Adding Flavor to "Vanilla Verbs"

Today in St. Peters, MO: Sunny, high 70 degrees, but it's was nippy this morning.

Over the weekend about two dozen members of Saturday Writers , whose motto is" "Writers encouraging writers," got a mental workout when board members Tricia Sanders and Amy Harke-Moore put on their "Exercising Your Writing Muscles" workshop. As part of her presentation, Tricia Sanders discussed how writers should experiment to add some flavor to their "Vanilla Verbs." She not only talked, she gave examples--and shared several helpful resources for writer.

One wowser resource is 1000 Verbs to Write By from Deanna Carlyle. If you click on the link, you will find a list of over a thousand action verbs compiled by Carlyle. Want to spice up your manuscript to describe how a character walks or runs? How about: lumbered, plodded, scurried sidled. Want to get rid of some of those pesky passive verbs such as was or were? Try substituting with some of these lively verbs: stood, sat, took up, perched, lay, hung.

Tricia and Amy did a fantastic job with the workshop! To find the list of resources Tricia discussed during the "Exercising Your Writing Muscles" workshop, visit the http://www.saturdaywriters.org/ website.

Dogs and The Women Who Love Them Contest

Today in St. Peters, MO: Windy, high 69 degrees.

Several of my writing friends have sent me leads for the contest spreadsheet I'm compiling. Here is information about a contest sent to me by Becky Povich. The contest has a short deadline, but if you have something appropriate in your stockpile of manuscripts or if you act quickly, you have time!


The contest is from the Angel Animal's network . The title is: Dogs and the Women Who Love Them True Story Contest. There is no entry fee. The deadline is September 30.


Speaking of deadlines, I have one today for a book review, so I better get busy.

Decatur Public Library Annual Writing Contest - Deadline Today

Today in St. Peters, MO: Chance of showers, high 75 degrees.

Yesterday I e-mailed several writing friends asking for names of writing competitions for a spreadsheet I am compiling. Next month I'm going to speak to the Writers Society of Jefferson County, and the president asked me to include a list of contests as part of my talk. So, I sent out an e-mail asking for contest suggestions. Doyle Suit, a writing friend and critique group member, sent me information about a few contests, including one with a short deadline --- today --- that I thought I'd share with you all.

So, if you have a manuscript or poem polished and ready to be sent off, or if you like working under quick deadlines, the Decatur Public Library's Annual Writing Contest is for you! The entry fee is only $3 per submission, and they have five categories--essay, fiction, juveline fiction, rhymed poetry, and unrhymed poetry. If you enter and win something, let me know and I will post about it on my blog. Good luck, and don't forget to include an SASE for results!

I love the motto for their library, "Where you go to know."

Today in St. Peters, MO: Chance of thunderstorms, high 75 degrees. Light rain this morning.

Here's some good news from Pat Wahler, a member of Saturday Writers, and a member of a critique group I belong to as well. Pat's true story "Canine Angel" is included in the just-released Chicken Soup for the Soul: What I Learned from the Dog.

Pat read her story one evening at our critique group. It is such a moving story, and Pat is a wonderful writer and supporter of dogs and other critters. Check out her Critter Alley blog if you get a chance. She posts about critters of all varieties, and occasionally posts call-outs for submissions about --- what else --- critters!

Way to go, Pat!

Springfield Writers' Guild Annual Contests

Today in St. Peters, MO: Chance of showers, high 80 degrees. A hint of fall is in the air. Time to put on a pot of chili.

The 2009 Springfield Writers' Guild has announced its 16th Annual Literary Awards, which includes the JIM STONE GRAND PRIZE MEMORIAL AWARD.

Isn't this photo of Mark Twain from the SWG's home page intriguing? Samuel Clemens, aka Mark Twain, put the town of Hannibal, Missouri, on the map. On a personal note, Hannibal is also the birthplace of my mom.

Like Saturday Writers, my favorite writers' group, SWG is one of thirteen chapters of the Missouri Writers' Guild. What I like about the SWG's contests is they are inexpensive to enter (only $2 or $3, depending on the contest) and they have a contest for just about any type of writer--prose, poetry, or non-fiction. Most of all, you can find out the results quickly.

Their contest deadline is October 1st, and the winners' names will be announced at the October SWG meeting. For complete guidlines, visit their website.

Oh, and Good Luck!

And The Winner of Celia Rivenbark's ARC Is . . .

Today in St. Peters, MO: Foggy this morning, chance of thunderstorms, high 81 degrees. Farewell, Summer.

After consulting with Celia by e-mail to see if she wanted to select a winner from everyone who commented or left a question or have me pick a name out of a hat, the hat won.

So, the lucky winner is . . .TRICIA GRISSOM.

Please e-mail me, Tricia, so I can make arrangements to get the ARC of Celia's laugh-out-loud collection of essays, You Can't Drink All Day If You Don't Start In The Mornin' to you. And you're going to love the recipe for the "You Broke My Heart So I Busted Your Jaw" Apple Enchiladas, along with the rest of the humor-filled book.

Thanks to WOW! for sponsoring Celia's interview and to everyone who took time out of their day to read my interview with Celia and post comments or questions.

If your name wasn't picked out of the hat, I know a place where you can have a second chance to win one or more of Celia's books.

Carol Fitzgerald and the wonderful folks at Bookreporter.com are sponsoring a special contest to celebrate the release of Celia's latest book. One lucky Grand Prize winner will receive a finished copy of YOU CAN’T DRINK ALL DAY IF YOU DON’T START IN THE MORNING, a copy of the YOU CAN’T DRINK ALL DAY IF YOU DON’T START IN THE MORNING audiobook, a toothbrush, a martini glass and recipe cards, as well as a copy of each of Celia Rivenbark’s backlist titles, which include BELLE WEATHER, BLESS YOUR HEART, TRAMP, STOP DRESSING YOUR SIX-YEAR-OLD LIKE A SKANK and WE’RE JUST LIKE YOU, ONLY PRETTIER.

Fifteen additional readers each will receive a finished copy of YOU CAN’T DRINK ALL DAY IF YOU DON’T START IN THE MORNING.

The deadline to enter is Wednesday, September 30, 2009 at 11:59PM (Eastern). Here's a link to find out more: http://www.bookreporter.com/community/contests/090901-youcantdrink.asp

How's that for a great contest? Wish I could enter, but I freelance for the Bookreporter.com network, so I can't, but I would be tickled pink if one of my blog visitors would win.

Inch Magazine, Where Good Writing Come in Tiny Packages

Today in St. Peters, MO: Mostly sunny, high 80 degrees. A good day for a walk.

After yesterday's informative, entertaining, and lenghty interview with North Carolina humor writer Celia Rivenbark and all the comments and questions left by visitors, I wanted to have a brief post. So, how about an announcement for a market located in North Carolina that focuses on tiny submissions?

I read about Inch Magazine in Pam Casto's Flash Fiction Newsletter and visited the magazine's website. Inch Magazine/Bull City Press is " a quarterly magazine devoted to tiny poems and tiny fiction. We believe that good things come in small packages, so we focus our eight pages on poems of one to nine lines, or fiction of 750 words or less."

The editors prefer electronic submissions and pay in three contributor copies. Note: they will not be accepting poetry submissions between October 15, 2009 and January 15, 2010. Visit their website for more details.