Caroline Bock's Blog: Caroline Anna Bock Writes, page 3

WRITING ADVICE-INTERVIEW WITH THE WRITER MAGAZINE- MARCH ISSUE

Do you write short stories? I was interviewed by THE WRITER MAGAZINE after winning first place in their 2016 short story contest, judged by Column McCann . If you have not read his "!3 Ways of Seeing" story collection, run now and read it. It is masterful. And if you'd like read The Writer Magazin e interview with me where I give some advice on writing, go now: http://www.writermag.com/2016/01/27/caroline-bock-author-gargoyles-stars/

TGIF!!  Caroline

INTERVIEW in WRITER MAGAZINE

The Write Magazine interviewed me this month in conjunction with honoring my short story, "Gargoyles and Stars" with first place in its 2016 short story competition, judged by Colum McCann!
Here is a link to the interview and short story:

http://www.writermag.com/2016/01/27/c...

PS if you haven't read my newest young adult novel, BEFORE MY EYES, perhaps now is the time?
Before My Eyes

Happy spring!!

GARGOYLES AND STARS - WINNING SHORT STORY

I am thrilled to share my short story "Gargoyles and Stars," winner of WRITER MAGAZINE'S 2016 short story contest, judged by Colum McCann (his new book of short stories: 13 Ways of Looking, is a must read, especially for writers).
The link to my short story is here: http://www.writermag.com/2016/01/27/gargoyles-stars-caroline-bock/
It's a fast read, only about 750 words, about a woman of a certain age: Lydia. I love Lydia, and I think I will be coming back to her someday. Read on!! 

GARGOYLES AND STARS- AWARD-WINNING SHORT STORY LINK HERE

Read my short story at www.writermag.com. I was going to write a long blog about the value of entering
contests, but what I really want you to do is read my short story,
" Gargoyles and Stars," winner of the 2016 Writer Magazine short story
contest judged by Colum McCann. I rarely enter contests so I truly have
no wisdom to share except to enter them once in a while, if you admire
the work of the judge or the publication, if you feel lucky, if you
don't feel lucky and want to feel lucky for a moment. ������ Caroline

GARGOYLES AND STARS

Read my short story at www.writermag.com. I was going to write a long blog about the value of entering
contests, but what I really want you to do is read my short story,
" Gargoyles and Stars," winner of the 2016 Writer Magazine short story
contest judged by Colum McCann. I rarely enter contests so I truly have
no wisdom to share except to enter them once in a while, if you admire
the work of the judge or the publication, if you feel lucky, if you
don't feel lucky and want to feel lucky for a moment. ������ Caroline

GARGOYLES AND STARS

I am so thrilled to share the link to my short story "Gargoyles and Stars," winner of the 2016 Writes Magazine short story contest, judged by Column McCann... with much gratitude to this master writer and to the staff of The Writer Magazine.

www.writermag.com


Enjoy!!

Caroline

The Best Holiday Present Ever...

News From...The Writer MagazineImagine

Write

Publish


December 23, 2015Twists, turns, double meanings and double lives. These are some of the
recurring themes for our Two Roads Diverge contest. Guest judge Colum
McCann chose the three winners and an honorable mention. We are happy to
announce them here.


Read the winning story in our March issue, on newsstands February 9, and read all three on  writermag.com  in January.

FIRST PLACE  Caroline Bock and her submission "Gargoyles and Stars" introduces us to the cheerful and humorous Lydia, on the hunt in New York City for her parked car. Despite many vibrant memories, her loyalty to the past is trumped only by the fact that it doesn���t exist in the present except in her imagination.
Guest judge Colum McCann noted Bock's style, saying, "It���s a brave story with many different strands nicely helixed together."
A young adult novelist, Bock has published poetry and short stories with F(r)iction, Ploughshares and Prometheus. Her poetry has been nominated for a 2016 Pushcart Prize. She currently lives in Maryland, where she works as freelance bookseller.    

The Best Holiday Present ever!Here's to a 2016 filled with inspiration and creativity for us all!
Caroline 

DEALS WE MAKE WITH OURSELVES AS WRITERS

Write 5,000 words today and you can binge-watch the rest of the first season of
Mr. Robot. 
Write 4,000 words today and you can go to Starbucks for a
chai tea latte, grande, and re-read what you wrote. Live the writer���s life. 
Write 3,000 words today���write hard and fast and then off to
the yoga relaxation class where you will ultimately lie on a mat and do nothing. 
Write 2,000 words today and turn off the computer, leave it
off for the rest of the day, free yourself from the shackles of social media
and typing like one possessed. Write 2,000 words and go get your nails done by the
girl from Vietnam who scowls at your hands, looking at them intensely,
wondering what she should do with them. The nails are bitten down to the skin, bleeding
at her touch. All you really want is for her to hold your hands in the folds of
her own cool bones.  
Write 1,000 words today and you can read the rest of
Franzen���s PURITY. You don���t know if this is a reward or not, you think not.
Write 1,000 words and you can go back to library and find new books, ones that
you will enjoy reading.  
Open your novel and write 500 words this morning, you can do
this. You will know you made an effort. You will be giving the world what?
Ideas? Words. More words. Maybe some will make sense, maybe none will. You
don���t know what else means anything to you anymore. So, you write. Make a deal
with yourself: 5,000. You can do it. 5,000 words.
--Caroline
 
 

Unexpected Book, TV and Movie Delights of the summer of '15

Labor Day. Unofficial End to Summer. But summer of 2015 had a few unexpected delights…

Books…
Re-read Are You There God, It’s Me, Margaret. How ahead of the time was Judy Blume? unexpectedly fresh and relevant, especially since I have a ten-year-old daughter!

Television series…
Humans on AMC… Synths, a.k.a. synthetic robots, more humane than humans complete with British accents. A British drama complete with robots—a futuristic take on the ‘Upstairs/Downstairs’ life with lots of plot turns and heart. I've read this is renewed for a second season!

The Strain on FX… The second season of New York City under siege from pulp fiction-inspired, Nazi-backing, vampire-infected creatures took the idea that NYC could be a dangerous place to bring up kids to new levels with a fabulous multi-racial cast. Expect more STRAIN next summer!

Movies…
Jurassic World…Saw this with my kids and found, unexpectedly, it was lot of fun for me—and made me think again: how cool would a real Jurassic Park be?

Mr. Holmes…I went for the cast Ian McKellen as the aging Sherlock Holmes, and one of my all-time favorite actresses, Laura Linney as his housekeeper. What I didn’t expect is how much this was a movie about the process of writing. If you are a writer, go immediately to see.

I Believe in Unicorns…I streamed this absolute delight of an indie film about first love on Amazon…and now I believe in unicorns.


So here we are at another Labor Day, which has a special meaning to me. The setting of my new young adult novel, BEFORE MY EYES,is Labor Day weekend on Long Island, New York. If you haven’t read BEFORE MY EYES yet, I urge you to do so this Labor Day. I find there’s something unexpectedly metaphysically rewarding about reading books at the moment, or in the place, that they are set.

Onward to autumn!

Caroline

DO MORE NOW... INSURE OUR DOMESTIC TRANQUILITY... OPEN LETTER TO POLITICIANS

Columbine                        April 20, 1999Tucson                       
   January 8, 2011            Aurora                       
   July 20, 2012Newtown                          December 12,
2012Santa Barbara                    May 23, 2014Charleston                       June 17, 2015Roseburg, Oregon            
    October 1, 2015                                                            Dear Politician, 
The answer is not more guns. As a mother, a voter, and
writer, I strongly believe this. We need to do more now:  
Ban assault style weapons for general sale.  
Require Background checks. Waiting Periods. License and
insurance. It shouldn���t be easier to buy and own a gun than it is to operate a
car.   
Change key mental health laws. If your son or daughter is
having mental health issues, the last solution is a gun. Change mental health
laws to make it easier for parents or loved ones to help stop access to guns.  
Raise awareness. Fund, on a public-private basis, a massive
public awareness campaign akin to the Mothers Against Drunk Driving efforts. I
am a member of Moms Demand Action For Gun Sense a national grassroots effort, but my interest goes one step further, I have
published a young adult novel, BEFORE MY EYES (St. Martin���s Press, 2014) about
gun violence. Call out the facts: more people want MORE DONE NOW on gun laws than
ever before.  
Am I against all guns? No. I respect that we have a history
of gun ownership in this country. For responsible gun owners: If you are a
hunter or a hobbyist, enjoy your gun responsibly. However, the time is now to do
all we can to ���insure domestic Tranquility��� (the first line of our U.S. Constitution).
It is time for all of us, but particularly our politicians, to stand up for sensible gun law legislation and do more.  
Sincerely, 
 
Caroline Bock