had been a hassle to get those shots as I’m preparing for vacation and as I drug all the children out in the rain. But I was a little perturbed. I just don’t know what they are after. I mean my shots aren’t 100% perfect, but I do believe that there is one there good enough to use.

Anyway to go on and quite ranting, I had taken several shots for poem #3 a few days after the ones at the park for poem #1. I then emailed Mike five shots for him to choose which one he liked best. He has been very busy with family life, but today I did find out which one he liked. He picked #1 and chose #4 and #5 as back-ups. I liked #1 because of the natural lighting, but I don’t like the glare off Dan’s neck. Mike said it something about “pesky red-necks” when I told him about it. I like #4 because of the boy’s expression. Well, I sent #1 to Haruah today, “My Heart Aches: But Good-Bye.” I’ll let you know what they say when I know.

I’ll also let you know about my rain shots.

So, keep coming back....to find out the answers.

"Home and Home Again" still being considered by Xelas

2007-03-27T06:35:00.001-07:00

On November 9, 2006 I sent my story, “Home and Home Again” out to Xelas Magazine. They have an average wait time of 74 days and authors can inquiry after 90 days.

After 90 days, I think it was over 100, I send an inquiry email. I sent it on Februaray 14th.

I didn’t hear back from them. I don’t know when it is proper to inquiry again, but I sent a second one on March 19th.

Today, I finally got my answer....

[quote]
Joy,

I apologize for the delay in getting back to you. Scheduling conflicts between the editors have caused us some problems this year at Xelas, but your story is still under consideration.”

Regards,
Jennifer Armentrout, Editor
[end quote]

So, I guess I’ll just keep waiting to see what happens. They have had my story for 138 days now.

I would really love to sell this one, as it has already received 15 or 16 rejections.

This story is still out to five other magazines. (Though one magazine has had it for 137 days and they appear to be closed....so, I’ll most likely pull it after vaction.)

I submitted a Photo Gallery to Gambara

2007-03-22T08:11:00.001-07:00

While I was searching some places that would accept reprints, I noticed that Gambara was looking for some more photo galleries. There is a church in the county that I call the castle church and I have wanted to take some pictures of it. I then thought of the idea of taken shots of several Pender Country churches and submitting them as a photo gallery to Gambara.

However, we had a weekend of living history right here in Pender County at Moores Creek National Battlefield. Re-enactors dressed the part and did normal colonial activities. Dan had to cover it for the Pender Post, so I went as well and took shots to make a photo gallery. I took several and I ended up with a few good ones. There are three that I really love.

One is a young boy dressed in colonial clothing standing in front of an old cannon. This shot looks really great in the antic brown. The other is of a man and his wife sitting on the ground eating their supper. On their right is a pile of logs with his hatchet laying against the stack. In front of that is a iron stand with a kettle and a wooded dish in front of it. In front of the couple on the ground is their metal bowl of low-country shrimp boil, a small hatchet, and a mug. The third wasn’t much until I cropped it down and turned it black and white. It is of a girl as she prepares the dough for an old-fashioned apple pie. Behind her is a fire pit with pots hanging from it. The girl has a beautiful smile on her face and the pots run up her arm in the background.

The shot of the couple eating that I really liked had some bad shadow to it, so I sent it to my mom. She works at a place that can help clean those up. After I got the cleaned up version, I submitted my seven shots as a photo gallery to Gambara.

Dan tells me that my shots aren’t what they are looking for. I do agree with that, but I’m hoping. They said that they were in desperate need of photo galleries and some of my shots are very good (or at least I think they are).

I now have five photo illustrations published at Haruah and two cover art photos accepted there. Though I love submitting photos to Haruah, I would love to get my name else where as well. I’ll let you know what Gambara says about my photo gallery when I find out.

(By the way, I’m still going to try to get those church shots.)

"Silent upon the Grave" is up

2007-03-22T06:32:00.001-07:00

My photo illustration, “Silent upon the Grave” is up. This is the one that was accepted to illustrate J. M. Munsil’s poem “Speak to Me.” Go ahead and give it a look and feel free to leave me a comment here. (I love to hear from you all.)

"Home and Home Again" treks on

2007-03-21T05:43:00.000-07:00

On February 14th, I sent two emails of story inquiry. As of yet, I still have not heard back from them. So on March 19th I sent another one. I have now been waiting 132 days to hear from Xelas Magazine and 131 days from Dicey Brown.

The story that they have, “Home and Home Again” is still out at 42opus. They have had my story 61 days, their average response time is 68 days, and authors can inquiry after 90 days.
Armada Quarterly also has had my story. They have had it 61 days with an average response time of 74 days.

On March 9th, I sent Avery Anthology this story was well. They now have had it 12 days with an average response time of 62 days and an inquiring time of 90 days.

Whistling Shade received my story on March 19th. This magazine is published in Minneapolis, MN. I grew up near St. Charles, MN (about 1.5 hours SE from Minneapolis). Their average response time is 59 days with a 90 day inquiry time.

Not only does it take time to write a story that is publishable. It takes time to find the right fit. This story has had many positive remarks from magazine editors, but they call claim that it isn’t for them. I will keep pressing onward until I find a fit for this story.

Creating-"A Mother's Love Letter"

2007-03-19T19:17:00.000-07:00

So, where do I get my inspiration to illustrate stories? How do I get the shots that I submit? Well, let me tell you about my latest published photo illustration.... “A Mother’s Love Letter.”

After Haruah accepted my story, “A Mother’s Love,” Dan asked me if I was going to illustrate it. I told him that I had thought about it, but I didn’t know how – that I didn’t know where a psych ward was. He told me to take a picture of the letter.

He was referring to the letter the mother wrote to her son.

Thinking that I great idea, I lay in bed that night and figured the shot out in my head.

First, I needed a letter. That went from plain paper, to stationary (which I didn’t have), to making stationary on the computer.

Then, I wanted to add some quarters. I decided on two stacks of $2 each. This would have been the bus fare for a trip to the psych ward and back in NYC.

Third, I thought about having an envelope with Jose, the son’s name, on it.

I was trying to figure out how I was going to add some color to this shot. The only thing that kept coming to me was to add a silk flower around the letter (and of course the stationary).

So the next morning, I got up and went to the Print Shop program on the computer to find a picture suitable for stationary. I found one and then while trying to make it more like a water mark; I found a way to make the whole picture lighter. I printed off three versions to see which one I liked better.

Choosing one, I took lined paper and took a thin, black marker over them to make them darker. Then I sat and wrote the letter the mother, Maria, had written to her son. At first it my print was too large and then I made a mistake. After writing the letter two, well maybe three times, I had what I wanted.

Later in the day, I took the table cloth off the table and placed my letter, envelope, quarter stacks, and a silk flower upon it. In my story, Maria was crying has she wrote the letter, so I splashed some water droplets onto the letter I had written. I’m not sure if the Haruah editors noticed it or not, but they are there. I did several arrangements and different lightings.

I then download the digital shots to the computer to see which one I liked. I really didn’t like any of them, so I went back to my shooting session. After my second session, I looked on the computer again at the shots.

After picking one I liked, I submitted it to Haruah. And they accepted it.

Haruah is back up.

2007-03-16T14:28:00.001-07:00

Haruah is back up.

This is what they had to say:

[quote]
Technically it wasn't a crash. It was a mess! A server farm technician, for all practical purposes, erased Haruah and took the machine off line back to the warehouse. The backup was flawed (our vendor is giving Haruah 5 months free hosting, BTW, as a result) and what we ended up with was from February 12, not March 7, when the crisis occurred. Fortunately, Rick Copple had most of the submissions as email copies, so we were able to rebuild the submissions database from that (we left out the declined submissions). Rebuild by hand, I should add.
[end quote]

You have read my first two rough drafts, now you can read the final product. Please do come back and leave me comments about what you liked or disliked about my story. I would love to hear from you!

“A Mother’s Love”

Haruah is down

2007-03-08T05:28:00.000-08:00

I went to check what comments might have been left at Haruah about my story yesterday and when I clicked on Haruah in my favorites.....I got a surprise.

All of issue 10 and issue 11 were missing!

I went into the place to check on the photos and stories that have been accepted – they new ones were missing.

I looked at my personal submission record with them, and the photo I just submitted them was missing.

Even my bio page, which I had spent so much time updating, is now updated.

When I PM’d the editors about it this is what I was told:

[quote]
Yea, the server at the hosting company apparently had some kind of problem. We don't know exactly what yet, and I'm hoping they have a more recent backup than Jan 25th, which seems to be what's up now. So, we are just giving them time to see how much they can eventually restore. Bill said they were working on it, and I'm hoping this doesn't mean we've lost a month and a half of submissions and discussions. That would be bad. But I'm waiting, hopefully it will be back to normal in due time. It was down for the last half of yesterday. So something crashed over at the hosting company. If we need you to resubmit your photos, I'm sure we will let you know once the air clears and we see what we have and don't have.
[end quote]

So, if you have tried to read my first published story and the link was bad that is why. I’ll let you know when Haruah gets updated again. (And hopefully it does.)

First two drafts of "A Mother's Love"

2007-03-06T06:54:00.000-08:00

Writing a publishable story takes time. I now have one story published, but it took awhile to get there. “A Mother’s Love” started out as a Liberty Hall challenge. We were all challenged to write a story that was exactly 500 words over July 4th weekend of 2005.

This is what I wrote:

[quote]
A Mother’s Love

Maria sat at the kitchen table, head in her hands. Paper and pen lay upon the scuffed surface. She knew her days were few and she wanted let Jose know that she would always love him. She had so much to say, yet she did not know exactly what to say. With blurred vision and shaking hand, Maria reached out, picked up the pen, and began to write.

My dear, dear Son,

I trust that you are well today. Jose, I love you and always have. Even through the bad years, I have loved you. Though you did everything I told you not to do; even though you beat me, I still cried tears of love over you, my Son.

My sorry runs so deep when I come and see you in madden fits. How I long to cradle you in my arms and tell you that all will be well. But the padded room stays firmly locked and all I can do is watch through the reinforced glass window as you throw your body from wall to wall.

But oh, how my heart soars when your mind is clear and you greet me with your broad smile. Oh, what wonderful visits those are! We sit and talk of the few good days of old. I tell you repeatedly that I love you; with teary eyes you tell me the same. Oh, those precious, precious words. They are like aloe upon the scars of pain that over lay my heart.

Oh, my dear Jose, my heart grieves. I feel that your being here is my fault. I’m so sorry that I failed you my Son. My days are few, yet you’ll live on. Please, oh please, don’t ever forget your mother’s love.

With the deepest love a mother can bestow,
Maria Juanita Castillo (your mom)

Feeling week from anguish, sorry, and poor health, Maria laid the pen down and rested her head on the table. A few minutes later, she slowly rose from the table and went for an envelope and her keys. Her letter was safely placed in her purse and the car keys were in her hand as she slowly, painfully made her way down the stairs and out to her old, rusted car.

The loud muffler of Maria’s car was silenced and she walked toward the door. She gradually opened the heavy door and signed in with the receptionist. She was told that her son was in the waiting room. Her heart soared. Maria entered the room expecting Jose’s board smile, but instead she saw her son just sitting there staring at the title floor. The doctor came to Maria and informed her that her son had had a stroke and was unable to see or speak. With a sinking heart, she gave her son a long embarrass and told him repeatedly that she loved him. After several kisses applied to his check, she then slipped her letter in his hand and left – never more to return.
[end quote]

I received 10 crits from LH members. In the voting I received 1 vote for Best Dialogue and 1 for Best Character Development.

I took those comments and worked on the story again. When I had what I liked, I submitted it to NoteBored’s Polished Stories Challenge. My story now had 879 words. There was only one other story entered into the challenge, and I received one crit and no votes.

Re-Write

[quote]
A Mother’s Love

Maria knew her days were few and she wanted let her son, Jose, know that she would always love him. She had so much to say; yet she did not know exactly what to say. Maria sat at the kitchen table, head in her hands. Paper and pen lay upon the scuffed surface. She thought about their lives, her’s and Jose’s. How she found herself expecting with no ring on her finger. Maria thought about the hard hours at the meat factory to provide for her son. Tears misted her eyes as she remembered the long hours way from the only special thing in her life. Her memories walked through her thoughts; they were all so clear, like watching a movie. Tears streamed down her cheeks when her thoughts rehashed her son’s drug use and his physical and verbal abuse. She had lost control; she had lost his love—she had lost him.

Quiet sobs shook Maria was she remembered the call from the police. Jose had been found passed out during a drug bust and had been taken to the local hospital. He spent a month in the ICU. The doctors informed her that the drugs had damaged his brain cells and he would never be the same again. Her memories rolled on. She had taken Jose back home to care for him. He had good days when his brain was clear. Jose also had his bad days when he would throw things all around the house, while Maria hid in her bedroom shaking with fear. As the months passed her son’s good days became fewer and fewer. With a heavy, grieving heart, Maria took her son to a psych ward.

Slowly Maria lifted her head and looked around her. She remembered that while she was a child, she had always planned on having a big, beautiful house. She had hated the dump she grew up in. But her dreams never became a reality. Her current housing was worse than her childhood one. She now lived in a two-room apartment and slept on the couch. There was no phone in the house and very little heat in the winter. She had sold her car a couple months ago to pay some of Jose’s bills. She had sacrificed all for her son. Maria once again lowered her face toward the scuffed table. With blurred vision and shaking hand, Maria reached out, picked up the pen, and began to write.

My dear, dear Son,

I trust that you are well today. Jose, I love you and always have. Even through the bad years, I have loved you. I cried tears of love over you, my Son.

My sorrow runs so deep when I come and see you in your rages. How I long to cradle you in my arms and tell you that all will be well. But all I can do is watch you throw your body against the padded walls through the small window.

But oh, how my heart soars when your mind is clear and you greet me with your broad smile. Oh, what wonderful visits those are! We sit and talk of the few good days of old. I tell you repeatedly that I love you; with teary eyes you tell me the same. Oh, those precious, precious words. They are like aloe upon the scars of pain that overlay my heart.

Oh, my dear Jose, my heart grieves. I feel that your being here is my fault. I’m so sorry that I failed you my Son. My days are few, yet you’ll live on. Please, oh please, don’t ever forget your mother’s love.

With the deepest love a mother can bestow,
Mom

Feeling week from anguish, sorrow, and poor health, Maria laid the pen down and rested her head on the table. A few minutes later, she slowly rose from the table and went for an envelope and her small pile of quarters. Her letter was safely placed in her purse while the quarters were slipped into her pocket; painfully she made her way down the stairs. She leisurely walked the block and a half to the bus stop.

As the bus bumped along, Maria was saddened to think that this might be her last trip. She wished she could see Jose more often, but it was such a struggle to afford the weekly trip. She reached up over her head and weakly pressed the yellow strip to signal for her stop. She descended the bus steps and walked the block to the psych ward.

She gradually opened the heavy door and signed in with the receptionist. The receptionist told Maria that her son was in the waiting room. Her heart soared. Maria entered the room expecting Jose’s broad smile. However, she showed just in time to see the beginning stages of rage grip her son and uniformed people dragging him off to a padded room. With a sinking heart, she walked to the viewing window. Jose looked at her for a brief moment and she gave him a “kiss.”

Then he was lost to her and the world. Maria turned and made her way back to the receptionist. She signed the letter into Jose’s possession and then turned to leave—never more to return.
[end quote]

In May 2006, I did another draft of this story. This time ending up with 894 words. This story was sent to Haruah and they requested a rewrite.

Which I did and I submitted the re-write back to NoteBored’s Polish Stories Challenge for more feedback, in case Haruah rejected it. The story ended at 964 words, I got to crits, and 1 vote for Best Polish.

Haruah liked what they saw, but still wanted another re-write to iron out a rough beginning. After struggling with understanding the comments and loving my story, I finally got a semi-re-write done. I really didn’t change any words; I just changed the order of the story. And that is the one that was accepted and now published. (The editors did change a few words, but nothing major.)

Want to see how this story looks now? Check it out: “A Mother’s Love”

The Check Arrived

2007-03-05T13:02:00.001-08:00

The check for my first publication just arrived today! My first story and I got money, what a deal! My story is also in print on-line right now and it will be in print form later. I’ll let you know when the story has made print form.

I hope that Haruah will be able to pay for photos next year. There were hoping to this year, but the funds weren’t there. I have had a lot of photos accepted there.

It feels great to see my story on-line and to hold the check in my hands.

"A Mother's Love" and "A Mother's Love Letter" Are Up!

2007-03-04T06:46:00.000-08:00

It’s up! It’s up! My first ever accepted story has now made print!!! It looks sooo good. Please do take a look at it. And feel free to make comments here (even if you didn’t like the story). Don’t forget to take a look at the photo – for it is mine as well.

"A Mother's Love" (lit story) and "A Mother's Love Letter" (photo illustration)

I'm Illustrating J.M. Munsil's Poem

2007-02-23T11:45:00.000-08:00

I have another photo illustration accepted. Haruah has accepted, “Silent Upon the Grave.” This picture is going to illustrate J.M. Munsil’s poem, “Speak to Me.”

This photo was taken with the plan to send it to Haruah when the time was right. It is a picture of a statue out on Moores Creek Battlefield. The statue is of a woman and it is placed upon a hill. Behind the statue, if you stand downhill, are trees with Spanish moss hanging from them.

I have liked Spanish moss since my trip to the south when I was 13 years old. So this scene really intrigued me.

I’ll let you know when it finds publication.

Inquiring about "Home and Home Again"

2007-02-15T08:33:00.000-08:00

My fiction piece “Home and Home Again” has been out to Xelas Magazine now for 98 days. According to Duotrope (a great place to find places to submit to), the average time for this magazine to respond is 65 days. Xelas states that if they have had a story for 90 days that we can write and inquire about it.

Well, I did just that last night. It is usually a good sign when a magazine doesn’t get back to you right away. However, it could just mean that a hard heartache is coming soon. I remember when it took Gambara a long time to get back to me. I kept waiting and waiting. About the time I was going to send them an inquiry they wrote me. And told me that my piece made it into the final reading. So close, but they still rejected it. In fact it was this same story, before the re-write and name change.

I’ll let you know what they saw, when I hear back from them.

I also sent an inquiry letter to Dicey Brown last night as well. Their average response time is 76 days and my story has been there for 97 days. I went to find out how long to wait for. When I clicked on them through Duotrope, it said in a big yellow box not send them anymore submissions as they are closed for submissions. This was a little scary, but nothing too much. Sometimes magazines to do that in order to catch up on their slush pile (in fact Gambara did that for a little while). But then when I tired to get into their link to read about when I can inquire, there was nothing there. This scares me. Know I wonder if the magazine is no more.

I went through my sent email box and found the address I submitted the story to and emailed them an inquiry. I don’t know if I’ll hear back from them or not. But if I do, I’ll let you know.

“Home and Home Again” is also still out to 42opus and Armada Quarterly. Both for 27 days. 42opus’ average response time is 69 days, while Armada Quarterly’s is 11.

Illustrating my own Story?

2007-02-15T08:12:00.000-08:00

Well as you know, I have had my first story accepted. It is still a thrill to think about. That night, Dan mentioned about illustrating it. I told him that I had thought about it, but I didn’t know how. I have no idea where a psych ward is.

He told me to take a picture of the letter. Referring to the letter the mother wrote in my story. Thinking it a great idea, I laid their in bed thinking of the best way to do it and how to lay everything out.

The next day, I took time to write my letter out, after making some pretty stationary on the computer. I then rounded up an envelope and some coins. Waiting to add some more color to the picture, I also grabbed one of my silk red roses and a pink flower.

I then cleared the table and brought in an extra light and clicked away. By the way, I love digital cameras. I don’t have to wait to see how my pictures turned out and I can see if I have the one I want or if I need to take more.

Well, I finally chose which picture to send into Haruah to illustrate, “A Mother’s Love,” and they accepted it! I will be illustrating my very first published story.

The illustration, “A Mother’s Love Letter,” was submitted on Feb. 10, 2007 and was accepted two days later.

"A Mother's Love" is going to be pu......

2007-02-09T18:02:00.000-08:00

Oh my goodness, oh my goodness! And no I’m just not repeating Annie to repeat her. I just can’t believe it! What news.....

We will bring you back to your regularly scheduled news in a moment.

July 4th weekend of 2005, Mike from Liberty Hall held a 500 word story challenge. Every story submitted had to be 500 words exactly. I took the challenge and from the trigger wrote “A Mother’s Love.” From that point this story has had four re-writes.

I sent this story to The Pedestal on May 22, 2006, but they rejected it 37 days later.

It then went to Haruah on July 10, 2006. After ten days I was told that they weren’t interested in it as it was. They would like to see a re-write. Since that was doing our no home time during our moving transition from NYC to Burgaw I didn’t get back around to that re-write for quite some time. Finally on November 6, I sent Haruah my re-write. However, I got the same response 65 days later. They liked the story, but it was still too rough, but they would take another re-write.

I struggled with their suggestions. It seemed like, to me, that they were split themselves on how to fix it. Half said one thing and the other half had other suggestions.

I loved the wording of my story and didn’t feel comfortable changing it. I did change some of the beginning paragraphs around to help smooth out the rough edges. I emailed the editor for some more feedback, like she said I could. The next day I went back and tried one of the suggestions. Someone had suggested splitting up the letter the mother was writing. At first I didn’t like the idea for I liked the flow of the letter. But I took a chance and split up the letter. And you know what....I liked it!

I submitted my story back to Haruah (on February 3rd) for the third time and emailed the editor to never mind the first email.

Dan’s youngest sister called tonight and I was telling her about NoteBored/Liberty Hall’s new magazine and how I wanted to help. But I couldn’t because I didn’t think my critting skills were strong and I didn’t have a publication credit.

Well, I can’t use the last statement anymore

Now to bring you back to your regular news program.....

I’m going to be PUBLISHED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Haruah accepted “A Mother’s Love”!!!!!!!

I’m so HAPPY.

And now they are a paying market. I am getting $10 for my story.

When I started to write I wanted to beat my husband in getting published. Well, he beat me in the non-fiction world, but I beat him in the fiction world.

I’m so happy. I called my husband first thing and then I called Deanna, the owner of The NoteBored.

The writing community of Liberty Hall has what they call pips for awards. If you will challenge you get one and if a story which started there gets published you get a gold star. I’ll be running over there soon to grab my star!

The Continuing Journey Continues

2007-02-09T17:06:00.000-08:00

My story continues to continue its long path to light. Written for one of NoteBored short story challenges, “Aftermath of War” has gone through several re-writes, a name change, and has had several rejections.

Before its name change, “Aftermath of War” visited:
Happy-11 day rejection
Haruah-12 day rejection
Bewildering Stories-1 day re-write
Gambara-126 day rejection
The King’s English-25 day rejection
Plunge-111 day rejection

After its name change, “Home and Home Again” visited:
Bewildering Stories-2 day rejection
The Pedestal-28 day rejection
Literary Mama-64 day rejection
Four Volts-8 day rejection

I sent my story out to Xelas and Front Porch Journal on November 9, 2006. The next day it went to the mailboxes of Eclectica Magazine and Dicey Brown. On November 15th, GUD and Fiction Warehouse received my story. And the last places I have sent my story out were 42Opus and Armada Quarterly on January 19, 2007.

Eclectica Magazine rejected “Home and Home Again” on December 3, 2006
[quote]
Dear Joy,

Thank you for your submission to Eclectica Magazine. After careful consideration, we have decided not to select it for publication. There are many possible reasons for why a particular piece isn't selected, and I regret that we are unable, given time constraints, to offer further explanation as to which of those reasons applied to your work. I will say that you're in good company; as always, there were many authors and many pieces that we would have liked to include.

Best of luck with your writing and in finding a home for this work. We appreciate your support of online literature in general and Eclectica in particular, and we hope you'll try us again in the
future.

Sincerely,
Tom // Eclectica
[end quote]

I got two rejections on January 7, 2007.

Front Porch Journal
[quote]
Thank you for submitting your work to Front Porch. We regret not being able to accept your work at this time and we wish you the best in placing it elsewhere.

Sincerely,
The Editors
Front Porch
www.frontporchjournal.com
[end quote]

Euphony
[quote]

Dear Joy,

Thank you for sending us your story "Home and Home Again." I'm afraid we will be unable to use it. We receive many stories and must often decline accomplished writing.

Yours with best wishes,
John Robert Martin
Fiction Editor
Euphony
[end quote]

GUD rejected it on January 19th
[quote]

Dear WJoy,

Thank you for sending us ""Home and Home Again"". Unfortunately, it's not what we're looking for at this time.

Best of luck with this piece in other markets,

Sincerely,

Sal Coraccio
Greatest Uncommon Denominator Magazine
http://gudmagazine.com
[end quote]

The last rejection this story received was from Fiction Warehouse on February 2, 2007
[quote]
Joy:

Thank you for your interest in Fiction Warehouse, but at the present time, we will not be able to feature "Home and Home Again." We regret that your story doesn't suit our present needs. Please know that we receive many more submissions than we can use, and our needs do not necessarily reflect the quality of your work.

Best of luck in placing this story elsewhere, and we look forward to reading more of your work in the future.

Wayne Gunn,
Managing Editor

Fiction Warehouse
http://www.FictionWarehouse.com/
[end quote]

Most of my recent rejections have been form ones. I had been doing so well at getting personal ones.

So the most current string of rejections are:
Front Porch Journal-59 day rejection
Euphony-59 day rejection
Eclectica Magzine-23 day rejection
GUD-4 day rejection
Fiction Warehouse-20 day rejection

I’m still waiting to hear from:
Xelas-92 days and pending
Dicey Brown-91 days and pending
42Opus-21 days and pending
Armada Quarterly-21 days and pending

Xelas is of the time that I can now write them and see what the status is with my story. I think I’ll give it a few more days and then I’ll email them and find out. I hope that the long wait means good news.

But I thought that with Gambara once, too. Gambara almost did publish this story, but it failed in the last reading. That was a heart breaker.

So if you lost count there – in all I have 14 complete rejections on this story. I was told by another writer that the stories average around 20 rejections before they are accepted. I guess I’m almost there.

I’ll let you know about more rejections as they come in.

"Aftermath of War's" Long Journey Continues

2006-11-18T08:53:00.000-08:00

My story “Aftermath of War” has been through some things. This story was written off the writing trigger, “Time Magazine,” at The NoteBored. It was the second challenge I did at NB (NoteBored). And the forth story I wrote after joining NB and Liberty Hall (LH). Ten stories later, I did a re-write of “Aftermath of War” and placed it in the NB’s Polished Stories Challenge for more feedback. Fifteen stories later, I polished it up again and subbed it out to magazines.

“Aftermath of War” publication stops:
Happy—11 day rejection
Haruah—12 day rejection
Bewildering Stories—1 day re-write
Gambara—126 day rejection
The King’s English—25 day rejection
Plunge—111 day rejection

I took my story and polished it up for Bewildering Stories. With my polish, “Aftermath of War” was re-titled, “Home and Home Again.”

“Home and Home Again” publication stops:
Bewildering Stories—2 day rejection
The Pedestal—28 day rejection
Literary Mama—64 day rejection
Four Volts—8 day rejection

After that rejection, I submitted my story out to three new magazines on the 9th: Xelas, Front Porch Journal, and Euphony.

The next day I sent it out to two more magazines: Eclectrica and Dicey Brown.

It will be another 2-3 months before I receive the rejections from these places. I’ll keep you updated.

“Home and Home Again” rejected by Literary Mama and Four Volts

2006-11-18T08:15:00.000-08:00

After this story was rejected by Bewildering Stories on August 28th, I sent it to The Pedestal on July 31st. Twenty-eight days later I got my rejection letter:

[quote]
Thank you for submitting your work to The Pedestal Magazine. We enjoyed reading it but regret that we cannot use it at this time.

We wish you the best of luck in placing your work elsewhere and sincerely hope that you will submit other writing to us in the future.

Best,
The Editors
The Pedestal Magazine
http://www.thepedestalmagazine.com
[end quote]

I then sent my story to Literary Mama on August 29, 2006. It was turned 64 days later with a rejection.

[quote]
I deeply apologize for the "impersonal" nature of this email. As writers
ourselves, we know how brutal it can feel to have excellent work get a
seemingly indifferent response. Please know that your story was read
carefully, and enjoyed, but the current volume of submissions prohibits
us from commenting on each piece. Many times we turn down excellent pieces simply because they don't fit with the developing tone of an issue in progress. Other times, they just don't fit our guidelines.
(http://www.literarymama.com/submissions.html)

I invite you to submit work for consideration for future issues.
Literary Mama publishes new fiction every month, and we are continually seeking new pieces for publication.

Best,
Suzanne Kamata
Literary Mama
www.literarymama.com
[end quote]

The next stop for “Home and Home Again” was out of country. As it visited a UK magazine, Four Volts. Eight days later I got my answer—no.

[quote]
Thanks for submitting to the magazine.

I'm sorry but we would not like to publish your story. Though it was
solidly written, we found the outcome too obvious from the start, and the ideas explored a little too ordinary.

Best wishes with your future work,

Krishan Coupland
www.fourvolts.co.uk
[end quote]

That makes 10 rejections for this story.

The weekend writing spree.

2006-11-13T15:54:00.000-08:00

I have wanted to write new stories, but I just haven’t had the time. Or maybe the correct phrase would that I just haven’t made the time. I have spent hours in front of the tube that could have been spent in front of a computer screen.

Part of the reason for lack of writing is the change in my schedule. Dan used to work nights, leaving the house quiet from 8PM to midnight. I used to fill that time with writing and managing the NoteBored. Now with the move, Anna is going to bed at 9PM and Dan works during the day. Plus, I have two extra kiddos 1-3 times a week.

Another part for my lack is depression. Depressed that my best stories keep getting rejected over and over again. Though I tell myself, when I send them, they will be rejected—it still hurts. I have had a couple of close acceptances, but those hurt the worst.

Well, I didn’t have to watch the kids on Friday, today, or tomorrow—so I wrote. I have wanted to do another Liberty Hall flash challenge but it takes me so long to read the stories, I kept putting it off. But with no extra children the beginning of this week, I did it.

On Friday I participated in the 90 minute timed flash challenge at Liberty Hall. I haven’t done one since March 5, 2006. I also stated a story for the NoteBored word limit flash challenge, which was completed on Sunday evening. I hadn’t done one since the third week in March.

Today, I have read the group of stories at LH had I to, but I hope to read the other group tonight. There were only about 12 stories entered, including mine.

I still need to read the NB challenge stories, but there were only two more besides mine and I have until Friday to read them.

It was great to be typing out stories again. The one I did for LH was a light Sci-Fi piece and the NB one was more of a history piece. Both outside of the normal genre I write in, though both were Christian stories.

Dream Dance-submitted to new magazine

2006-11-02T06:22:00.000-08:00

While showing my friend Deanna how to look at accepted stories to illustrate at Haruah, she mentioned that the other magazines under Double-Edge Publishing would be the same way. I got the idea of checking them out and seeing if I could get photos accepted else where.

The first other magazine that looked at was The Sword Review. It mostly is a fantasy magazine with science-fiction as well. It is really difficult to take those kinds of pictures. However, I saw that one of the pictures accepted was a combination of a couple of pictures.

Figuring that I could do something like that, I gave it a try. I used Gimp 2.2. I took the moon out of one of my husband’s pictures and some various pieces of clip art from The Print Shop.

I worked on it some Thursday night and was going to work some more on it over the weekend (but I was out of state—that is another story to be told at another time). I then worked on it Monday night and Tuesday morning. I had never used Gimp, so it was a lot of trail and error.

In the end I came up with an illustration that I liked and submitted to The Sword Review on October 31st. I knew it was the best I could do, but I wasn’t quite sure if the editors would like it.

I got an email back the following day, saying that it was rejected. Though their form letter said that they normally leave comments, I got none. I really wished that they had left something as I would like to know how my very first photo composite went. Now I have no idea what to change for the future.

You might be wondering to yourself why I don’t post my accepted pictures here directly on my website. That is because that if I do, I can’t submit them else where. But since this picture was rejected and I don’t know where else to send it, I’ll post it at my other site (not sure how to post it here).

Please keep in mind that this was my very first attempt at something like this. If you have any comments of any sort, then by all means please post them. I would love to hear from you.

To see my creation, please click here.

Up, Rejected, and Accepted

2006-10-26T07:18:00.000-07:00

I told you that I’d let you know when my photo, “Violin Solo for Two,” came out. Well, its out. I think you will like what you see. Why not give it a click and find out. And don’t forget comments of any sort are welcomed.

Not only do I have a photo up, but I just got word from Haruah about two more. My illustration, “Duchess at Delaware Water Gap,” was rejected. I was told that it was a nice picture, but they didn’t need it at this time.

My cover photo, “Water Lillies,” was accepted though. So that makes two cover photos!

While helping a friend of mine learn how to submit more of her photos to Haruah, she mentioned that Haruah has the same on-line format as the magazines under Double-Edge Publishing. I’ll have to sign into them and see if there are any photos that I can submit there. That way not all my photos are in the same place; being accepted by the same people.

Rejected by Gambara

2006-10-23T11:12:00.000-07:00

Well, I just heard back from Gambara Magazine. After waiting nearly three weeks, instead of two, this is what I received:

[quote]
Thank you for your interest in Gambara. We ultimately decided to pass on this manuscript during our second round of deliberations, but that's not to say we wouldn't welcome another submission from you in the future. You may submit by snail mail, or by email once more after February 1, 2007.
[end quote]

Though I kept telling myself that it would be rejected, I really hoped that it would be accepted. So, besides my column, I still have no published writing.

Writing does take patience and thick skin. It took Gambara 124 days to reject this story (“Aftermath of War”).

I still have it’s rewrite out there (“Home and Home Again”) to Literary Magazine.

Haruah is making a move-a move to pay

2006-10-18T06:43:00.000-07:00

For several months now I have been telling you about my success at Haruah: Breath of Heaven. This magazine is just a baby and it hasn’t been able to pay its authors. Now the editorial team of Haruah has a dream. That dream is to pay their authors starting in 2007.

They plan to pay:
•Poetry: $15
•Flash (1 - 1500): $15
•Short Story or Editorial (1500-9,000): $20
•Novella (9,000 and up): $30
•Plus, contributor's printed copies.

However, in order to do that they need to raise $4,500.

This site isn’t (normally) about trying to get your money or asking for donations. In fact I think this is only third time that I have brought money up. I would like to bring this to your attention, however.

If you have liked my photos and/or columns. Or if you have seen Haruah and have liked what you saw...would you not consider making a donation?

The quality at Haruah has been great, but it will become better as a paying market. I mean who doesn’t like to be paid for their work? Writers are no different.

For more information, please click here: 2007 Annual Campaign Kickoff!

Another photo accepted.

2006-10-18T06:29:00.001-07:00

I have another photo accepted at Haruah. I love sending photos to this magazine, for they make it so very easy.

Once you are a member (free-membership) there are buttons to click and led you to stories that have been accepted. The editors place a few lines of the stories there so artists and photographers can take a look to see if we want to illustrate a story or two.

I look over these about once or twice a month (sometimes more). I found two that I was interested in the last time that I looked. One because I had an idea, if a friend would help me out. The other because it was Leaf’s story. Leaf is on of the writers at The NoteBored and at Liberty Hall. Since I “know” him, I wanted to illustrate his story.

I had an idea from what I read, but not knowing if I could get a suitable picture from the few lines I read, I asked to see the whole story. The editor, Rachel A. Marks, sent me the link and I read the story. It’s a very good story by the way, so don’t miss it. Though I really wanted to illustrate it for S. E. Markey (Leaf), I really couldn’t. But while taking to Deanna (the owner of The NoteBored), she says that she has one, so I encouraged her to submit it.

So, to the picture I did take, submit, and that was accepted. It is going to illustrate the story, “The Lone Violin.” I borrowed a violin from a church friend and set up to take my pictures. I used my eat in living room and set my table up nice. I placed the flower arrangement that I had made on the table and located the violin in front of the flowers and between the two place settings. Then when I set up to take the shot, I realized the that window blinds were in the background, so I had to rearrange the room and the table.

Boy do I love these digital cameras! I took over 30 shots of that table setting, but it didn’t cost me. Nor did I have to run the film to be developed, which I don’t know if there is a place in town here that does that. And I didn’t have to wait to see if I got a picture that was usable.

My photo is titled, “Violin Solo for Two,” and I’ll let you know when it comes out.

Still Waiting on Gambara

2006-10-18T06:29:00.000-07:00

Well, yesterday was two weeks and I didn’t hear from Gambara. So, now it’s more waiting.

I went to their home site yesterday and saw that they had picked their stories for issue number 5 and my heart sank. I then went to my email and I saw that mine in under consideration for issues 6, 7, and 8; my spirits rose.

I promise to let you know either way.

Excited Again!

2006-10-10T06:53:00.000-07:00

Since I find some of my submission markets at Duotrope, I thought I’d better sign in and record my submissions. This helps other authors know more about the markets. I gave them all the information that I could (3-4 markets weren’t listed). On the very last market I was recording I found this:

[quote]IMPORTANT: Not accepting email submissions from October 1, 2006 to February 1, 2007[end quote]

That makes me very excited. For you see that was on Gambara! That means that not only did my story make the short list for the last 3 on-line magazines and maybe for part of the 60 blank printed pages it means that no more will be added to that 100 story short list!

This is quite an accomplishment for me, for I have two writing friends that have also submitted to Gambara and both received rejection letters. I was just waiting my turn to receive mine, when I found out that they were still considering publishing my story.

I was down in the dumps with the waiting process, but I’m in the sky again today with this new information!

Waiting and Writing

2006-10-09T18:49:00.000-07:00

Boy, does time slooow down when you are waiting for something. It has only been 6 days since I have heard from Gambara. I still have 8 more to go. I am constantly checking my emails to see if Gambara has decided to publish my story or not. I know that once it comes, I’ll be really nervous and heartache will be the final outcome. But I still long to know. I’m so glad to know that I have made it so far.

Oh yeah, a couple days back, I started my re-write of “A Mother’s Love” for Haruah. The one editor suggested me do something and I’m having trouble trying to figure out how to do it and if I want to. The editor pointed out a few things that did need help that this particular thing—well, I just don’t know if it is needed.

The NoteBored’s next Polished Stories Challenge is Oct. 20th, so I’m hoping to have it done before that.

Plus, the NoteBored has a Duel section and I have called Declared, Bannered out on a duel. DB is the young teen I found at another writing site and invited over. He has really grown during the past year. In fact he has won a Liberty Hall “Best of the Best” one week. I have only won one category once. And he won best story in his group and then went up against the other two best stories and beat them. The story he won with is now published at Haruah. I’m really out of my league dueling this young teen. And I’m double his age!

I sent Gambara my revised version

2006-10-05T06:52:00.000-07:00

Well, about three of my writing friends didn’t know what kind of advise to give. Another said that he wasn’t sure, but if I did to keep it short. And then another said she wasn’t sure, but she would say off hand just to let them read the original one, since it is doing so well.

Well, I went ahead and asked Gambara about it, before I got the message from the last writer. This is what I said.

[quote]
Dear Mr. Johnson:

Just a quick note to say thank you for the update, and also to let you know that this story has undergone a recent rewrite. If you would be interested in seeing the revised version, please let me know. I also wanted to let you know that I have moved and have a new mailing address: [gave it to him]. Thanks for your consideration.

Sincerely,
Joy
[end quote]

After sending that before bed, I got this in the morning.

[quote]
Sure, send the revision in.

Thanks,
Scott Johnson
[end quote]

I sent them a copy of, “Home and Home Again,” which is the new name for this piece and the following note:

[quote]
Dear Mr. Johnson,

Thank you so much for your time. I have attached my revised version of "Aftermath of War." The story received a new name, "Home and Home Again," along with its rewrite. Either story is available for publication, if you so choose. Once again, thanks you for your consideration.

Sincerely,
Joy
[end quote]

Gambara Magazine

2006-10-03T16:01:00.000-07:00

Oh my goodness, oh my goodness! See what I got in my inbox today!

[Quote]
Patient Submitter:

I am writing to let you know that your manuscript has trod a long and tortuous path here at Gambara, but it is still alive and holding up well. We recently made a big push to catch up on our slushpile, and we have shortlisted approximately 100 pieces for further consideration. These pieces will go to make up online issues #6, #7, and #8. In addition we have approximately 60 pages of space left in the 2007 print issue.

Your manuscript is in this short list. We will be making our final selections from it in the next two weeks.

My deepest apologies go out to those submitters who have been waiting since May, June or July for word on their work. As I have written before, the level of interest in Gambara was unexpected and overwhelming at first (our site consistently receives well over one thousand unique visits each month), and we rapidly fell behind on reviewing submissions. And then we fell further behind. And then further still.

Obviously we had a problem. In response, I created and imposed procedures which will ensure no submitter will ever have to wait longer than ten weeks to receive a decision. I thank you again for your patience, and for bearing with us during this year of growth here at Gambara.

Best of luck,

Scott Johnson
General Editor, Gambara Magazine
http://gambara.org
[End quote]

I am so excited! I'm bouncing off the walls. I don't even remember if this is a paying market or not. I don't remember member much about the site; I'll have to have another look at it real soon.

The thing that gets me though, is that this story is now called "Home and Home Again" and I don't know if I should tell them that I have revised the piece and made it stronger. I have asked my writing friends at The NoteBored and Liberty Hall.

You can bet that I'll let you know how Gambara decides once I know. Maybe this will be my break through into the published world!

Two more photos sumbitted

2006-10-03T10:08:00.000-07:00

Let’s see I have a total of three photos published and one cover photo accepted and waiting for publication.

I have also submitted “Water Lilies” for Haruah to consider as a cover art piece on September 7th. This picture was taken at the NC Aquarium. We had heard wonderful things about this place, so we went to see what all the fuss was about. It is truly a fascinating place. I had been wanting some nice pictures of water lilies and I got a great one! I loved it so much; I thought I’d see if I could get it published.

The other picture I submitted to Haruah, “Duchess at the Delaware Water Gap,” was taken while we lived in New York City. I wanted a few hours out of the city and in the country (my real home). We took our collie dog with us and I wanted a nice picture of her. At the time I was training pretty extensively with her in hopes of getting a CD. She loved the training and she learned fairly quickly. I could have that CD by now, if only I had kept up with it. I sent this picture to illustrate an accepted poem. “Duchess at the Delaware Water Gap” was submitted on the 10th of September.

I’ll let you know what happens with these two photos when I know.

"A Mother's Love" sent to Haruah

2006-10-03T07:46:00.000-07:00

My story, “A Mother’s Love” first visited The Pedestal Magazine, but came back home to me 37 days later—homeless.

On July 10th, I sent my orphaned story out again to find a loving home. This time, it knocked at the door of Haruah. Ten days later my poor orphan came home saying that Haruah might accept her, but she needed to work on some things.

Due to our move in late June and then our move into our new home the first of August, I haven’t been back to this poor orphaned child. Not only have I moved, but now I have a job.

I hope to return my focus to my orphaned child and see if I can straighten her out enough to find a wonderful home at Haruah.

Haruah: Breath of Heaven Issue 3

2006-09-25T11:42:00.000-07:00

My first two photo illustrations are in print! It was so exciting to see them on the computer, but it is more exciting to hold the book in my hands that contains my photos. I have ordered a magazine for me, my parents, and for my in-laws. The money goes to help build up the site and in the future will help to pay Haruah’s authors.

If you like my photos and would like to have the printed magazine, please go to Lulu. There are two versions of the magazine. The black and white one (with colored cover) runs $5.99. However, to get the full beauty of my pictures, you will need the full colored version. The colored one runs $10.99, though. But remember your purchase will help keep this wonderful website and publication going.

Issue three contains: “Spring Marriage” and “Water over Stones”

"Aftermath of War" trying to find a home

2006-09-25T09:03:00.000-07:00

The next story that I started to sub out after “A Mother’s Love” was “Aftermath of War.” This story started at a NoteBored challenge.

The trigger for this challenge was “Time Magazine.” Since this trigger was used twice, I wrote two stories on it. My first piece written for this trigger was my very first Sci-Fi piece titled “The Time Magazine.” This story was about a gun with a magazine that transported people in time. I have done one polish job on this story, but I really need to get back to it.

The second story off of the trigger was “Aftermath of War.” This story is about a mother coming home from war and wondering how her family will treat her. Especially her youngest daughter.

I sent “Aftermath of War” to Haruah on June 3rd, but it was rejected June 15th.

On June 21st, this story made stops to Bewildering Stories, Gambara, The Kings’ English, and Plunge. I heard back from Bewildering Stories the very next morning. Though they said that they normally publish Sci-Fi stories, they would look at a rewrite. (I wrote about this in “Great Reject Letters.) On July 15th, I heard back from The King’s English—story rejected. (“Dear Ms. Robelen - Thank you for submitting to ‘The King’s English.’ I regret to inform you that your work doesn’t meet our needs at this time. We wish you the best of luck in placing it elsewhere.”) To this date, I’m still waiting to hear from Gambara and Plunge.

After a rewrite with Haruah’s and Bewildering Stories’ suggestions, “Aftermath of War” was renamed “Home and Home Again” and was resubmitted to Bewildering Stories. I sent the rewrite to them on July 25th and on July 27th I got my answer.

Nope. (Hello, Joy... Word is back from a reviewer about "Home and Home Again." The story is definitely better than before. However, the reviewer's observations are cogent and worth heeding. ---- [from the reviewer] It's a straightforward mainstream story. There is nothing of Bewildering Stories in it: no science fiction, no fantasy, no slipstream, no speculative element. It's too saccharine for my taste. It's an unrelentingly wholesome and sanitized picture of life, like Norman Rockwell or Ozzie & Harriet. ....... So, the basic idea of the story - an all-American mom who goes to war and comes home to a young daughter who can't remember her - is a good one. I read it through to the end with some interest and sympathy for the protagonist, but it seems like she "made it up" and I'm not quite ready to believe all of it. ---- As an editor, I have to make decisions that the reviewer does not have to make. Either the war goes out of the story entirely or else it comes center stage and changes everybody's life. I'm afraid that will make it a very different story, one you may not feel like writing. I would recommend you take the reviewer's suggestions about style and try submitting a new version to a magazine for pre-teens or teenage girls. Sorry, Joy, it's just not suited to our style or our readers' expectations.)

Oh well, I got to work with a very nice editor who had a lot of good ideas for making my story stronger. And he is right, to make this story suitable for his magazine would take away the story I’m trying to tell.

Felling more confident about my story, I sent it out to The Pedestal Magazine on July 31st. Twenty-eight days later, I got my answer—another no. Once again, just a form reject letter from them: Thank you for submitting your work to The Pedestal Magazine. We enjoyed reading it but regret that we cannot use it at this time. We wish you the best of luck in placing your work elsewhere and sincerely hope that you will submit other writing to us in the future.)

Felling discouraged, I then submitted “Home and Home Again” to Literary Mama on August 29th. This is another non-paying magazine. Maybe if they don’t have to pay for it, they will want it. Or so is my hope. I got an email from Literary Mama stating that they received my submission and it could take up to three months before I hear back from them. So now I’m just waiting.

Cover Art Accepted

2006-09-09T08:40:00.000-07:00

I was happy to have two photo illustrations accepted by Haruah. These are “Spring Marriage” and “Water over Stones.” Though I was very pleased with this my top goal was to have a photo cover art accepted.

After our vacation in PA with my family, I had picture of waterfalls and nature. In fact, “Water over Stones” was one of those pictures. I sent a picture of Bridal Veil Falls to Haruah in hopes of having a cover photo accepted.

I received my email letting me know. Nervously I opened it and leaped a little when I saw that they were interested in my photo! They liked it!

I had tried twice before with the same photo (was told I could retry with better resolution), but was rejected.

I was told that Haruah planned to use my photo cover in August. But something else came up. I was then hoping for September, but once again something else came up.

But rest assured that once it’s up, you’ll know. ;-)

Rejected by The Pedestal Magazine

2006-09-09T08:37:00.000-07:00

Ok, I believe I have told you about sending “Life Goes On” to Haruah, “Aftermath of War” to Happy, “Life Goes On” to The Banner, and “Life Goes On” to Evangel. All of these were rejected.

Well, on May 22, 2006, I sent “A Mother’s Love” to The Pedestal (a top magazine). Several of my co-writers have tried to break this market, but have not been able to. However, I didn’t realize this when I sent them my story. This story was rejected with a form letter on June 28.

"Water on Stones" is published

2006-09-09T07:21:00.000-07:00

Sorry that it has been awhile since you have heard from me. June was busy with church work and packing to move. After moving the end of June, we didn’t get a permanent place to live until the beginning of August. Though I haven’t kept you posted, I have been submitting stories and photos. I have had rejects and acceptances. I’ll try to get you caught up as soon as I can, but please be patience with me.

My photo “Water on Stones” is now up at Haruah. Please swing by Haruah and give my photo and Mike’s poem a look.

Another photo illustration accepted

2006-06-23T19:13:00.000-07:00

Well, apparently I can’t write, but I can take photos. I have another photo accepted at Haruah as an illustration. This illustration is titled “Water over Rocks” and it is going to illustrate J. M. Munsil’s poem, “like water on stones.” J. M. Munsil is the founder and owner of Liberty Hall, a very good writing site.

Mr. Munsil had a total of three poems accepted by Haruah lately and I’m illustrating one of them. There is one more that I would like to illustrate, since it is named after me (“for Mother’s Day Joy asked”). Last year I asked my NoteBored friends if anyone would be interested in writing a poem for me to use the church bulletins. I only had two write me one, and one of those two were Mr. Munsil. Not only did he write a poem, but he placed my name in the title—how cleaver. The only thing is I don’t know what to send as an illustration and I might be running out of time to get one in with our move and everything.

Great Reject Letters

2006-06-23T05:05:00.000-07:00

After a heart breaking rejection from Haruah, I decided to give it another try. So, I sent “Aftermath of War” out to four more magazines. In about six hour’s time, I got the following response from the editors at Bewildering Stories.

[quote]
...First, it's a very touching story and very well told.

...I like the quality of the writing. I'll await Jerry Wright's opinion.

Regards,
Don Webb, copy editor
[/quote]

[quote]
I second Don's opinion on the quality of your writing.

The story is quite moving. However, I question whether Bewildering Stories
is the appropriate venue for your story.

I note that this is a simultaneous submission, which is NOT a problem for us, but I must tell you that we are primarily a magazine of speculative fiction, or of stories that have some speculative, or "slipstream" element.

And of course in addition we publish experimental and mystery fiction that we find enjoyable.

So you see why I feel we really aren't the right place for your story.

Don may wish to accept it simply due to the quality of the writing, however, which
is certainly acceptable to me.

--Jerry
[/quote]

Wow, even though these were rejections, they were wonderful rejections. They have me encouragement and even made suggestions on how to make the story stronger. All authors crave feedback like this. So many times we just get a form reject letter, something like “sorry this didn’t grab our interest.”

But the upbeat news didn’t stop there. I also received this from them as well:

[quote]
Jerry Wright expresses my feelings exactly: I agree that you may find another publication better suited for a story like "Aftermath."

Let's make a deal, so to speak. If the other publication you've contacted does not accept the story, please review the story in light of the points I raise in my acknowledgment -- I think the ending needs more support than it gets -- and let's talk about it.

...A "happy ending" is practically a breath of fresh air.

Don
[/quote]

Wow! I have emailed them and let them know that if they are interested, I’d re-work the story and if they accept it, I’d pull it from the other magazines. I also let them know that we are in the middle of packing for our move next week.

Don wrote me back and told me to re-write it after the move and that they might be interested. Since I asked for other places that needed work on, he gave me some. It feels awesome to get writing feedback from an editor!

Bracing for more rejections

2006-06-22T05:56:00.000-07:00

I got tired of one rejection at a time, so I looked for places that allowed simultaneous submissions and emailed “Aftermath of War” out last night to four different magazines. Actually, I just wanted to get it out there to see if anyone would accept it. So, I’m now waiting rejection emails from Bewildering Stories, Gambara, The King’s English, and Plunge.

Two more rejections

2006-06-20T10:10:00.000-07:00

Two more rejections for me. Boy writing can be discouraging.

“Life Goes On” has now earned three rejections. This one will be pulled and worked on some more. I don’t know what to do. Should I rewrite it and take out the Christianity, since I’m out of Christian markets? But that is the main part of the story.

Haruah has rejected my second story I sent them, “Aftermath of War.” This one is the real bummer. I really thought that they would take it. The funny/depressing thing about that one is that they said that I have a good start and I should get some crits on it and polish it up. This story is the second challenge story I wrote for the NoteBored and I got comments then. I worked on it and worked on it. I then submitted it in the Polish Stories Challenge and got more comments and worked on it more.

I’m thinking that I’m not cut out for this. I have so many things I like to do and I can’t do them all.

I still have one more story out there to be rejected. “A Mother’s Love” is still out to The Pedestal.

Second Column Piece is Up

2006-06-10T03:56:00.000-07:00

A few days ago I worked on another column piece and I submitted it. To my surprise when I woke up this morning, I found that my new piece is up at the magazine’s site. This piece is about an experience Amy Carmichael had while she served the Lord in Japan. If you got a moment, stop by and give it a read; it’s under 500 words.

"Aftermath of War" out to Haruah

2006-06-07T05:25:00.000-07:00

“Aftermath of War” came back from BigNews. I apparently send it to the wrong address. I found another address and an email address. I resubmitted my story via email and it came back to me as a bad address. I tried to call them, but was only able to leave a message with a receptionist (who has never called back). All of this and their website, which I know I been to, is down.

Not sure if BigNews is still in operation, I went on down my list. When I did that, I realized that the web address for The Literary Magazine wasn’t working either. And since I already have one story at The Pedestal, I couldn’t send another.

So, I ended up sending “Aftermath of War” to Haruah. I decided to send it there because I wanted another shot and because the youngest daughter in the story is based upon my own daughter. I have taken pictures of my daughter illustrating my story. Now I just have to wait and see if Haruah accepts my story and if they do I need to pick a photo to send them to see if they will accept it as well.

I still have “Life Goes On” out to Evangel and “A Mother’s Love” at The Pedestal.

Rejected by Happy

2006-05-26T14:32:00.000-07:00

As expected I heard from Happy today; and as expected, they rejected “Aftermath of War.” They really did get back in a week time. My rejection was simply as piece of paper with their new address on it and “Rejection Sucks.” There was also a very messy hand written note—I think it reads: “WJ Thanks This isn’t for Happy to see what we publish sample on internet.”

Quite a rejection forum. Not everyone is into that word; “sticks” would have been a better choose.

Oh, well time to get it ready to send to BigNews. They claim to have a two week response time.

Haruah Photos

2006-05-26T14:28:00.002-07:00

I received bad news and good news from Haruah Wednesday before going to church. The bad news was that they were rejecting “Boundary Waters Sunrise” for use as cover art.

The good news is that they were accepting “Spring Marriage” for use as an illustration of the poem “my name.” They emailed me the proof and I ok’d it this morning, so I expect that my picture will be on their site shortly. I do hope that the poem and my illustration makes it into the first issue of Haruah. Right now there are five NoteBoreder’s who are being published in the first issue.

I’m so happy that my picture was accepted. Though I find it funny. I read the poem, “my name,” Thursday morning and that afternoon Dan took Anna and I out for a walk where he and a church man had ran that morning. It was a Catholic park and along some of the trail were benches with rosaries hanging on them. Seeing them reminded me that I was wondering where I would find one to take a picture for the poem. I looked around for a background and finding nothing I liked, I told my husband to take his T-shirt off. Using his maroon t-shirt for a background, I took the rosary off the bench and placed it on the shirt with our wedding rings. After putting everything back, I looked at my picture, but I didn’t like it—it was missing something. As we continued our walk I saw a long-leaved plant and then I knew what I wanted to do. I took a stem of the plant and when we walked back, I tried again. This time I added the green leaves and a few wild flowers to the rosary and wedding rings.

No, I’m not into rosary beads at all. I’m in no way Catholic and Dan isn’t sure about me submitting a picture of it. Maybe I shouldn’t have, but I so wanted to illustrate the poem. I like to take pictures and I remember thinking of becoming a photographer when I grew up. I know that I won’t, but I’ll still take pictures and I’ll continue to send some to Haruah for publication.

Another story out there

2006-05-22T06:21:00.000-07:00

I have another story out there waiting to be rejected. This time I sent to a top paying magazine, The Pedestal. So, there really isn’t much chance of it being accepted. But hey, you might as well start at the top and work down—one never knows.

The story I sent was another flash fiction piece (under 1,000) words. The story is titled “A Mother’s Love,” and is about an aging, ailing woman’s last visit to the phych ward to see her only son. Before she goes she writes him a letter, telling him of her never dying love.

The Pedestal says they have a response time of 4-6 weeks. I’ll tell you what happens.

Submission update:
My photo, “Boundary Water’s Sunrise” is still waiting acceptance/rejection from Haruah.

My photo, “Spring Marriage” is also waiting acceptance/rejection from Haruah.

My flash fiction piece, “Aftermath of War” is still waiting acceptance/rejection from Happy.

My short story, “Life Goes On” is still waiting acceptance/rejection from Evangel.

My column is up!

2006-05-21T15:26:00.000-07:00

It’s up! It’s up! My first column piece is up! I’m so excited. I am already working on my next book and have emailed a few missionaries to get stories from them as well.

"Life Goes On" is rejected again

2006-05-19T14:22:00.000-07:00

The Banner was really quick. My story, “Life Goes On,” was rejected again. I only got a form letter from The Banner and no comments on my story. Many places don’t leave comments. Though we writers wish that they did. We want to know why they didn’t like it. Is there a major flaw with the story or it just didn’t strike their fancy. I found out early this afternoon and I mailed it out to Evangel shortly after.

I’m still waiting to hear from Happy with “Aftermath of War” and from Haruah with two photos.

Third Tries

2006-05-18T12:33:00.000-07:00

Third tries.

I have resent “Life Goes On” to The Banner. The Banner is another Christian magazine. I don’t know what they pay or how long their response time is, but I’ll let you know either way. If I get comments much such as Haruah gave me, this one will go back to the drawing board.

My other third try is a photo. My second photo is still under consideration. That one is for a cover art. The one I sent today is for an illustration. Haruah has way for its members to see what stories and poems are coming up, so artiest can have the chance to submit illustrations for them. I saw a poem titled, “my name,” and my mind went to figure out how to illustrate it.

Today, while my family was out on a nature walk in a Catholic park, I got my opportunity to take the picture I had thought of. I’ll let you know if it is accepted or not.

Man, this submitting thing is exciting!

My First Story Rejection

2006-05-18T05:04:00.000-07:00

Well, I got my first rejection letter yesterday. Haruah turned down, “Life Goes On.” Though I told myself that they wouldn’t accept it, I really thought that they would. Oh well, I gather from their comments that they thought that I started my story in the wrong place and they would have liked to see the teen’s whole range of emotions.

The thing is, is that I wasn’t after the full range of emotions. I wanted to keep the story short (under 1,000 words), because I thought I’d lose my impact if it was much longer. I think I’ll see if there are a couple of more places to mail this to and see what they say. If the feed back is the same, I’ll re-work the piece. The only thing is is that it is find to find Christian markets for short fiction.

But Haruah may very been correct as they are editors and I'm just a new writer.

“Life Goes On” is about a fifteen year old who has lost her mother and baby brother to a drunk driver, but these aren’t the only family deaths this young teen has had to go through. She has also lost each of her grandparents. After the funeral, she tells God that she hates Him and when Sunday rolls around, she doesn’t want to go to church. But because her dad’s will was so strong in going, she did and the Lord starts speaking to her heart through a Bible verse in Sunday school and the sermon. The teen struggles through out the beginning of the week as she wants to hate God even though she knew she shouldn’t. At Youth Group the leader finishes his five series lesson on Job and the teen finally breaks down and begs for God’s forgiveness.

I still have “Aftermath of War” in the mail, and I’m expecting a rejection letter from them as well.

Oh yeah, Haruah is still pondering about my photo. I gather that they like it, but they already have several sunset pictures already accepted. I knew that would be a problem when I resubmitted my photo. Oh well, bad timing on my part.

Second Submitted Story, first paying one

2006-05-16T05:43:00.000-07:00

I was all bouncy yesterday morning. It was hard to stand still. I was so excited and I just wanted to bounce. You see, I mailed out my second story submission yesterday morning. I finally got “Aftermath of War” out in the mail. I sent it to a biyearly magazine called Happy. This magazine pays $.01-$.05 a word and they claim they have a week response time. So, I should know within a week of them receiving it, if they are going to accept it or not—most likely not. And their address is New York, New York, so it should only take a day or two in the mail to get there. This is the first paying market I have submitted to.

When it comes back as rejected, I think I’ll send it to BigNews next. I’m not really sure if it fits there, but they claim to have a two week response time and they pay. They are also based in New York City.

Then, The Literary Magazine, because they take email submissions.

Then, I’ll try The Pedestal Magazine, which claims to take 4-6 weeks to respond.

I will have to do more market search, which is a very time consuming thing, after this list. I have some leads, but I haven’t decided on any of them yet.

I’ll let you know what Happy says when I find out.

Column debut

2006-05-13T07:59:00.000-07:00

My column, “In the Field,” should be posted at Haruah on Saturday, May 20th! I can’t wait! So, don’t forget to check it out a week from today!

I Submitted My First Story!

2006-05-10T05:12:00.000-07:00

Well, I finally did it—I submitted a story! I was going to submit “Aftermath of War” back in October, but just haven’t put the final polish on it and sent it out. But that is not the one I submitted.

I submitted “Life Goes On” to Haruah. “Life Goes On” is considered flash fiction since it is under 1,000 words. Its teaser is, “Kristina struggles with her faith when her mother and brother die” or something very similar to that. This story started out as part of my novel that I worked on for NoteBored’s TriMo. However, with the rewrite there piece in the novel and this one really aren’t the same thing anymore—though the underlying story is there.

I submitted my story last night and there are sixteen other ones in front of mine—so now it’s a matter of waiting.

Waiting for my reject letter that is, because most people aren’t accepted with their first sub missal. But that’s OK, at least I submitted.

I have another story (another part of my novel) to polish up and submit to Haruah, but it will be a few weeks before I will get around to that.

I’ll let you know either way if Haruah accepted my story.

I'm a columnist!

2006-05-10T05:04:00.000-07:00

I have a column! Yes, that’s right, Haruah, accepted my idea for a column. My column is titled, “In the Field” and its description is, “Stories about missionaries, evangelists, and pastors who cross cultural boundaries.”

The columns at Haruah seem to be pretty informal when it comes to submitting. We can submit pieces as often as we like. When we are ready to submit one, we log in and submit it. Then the piece has to be accepted. So, I have submitted my very first column write up.

My first entry is titled, “Jim and Roni Bowers: Missionaries to Peru,” and its teaser is, “The Bower family and their pilot were an hour from home when a fighter plane flew in behind them and opened fire.”

Would you like to read it? Well, go to Haruah and keep your eyes on “Side Notes” or just click on any column link and follow the path.

I’ll let you know when its accepted and when its posted—I’ll be too excited not to tell you!!

My First Photo Submission

2006-05-10T05:02:00.000-07:00

Ok, ok, this isn’t about writing, buy hey I submitted something.

The new Christian magazine, Haruah, is accepting photos and paintings to use for illustrations and as cover photos. I wanted to send one, so I went to my old photo books and found a couple. The first picture I went was one I took in 1992 while vacationing in the Boundary Waters of Minnesota with my family. The picture is a sunrise over a wooded island. I have always liked that picture. In fact, I took the original picture to the Winona County Fair and won a State Fair Trip with it. At the Minnesota State Fair I received a blue ribbon.

To meet their size requirements I had to crop the picture down. The magazine turned it down because it was too blurry, but they liked the picture and I was invited my one of their editors to resend it.

So, I worked on it some more and I resent the picture this morning. Though I love my picture, I don’t know if it is good enough after seeing the pictures they have just accepted to use—man are those nice.

I don’t know if it is of quality to use now or not, but I’ll let you know either way if they accept my photo.

Column piece submitted

2006-05-05T12:45:00.000-07:00

Well, I’ve been out of state for ten days. While Dan had work to do, I had free time. I wrote up my column piece, worked on a story to submit to the same magazine, read the Polished Stories Challenge stories I had printed up to take with me, and typed up some blog entries for my personal blog.

Yesterday, I submitted my column piece and it went to the editor of Haruah to see if I can come on as a column writer. I hope to hear back from them soon. I’ll let you know either way.

Another One Year Anniversary

2006-04-22T05:48:00.000-07:00

Another one year anniversary celebration! Today marks my first completed year of membership at Liberty Hall. I have written 13 stories there this past year and have revised four of them. You will find three of my flash stories posted below: "The Note so Wise Oracle," "Not Ready", and "Diamond."

I might get my own column!

2006-04-21T10:03:00.000-07:00

A couple of days ago Dan received at PM (Private Message) at The NoteBored from one of the members there. She has been working with The Sword Review magazine, which is primary Christian Fantasy. However, they are starting up another magazine that will be both online and in print, called Haruah. This magazine is for Christian literature.

Anyway, Pixydust (as I know her at The NoteBored) asked Dan and me if we would be interested in writing a column for their new magazine. I wasn’t sure what to write about. Then I though about doing a column on missionary books, or books about missionaries. We asked Pixydust what she thought and she liked the idea.

I have PM’d with Pixydust back and forth and found out that a column is 500 words or less and that it will only be online, not in the print version. Since I am such a terribly slow reader and I have so many other things to do, I asked her if I could do a bi-monthly column (only post one every-other-month). She told me that would be fine.

I told her that I would write some thing up and send it to her. I told her that I wanted her to see what my style and layout is before she makes things final. I’m excited and scared about doing this. I have never done this before. I was surprised that she asked me to do it, since I’m not published. She said that she can tell that Dan and I are dedicated Christians and she knows our hearts.

So, I might have my first publication in the next month. I’ll let you know if I get officially in.

Though they are currently a non-paying market, I have a couple of stories that I plan on working on and submitting them. It is difficult to find places to submit Christian fiction stories to. In the future they plan on making this a paying market.

To see more information about this new magazine, please click here.

One Year Anniversary!

2006-04-21T06:12:00.000-07:00

It’s my one year anniversary! I have been a member of The NoteBored for one year today! I have grown in my writing and made new friends. I can’t express how much I love this writing site and I give a lot of my time to it. I do so want it to grow and help many others.

BlogExplosion mis-count

2006-04-15T05:29:00.000-07:00

I went to bed last night and it dawned on me that I can’t count. In the below post I stated that half of 100 and 100 and 70 was 85. Silly me, I missed an hundred somewhere. I really am bringing in 135 extra views to the NoteBlog.

BlogExplosion

2006-04-14T20:54:00.000-07:00

My dear cyber friend, Deanna, has been finding ways to promote her wonderful writing site, The NoteBored. I so love this site that I too promote it where I can. You will find its name and links to it all over this site of mine and my other blog site as well.

Well, Deanna has set up a blog for her writing site and the administrators and moderators of the site have access to make posts to it. She asked for a news anchor and I told her that I would be one, but I didn’t want to be the head one. Well, right now I’m the only one. So, I have made several posts to there as well.

One of her newest ways of promoting The NoteBored and the NoteBlog is by using BlogExplosion. I’m not sure how she set it up, but it’s free. What it does is for every two sites you visit, it brings one visit to your site.

Three days ago, she gave me the password to get into it to see it and I have worked away. On the first and second day I visited over 100 sites. So, we should get 50 visits now on NoteBlog. Today I visited 70, so we should get another 35.

That makes 85 visits that we wouldn’t have had other wise. And it works! Yesterday, I went to NoteBlog to see how many hits we had that day and there were many. I was so excited. Little did I know that I would get more excited.

We had a new member at The NoteBlog, which is nothing that new. I went and welcomed him and gave some information about our site, like I always do—as well, as several of our members. We really are a friendly site and we give good, helpful critiques. If you just want warm, fuzzy comments on your stories, we aren’t the place for you. Our goal is to help each other better our craft and sometimes you have to hear things you don’t want to. That being said, however, we state our comments in a nice way, we don’t tear you down into itzy, bizy pieces.

Anyway, to get back on topic. One of our members asked our newest member how he found out about us (we are always curious in that way). And he told us that he fould us from BlogExplosion! I was ecstatic! I think he came the first day I surfed those 100+ sites and he liked the NoteBlog so much (which I write a lot on) that he came to join us. I feel like I went and found him and brought him into our fold.

The only other person I brought to our fold, is a young teenager from Washington state. I had read some of his stories at a different site I had been working with and I thought they were great stories. Then I found out that the author was a young teen. After a week or so at The NoteBored, I asked Deanna if I could invite him over and she said that I could. And thus I invited and thus he accepted. This guy has made be proud and I truly believe that if he keeps at it, he will be a published writer some day. I hope that he will remember me and send me an autographed book. ;-) Why? Well, he also does the timed flash challenges over at Liberty Hall, when schoolwork allows him. And he actually won the title “Best of the Best” once. My husband has only won twice and I never have. The writers at Liberty Hall (some are the same at The NoteBored) are truly good and several are published. The young man is the youngest doing the timed flashes and he beat published adults!

Liberty Hall is back!

2006-04-11T06:04:00.000-07:00

I’m so sorry for the delay in the great news, but I wanted to make sure you knew. Liberty Hall, is up and running. They came back online on Friday and they are holding their one year anniversary flash challenge. The winner gets his/her story published in Apex Digest. If you love dark stories, then you really should ask for an invitation to Liberty Hall and give the twenty-one stories a read and a vote. Nineteen of them are less than 750 words.

No more transfers

2006-04-10T06:32:00.000-07:00

Well, that takes care of all the transfers. These were transferred from my main blog at Joy's Pleasure-A Writer's Journey. For more personal posts about my life and my family, please go there. I am going to keep this one for my writing posts. I have a story I so need to give another polish to and mail out. I have needed to do that since August. Boy, do I move slowly.

Expanding Genres

2006-04-09T17:45:00.000-07:00

Arpil 4, 2006

Do you think you can only write one kind of story? Do you love to write, but don’t think you have many ideas?

Well, you my friend need to find a writing site what will help you get ideas and give you critiques to help you grow. I know of two really good ones—NoteBored and Liberty Hall (which died when hacked into, but will revive before the end of the week—fingers crossed).

The little bit of dappling that I have done into writing the past few years have all been in the Christian fiction genre. After one Christian story, I found a Christian writing site to post my story to for feedback. I quickly found out, the hard way that those people just wanted warm, fuzzy crits. When I came around and gave helpful ones to help them grow and gave my true feelings about their stories, they got mad and I left. It took a few months to build up my courage to try another site, but I once again found another Christian site to post the same story. This site had more things to help writers and the some of the crits were of the helping type.

Dan, my husband and a published writer, has also worked at Hatrack. I knew that my stories wouldn’t be welcomed there for they are more of a Sci-Fi site, in fact it is Orson Scott Card’s site. There Dan meet Mike, the owner of Liberty Hall, and followed Mike there. Deanna, the owner of NoteBored, has also spent time at Hatrack and Liberty Hall and then made her own. Dan followed her to her site. After finding out that she is a Christian, Dan asked her if she would mind if I joined the site, though most of my stories were in the Christian fiction genre. She said that would be fine and she had thought of setting up a forum for that genre. Thus my membership at NoteBored. There isn’t a Christian fiction genre there, but that is fine. I truly love this site and it has helped me grow so much.

Since joining NoteBored and Liberty Hall, I have written my first Sci-Fi story (“The Time Magazine”), my first Fantasy (“Aqualynn”), and my first Children’s’ story (“Holly Honeybee”). I would have never written these on my own.

I like to write, but though I had no ideas. But that is the beauty of the flash challenges! They supply you a trigger to get the creative juices flowing and you write a short story about it. Who knows, you might find a novel in your flash story. Sometimes you get this idea and start hammering away on the keyboard, just to find out your story is way too big for flash (a flash piece is to be 1,000 words or less), but that’s ok. Just means you come back to it later and add.

I am working on a polishing my third timed flash challenge at Liberty Hall for the NoteBored Polished Stories Challenge. Why? Well, I got positive comments about my story and my characters, but I also got comments on how to improve the story. You see I really didn’t have a flash idea, my story was too big to fit. But I stayed with in the word limit to make the challenge and now I can add to it—fill in the missing pieces, some of which I didn’t know was missing until I read my feedback.

So if you love to write, you really should look into a writing site that makes you feel at home and one that will give you those comments that are sometimes hard to chew. You will never improve with warm, fuzzy comments—though they grow your ego.

You never know where your imagination will take you, if you will let it.

Cyber Refugees

2006-04-09T17:42:00.000-07:00

April 3, 2006

Right now I have cyber writing friends who have become cyber refugees. You see on April 1st, known as April Fool’s Day, Mike’s writing site, “Liberty Hall,” had a very unkind prank played on it. The hosting company was hacked by hackers and Liberty Hall was lost! Right in the middle of a huge competition to celebrate its One Year Anniversary of the timed flash challenges. One of the awards is to get published in a magazine.

This nasty prank has played havoc on people’s stress threads and emotions. There were many people who had their own little forums to place stories for feed back and where they organized their thoughts and layouts for publications. But that is all lost now.

Writers have been working hard on their contest stories, and now there is no place to post them. The magazine reserved a spot of the winner and now there isn’t one.

That is all the sad part of this story. But a lighter part is that these cyber refugees are finding refuge at “The NoteBored.” Many of them were already members there and the others are following. Liberty Hall will be back again and it will grow strong again. These inconsiderate people, won’t stop us. In fact, this has already happened once to the NoteBored, but it is back and strong and better equipped to fight off such non-sense. It has been a busy time at the NoteBored, bringing our lost friends in and making them feel at home. We are already set up for the Liberty Hall contest (which has been postponed a week), in case it is needed. As actors say, “The show must go on.”

But the story gets even brighter. Mike is in the process of finding a more secure home to re-set up Liberty Hall and get it on its feet again. He says that he as found one and that the site should be back up by the end of the week. There is all hope of having the contest at the new Liberty Hall.

I just wished idiots, i.e. hackers, would care about other people. Though they think this is all fun and games, it really isn’t. Innocent people get hurt and valuable things get lost.

I will update my Liberty Hall thread here, when I know the new site.

Story-"Diamond"

2006-04-09T17:38:00.000-07:00

March 31, 2006

This was the fourth timed flash that I did at Liberty Hall. The tigger was a picture of a dog with his nose sniffing a tetherball. There were 30 stories submitted and they were divided into three groups of ten.

"Diamond"

“Diamond, one more time.”

I picked up the tetherball, raised it above my head, and gave it a mighty swing. As the ball approached Diamond’s side, she squatted down and then leaped up into the air hitting the ball with her nose. The ball turned about and started for me, I hit it and it went back toward Diamond’s side. After seven minutes of play, I lost.

I leaned over and whispered, “Good girl, good girl,” into her ear and give her a treat. She waged her tail and licked me on the check.

The next day I woke up early to take Diamond on her morning run. Staying the “Dog Tetherball Champion” took a lot of work. Diamond and I would run in the morning and the evening. We would also practice with the tetherball in our back yard four times a day. Of course I had her on the best dog diet around and she had bi-monthly trips to the vet.

After Diamond won the National Championship, the people of the town stopped referring to her as a mutt and started to treat her like the royalty I knew she was. That was seven months ago and I have continued Diamond’s training in hopes of retaining her title.

#

Two months later I entered the house concerned. “Mom, something’s wrong with Diamond.”

“Why do you say that?”

“She seems lazy.”

“Bridget, that dog is anything but lazy. You won’t give her the chance to be.” I noticed a faint smile on Mom’s lips.

“Oh, Mom,” I moaned. “She loves the running that the playing. Well, at least she used to.”

“I’ll call the vet and see what he says, ok?”

The next day after school we took my best friend to the vet. “I don’t see anything wrong. She is getting a little older. Why don’t you try this new food and let’s see how she is doing in a couple of weeks,” Vet Brown answered.

So home we went with the new food and new hopes. I didn’t train Diamond after the check up; I decided she could use a day of rest. But we were right at it in the morning.

A week and half had swiftly gone by, but I didn’t see any improvement in Diamond. She just seemed fatigued all the time. Instead of running beside my heels, she now ran four passes behind. I also noticed her lack of interest in the tetherball. She loved the tetherball. Mom would tell me that Diamond would push it around while I was at school. But now she looked like she’d rather be sleeping then soaring into the air after the ball.

“No change, uh? Let’s try giving her some vitamins,” Vet Brown stated on our two week check up.

Diamond jumped into the back seat of the car and Mom drove us back home. I skipped training and went to my room to work on my research paper.

Two weeks later I asked, “Mom is it just me or has Diamond put on weight?”

She looked at Diamond, “I don’t think so. I don’t know how she could with all the training she does.”

“Yah, I guess so,” I muttered and walked out the kitchen door into the back yard with Diamond at my side.

We walked toward the tetherball; I raised it up and swung it around. Diamond looked at it and as it approached her she gave a half hearted leap and the ball went limp. I swung it again and once again only a half hearted leap and a limp ball. I walked over and knelt down beside my best friend. “Oh, Diamond. What is it girl? The National Championship is in two months. You have won ten games and have qualified to go. Just what’s the matter with you?”

Diamond only stared at me with her big brown eyes and gave her tail a slight wag.

#

“Diamond! Diamond!” I yelled as a entered the house. She always met me at the door, but today she was not there. “Mom! Mom!” But my mom didn’t answer me either.

I walked into the kitchen and there I noticed it. There was a note on the kitchen table. I picked it up and it informed me that Diamond was at the vet and that my neighbor would take me there. “The vet!” I yelled out loud.

I raced to my neighbor’s with my heart pounding. She took me to the vet’s office and I had the door ajar before the car stopped. When it was stopped I jumped out and ran into the office.

After spotting my mom, I ran toward her, “What’s wrong? Is Diamond ok? What happened? Is she...”

“Hold on there, Bridget. Diamond is fine. We know why Diamond was not herself and why she was gaining weight. Bridget, Diamond is a proud mother of seven!”

“Mother? Puppies? You mean Diamond had puppies?”

“Yes.”

“But how? We never had her breed.”

“Oh, I should have told you. One day about two months ago, I let Diamond out in the yard. I was really busy cleaning the house for Dad’s big dinner party. When I remembered to check on her, I noticed that she was all dirty. I was just happy she was back and let her in the house. Later I went out and filled up the hole.”

“Wow, puppies. I guess there will be no more tetherball. Well, at least for awhile,” I stated with a huge smile on my lips. “Puppies!”

Crits:

Member 1, May 16, 2005

I had a hard time getting into this story. The hook just didn't draw me in. Another difficulty was the viewpoint character. At the beginning she seemed like an adult, based upon the details of the training regimen in the first part. But suddenly, the Mom appears in part two, and the PVC's age starts to rapidly diminish. I saw the puppy result long before any of the characters did, only because that story idea has been used so frequently. That a dog under so thorough a training regimen would just casually be let outside while in season seems quite implausible to me. Otherwise, the story does flow reasonably well and builds up dramatic tension nicely, I just didn't find the material very interesting. In summary, good mechanics, weak content.

Member 2, May 16, 2005

A Member Wrote:
Diamond

“Oh, I should have told you. One day about two months ago, I let Diamond out in the yard. I was really busy cleaning the house for Dad’s big dinner party. When I remembered to check on her, I noticed that she was all dirty. I was just happy she was back and let her in the house. Later I went out and filled up the hole.”

I didn't get this at all. Are there other dogs in their back yard? Or did a male dog jump the fence, then jump it again after his business was done? Or is there no fence in the yard, so other dogs can come and go freely?

And pretty much all of Member 1's sentiments.

Member 3, May 16, 2005

Yey. Congrats to Diamond.
May your litter be full.

I liked this.
I was concerned that it was going to be a sad ending and that Diamond had either gotten old or fatally ill.
It was a nice happy ending after all though.

Perhaps a bit lengthy. Maybe could have been cut down in size to make for better flash size (pot, kettle, black comes to mind).

Member 4, May 16, 2005

I have got to start critiquing these things earlier! I do have to agree with above comments-when I was reading I too thought that she was an adult with all the training that the dog was going through, the special diets, the championships, etc. Then mom shows up in the next scene, jars me out of the PoV, and I have to assume that the girl is younger. At first I thought maybe it was an adult living with her mother and then school was brought up so that brought the age down.

Member 5, May 16, 2005

I had some problems with the POV of the story. It took me a while to realize who's POV I was reading.

Member 6, May 16, 2005

I'm with Member 1. Not much else to add.

Member 7, May 16, 2005

I found it hard to believe that a dog in competion like this hadn't been fixed. Also hard that she went to the vet that many times without him realizing she was pregnant, (get a new vet)

Except for the worrry about Diamonds health the story had little plot and pregnant was my first guess.

Member 8, May 16, 2005

I didn't have a problem with the narrator's age, but I thought she was male until her mom called her Bridget. Ditto everyone on all the pregnancy issues. Also, I noticed a couple of uses of past-perfect (or even present perfect) where straight past tense would have been appropriate, and they jarred a bit--but that's the kind of thing that's easy to get by the writer in a flash situation like this. Otherwise, fairly well told.

Member 9, May 17, 2004

umm...I don't mean to be mean or discriminating, but the whole plot is instantly predictable because of its "cliche" factor. "Oh no, Mom, the dog's not doing so well!" "Oh my gosh, it was babies all along!" It wasn't a bad story, just...well, cursed by its plot line.

Quote:
“Diamond! Diamond!” I yelled as a entered the house. She always met me at the door, but today she was not there. “Mom! Mom!” But my mom didn’t answer me either.

Here I pictured her as urgent when you said she was yelling, "Diamond! Diamond!" With the exclamation points and the "yelled", it just came off a bit strong for me. Maybe try replacing some words, or adding some to lend her actions a casuality (ugh, i'm horrible at wording things). Like, "...Diamond!' I yelled as I entered the house, tossing my backpack limply onto the couch..."

Member 10, May 17, 2005

As soon as the dog got sick, I got worried. But then that just went on and on, so I became confident that there was going to be a happy ending, not a sad one, so obviously she was pregnant. I'm glad Diamond is ok.

I thought the paragraphs explaining how D. got pregnant were unnecessary and read like an info dump; I'd just end it with the revelation about the puppies.

As some people above have mentioned, the POV character in the opening sounded adult, and this family seriously needs a competant vet.

Votes:

1 for Best Hook

0 for Best Dialogue

0 for Best Overall

Anthology of 6th Grade

2006-04-09T17:34:00.000-07:00

March 24, 2006

I mentioned in “My Interest in Writing Part 1” about my 6th grade book having a big influence over me. Well, as I went looking through some things in the house, I found my old “Anthology of 6th Grade.” Public schools love to give out fun projects in order to teach their students. Anyway, before I start a rabbit trail on that, one of the projects we did in 6th grade was to make a “book” (a big folder) with writing pieces from every 6th grader. My “book” is half an inch thick. Well, I slimmed through it to find what I had written in 6th grade. Below is what I found in my old “Anthology of 6th Grade” book. I typed them out as I found them—no corrections were made.

“Sue’s Surprise Birthday Party”

Written December 1988

May 12th, 1986

6:45 My alarm went off.

6:50 I was up and dressed.

7:25 Ate breakfast.

7:45 Was ready for school.

8:00 Bus twenty-one came.

8:25 Was at the school ground.

8:30 The bell rang.

8:40 Mr. Kjosa wrote down who was missing.

8:50 Mr. Kjosa told us what was going to happen.

9:00 I went to my high reading group.

10:00 I went to my high math group.

11:00 The whole class went to Mrs. Hanson’s room for English.

12:00 The whole eight grade class went to lunch and lunch recess.

12:15 I thought no one remembered my birthday.

12:40 We came inside.

12:45 We went to Mr. McGuire’s class for social studies.

1:45 We went back to Mr. Kjosa’s from for science.

2:45 Had recess.

3:05 Left for home.

3:10 I got on my bus.

4:10 Got home.

4:20 Opened the door and turned on the lights.

4:22 My mom, dad, and friends jumped out and said, “Surprise!”

4:30 I opened my presents.

4:50 Had pizza and pop.

5:45 Had the birthday cake and ice cream.

6:10 Played games.

6:15 I thought I was a lucky person.

7:25 Put all the games away.

7:35 Watched a movie.

9:35 The movie ended.

10:00 Got ready for bed.

10:30 All ten of us were in bed.

11:30 We were all asleep.

6:45 a.m. My alarm clock went off, bet we reset it.

9:30 The alarm clock went off again. This time we got up.

10:00 We were all dressed.

10:30 Ate breakfast.

11:10 We just played around and had fun.

4:30 p.m. My mom and I took all then of the kids home.

Sue is thirteen years old. She has black hair. On the back of her head she has a ponytail. Her skin is tannish-white. Sue’s eyes are blue as the bright blue sky.

#

We had to write comparisons in January 1989 mine was….The soft snow looks like the foam on the ocean.

#

“How Butterflies Got Colorful Wings”

Written in February 1989

A long time ago butterflies wings were very dull. The only color on their wings was gray. The people didn’t like the butterflies, because of their dull gray wings. Years passed by and the butterflies’ wings were still gray, but the older ones were getting some black on them.

One day Dr. Theodore Bunch was painting his house. While he was painting, some paint fell on a butterfly. The paint stayed on the butterfly. The butterfly loved it because it looked lovely. It went to show the others. The others followed the butterfly that was pretty.

They flew right in t pails of paint. Some went in the yellow, black, white, and orange. When they were done all the butterflies looked very lovely. The people of the small town took pictures of them and everyone loved the colors of the butterflies, thanks to Dr. Theodore Bunch painting his house.

#

Different Poems I wrote in April 1989

Calico cat

had a kitten

so, --

so

tiny, bitty, and

helpless.

tried to make it

nurse, but wouldn’t.

mother rubbed her

little,

helpless kitten.

I cried, wept, and

sobbed.

No more to be.

*

There once was a dumb cat.

He was so very, very fat.

Then sat on a tack,

He had a heart attack.

The cat turned into a mat.

*

Turkeys,

wild and free,

running, eating, sleeping.

They are beautiful animals.

Gobble.

*

The Hare Convention

looks like giant snowballs, freezing

in the cold climate.

#

You know how teachers like to make field trips to be school work? Well, during the trip we had to sit down some where and write what we saw, heard, and felt. This is what I wrote…..

Birds are flying around the creek. They fly up, down, and sideways while the creek flows swiftly downstream. I hear the sounds of running water going over rocks and logs. In some places it’s calm, then it goes faster. Green moss is growing on rocks. The water is cool. Up on the hill are a lot of trees, flowers, bushes, and rocks. I also hear birds chirping happily. Rocks are all over the creek, big ones and little ones. In some places you can see the bottom. On the bottom there are rocks, twigs, mud, little plants, leaves, and sand.

I like to have a lesson in nature. It was lots of fun.

Story-"Not Ready"

2006-04-08T18:34:00.000-07:00

March 18, 2006

My fifth timed flash challenge at Liberty Hall had a picture for a trigger. I struggle with picture triggers because I try to right about the picture and not use the picture to spawn a new idea. The picture for this challenge was a girl on bike with training wheels. The bike was on top of a rollercoaster hill. This is what I wrote for my fifth flash challenge and my comments I received. Oh yeah, I didn’t get any votes on this one. Of course, I knew I did a big writing no-no. I’ll let you see if you can find it as you read. If not, don’t worries you will find my big no-no in the comments the follow.

"Not Ready"

Jenna found herself with a gag in her mouth and something covering her eyes. She tried to shout, but the gag was too muffling. She attempted to remove the blindfold, but found her hands were tied behind her back. All she could do was lay there, wherever there was, and wait for her capturers to return. A moment later she felt a shift forward, wherever she was, it was moving.

There was a sudden stop and an object slid into Jenna’s back. She heard car doors close and voices from two men. Then she heard a door close to her open and she was grabbed by the foot and dragged toward the door. She tried to kick and scream, but it was futile. She was then swung up and she felt something bone against her gut. Jenna heard the second man pulling something out of the door and then the two men started walking.

When the blindfold came off, Jenna couldn’t believe what she saw. She was on a rollercoaster and on the track was her pink and purple bike! The man with the dusty colored hair cut her ropes off.

“I’m going to take the gag off. You better not scream. Do you understand?” he showed Jenna a gun. Jenna nodded and the gag was removed. “Get on!”

Jenna nervously got on the bike. The man joined his buddy in the rollercoaster. “Get moving girl!” Jenna started to push forward on her pedals and the bike started its forward motion.

Jenna made it a few yards and thought about jumping off her bike and climbing down the wooden trellis to safety, but then she heard a creaking sound. She glanced back over her right shoulder and saw that the rollercoaster was moving. She started to peddle faster and faster. When she stole a backward glace she saw the two men laughing at her. She peddled faster and faster, but the rollercoaster was catching up. She had no time to jump off her bike and to start climbing. Her heart raced ahead of her not constricted by her slow six-year-old legs.

Jenna went faster and faster, as fast she could go and then it happened. Jenna’s feet slipped off the peddles and she was looking down one of the big plunges! The peddles spun chaotically and she could not get her feet back on them. The bike was out of control as it headed down the plunge and the rollercoaster was only two yards away! Despite the training wheels, which her dad was going to take off tomorrow, Jenna felt her bike begin to tip over. She was falling.....

Jenna bolted up and realized that it had all been a dream. No, a nightmare. _I think I’ll tell Dad to keep the training wheels on a bit longer._ She comforted herself. Then she laid back down staring at the ceiling waiting for a peaceful sleep to claim her.

Crits:

Member 1, May 23, 2005
A few things to consider:

Most readers hate stories that resolve to show it was all a dream, not real. And dreams are weird things; they don't conform to linear reality, usually. Odd things show up for no apparent reason at all. Like, you could be driving down a country road and suddenly your in an airplane. Why? I don't know, but that's what dreams do. So, if you are going for the dream tale, then you have to give the reader clues along the way that's it's all a dream. Otherwise, we'll feel cheated, possibly.

A usage nit on the word "capturers." Completely legit word that no one ever uses. Consider using the more common "captors," as we will not wonder while reading if "capturer" is actually word. (I had to look it up because it shocked me so.)

Quote:

Her heart raced ahead of her not constricted by her slow six-year-old legs.

There has to be a better way of telling us that Jenna is only six without conveniently info-dumping it like in the above quoted section. We should also know it much sooner. Before then, I had no idea how old she was, except for the part about her bike. I knew then she was too young to drive (possibly), but I had no clue how old she was until this sentence. There are lots of ways to divulge the age without actually just saying "her six-year-old legs." For example: Jenna thought she was going to die. But she was only six! She hadn't even lived yet...

That's rough, but it gets my point across.

Good luck.

Member 2, May 23, 2005
Ditto on the dream stuff. The odd thing was that, even though this was not surrealistic, I guessed ahead of time that it might be a dream. As soon as her bike was on the rollercoaster. I mean, this was such a strange thing that it could hardly be taken seriously; hence, a dream. I didn't KNOW it was a dream, but add to the usual disappointment of dream endings the fact that it didn't even take me by surprise.

My expectation that it would be a dream was the only thing that let me get past the fact that, after pedaling for a while, she suddenly finds herself about to go down one of the big drops. How the heck could she pedal UP there in the first place? But in a dream . . . .

Aside from that, I enjoyed reading it.

Member 3, May 23, 2005
There seemed to be an awful lot of description at the beginning about bumping around and things pressing into her. We never get told what those things are and they never show up later, so what was the point?

I can find absolutely no reason for anyone to do that to a little girl, even just cruelty. For one thing, having access to a major coaster like that. For another, expecting her to ride to the top under her own power. They're designed to be steep. Then having the coaster take a while to catch up. On many coasters, the entire ride is only about 30 seconds, and most are not longer than a minute or two.

Your entire premise was totally unbelievable to me. And I agree that the ending felt like a cheat.

On the positive side, I had very vivid images of exactly what was happening.

One thing that might redeem this story a bit, or not: have her find bruises on her sides when she wakes up, from where she was slammed into things.

Member 4, May 23, 2005
I liked the action of this a lot; it was ridiculous but compelling, and I was really curious to find out why these guys were doing this. I was deeply disappointed and felt cheated when I reached the ending; it felt like a total cop-out. I also think you could hint at her age earlier; yoiu didn't tell us she was 6 until halfway through. Somehow I thought she was an adult in the opening.

Member 5, May 23, 2005
You could have left off the whole last paragraph and it would have worked better for me.

Member 6, May 23, 2005
Argh! NO dream! No dream!

Sorry, but I hate the "It was all a dream." It's just cheap.

I was going to comment on the believability and wonder why kidnappers (or anyone else) would do something like this but then she woke up.

Member 7, May 23, 2005
Didn't care for the "It's all a dream" ending. Wasn't too hooked by the rest -- too bizarre a setup with the kidnapping. Why would anybody do that? Too realistic for a dream and not realistic enough to be real.

Member 8, May 24, 2005
Nooooooooooo.

I wrote you loads of great constructive criticism that would have turned you into a fantastic writer, make you rich and famous and get you loads of sex. Unfortunately though I just woke up and it was all a dream!

Member 9, May 25, 2005
Hate the dream sequence. Didn't like that there was no apparent motive for her kidnapping up until the dream reveal. Also, I'm willing to bet the pedals moved, not chaotically, but with a specific frequency (even if it was varying).

Votes:
0 for Best Ressolution
0 for Best Voice
0 for Best Flash

A week or so later, I took my story that I liked and gave it a polish and posted on NoteBored. I was hoping to send it out, but after getting comments on it again, I don’t think it is publishable. So, I will let you read it was well, so you can see the second step of writing—the revising step. Below is what I posted to the Flash/Short Story forum for members to read and comment on.

I am looking forward to sending this out to be published. Please let me know what you think. My crits consisted of: "Noooo, No Dreams," the readers felt cheated by the end, and the dream was to real to be a dream, but not real enough to be real. Did I fix these problems? (Yes, I know its still a dream, but now there is a lead in. Does that make it ok?)

"Not Ready"

Jenna’s dad carried her up the stairs and placed her on her bed. “Did you have fun at the amusement park?”

“Yes, Daddy,” Jenna yawned. “When can I ride the big roller coaster?”

“Next year when you turn seven, Sweetie.” Her dad pulled the blankets up and tucked them under Jenna’s chin. “Don’t forget that tomorrow I’m going to take the training wheels off.”

“Oh yeah,” was the murmured response. “Daddy, will they find that girl?”

“What girl, Sweetie?”

“The one in the news that’s missing?”

“Oh, Sweetie, don’t worry about that. I’m sure she’s fine,” her dad tried to assure her.

Her dad kissed her on the cheek and walked out of the room turning off the lights. In a matter of moments, Jenna was sound a sleep.

Jenna found herself with a gag in her mouth and something covering her eyes. She tried to shout, but the gag was too muffling. She attempted to remove the blindfold, but found her hands were tied behind her back. All she could do was lay there, wherever there was, and wait for her captors to return. A moment later she felt a shift forward, wherever she was, it was moving.

There was a sudden stop and Jenna’s bike slide into her back. She quickly moved the bike back so the pedal could not press into her side. She could see that she was in the back of a large van. She heard car doors close and voices from two men. Then the back door opened and she was grabbed by the foot and dragged toward the door. She tried to kick and scream, but it was futile. A man, who reminder her of her cousin, then swung her up so she gut rested on his shoulder. Jenna heard the second man pulling her bike out of the door and then the two men started walking.

When the blindfold came off, Jenna couldn’t believe what she saw. She was on a roller coaster ride and on the track was her pink and purple bike! A man, who reminded her of her uncle, cut the ropes off.

“I’m going to take the gag off. You better not scream. Do you understand?” he showed Jenna a water gun. Jenna nodded and the gag was removed. “Get on!”

Jenna nervously got on the bike. The man joined his buddy and the shepherd dog in the roller coaster car. “Want to see mommy and daddy again, get moving!” Jenna started to push forward on her pedals and the bike started its forward motion.

Jenna made it a few yards and thought about jumping off her bike and climbing down the wooden trellis to safety, but then she heard a creaking sound. She glanced back over her right shoulder and saw that the roller coaster cars were moving. She started to pedal faster and faster. When she stole a backward glace she saw three men laughing at her. She pedaled faster and faster, but the roller coaster cars were catching up. She had no time to jump off her bike and to start climbing. Her heart raced ahead of her not constricted by her slow six-year-old legs.

Jenna went faster and faster, as fast she could go and then it happened. Jenna’s feet slipped off the pedals and she was looking down one of the big plunges! The pedals spun chaotically and she could not get her feet back on them. The bike was out of control as it headed down the plunge and the roller coaster cars were only two yards away! Despite the training wheels, which her dad was going to take off tomorrow, Jenna felt her bike begin to tip over. She was falling and something hit her.....

Jenna bolted up, with the cat lying on her legs, and realized that it had all been a dream. No, a nightmare. _I think I’ll tell Dad to keep the training wheels on a bit longer._ She comforted herself. Then she laid back down staring at the ceiling waiting for a peaceful sleep to claim her.

Crits:

Member 1, May 29, 2005
I read this over at LH, so my comments will mostly be about what you changed or maybe what I didn't notice before. Now that we know for sure that it's a dream, though, it takes away a lot of the suspense. I might suggest ditching the dream altogether, because it doesn't make a lot of sense in a lot of respects. Why are her family members the ones abducting her? The inclusion of bike doesn't seem to hold much meaning, besides being a product of the trigger. Dreams usually show something, so make stronger connections between Jenna and her dreams.

Quote:

Jenna’s dad carried her up the stairs and placed her on her bed. “Did you have fun at the amusement park?”

“Yes, Daddy,” Jenna yawned. Jenna said with a yawn? “When can I ride the big roller coaster?”

“Next year when you turn seven, Sweetie.” Her dad pulled the blankets up and tucked them under Jenna’s chin. “Maybe then you'll be tall enough to ride. Don’t forget that tomorrow I’m going to take the training wheels off.”

“Oh yeah,” was the murmured response. It's best just to say "Jenna said" or "Daddy said". I read somewhere (reliable, I hope) that it's always best just to say "said", because the atmosphere and details leading up to that should dictate what the reader imagines their physical and vocal traits are. I don't always follow the rule by the letter, but I think in this case it works better. “Daddy, will they find that girl?”

“What girl, Sweetie?”

“The one in the news that’s missing?(.)”

“Oh, Sweetie, don’t worry about that. I’m sure she’s fine,” her dad tried to assure her. Even though it's not something authors as a whole follow, it's another rule that "he said"s should come after the first line of a dialogue, if you're going to have them at all.

Her dad kissed her on the cheek and walked out of the room(,) turning off the lights. In a matter of moments, Jenna was sound a [seperate] sleep.

Jenna found herself with a gag in her mouth and something covering her eyes. She tried to shout, but the gag was too muffling. She attempted to remove the blindfold, but found her hands were tied behind her back. All she could do was lay there, wherever there was, and wait for her captors to return. A moment later she felt a shift forward{,} (;}wherever she was, it was moving.

There was a sudden stop and Jenna’s bike slide into her back. She wouldn't know it's her bike if she's blindfolded. She quickly moved the bike back so the pedal could not press into her side. She could see that she was in the back of a large van. She heard car doors close and voices from two men. Then the back door opened and she was grabbed by the foot and dragged toward the door. She tried to kick and scream, but it was futile. A man, who reminder her of her cousin, then swung her up so she gut rested on his shoulder. Jenna heard the second man pulling her bike out of the door and then the two men started walking.

When the blindfold came off, Jenna couldn’t believe what she saw. She was on a roller coaster ride and on the track was her pink and purple bike! A man, who reminded her of her uncle, cut the ropes off.

“I’m going to take the gag off. You better not scream. Do you understand?” he showed Jenna a water gun. Kinda anticlimactic. Take away the water gun. Jenna nodded and the gag was removed. “Get on!” This (water gun) is partly why I suggest making it not a dream, and instead have her return to her father somehow. It will be longer that way, but I think it would take away a lot of the problems that are hard to fix here.

Jenna nervously got on the bike. The man joined his buddy and the shepherd dog in the roller coaster car. “Want to see mommy and daddy again, get moving!” Jenna started to push forward on her pedals and the bike started its forward motion.

Jenna made it a few yards and thought about jumping off her bike and climbing down the wooden trellis to safety, but then she heard a creaking sound. She glanced back over her right shoulder and saw that the roller coaster cars were moving. She started to pedal faster and faster. When she stole a backward glace she saw three men laughing at her. She pedaled faster and faster, but the roller coaster cars were catching up. She had no time to jump off her bike and to start climbing. Her heart raced ahead of her not constricted by her slow six-year-old legs.

Jenna went faster and faster, as fast she could go and then it happened. Jenna’s feet slipped off the pedals and she was looking down one of the big plunges! The pedals spun chaotically and she could not get her feet back on them. The bike was out of control as it headed down the plunge and the roller coaster cars were only two yards away! A six-year old generally wouldn't think of things in measurements. Probably more like something along the lines of "The bike shook out of control beneath her as it dipped into the plunge, and yet the coaster cars were coming closer by the second." Despite the training wheels, which her dad was going to take off tomorrow, Jenna felt her bike begin to tip over. She was falling and something hit her..... Actually, maybe you should have the training wheels save her. That gives the line you have later more meaning.

Jenna bolted up, with the cat lying on her legs, and realized that it had all been a dream. No, a nightmare. _I think I’ll tell Dad to keep the training wheels on a bit longer._ She comforted herself with the thought. Then she laid back down staring at the ceiling waiting for a peaceful sleep to claim her and stared at the ceiling, waiting for a peaceful sleep to claim her.

I hope that helps.

Joy, May 30, 2005
Thanks [Member 1], you made some very good remarks.

A couple of qustions if I may?
Was it clear that the little girl was afraid to have the training wheels removed?
How could I make it more clear?

Thanks.

Member 1, June 1, 2005
Afraid? You mean at throughout the story, or just at the end? I got that she was hesitant at the end, but prior to that I got the impression that she was eager to have them off. If you want to make it clear that she's afraid to have them taken off, you could just jump a little into her shoes and say something like,

"...Don't forget that tomorrow I'm going to take the training wheels off."

"Oh yeah," Jenna said, and fell silent. The very thought made her squirm. But she had been putting it off for weeks. You have to face your fears sometime, she reminded herself, albeit a bit unsurely. Daddy's words. Everything would be all right with Daddy there; she was promised.

Member 2, June 2, 2005
Joy, I like the part you added to this but I am still having alot of trouble with that dream. Why is it there? Is it going to help find the missing child, warn her about a danger from her uncle. If it is just a dream about her training wheels it really feels out of place
This story isn't complete. Ask your self "what do you want this story to tell us." in other words tell me the story in two sentences and then see if that is the story that is here.
The style is good, it just needs focus

Making My Presence Known

2006-04-08T18:30:00.000-07:00

March 17, 2006

A week ago tonight I logged into Liberty Hall, requested the flash trigger, wrote my story, and submitted it. When I was done I thought I had a pretty solid story, though I didn’t like the content of the story. Though it got good reviews and great votes, I could never send it out. You, see my story is about how a prostitute made it to her street corner. Being Christian, I just can’t put that stuff out there. I even hate to admit it here. Now before you let your minds run wild, let me tell you there is absolutely no profanity in this story (or any of my others) and there were no detailed scenes. I just don’t want my name attached to something like that.

I know, you’re asking yourself why I wrote it then. Well, let me tell you what the trigger was. Last week’s trigger was, “Write a story from the point of view of a character you find morally reprehensible. The character must be fictional and your own invention. Bonus points if you can make the character sympathetic.” I didn’t go for the bonus points, but some felt sorry for her.

Though content wise I didn’t like my story, I thought I would do well in the voting. This crowd loves dark stories and this one is probably the darkest I have ever written. I’m just not into that kind of stuff. I’m really amazed just how well I did do in the voting. I got: 1 for Best Characterization, 1 for Best Narrative Voice, 0 for Best Dialogue, 2 for Best Hook, and 1 for Best Flash.

Those numbers might not look that impressive, but for me they are fantastic! There were five stories in my group (there were three groups total). Three stories received votes for Best Characterization, mine and another tied for second place and the winner got four votes. Again only three stories received votes for Best Narrative Voice and mine tied for second with the winner getting five votes. I did not earn any dialogue votes because my story had no dialogue. For the category of Best Hook four stories received votes, but mine came in second and the winner had three votes. And for the title every one wants, Best Flash, only two stories received votes, mine which got second and the one that won with six votes. The story that won Best Flash, also won three out of the four remaining categories. So, as you can see my little votes weighed in real big this week.

Too bad that can’t happen to a story I can send out.

Liberty Hall Win!

2006-04-08T18:28:00.000-07:00

March 9, 2006

The third to the last time I participated at a Liberty Hall flash challenge was the “Fourth of July Challenge.” Well, this one wasn’t their normal timed flash challenge as we were allowed two or three days to write it. But it was also a little more difficult because we had to have 500 words exactly, not 499 and not 501. I wrote a 500 word story titled “A Mother’s Love.” I liked my little story and since then I have given it a polish and submitted it to on of NoteBored’s Polished Stories Challenge. It still needs a polish or two, but one day I will get it out there.

The second to the last time I participated in a Liberty Hall challenge was the end of January. For this I got the trigger and then started a story about learning about my Grandpa Wright’s death. It was summer time and my parents, brother, and I were on vacation in the Boundary Waters of Minnesota. After some quiet time on the lakes, we were to visit with Dad’s uncle for a day or two. Upon arriving at his house, however, we found a note on the door telling us to go to a different address—which we did. There at a stranger’s house, we were told that my grandpa had died and they couldn’t get a hold of to inform us of such. (See there are no telephones way back on those lakes and cell phones—well no one knew what they were back then.) Unable to cry in public, I crawled behind a rocking chair and cried. I was around eight to nine years of age with this occurred. Well, anyway, half way through my story, I realized that I had done it again—I didn’t write a story. I thought it was more of a slice-of-life story, but those who critiqued my “story” said that it was really just a memory piece—which it was.

Should I start this paragraph out the same? Ok, I’ll spare you. The last time I flashed was this past weekend. The trigger was “whispers in the night.” I first thought about a mermaid then I thought about a statue of a lady whispering to a man while he slept. I ended up going with the first thought and I went and went. A flash is a piece of literature that is 1,000 words or less. I have only gone over that amount once by 35 words for a NoteBored flash challenge. Well, this time I was 408 words over and I ran out of time. Not only did I run out of time (we have 90 minutes to get the trigger, think of a story, type it, and submit it), but really ran too long and my story wasn’t complete yet. I was pleased with what I had completed, though I knew I needed to flesh it out (make it longer). This story was my first ever try at fantasy and Dan thinks it is one of my best ones. I personally like some other ones better, but I think this one could have potential.

The funny thing is that those that critiqued my story wanted to know what happened after the kiss, but that wasn’t the story I was telling. So, I can either ignore their wants and write my story or I can write the one they want. Or I guess I could really make it long and write both stories. I have even thought about writing the same story for both point of views—the man’s and the mermaid’s. The one I did for the challenge was from the man’s point of view.

Anyway the reason I’m telling you all of this, besides the title of my blog, is that I won something! It is my first every win at Liberty Hall! There are many great writers who participate in these challenges and several are published authors. One of them has even been published in Orson Scott Card’s magazine, Intergalactic Medicine Show. Not only published, but was the main featured author. Because of the number of entries there were three groups and I won “Best Character Development” in my group. This was my eleventh flash and I was/am so thrilled about my win! I normally get a vote for something—normally dialogue, but I actually won! My name will be on the winners list for all to see.

But at Amazon? Support writers!

2006-04-08T18:26:00.000-07:00

March 7, 2006

I know everyone out there is asking for your money. The money you work hard to get. Don’t you just hate it when the phone rings and you drop everything to see who it is, just to find a telemarketer on the phone wanting you to buy something or donate your hard earned money to some organization? Well, I know I sure do. I mean if you wanted what they had, you would call them. Right? At my home we never give money over the phone or buy something.

Do you ever get tried of radio or TV stations asking you to donate your money so they can continue to stay on the air? I know I do. At least this one is a little better then those rotten phone people, because if you hear the consistent cry for donations that means that you are already using their service. Though I don’t like to hear all the talk, I would be more willing to donate money to something I’m already using.

All that said let me ask you, if you could support a cause by just buying things you are going to buy anyway, then would you? As many of you know I am an administrator at the writing site, “The NoteBored.” This site is open to the young as well as the old and for the new writer as well as the established. Though the site’s owner very graciously pays the bills for the web space we are using, there are still bills to pay. We even have a few contests where the winners take home a prize. Amazon.com has a system of donating money to certain sites and we have become one of them.

So, if you already shop at www.amazon.com, would you please go to www.notebored.com, scroll down to the black, white, and orange Amazon box, and make your purchases through our index page. Amazon donates a little percentage of all orders made from them though our index site to The NoteBored. The money earned would go to help paying for the web space and the prizes. Also, we plan to start our own magazine in 2007 and the donated money would go to help paying authors whose stories are published. If you are going to shop at Amazon anyway, wouldn’t you be so kind as to help some writers? We give you our greatest thanks in advance.

I won!

2006-04-08T18:21:00.000-07:00

March 2, 2006

I won! I won my first contest at NoteBored. We just finished our Polished Stories Challenge #2, which I actually run, yesterday. I polished a story titled “The Time Magazine.” It was a story I had wrote for a short story challenge with the trigger “Time Magazine.” When I first saw the trigger, I was like, “Yeah, right. How do I write a story about that?” I then went back to house work and what not and then it hit me. Guns have magazines! Why not have a story where people travel in time and the time travel is caused by a gun magazine. I thought it was a splendid idea—I don’t get too many of those. I would have the gun start in the now and have an old man find it and travel in the past. Then the gun would fall into the hands of the girl he meet there and she would travel to the now. The teenager she found would find the gun and travel to the future. The guy in the future would find that gun and... (insert cliff hanger here)

The first step was to find a gun with a magazine, a hand gun with one. So, I zipped off an email to a Marine Captain friend to get guns that would use a magazine. He very graciously sent me a nice long list, but I didn’t know what any of the guns were. So, I went searching on Yahoo for pictures. After I found my gun, I still had research to do.

I had to research some history. I had the idea of using newspapers to show the time period, so I looked up newspapers which would be around in 1845 and then looked for a headline. I found a good one—Florida becoming a state.

Since I’m not a Sci-Fi reader (ok, I have read a couple because my husband wanted me to and they weren’t that bad), I had to try to figure out my future screen. I ended up telling Dan about my story idea, which he liked, and asked him for some pointers for the future. After getting some, I had to picture the future in my head and then write about it.

Anyway, I wrote my story and posted it in the challenge. Everyone thought it was a teriffic take on the trigger and enjoyed my little adventure. What was more fun was everyone’s reaction when they found out it was me! I had never written a piece like that it before; and since really.

Well, I wasn’t going to polish anything up for this challenge, but with so many people entering, I wanted to enter as well. After picking this story, I re-read everyone’s comments and then re-read my story. I fixed the major things and then reprinted the story for another polish. I edit better when I have paper in my hands that I can write on. After another little brush up, I posted it for the challenge.

Once again, I surprised people when they found out that I was the author of the “gun” story. They hadn’t seen it before, being new; and being around long enough to know my stuff—well, it surprised them.

What surprises me is that the lady that owns the writing site says that it is my best story. Go figure! I mean me not being into Sci-Fi and all.

I’ll let it set for a little bit, take another look, and send it out later. So, you won’t be seeing it here on my site. But if you want to join The NoteBored, you can read it there as I’ll be leaving the stories up for another week or two. If you are interested please see my blog post, “By Invitation Only.”