Writer’s Mail
Tuesdays with Story
August 17, 2016
The first word . . .
“Writing isn’t a hobby. It’s hard work.” – Jessie Burton (1983- ), British novelist
Who’s up next . . .
August 23:
August 30: Fifth Tuesday!
September 6: Pat Edwards (???), Randy Slagel (part ???, “Watered-Down Witch”), Amber Boudreau (chapter 7, The Dragoneer), John Schneller (chapter 5, Final Stronghold), Mike Austin (chapter, Before I Leave), and Bob Kralapp (poem, “March Morning at the Library”).
September 13:
September 20: Millie Mader (poem), Hannah Marshall (poems), Nora O’Reilly (chapter, Bill McCormick’s Bliss), Eva Mays (chapter, Dhuoda), Judith McNeil (???), Amit Trivedi (chapter, novel), and Cindi Dyke (chapter, North Road).
Tuesday eve at the B&N . . .
A dozen first-and-thirders circled up to critique three poems, a short story, and a whole bunch of chapters. Here are the results:
– Millie Mader (poem, “Ballad of the Tower) . . . My poem seemed quite well received. We had visited The Tower on three separate occasions, and were always fascinated with it and the history it held. An interesting sight was Henry The Eighth’s suits of armor.. His youthful vestment was slim and attractive. The one from his late years was huge!
– Hannah Marshall (poems, “Gerontology” and “Thunderstorm”) . . . editor’s note: These two poems were received to high acclaim, and a request voiced to merge the two titles on Hannah’s next submission.
Nora O’Reilly (chapter 3, Bill McCormick’s Bliss) . . . it was agreed that Bill is far too sensitive to participate in angry kneading of his beloved bread dough. Point well taken. Also I tend to scamper between past back story and the current scene as well has include description that is convoluted. Again, I will aim to keep it simple.
A great key point that I was reminded of was to only give the reader what they absolutely need to know. I should also add some details to clarify Bill’s age as an eighteen year old, neither a teen nor a man (yet.) I loved the point that Father Frank is quite the stinker and would taunt Bill with hints that he has the letter in his pocket prior to the final reveal at the end of Ch. 3.
– Eva Mays (chapters 2-3 rewrite, Dhuoda) . . . The rewrite of “Dhuoda” Chapters 2 & 3 seemed to be well-received. Jerry thought the pace of Chapter 3 was very good and hoped for just as much action in later chapters. Pat pointed out the word “had” was overused, and mentioned that the plot could also work as a fantasy novel.
– Amber Boudreau (chapters 4-5, The Dragoneer) . . . Pat had a problem with one line in Chapter 6 of The Dragoneer related to the protagonist and her meeting with the dragon, but it was quickly resolved with judicious use of the delete key, which also helped tighten the story. Kashmira liked the sense of humor. The author wanted to know If people were able to follow chapter six with it’s momentary jump back in time to the main character waking in the middle of the night and seeing the little wyvern at her window. Hannah thought that this moment meant the past 5 chapters were all a dream, because of the popcorn and movie, but that was not the case. The author will have to change it to something more feasible and easy to follow.
– Cindi Dyke (chapter 3 rewrite, North Road) . . . Jerry suggested cutting the last paragraph would make a better end to the chapter. Kashmira thought the last paragraph would work better after Kath has medical confirmation that the cancer is back. Amber thought dialogues between the sisters now seems more realistic than in the first draft.
– Jerry Peterson (short story, “Movies, Lies & Lottery Tickets”) . . . “But nothing happened,” Pat Edwards said. “It’s just a nice story. Even the new dishwasher worked.” In the last scene, the group of employees wins the Powerball. “Maybe they shouldn’t,” she said, she and several others asking for a different ending.
Fifth Tuesday . . .
Have you written your Fifth Tuesday challenge story? Here’s the prompt: A superhero makes a career change. Do not identify the superhero you select in your story, but do plant enough clues that readers can guess who it is.
Max length: 500 words
Send your story to Jerry Peterson by Friday evening, August 26. He will bundle them for posting on our website.
The editors . . .
John Schneller edits our e-newsletter this month. Next month it’s Eva Mays .
That query letter
There will come a time when you have your book or collection of poems finished and you want to find an agent to represent you or a publisher to take on your book or collection. The first step in the process is to write a query letter.
Former literary agent Mary Kole – now a consultant to writers – wrote about that in a guest column for Brian Klems in the March 21 issue of Writer’s Digest. Really good. Read it and bookmark it. Here’s the link: http://www.writersdigest.com/online-editor/how-to-write-the-perfect-query-letter
From the top
Remember the quote at the top, from Jessie Burton? Burton hit it out of the park in 2014 with her first novel, The Miniaturist. It became a worldwide bestseller. She now has her second novel out, The Muse.
WAMU’s Diane Rehm interviewed Burton earlier this week, and it’s a darn good listen as Burton talked about both her good fortune and how she approached the writing of her two novels. Here’s the link so you, too, can listen to the show: https://thedianerehmshow.org/shows/2016-08-09/jessie-burton-the-muse
The Barthelme Prize
https://gulfcoastmag.org/contests/barthelme-prize/ The Barthelme Prize for Short Prose is open to pieces of prose poetry, flash fiction, and micro-essays of 500 words or fewer. Established in 2008, the contest awards its winner $1,000 and publication in the journal. Two honorable mentions will receive $250, and all entries will be considered for paid publication on our website as Online Exclusives. To view last year’s winner and honorable mentions, you can purchase issue 28.2 here. Deadline: August 31st, 2016
Tuesdays with Story 
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