Jeffrey Ricker's Blog, page 40

Secrets of a litmag contest manager

One thing I’ve been trying to do this year is send out more stories to magazines, literary journals, and contests. I’ve probably mentioned before that I’m contest manager for a literary magazine called PRISM international. If you haven’t heard of it, you’re probably not from Canada. It’s been published by the Creative Writing Program of the University of British Columbia for more than 50 years. Every year the magazine has writing contests in non-fiction, fiction, and poetry, and the prize money totals $6,000.

Not exactly chump change, is it?

The magazine’s got an admirable track record of publishing well-known writers or people who went on to become well-known: Margaret Atwood, Seamus Heaney, Charles Bukowski, Ted Hughes, Raymond Carver, Jorge Luis Borges, Carol Shields, and Michael Ondaatje have all made appearances in its pages.

So why am I bringing this up, you might ask (especially if you’re in the United States or abroad—basically, somewhere other than Canada)? Because not a lot of people from outside Canada seem to enter the contests, and if you have some strong literary writing, you would probably stand a good chance if you entered. You’ll often hear of litmags in the U.S. that get thousands of submissions and entries for their contests. The pool is much smaller in Canada. (Which makes sense—Canada’s population is about one-tenth the size of the United States, after all.) But one thing Canada has going for it over the U.S. is a strong national appreciation for their literary stars, which I don’t see Stateside. Do they broadcast the announcements of literary award winners live in the U.S.? I didn’t think so.

So there does also tend to be a good deal of quality competition for these awards.

Anyway, if like me you’ve been thinking about and entering contests lately, check it out.

(I would be remiss in pointing out that if you don’t want to enter the contest, they accept regular submissions all the time, too.)

Oh, that’s right—I have a blog

*tap tap tap* Is this thing on? Can you hear me? Good.

Remember when I said I was giving my advisor the first draft of my thesis? Yeah, that didn’t happen, at least not on Oct. 11. Mike arrived for a visit on the 12th and I still wasn’t done, so I got a week’s extension. I finally sent it off (I’m tempted to say “inflicted it upon her) on the 20th. But, for the moment it’s off my desk, so yay for that.

Which doesn’t mean I’ve been lacking for something to do. I had a short story due for a workshop on the 23rd (and you may recall how that went), and I’m also a TA in a class on writing for new media, so I had a pile of assignments to mark. How many times can you read Kafka’s The Metamorphosis adapted for Twitter? In my case, about 85 times. It’s a bug’s life, let me tell you. However, it did compel me to read The Metamorphosis, which had been missing from my past. Talk about grim.

Also, looming in the background have been the edits on my next novel, The Unwanted. Thankfully, I can say that’s behind me. Apparently, I didn’t give my editor too much to be concerned about, which is a good thing! Now it’s off to production, which will mean line edits from the copy editor (who saved me from a couple of really boneheaded mistakes in my previous novel). Then there’ll be cover proofs and a few other things before it’s off to the races.

Nervous? Me? I have no idea what you’re talking about.

Meanwhile, I’ve been working on a story I started writing on the bus. I was thinking about a book I checked out of the library, which got me thinking about the other people on the bus and the strange ways in which strangers might meet, and that got me thinking about bus drivers in general and before I knew it I had my phone out and was starting to write on it. It kind of surprises me how much I enjoy writing on the teeny tiny screen of my old phone. I think it keeps me from being too daunted by vast fields of blank screen space that haven’t been filled with words.

Don’t forget, I’m giving away a copy of The Lavender Menace on Goodreads, and you’ve got until November 20 to enter. Check it out here.

Thanks for the birthday present, Apple

Okay, so it’s really not Cupertino’s fault that I decided to install the (free!) upgrade to Mavericks on my laptop Tuesday night. The night before I had a story due for my fiction workshop. A story that I hadn’t finished. But yeah, I’m from New England and we tend to be frugal (my mother would probably say that virtue skipped a generation where I’m concerned, along with patience), and “free” is a powerful motivation that tends to overwhelm “untested technology that may fuck things up and dude you’ve got a deadline, so chill, okay?”

Which is how I came to spend last night writing the aforementioned short story largely on my phone while I restored a previous version of my system from Time Machine. Thank heavens for regular backups. On the bright side, when I did a complete restore, I miraculously freed up 20+ gigabytes of space on my hard drive. Nice.

Less positive was the fact that I booted up this morning to find all my web browsers had—poof!—vanished. As had Microsoft Office, which makes word processing kind of a challenge.

Huh.

Thankfully, since I’m a vaguely povertied grad student, it was fairly easy to find an open-source word processing suite (thanks, OpenOffice)

Oh, also? Like I mentioned, it was my birthday yesterday (the 23rd, which makes me a Scorpio, even though some horoscopes say the sign starts on the 24th, because let me tell you those are lies, do you understand?). I have a confession and a tiny favor to ask. (It will cost you nothing except maybe a little time, don’t worry). First off, the confession: I think I’m fairly terrible at self-promotion. (Go read that linked article, especially if you have introvert leanings.) But, what I can do is trumpet the good work of other people, as the article suggests, because I’ve got a few things I can tell you about.

First of all, if you’re in the Ottawa area, tomorrow my friend ’Nathan is having a book launch party at After Stonewall, so go and RSVP because his new book is good and he’s just a doll.

Secondly, I cannot believe that I neglected to mention this: another story! I have a science fiction piece in this anthology, edited by Jerry Wheeler, that features work by  great writers such as my aforementioned friend ’Nathan Burgoine, along with Jeff Mann, Lewis DeSimone, Dale Chase, and many more. And the guy on the cover? Not at all difficult to look at.

One of the best books I’ve read recently was Two Boys Kissing by David Levithan. The fact that I managed to get through it without crying is testament only to my cold, hard heart, but it was great, and several of my friends have confessed to ugly-cry moments in public places like on the bus.

Another good read that I just finished recently was Tom Mendicino’s KC, at Bat. It was a sad and bittersweet tale about two high school students and how they meet the summer before college and everything that happens. It’s only available as an e-book and it’s a short read you can finish in one sitting, really. It’s also open-ended, which makes me hope “sequel.”

Lastly, the favor. Are you on Goodreads? Add my next book to your Want to Read shelf. Shortly before the book launches next March, I’m hoping to give away a few copies on Goodreads as well, so who knows? Maybe you’ll even get one for free. And who doesn’t like free?

And unlike OS upgrades, free books aren’t nearly as prone to malfunctions.

A villainous giveaway, and what would you do for a Klondike bar?

Right! Remember a while back when I said I had a copy of The Lavender Menace: Tales of Queer Villainy! to give away? Well, I finally got my rear in gear and listed the giveaway on Goodreads. Behold!

Goodreads Book Giveaway


The Lavender Menace
by Tom Cardamone

Giveaway ends November 20, 2013.

See the giveaway details

at Goodreads.

Enter to win

(And if, for some reason, that fancy shmancy box with all the details doesn’t show up in your browser, you can find the info here.) You’ve got until November 20 to enter, so don’t delay!

I also recently received my contributor copies of Anything for a Dollar, which is aimed at, shall we say, a slightly more adult audience. (I imagine the cover pretty much gives that away—and continues the trend of my work appearing in anthologies whose covers make me wish I didn’t like to eat dessert so much. I mean, come on. Do you think that guy’s had cake in years? I seriously doubt it.

Mmm, cake.)

Where was I? Oh, right. Anything for a Dollar includes stories by well-known writers such as Felice Picano, William Holden, Lawrence Schimel, and many others, as well as yours truly.

This was a hard (shut up) story to write. I thought it was going in one direction, and then it kept getting more and more complicated. After I finished it and sent it off, it wasn’t done with me. I went back and kept writing. So, there’s a version of the story as it appears in the book, at about 5,800 words long, and then there’s a version of it that’s 9,600 words. I like them both. I’m not sure what to do with the 9,600-word version.

Anyway, look for a giveaway on that coming soon as well.

By the way, I can’t tell you how tempted I was to make the title of this post “A dolla make me holla,” but then I’d have to find a Honey Boo Boo gif to go with it, and there are some things even I won’t do.

A villiainous giveaway, and what would you do for a Klondike bar?

Right! Remember a while back when I said I had a copy of The Lavender Menace: Tales of Queer Villainy! to give away? Well, I finally got my rear in gear and listed the giveaway on Goodreads. Behold!

Goodreads Book Giveaway


The Lavender Menace
by Tom Cardamone

Giveaway ends November 20, 2013.

See the giveaway details

at Goodreads.

Enter to win

(And if, for some reason, that fancy shmancy box with all the details doesn’t show up in your browser, you can find the info here.) You’ve got until November 20 to enter, so don’t delay!

I also recently received my contributor copies of Anything for a Dollar, which is aimed at, shall we say, a slightly more adult audience. (I imagine the cover pretty much gives that away—and continues the trend of my work appearing in anthologies whose covers make me wish I didn’t like to eat dessert so much. I mean, come on. Do you think that guy’s had cake in years? I seriously doubt it.

Mmm, cake.)

Where was I? Oh, right. Anything for a Dollar includes stories by well-known writers such as Felice Picano, William Holden, Lawrence Schimel, and many others, as well as yours truly.

This was a hard (shut up) story to write. I thought it was going in one direction, and then it kept getting more and more complicated. After I finished it and sent it off, it wasn’t done with me. I went back and kept writing. So, there’s a version of the story as it appears in the book, at about 5,800 words long, and then there’s a version of it that’s 9,600 words. I like them both. I’m not sure what to do with the 9,600-word version.

Anyway, look for a giveaway on that coming soon as well.

By the way, I can’t tell you how tempted I was to make the title of this post “A dolla make me holla,” but then I’d have to find a Honey Boo Boo gif to go with it, and there are some things even I won’t do.

In case you haven’t heard…

…’Nathan Burgoine‘s Light came out. I picked up my copy from Chapters on Granville this week:

(Bonus thumb in picture for added interest.)

I’m delighted that it’s getting loads of good reviews—a) because it’s a great book and b) because ’Nathan is probably one of the nicest people I know. But even if he were a royal jerk (which he’s NOT), it would still be a good book.

So, the takeaway here? Book=great. Also ’Nathan=nice.

But! Go over here and read the interview with him at Indie Reviews, where he also heaps praise on his editors, Greg Herren and Stacia Seaman (who also happen to be my editors) and provides some insight into his own creative process. I always find it interesting to hear how other writers approach their work. I took particular note of the way he picked up from Greg Herren of “crafting backwards” for character development. I’ll be keeping that in mind.

What’s on my bookshelf

Happy Friday! Yes, I’m still alive.

You can attribute the recent radio silence to deadlines. I’m giving the first draft of my thesis novel to my advisor today. This is the point where I should probably say, “It is so bad. So bad.” But hey, it’s a first draft. It’s supposed to be bad. Or at least, not all the way there.

Meanwhile, I’ve been busy lining up promotional ads and postings for the literary magazine’s writing contests. The deadline for creative non-fiction is first up, on November 28, so you know, don’t delay. Enter today! Plus, I have a novella to read for workshop next Wednesday and my partner Michael is coming to visit tomorrow, so radio silence will continue for a while.

But! Over on the Canada Writes Facebook page, they’re running a photo series on bookshelves and what they say about our personality types. Naturally, I submitted mine, which says “disorganized, slightly impoverished graduate student” more than anything else. You can read the rest of what I had to say and browse the other photos here.

“Imaginary Boys”

Next semester I’m taking a course in writing for radio. It’s nothing I’ve ever done before, but I figured it would be a great opportunity to learn a different form and also to focus on dialogue. It’s funny, when I was young (we’re talking teenage years) I used to write things that were almost nothing but dialogue. I like to think my toolbox of words has expanded since then, but every tool can use honing.

So I came across this, link courtesy of the Twitter feed of Mr. Damian Barr, who’s the author of Maggie and Me, which is one of the books on my (ever-growing) to-read list. It’s a Radio Four drama called “Imaginary Boys,” and it’s fucking brilliant:

By Paul Magrs. A fantastical tale of teenage love and close encounters.

17 year-old David Taylor begins to see the world in a different light when he meets Lawrence. Lawrence is new in town, new to earth actually – he claims to be from Verbatim 6, a small planet about three hundred light years away. A strange but very real story of a burgeoning teenage relationship, with all the fear and confusion that goes with it.

Paul Magrs is a scriptwriter and novelist, whose writing has been described by The Guardian as ‘gloriously, zanily ludicrous… unique, idiosyncratic and unclassifiable…’ His hugely-popular series of Brenda and Effie novels were adapted for BBC7 in 2008 as a three-part mini-series (Never the Bride), whilst previous commissions for Radio 4 include Life After Mars, Sunseeker and The Longsight Branch.

Directed by Scott Handcock A BBC Cymru Wales Production.

As someone who often feels like a space alien (and in fact, at one point I wrote a story about a man whose boyfriend thought he was an alien), it resonated with me.

But don’t dawdle. It looks like it’s only available online until 10 October. Make some tea and sit down for 45 minutes and listen. If I manage to write something half this good next semester, it’ll a) be a miracle and b) make me quite pleased.

A prompt, a draft, and a giveaway

It’s pretty easy to tell when the latest semester of grad school kicked into gear based on how infrequently I post. I’ve been writing, and TAing, and working on the literary magazine’s contest, which I hope you’ll check out. I also took time to write a post about a writing prompt today, which I hope you’ll also check out.

I also got this in the mail late last week.

It looks pretty darn cool, if you ask me. (I know, you didn’t ask, but I’m telling you anyway. So there.) I’m looking forward to reading it. My friend ‘Nathan is currently running a giveaway over on Goodreads (you’ve got one more day to enter!), and once that’s finished, I think it’ll be my turn to give away a copy. I’ll post a link when that goes live.

It hasn’t been all work, of course. The fair weather held out for a good long while, and so I got to do a bit of hiking around and about the place, such as The Chief at Squamish.

Click to view slideshow.

 

You’ll find an assortment of other breathtaking vistas over at my Instagram and Flickr.

50% off at Kobo, or “Jeff for Sale”

Meanwhile, over at Kobo Books, they’re having a 50 percent off sale during the month of September. 

That’s 50 percent off everything.

So, it’s not just half off my work (although I’d be totally remiss in not reminding you that I have two short stories available through Untreed Reads that are sold by Kobo, not to mention my first novel, Detours, and you can find all of them right here—because BLATANT SELF-PROMOTION). My friends Jeff Howe and Sandra Murphy and Trey Dowell and Joseph Pfeffer and Chris Bauer are also all for sale.

That’s also half off titles like Two Boys Kissing by David Levithan which I’m about to buy, as well as Shades of Earth by Beth Revis because I have yet to read the last installment of the Across the Universe series which makes me a bad fan. You could even buy 50 Shades of Gray because this right here is a judgment-free zone.

I found out about this from my editor at Untreed Reads, so do me a favor and follow this link to get there. Then use the code Sept50 when you check out.

Again, that code is Sept50.

In case you didn’t see it….

Sept50