Fast-Breaking Bulletin from the Literary Lab submitted by Michelle Davidson Argyle We’d like to announce our 2009 Genre Wars Fiction Writing Contest! We invite fiction writers to submit your 1 to 2,000-word short stories to us. The contest deadline is December 1, 2009 at 11:59 p.m. PST, and we plan… Read more“Call for submissions to Genre Wars Contest”
Author: Victoria
Mentioning copyright
Where’d they go? The eagle-eyed among you may have noticed my blog posts have disappeared—all but the latest and those containing your own work. How many of you are familiar with a thing called copyright? If you want to be writers, you’d better be. Wow, I had about six golden… Read more“Mentioning copyright”
Meeting across the river
“Hey, Eddie, can you lend me a few bucks? Tonight can you get us a ride? Gotta make it through the tunnel, got a meeting with a man on the other side. . .” —Bruce Springsteen, “The Heist” aka “Meeting Across the River” An interesting topic’s being wrestled into submission… Read more“Meeting across the river”
HOOKING
All right, folks, we go out with a bang this week with three really beautifully-done entries from Amy Carey, Laura Eno, and Sean O’Mordha. These authors left me with quite little do do, edit-wise. Please give them a round of applause! And please remember to make your complimentary comments. Give… Read more“HOOKING”
Free HOOK Edit: Steam rose from the surface—
Steam rose from the surface of Gina’s latte. “What’s wrong?” I asked. “Your face. You look—” “I was jogging. I ran here.” Gina dumped a packet of sugar into her cup. “Not that. You look a little—spent.” “I am spent. I’m single-parenting while Todd’s out of town.” “He’s still out… Read more“Free HOOK Edit: Steam rose from the surface—”
Free HOOK Edit: Katie had just taken the first bite—
Katie had just taken the first bite of cake when the world stopped. Focused on the chocolate icing melting on her tongue, it took a moment to assimilate the absence of sound in the room. She looked up from her plate and stared at the party guests frozen in time…. Read more“Free HOOK Edit: Katie had just taken the first bite—”
Free HOOK Edit: The uninhabited island—
The uninhabited island lay thirty meters to port, and somewhere beyond the white sand beach an ambush. In the star-filled blackness of night neither were visible to the man standing alone on the bow of the ship, but the sound of the waves rolling across the wide, shallow reef placed… Read more“Free HOOK Edit: The uninhabited island—”
Free HOOK Edit: I was sent a letter—
by Agatha Dellamonde
I was sent a letter; that’s how it began. I went round by my mother’s house, and there it lay, on the floor in the dim front hall among the bills and credit card applications and grocery store flyers. I didn’t recognize the hand¬writing; it was pencil, a pointed and… Read more“Free HOOK Edit: I was sent a letter—<br>by Agatha Dellamonde”
Free HOOK Edit: Elizabeth couldn’t decide
Elizabeth couldn’t decide. The silver silk pumps said 1940’s all over, and the fat bulge over the heel gave her ankle a nice, twisting slenderness. But the stilettos were classic black, and she’d always had a soft spot for the classic. The toes weren’t too agonizing. She sure could see… Read more“Free HOOK Edit: Elizabeth couldn’t decide”
HOOKING question
@Doublelattemama has asked why I’m limiting the hooks to 150 words. Is that really how long a novel’s hook is supposed to be? Well, the first part of that answer is that that’s as long as I can handle if I’m doing multiple hooks for free every week. I had… Read more“HOOKING question”