Tuesdays with Story
WRITER’S MAIL for September 23, 2011
Writer’s Quote
“The writer who possesses the creative gift owns something of which he is not always master- something that at time strangely wills and works for itself.” – Charlotte Bronte
Tuesday Night at BN
Aaron Boehm, on “Hell Cage pt11”:
Several people liked the vision of Hell created here. Script did a good job of really painting that scene there. People suggested that there be more action to break up a lot of the dialogue, as it gets to be a bit of a monologue. There was some discussion as to what drug would be best for him killing himself to get to Hell. Some suggested heroin, and Jen suggested DMT. Greg wanted a little bit more about the “rules” of the demons mind erasing powers, or an explanation of why he just doesn’t erase himself from everyone’s mind.”
Jerry Peterson on chapters 15 and 16 of his mystery, Thou Shalt Not Murder:
Loved the trial, but too much airplane stuff in the other parts of the chapters. But even the trial had its problems, Barb Sorensen said. “The note in which Mrs. McCoskey said her husband had beaten her has to be treated as hearsay and not admissible.” Millie Mader said the sentence of three years community service Mrs. McCoskey got was too light for the crime. “In the Texas crime on which your crime and trial are based, the woman got a really severe sentence,” she said.
Greg Spry on chapter 11 of Beyond Cloud Nine:
The piece was written with good voice and language. The group felt the early talk about Saturn was a data dump that could be worked in better by having Brooke explain all about it to a new recruit. The newbie could be afraid to walk on the viewports on the floor of the ship, and Brooke could say, “Yeah, they used to scare me, too.” Strike “auto-“ from “auto-detonated.” Instead of having Brooke float up from her seat, just make her lighter since it’s low, not zero, gravity on the spacecraft carrier. It works better that way if she’s standing at attention. But if she’s still going to float, perhaps she could anchor her feet down below somewhere? Make sure to have Brooke experience some pain while getting uses to zero-g again. Finally, remove “as he” from the second sentence of the piece, which was a typo that confused some people.
Who’s Up Next?
September 27: Liam Wilbur (chapter, Fog-gotten), Holly Bonnicksen-Jones (chapter, Coming Up For Air), and Jack Freiburger (chapter, Path to Bray’s Head), Hillary Swisshelm, (On My Knees).
October 4: Rebecca Rettenmund (journal entry), Barb Sorensen (???), John Schneller (chapter, Final Stronghold), Jennifer Hansen (chapter 4, Shadows of Yesterday), Liam Wilbur (chapter, Scott & Rory), Jim Cue (part 2, short story), and Greg Spry (chapter 12, Beyond Cloud Nine).
October 11: Cole Ruby (chapter, Champions), Terry Hoffman (chapter, The Tome), and Jack Freiburger (chapter, Path to Bray’s Head).
October 18: Greg Spry (chapter 12, Beyond Cloud Nine), Judith McNeil (???), Aaron Boehm (screenplay/part 12, Hell Cage), Millie Mader (chapter 29, Life on Hold), Pat Edwards (poems), and John Schneller (chapter, Final Stronghold).
Fifth Tuesday
2nd and 4th hosts the next Fifth Tuesday on November 29th! A location idea has been discussed and a challenge has been discussed as well, but we’ve got to firm up the plans before we let everyone in on them. Stay tuned!!!!
Writers Mail: Duty Roster . . .
Here are our editors for the next four months:
October – Jen Wilcher
November – Pat Edwards
December – Clayton Gill
January – Liam Wilbur
Now we need editors for February, March, and April. How about you? You say you’ve never edited our publication before? We can teach you how to do it. Email Carol Hornung and tell her which month you’d like to take.
Short Story Contest
The Wisconsin People and Ideas / Wisconsin Book Festival
2012 Short Story and Poetry Contests
Wisconsin People and Ideas regularly publishes some of the best poetry and fiction from around the state, and now it’s your chance to become a part of Wisconsin’s new literary canon. Enter your poems and short stories in our annual contests, which run from this September 15 to December 15, and receive up to $500 and other prizes along with publication in Wisconsin People anc Ideas and a reading at the 2012 Wisconsin Book Festival in Madison. It’s easy to submit your poetry and short stories to the contest, and Wisconsin Academy members receive discounts on their submission fees.
About the Short Story Contest
Short story contest winners will be chosen by Milwuakee author and co-host of “Flash Fiction Fridays” for WUWM’s Lake Effect, Robert Vaughan. Winners receive prizes of $500 (first place), $250 (second place), and $100 (third place). Winning works appear in print and online, beginning with the first-prize story in the summer 2012 issue of Wisconsin People & Ideas. The first-place author will also receive a one-week author residency at Shake Rag Alley in Mineral Point. For complete contest details and rules, visit our 2012 Short Story Contest page.
About the Poetry Contest
Poetry contest winners will be chosen by author and Milwaukee Poet Laureate Susan Firer. Winners receive prizes of $500 (first place, the John Lehman Poetry Award), $100 (second place), and $50 (third place). Winning poems appear in print and online in the spring 2012 issue of Wisconsin People & Ideas, with 10 runners-up in the summer and fall 2012 issues. The first-prize poet receives a one-week author residency at Shake Rag Alley in Mineral Point and a three-hour CD recording/editing session at Abella Studios. For complete contest details and rules, visit our 2012 Poetry Contest page.
The Wisconsin People and Ideas / Wisconsin Book Festival 2012 Short Story and Poetry Contests are supported by the Wisconsin Humanities Council, Shake Rag Alley Center for Arts and Crafts in Mineral Point, Avol’s Bookstore, and Abella Studio. Thank you to all of our 2012 contest sponsors, final judges, and preliminary judges.
Wisconsin People & Ideas l 1922 University Avenue l Madison, WI 53726 l 608.263.1692
Questions and manuscript submissions to: jsmith@wisconsinacademy.org
Add to your reading list: Choose a Banned Book!
During the last week of September every year, hundreds of libraries and bookstores around the country draw attention to the problem of censorship by mounting displays of challenged books and hosting a variety of events. The 2011 celebration of Banned Books Week will be held from September 24 through October 1. Banned Books Week is the only national celebration of the freedom to read. It was launched in 1982 in response to a sudden surge in the number of challenges to books in schools, bookstores and libraries. More than 11,000 books have been challenged since 1982.
According to the American Library Association, there were 348 challenges reported to the Office of Intellectual Freedom in 2010, and many more go unreported.
The 10 most challenged titles of 2010 were:
And Tango Makes Three, by Peter Parnell and Justin Richardson
Reasons: homosexuality, religious viewpoint, unsuited to age group
The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian, by Sherman Alexie
Reasons: offensive language, racism, religious viewpoint, sex education, sexually explicit, violence, unsuited to age group
Brave New World, by Aldous Huxley
Reasons: insensitivity, offensive language, racism, sexually explicit
Crank, by Ellen Hopkins
Reasons: drugs, offensive language, racism, sexually explicit
The Hunger Games (series), by Suzanne Collins
Reasons: sexually explicit, violence, unsuited to age group
Lush, by Natasha Friend
Reasons: drugs, sexually explicit, offensive language, unsuited to age group
What My Mother Doesn’t Know, by Sonya Sones
Reasons: sexism, sexually explicit, unsuited to age group
Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting by in America, by Barbara Ehrenreich
Reasons: drugs, inaccurate, offensive language, political viewpoint, religious viewpoint
Revolutionary Voices edited by Amy Sonnie
Reasons: homosexuality, sexually explicit
Twilight (series), by Stephenie Meyer
Reasons: sexually explicit, religious viewpoint, violence, unsuited to age group
For more information, go to: http://www.bannedbooksweek.org/
Modern Word – From Word Spy: butler lie
n. A lie used to politely avoid or end an email, instant messaging, or telephone conversation.
Example Citations:
Yet technology is already laying siege to the butler lie. Services like BlackBerry Messenger enable mutual users to track when their texts are read, effectively torpedoing the ‘sorry, phone died last night’ excuse. ‘Friend tracking’ applications like Google Latitude allow people to geographically pinpoint their friends’ mobile phones. So much for ‘stuck in traffic’ when you really overslept.
—Austin Considine, “New Technology, But the Same Old Lies,” The New York Times, July 10, 2011
The Butler lie is a recent nomenclature coined by researchers at Cornell University. It’s a smaller lie which is conveyed electronically and used to end a conversation. The next time your friend texts that he has to end the conversation with you because the waiter arrived, just maybe your friend isn’t even at a restaurant.
—Donna Pinter, “Liar, liar, pants on fire,” The Republican Herald, September 4, 2011
Earliest Citation:
We refer to these types of lies, in which deception is used to manage the entry and exit of social interactions, as butler lies…. Butler lies include the strategies of using deception to “avoid interaction” and to “take leave of interaction” described by Camden [9]. We use the term “butler lies” to allude to the social buffering function that butlers provided for their employers.
—Jeff Hancock et al., “Butler Lies: Awareness, Deception, and Design” (PDF), Cornell University, April 7, 2009
The Last Word
‘I have been successful probably because I have always realized that I knew nothing about writing and have merely tried to tell an interesting story entertainingly.’ – Penelope Livey
Tuesdays with Story 
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