Best of Vine Leaves Anthology 2012

Today launches an exciting anthology of micro-fiction and poetry, the creative brainchild of authors Jessica Bell and Dawn Ius. The Best of Vine Leaves Literary Journal 2012 is a wholly unique project; there isn't another collection out there like it. Here's Vine Leaves's twist: Every selection within, whether prose, poetry or script, is a vignette.

"Vignette" is a word that originally meant "something that may be written on a vine-leaf." It’s a snapshot in words. It differs from flash fiction or a short story in that its aim does not lie within the realms of traditional structure or plot. The vignette focuses on one element, mood, character, setting or object. It's descriptive, excellent for character or theme exploration and wordplay. Through a vignette, you create an atmosphere. 

The Best of Vine Leaves Literary Journal 2012 is a book of brief offerings that pack powerful punches, perfect for everyone on your holiday gift list. (Available at Amazon.com by the end of this week.) Here's where you can find this gem of a collection today:

To order directly from eMergent Publishing, click here.

Important Vine Leaves Literary Magazine and eMergent Publishing links:

Vine Leaves Literary Journal: http://www.vineleavesliteraryjournal.com/

VL Facebook Fan Page: https://www.facebook.com/vineleaves.literaryjournal

VL on Twitter: https://twitter.com/VineLeavesLJ

eMergent Publishing: http://emergent-publishing.com/

eMergent FB fan page: https://www.facebook.com/eMergentPublishing

eMergent on Twitter: https://twitter.com/eMergentPublish

                                   

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Slice Magazine Issue 10...coming soon!

Photo found at http://www.paperdarts.org/blog/tag/slice

I've just received word from the editors that Slice Magazine's tenth issue is headed for the printers! The "Growing Up" issue is  my literary magazine debut, featuring my short story In the Wake of Silence. (I hear whispers of symbolism in both titles.)

I've been reading about the authors whose work mine will be printed alongside. Can I just say, wow. I'm not eating at the kids' table anymore!

Accolades for Slice's past issues include:

“Beautiful, compelling, irresistible: Slice will knock you right out. In the best way possible.”
           -- Junot Diaz, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao

“Slice is among the golden few of modern literary publications, not only because of its fiction, poetry, interviews, and articles, but because it's simply the one everyone is talking about.”
           -- Simon Van Booy, winner of the Frank O'Connor International Short Story Award and author of The Secret Lives of People in Love


And, from the website in the above photo caption:


"Where has this literary magazine been all our lives? Slice has both beauty and brains. Not only do they regularly feature a fantastic assortment of illustrators, their mission is to publish  emerging writers alongside the established. Not to mention their coveted interview with Alan Moore. Our hearts are fat and happy after a slice (oho!) of this literary pie."
              -- Regan, Meghan, Jamie, and/or Courtney: Bloggers at Paper Darts(dot)org

Should you wish to pre-order your copy of Issue 10 or subscribe to Slice Magazine, simply follow this link:  http://www.slicemagazine.org/subscribe.html

Hope you have a fantastic weekend!

                                   

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Vine Leaves Literary Magazine

There's a new literary magazine on the scene, one which fills a gap previously unnoticed by industry markets. Vine Leaves Literary Magazine highlights the Vignette.

According to Vine Leaves, a "'Vignette' is a word that originally meant 'something that may be written on a vine-leaf.' It’s a snapshot in words. It differs from flash fiction or a short story in that its aim doesn’t lie within the traditional realms of structure or plot. Instead, the vignette focuses on one element, mood, character, setting or object. It's descriptive, excellent for character or theme exploration and wordplay. Through a vignette, you create an atmosphere. "

In the past, I have participated in a creative writing contest called the "15 For 15 Contest." Each day for fifteen consecutive days, the contest moderator posts a photograph. The challenge is to draw inspiration from the day's photo and then write a short piece, writing for only and exactly fifteen minutes. Any genre is acceptable and any format: short story, poem, scene, dialogue, etc.  I generally wound up producing vignettes. (A couple examples are here and here.)

When I learned about Vine Leaves Literary Magazine, I went right to my 15 For 15 files and decided on a piece to submit. I was thrilled to learn it was accepted for publication in the magazine's premier issue!

Issue #01 January 2012 is available for free viewing and/or download now HERE.

There are so many amazing pieces in this issue, ranging from literary to experimental, many from writer-bloggers I know you will recognize. I'm blown away by the caliber of submissions pubbed in this issue, and I know you will be too. I hope you read some of them today!


And a side note: Thank you all who commented on my last post about losing 75% of my WiP. Your encouraging words have been the shoulder I leaned on as I moved past the frustration, and I'm back on track now. Wednesday's post will be about the new love in my life: Scrivener! See you then!

                                   

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The Final (contest) Stretch

As I've mentioned in past posts, I'm been competing in a creative writing contest at Writing.com since August 30th.  There were nineteen competitors, but after three elimination rounds we are down to just me and two other participants.  On October 20th, the final round closes for judging, and based on our entries we will be placed either first, second, or third overall.  (Last year I made it this far, too, and ended up placing third.  Naturally, I'm shooting for higher this time ;)

The group hosting the contest specializes in Speculative Fiction, but in this final round, we are not bound by genre or word count.  Sky's the limit.  However, we have to write our stories based on what is, I think, the most creative prompt evah!  Here's how it works:

We were directed to this Wordpress blog.  I'm quite certain it was created by the host group.  The blogger's name and gender are not disclosed.  The ten posts are short, almost scattered-brained, and dripping with voice.  Our challenge is to create, guided by the post content, a character around which our story is based.  The instructions include this blurb:

"Your challenge is not to continue the existing blog of the individual, or write their next likely 'day in the life.' And, as you will find from the reading, this character need not even be your protagonist."

I had a truly inspiring experience working on this story.  Whether or not I was successful in the end is up to the contest judges and readers.  But for me, it was awesome.

I'm still in the final, spit-shining stage of this project.  Of course, any feedback will ultimately help me tighten it up.  If you have the time or inclination, I'd greatly appreciate hearing what you think of it.  It is Speculative Fiction, falling under the genre of (dark) Slipstream.  (Slipstream is set in our world ~ almost. There are slight, uneasy making distortions in our reality or else the protagonist has fallen out of the consensual reality but is not insane in any way.)

It has 3292 words, and here's the link -->  ~Silenced~

I hope you have a great weekend!