Happy Holidays! Really.

Yet another Emersonian Soapbox, not with any art, though, for some reason. This one is complete with a (magazine) typo so graciously pointed out by a cranky commenter; if anyone else cares to answer him, please feel free. Anyway, I believe anyone who ever spent more than two days working retail will appreciate Retail Retaliation.

Food Blog (Because It Hasn't Already Been Done to Death)

I have started a food blog today under the pseudonym Genavieve Laloue. Please come visit and give me some business! I hope to post daily updates about the trials and tribulations of eating in New York. Seriously.

www.healthfoodmakesmesick.blogspot.com

Hope everyone is well.

Hannah Selinger
WLP 2005

Coupling (from a "couple" weeks ago - ha!)

Hey guys,

Wanted to let y'all know that a column of mine ran in Coupling two weeks ago. My grandmother bought six copies. Awesome.

Here's the link.

Good column to check out

This is not a news item, but a column I enjoyed that ran recently in the Wash. Post by Gene Weingarten. "Something about Harry: Why Old Dogs are the Best Dogs" . Hope you enjoy it. -- Jaweed

National Geographic Traveler, Nov/Dec issue

I have a column in the new issue of Traveler on page 20. It was chosen by the blogger/editor of the Intelligent Travel blog and print section. "A Baptism Over Flame," about the Argentine asado, is excerpted from a longer verision I wrote in Column Writing a couple of years ago.

Upon seeing it, people keep asking me, "When were you in Argentina?" as if I had disappeared unannounced for a week or two without them noticing. But that's what's cool about travel writing; if the experience sticks, it could have happened a day ago or twenty years ago. In my case, the beef was transformative.

Michelle

Poet on the Campaign Trail

Here's the latest Ask A Poet, pretty timely. I also features a query from our very own Jaqi Holland:
http://www.thesmartset.com/article/article10270801.aspx

Bahstahn Snahk

Soapbox domination continues. Check out my latest bit in the Weekly Dig, all about Boston authenticity, before some guy from Southie beats me up, or a wandering horde of college students projectile vomits in my general direction.

I'm sorry. That was a little gross, even for me.

writing and stitching

It's my first time posting here. It seemed high time I do so... especially considering recent events. 

About 3 months ago I started working as the assistant editor at Crochet Today magazine. For those of you who had Column Writing with me and recall the recurring theme in my columns, you won't be surprised when I say this job is pretty much perfect for me. It's just me and the editor-in-chief on the editorial staff, which means I am lucky enough to participate in every aspect of putting the magazine together, from conceptualizing to hiring freelancers to writing to editing. The first issue with my name on the masthead (woo!) goes on newsstands this week and I have a short column in it about an up-and-coming crochet designer, Cal Patch. I also wrote the whole product review section, which isn't exactly a column, but it got me another byline, so yay!

The magazine can sometimes be found at B&N, but is easiest to get in craft stores. We aren't publishing editorial content on our website at this time, but maybe someday...

Maya

Article Published

Hi, everyone!

It's been a while since I last posted anything. I was in the Column Writing class in the year of 04/05 (I can't remember if it was Fall or Spring). I just wanted to pass along that I have an article published in OurState Magazine. This magazine gives an overview of the cultural, historical, and other elements of North Carolina living. Since I grew up in and currently live in NC, I've been pitching articles to this magazine. It's my second publication.

While my name is featured in the table of contents on the online version of the magazine, the article itself is not linked.

I wrote in a section titled "For the Day" about a nearby small town by the name of Elizabethtown, and a state park, Jones Lake, that is less than five miles from Elizabethtown. The article is "Town and Country" and my byline is Lee Royal. I give an iteniary of what one can do for the day in this part of the state--places to eat, shop, hike, and more.

Hope all of you are doing great!

Carrah "Lee" Royal
Emerson Class of 2005

Soapbox, Yet Again

Continuing the Emersonian takeover at the Dig, here's my piece for this week, originally written (in much expanded form) for Column Writing last fall: I'm OK, You're Country.

Jacqueline Houton in the Phoenix and Bitch

Jacqueline Houton had two pieces publsihed recently, a piece in the Phoenix on "Sources of Inspiration" inspired by Megan Marshall's class and a piece on cosmetics companies in Bitch.

Thanks to Jacqueline and Vernacular, the Emerson MFA and MA website, for pointing us to these pieces.

Literally Hilarious

You're right Justine--but I think they're starting to catch on. My Soapbox that was published in last week's Dig (Sept. 3 to Sept. 10) never got posted online. So if anyone is dying to read a (I think) quite hilarious rant about the ills of speaking ill, pick up a copy and read "Lessons in Speaking Good: A Back-to-School Special."

p.s. It is actually now online. I guess sufficient whining can get you pretty much anything.

The Good, the Bad & the Ugly

The Good: A photograph of mine is published in the newest issue of Everywhere.

The Bad: There will be no more issues of Everywhere.

The Ugly: A longer piece of mine on Texas BBQ was slated to be published in the now never forthcoming Issue 5 of Everywhere.

Such is the nature of the magazine industry.

Weekly Dig, Soapbox

Llalan is absolutely correct... The Dig is just crazy for Emerson kids. Check out my children-hating column in this week's Soapbox: http://www.weeklydig.com/news-opinions/soapbox/200808/28th-amendment-ratify-now

Ask A Poet

I am solving problems through poetry at TheSmartSet.com. Here's my first column:
http://www.thesmartset.com/article/article07290802.aspx

A Snarkful Takeover

Emerson students are almost ready for their total and complete takeover of The Weekly Dig. You Know Who got another beer gig in a column that should have been titled "Be Sure to Chew Your Beer," but wasn't. She also has a standing offer for good beer and good beery food from the amazing chef, but will be ethical and all that crap and at least *try* to pay when she visits The Publick House next. Also, check out the Soapbox! Who would've guessed...?

Aug/Sept. BUST magazine

Just a friendly word to let you all know that I've written a feature story in the latest (Aug./Sept.) issue of BUST magazine. It's about being a landlady--I know, so glamorous!--and it's part advice, part tale of tribulation and redemption. Perhaps, should you desire to be a landlady or landman, you will find something of use. Totally gave Emerson a shout-out in my contributor bio, btw!

I'd love it if you'd read it and let me know what you think: vikki.warner [AT] gmail.com.

Oh yeah, and this blog-like thing I'm working on is at http://oddstripe.blogspot.com/. It's in early days, but there's more to come.

Thanks,
Vikki

Real Simple Life Lessons Essay Contest

Real Simple magazine has posted details about a "Life Lessons" essay contest here. Deadline is September 9, 2008, for online entries.

Oy!Chicago--Living Jewishly

Hello column/personal essay fans. I just wanted to let you all know about Living Jewishly, Oy!Chicago's personal essay section. Check in Tuesday evenings for new stories! And if you happen to be Jewish or Jew-ish and have a Chicago connection, please feel free to send me ideas.

Strawberry Grace

I finally placed the piece I wrote in 687 about nurturing strawberries in Appalachia as a child. Targeted originally for Greenprints (subtitled the Weeder’s Digest) it was rejected as not carrying enough emotional weight. (I thought the piece the correct emotional tone for a story about growing fruit). I then submitted to the color glossy Birds and Blooms, and received an acceptance letter from their sister pub, Backyard Living. It made the July 08 issue. The treatment is lovely. Inside back cover, glossy, and photographed to look like a page from a spiral-bound gardening journal. It’s a sweet pub.

Oh, and I was paid in windchimes…

Here is a pdf of the piece
http://www.lockiehunter.com/clips/BackyardLiving.MagicStrawberryGrace.pdf

Lockie

Mike and Peeps go to China...

So, yeah, that's me and Mao (and my stuffed traveling companion) in Tien'anmen Square. I'm in Beijing for the next two months to work for the Olympic News Service, covering Track & Field at the National Stadium. Basically, it's my job (there are 18 of us) to interview athletes as soon as they've stepped off the field, collect quotes and upload them to a wire service so journalists around the world don't have to actually work to get their soundbites.

It pretty much rocks.

I'm blogging about it here on my site and also am a featured blogger for www.STAtravelers.com

Dreaming of Squash Blossoms

I wrote this Cravings column on edible squash blossoms for last week's Sunday Magazine in the Boston Globe. Yum!

Private Icon: The Wackness

Happy summer, alums!

I've seen this movie twice now. I didn't think I liked it the first time. And then I saw it again and completely changed my mind (almost cried, too). But the flick was the inspiration for the next Private Icon fashion feature (Nylon Magazine). I believe The Wackness is in limited release right now, but picking up steam. It's worth a watch if you're looking to detox from the big blockbusters.
http://www.nylonmag.com/?section=article&parid=1690

Hope everyone is having a safe and air-conditioned July!
~JL

More than Movies

The column that Patrick Boyle wrote for WP491 this past semester about the influence a high school teacher had by using movies in his classroom was sold to Education Week. You need to be a subscriber to read the whole article, but the beginning of it appears here.

An Arab in the Hands of an Angry Bus Driver

This column is in this weeks What's Up, an insert in the Spare Change News. I forgot to update the blog when it first came out, which was on the 19th--which means that a new issue is coming out tomorrow :-(. Catch it quick if you can. Jamie Kerry's column is in there too.

Golf, Fish, Pigeonhole

I wrote this week's Soapbox in The Weekly Dig, finally making use of nearly three years' work in a card store.

This also marks my move from wannabe to actual published writer, a momentous occasion that almost didn't happen. I never heard back from the Dig editor after submitting my column which, in my relentless optimism, I interpreted to mean that my writing so repulsed her that she summarily and unceremoniously rejected it without even acknowledging its existence. Thus, I learned of its publication Wednesday morning when I picked up a copy of the Dig on my way to work, where I was immediately distracted by an impending crisis and unable to revel in my glory, such as it was. (Never fear, crisis averted.)

In fact, as of now, I still have not heard from the editor, which I'm sure is how good writer-editor relationships are maintained.

Personally, I'm most pleased that my first publication contains the word "twain." I'm hoping that future columns will include "mayhaps," "posthaste," and the phrase "in a coon's age," though not necessarily all at once. That would be overkill.

The Impracticality of Poets

The column that I worked on in class last semester is published by The Smart Set! Thanks to Jeff and Spring '08 Column Writing for all the suggestions. Yay!
http://www.thesmartset.com/article/article06110802.aspx

Private Icon: Bat for Lashes

Hi everyone!! Happy June!!

I'm still contributing to NYLON magazine when I can. I'm especially in love with my latest fashion piece on British songstress Natasha Khan (aka Bat for Lashes) because I genuinely love her haunting songs and mystical aesthetic. Please check out her music on Myspace (myspace.com/batforlashes) and click here for the link to the story. Thank you and also a big congrats to recent graduates!!

Wink wink,
Jinnie L.

Karl is a daydreamer

Karl Wirsing's column "Walter Mitty on the Morning Commute" appeared in The Washington Post a week or so ago.

For as long as Karl can remember he's been a nut for daydreaming.

Bring Back the Shh...

Shuchi Saraswat's column on shhshing appears in today's The Weekly Dig. You can find the column here.

In the column, Shuchi mentions library Nancy Pearl, the librarian who posed for a 5-inch action figure of herself shhshing. You can buy the action figure at Archie McPhee and other fine establishments.

Beer + Girls = ?!?!

I never expected the public response I received from my little Soapbox rant in this Boston's Weekly Dig, but so far I've dealt with one very pissed off coworker, one threatening Facebook message, and one delightful marriage proposal (which you can view on the Dig's site). Who knew beer loving girls would illicit such an outcry?

ESB (Extra Special and Bitter)

And really, I did write this completely sober.

The Texas BBQ Trail

Two weeks ago I went to Texas to try and eat at as many legendary barbecue restaurants as possible in one day.

I only made it to five and it was much more difficult (and delicious) than you can imagine.

The full story and photos are up now at Everywhere magazine's website.

News from Kirthana Ramisetti

Kirthana Ramisetti writes that she attended the first meeting of a new writing group a few days ago in New York City and that it is mostly made up of Column Writing alum. I'm not sure who else is among the group, but Kirthana described the first meeting as "a huge success," which is great to hear.

She also reports that she just had two articles published.

The first article was published in her neighborhood newspaper, The West Side Spirit. It's about a bar that her boyfriend and she go to called Jake's Dilemma--and how that used to be, well, a dilemma. It can be found here.

The second article was published online at PopMatters.com. The theme is "Life Savers," about a form of popular culture that changed your life in some way. She chose a YouTube clip. The article can be found here and the YouTube clip should be below.

Justine Tal Goldberg's Review of ELM

Justine Tal Goldberg has a review of Eureka Literary Magazine in The Review Review. You can find her review, "Give Me Life or Give Me Death," here.

The collection of characters in the issue she reviews, writes Justine, "are figures without substance, ineffectual and unaffecting; thus, we are unmoved."

Justine writes that she'll be reviewing regularly, so you can check back for more pieces from her on the site.

Mischevious Hannah

If you get a chance, take a look at Frank Bruni's review of the Manhattan restaurant, Momofuku Ko in today's New York Times.

It's a glowing review and in it, he writes:

"Its sense of mischief is underscored by the 'wine pairing' for a course of soft-shell crab: a glass of chilly Budweiser, bringing to mind a day at the beach."

That mischievous pairing is the doing of column writing alumn, Hannah Selinger, who is the beverage director for the Momofuku Group.

Oy!Chicago

[UPDATE: Libby has provided a picture of the bunny -- see image at left.]

Libby Ellis is part of the team that launched Oy!Chicago, a new online publication that describes itself as "a gathering space for socially conscious, intellectually curious, community-minded contemporaries. Oy! is home to articles, columns, reviews and ongoing discussions about Jewish life—whether you define yours as eating matzo ball soup at The Bagel, watching The Sarah Silverman Program, volunteering to help kids with homework or getting together with friends to celebrate Shabbat. You’re living Jewishly—or Jew-ishly—in Chicago and we want to talk about it."

You can view a fetching picture of a helmeted Libby here. Libby did not provide a photo of the 350-pound beer-swilling bunny with whom she lives.

Brittany Flynn at MOG.com

News from Brittany Flynn. She's relocated to Oakland, CA, and writes, "The west coast has been oh so good to me."

After an internship at Seal Press in the fall, she was an intern at MOG, a music blog website.

She was hired full-time in January and has moved on from just serving as a "community ambassador" to now writing weekly hip hop album reviews, under an editor-in-chief who Brittany says started the first music blog, Addicted to Noise, and was at Rolling Stone for a while.

Among her reviews at http://www.mog.com/brittanybf, Brittany also has posted assorted other pieces keeping, she says, "the community alive!"

You can scroll through all of her reviews/posts, read comments from readers, and post your own comments at http://www.mog.com/brittanybf.

Covering Beijing Olympics

Three column writing alum -- Rose Mellion, Andrea Mooney, and Mike Nagel -- are among the 35 students chosen from Emerson College to work with the Olympic News Service this summer covering the Summer Olympic Games in Beijing China.

Pub Buzz Blog

This from Kim Liao about a new blog of interest to current and former graduate students at Emerson:



Finally, Emerson graduate students are creating a virtual community to share the news and witty musings of WLP students and alums! While professors may hear about the wonderful news and accomplishments of your former students, and even share this news with fellow alums of your classes, we're bringing you and your alumni a way to link all of these updates and achievements together:

Pub Buzz, a new blog made especially for Emerson Graduate Students and Alumni of the WLP Department.

To MA and MFA Alumni: Subscribe now to get your daily dose of literary news and snark! Or, better yet, send us YOUR news and snark and we'll post it in our weekly publicity shout-out. Email us your achievements, upcoming events, or witty writing at pubbuzz@gmail.com.

WLP Alumni, stay in touch with the department and with each other via Pub Buzz!

When you email us, feel free to also include a brief bio, photo of yourself or your periodical, upcoming book, or other relevant media we can link to (have you staged a dramatic reading of your Dig column on Youtube? send us the link!).


Thanks very much for sharing this with your current and former students,

Kim Liao
pubbuzz.blogspot.com

News about column writing alum Jason Wiener from Christopher Hennessy in Emerson's public affairs office: "Emerson MFA student Jason Wiener won a 2007 Cecil B. Hackney Literary Award for his story 'Footprints.' Contest winners were announced at the 28 annual Writing Today Conference on March 7 and 8, 2008, at Birmingham Southern College in Birmingham, Alabama. The event included a public reading of Jason's first place story. Sponsored by the Cecil Hackney family of Birmingham, the literary competition awards $5,000 at the national and state level for poetry and short fiction each year. One novel is also selected for recognition. Past winners of Hackney prizes have included Rick Reiken, Associate Professor of Writing, Literature and Publishing at Emerson. Wiener's story 'Damages' was a finalist in the 2007 Sonora Review Short-Short Contest. Before coming to Emerson, Jason worked as a 3D animator and college instructor for film and video games, including a summer contract at Pixar Studios. He is currently completing his graduate thesis, a novel."

Kristina Wong on grammatical fulfilment in the Phoenix

Kristina Wong has a piece in The Boston Phoenix about Lawrence A. Weinstein's book, Grammar for the Soul: Using Language for Personal Change.

Kristina's review is titled, "Yet Another Path to Enlightenment," and is worth checking out here.

Llalan Fowler, Isabelle Davis, and Laura Dargus in Weekly Dig

In this week's Weekly Dig, Llalan Fowler writes the "Check it Out" piece: "Publick House Provisions: The Sweet Beerafter."

Isabelle Davis writes capsule reviews of Madonna's latest CD and The Roots' new CD

And Laura Dargus reviews the new Harold and Kumar movie.

Platforming: Book v. Journal

Platforming: Book v. Journal

PopMatters Book Review

Hi everyone! I just started contributing book reviews to PopMatters. My first one is a review of an anthology called Mortified: Love is a Battlefield, a collection of teen diary entries from the pre-Internet era. Thanks, hope all are doing well!

Deblina's Higher Grounds

Deblina Chakraborty has a piece in the Boston Globe Sunday Magazine called "Higher Grounds: One Back Bay home's rooftop gardens prove that even the space challenged can find serenity." Her story is part of the magazine's garden makeover package.

Carolyn's Patagonia in The Boston Globe

Carolyn McCarthy has a feature on Patagonia in today's Sunday Boston Globe. None of her photos that accompany the piece appear in the online version, but you can read her article here.

Carolyn continues to blog and you can read her postings and see some of her photography at Wild Blue Yonder.

Mad Hatter latest column

Hello fellow alum,

The latest issue of my semi-regular satirical column for the irreverent New York based Mad Hatters’ Review is online. In this issue, I explore personal ads (I’m oddly obsessed with personal ads) and I try to untangle acronyms and offer suggestions as to meaning such as:

SDDIBP- Sugar Daddy in Big Pants

Link is here

http://www.madhattersreview.com/issue9/columns.shtml#hunter

Cheers!

Lockie

p.s. Thanks to all column writing alum who read and reviewed my novel excerpt during the Amazon next big novel contest. I did not advance to the finalists, but was excited to make it to the semi-finalists and greatly appreciated all the feedback.

Street Style: Iekeliene Stange

It's been a while, but this new "street style" piece is now online at Nylon magazine's website. For those not familiar, the girl featured is Dutch model Iekeliene Stange who's made herself quite an impression in the fashion world. She's interesting.

Happy spring everyone!

Michael Trudeau & Co on the Cape

Michael Trudeau's column, "A Bigger Boat: It wasn't enough that my girlfriend's ex came with us. No, there had to be sharks, too" that he originally wrote for the column writing workshop this fall was purchased by The Smart Set and can be found by clicking here as a "Something Personal" column.

The Gay Marriage Solution/The Weekly Dig

Hey, folks. I've got a new Soapbox column in this week's Dig, "The Gay Marriage Solution." In light of the recent California Supreme Court arguments, it's an argument for gay marriage you haven't heard before.

Outside Video Blog

Without making it obvious that I'm trying to get hits for Outside's blog, I'm posting my first-ever video blog here! More to come.

http://outside-blog.away.com/blog/2008/03/superpipe-world.html

And if anyone needs a freelance video blogger, I'm your girl. Not only do I stand in front of the camera, I do the filming, edit the clips, add transitions, set up the sound--I'm practically a one-man band (except for the gentleman who filmed me for my intro scene in the video below). But, hey, at least I'm not shy about talking to strangers.

From Workshop Alum in NYC

From Kirthana Ramisetti:

"I'm a former Emerson (and of course, Column Writing alum) who'd like to form a writing group with NYC-based alumni. I'd like group would focus on fiction and creative non-fiction, but people can bring in whatever they wish to have workshopped. The idea would be to meet once a month to discuss and critique each other's work with the goal of publication. I was thinking that there would be occasional trips to literary events (readings and whatnot) as well. Sounds like something you'd be interested in? Email me at kirthana_r@yahoo.com and let me know what you're looking for in a writing group and what you're working on now. Thanks!"

Brandon Vogel on Friday Nights Light

One of the beauties of writing a regular column is that you can revisit past opinions and make a self-correction about some earlier assessment. Brandon Vogel does this in a recent piece "Will Friday Night Lights Burn Out or Fade Away?" on FoxSports.com. It's a plea for NBC to commit to brining back "Friday Night Lights.

Julie Bogart: "She's A Baby, Not A Purse"

Julie Bogart, who completed her MFA thesis and degree this past fall while she was also completing the column writing workshop, has a column this week in The Weekly Dig. I found the column this morning while I was riding the T to work. I picked up a copy of the Dig and there as a Soapbox column was Julie's column, "She's a baby, not a purse." The title of the column gives you a hint of what it's about. You can read it online and post comments here.

How to Interview a Porn Star...

actually make that two porn stars. My profile of Jenna Jameson is in the most recent issue of YRB magazine. It's in the art issue, which is not online, but still available at the tiny 7-11 in Silverlake. And in lieu of those 1,200 words, I'll include this post-interview, mildly creepy photo.


[Note from Seglin: Steve's interview with Jenna Jameson does appear to be online here and Jinnie Lee's interview (mentioned in comments on this post) with Teyana Taylor that is also in this issue of YRB is here.

Present Magazine

The Kansas City Star ran a feature about Pete Dulin and Present Magazine, an online arts and culture magazine he co-founded in Kansas City.

According to reporter Timothy Finn, Dulin "conceived the idea about five years ago. His goal back then: combine his affection for music and the arts and his love for writing with his academic and professional backgrounds (publishing, marketing and food)."

“The basic concept was to cover subjects like food, music and culture in stories that were not being told in other publications or tell them in different ways,” Dulin said. “There was a lot going on that I thought people should know about.”

Orignally, Dulin had thoughts of being a sous chef, according to Finn.

“I decided culinary school would be too demanding,” Dulin says in the article, which continues:

"Instead he went to graduate school at Emerson College in Boston, where he focused on publishing and nonfiction writing — namely food writing."

Pub Equality/The Weekly Dig

Alexandria Marzano-Lesnevich has a column, "Pub Equality: Show the Ladies Some Love," in this week's The Weekly Dig.

It's a variation on a column she wrote for the column writing workshop this past fall. In it she recounts a recent visit to the Dublin Writers Museum (right after a visit to the Guinness brewery).

Expecting to be reminded of many of Ireland's "hard-drinking literary bad boys," she discovered a plethora of legendary Irish women writers.

New Writing Gig + Take My Comics Writing Workshop

Just wanted to let any webcomics fans know that you can now read my mostly-weekly thoughts on the topic over at Webcomics.com. So far I've mostly discussed the potential effects of new technologies on the medium, such as eBook readers, software packages for reading webcomics, and new screen technologies. I also have some articles forthcoming on interesting creators and comics that have caught my eye.

Also, anyone whose thinking of about making comics of their own may be interested in the Comics Writing Workshop that I'll be teaching at The Cambridge Center for Adult Education this spring. It's a six-week course that starts in March. I taught this course last semester as well, and had a lot of fun doing it, so I'd love to see even more students signed up this time. You can register or get the full details here.

Acts of Kindness

Karl Wirsing's piece, "The Danger of 'Don't Talk to Strangers," appeared in Sunday's Washington Post.

The piece reminded me of a similar incident I still regret that occurred many years ago in New York City.

If you have a chance, read Karl's piece and think about what you migh have done in Karl's place. You can post your comments here.

Lockie Hunter Semifinalist in Amazon.com competition

[News from Lockie Hunter. There are a few days left to read the entries and post reviews.]




I am a semifinalist for the Amazon breakthrough novel award. (It was my thesis actually. They narrowed 5000 entrants to several hundred, and I was among them. The grand prize winner receives a publishing deal from Penguin books, and all the semi finalists will have their work critiqued by Publisher's Weekly. The judging is based on a combination of industry experts and public opinion. It is free to read the piece you simply type this in your browser. http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00124COYI

On the right hand side of the page, you will see an orange "download for free" button. click on it, read the piece and then when you are done, go to the original link, http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00124COYI

scroll to the bottom of all the reviews, including a rather nasty one from publisher’s weekly, sigh, gotta love the critics, and click “create your own review”. Then simply provide a review, with hopefully 4, 4.5 or 5 stars if you like it.

It would be huge to get as many critiques as possible to tip the scales and possibly make it to the next round. Oh, you do need to have an Amazon password, if you've ever purchased anything there, you should have one. Lastly, the piece ends mid-sentence. It stops at 5000 words. Weird, but those are the rules, so it's not an error.

Lockie

p.s. final reviews are due on Feb 17th!!!!!


CHEERS!

We are not Martha.

I wanted to let everyone know about a new website I recently launched with a friend of mine. It's called We are not Martha and is a culinary, design, and lifestyle website targeted at 20-somethings (but really for anyone!).

We've been having fun documenting our experiences cooking, hosting parties, trying new Boston restaurants, and more. We also just partnered with the guys over at 2 Guys Uncorked who pair all of the dishes we make with a deliciously appropriate wine.

Come check it out and let me know what you think! Hope you're all doing well :)

Mike Nagel tricks someone into paying him...

Hey guys... little writing-related update for you here. I've currently taken a leave of absence from my job at STA Travel to work on my thesis with my adviser/slave-driver Prof. Seglin. I'm also trying out the whole "freelance writer" bit to see where that goes, if anywhere, which means I'll be updating my (*shameless plug*) blog more regularly, since I usually don't get rejections notices from myself.

But in more lucrative news, I have landed a small, regular gig, though. I'm now one of Good Catch Publishing 's pool of writers, which is exciting. GCP is a small, up-and-coming, Christian publishing house based out in Oregon. They are paid by churches or community groups (e.g. military units, fire houses, etc.) to publish books containing seven true stories of spiritual life changes, revelations or successes. It's kind of a neat idea and I get to play the role of journalist/interviewer/writer during the process. Good times...

Right now, most of their stories are not published online, but if that changes, I'll post links. If you want to buy autographed books, feel free to send a SASE to my agent.

Keep writing,
Mike

Hiring Freelance Writers/Editors

Interested in gaining freelance writing and/or editing experience? We need more young, hip folks at Experience.com (a career services site for college students & grads). We can't offer a ton of $$, but we do have fun assignments and opportunities, and we're a great place to start or gain ground as a freelancer.

Please send me a resume and writing sample to Andrea Calabretta, acalabretta@experience.com.

Trailing Andy Lin

Column writing alum and t-shirt impresario, Andy Lin (see photo at left), is featured as the rider on Rails To Trails' Trail of the Month for February.

It's Washington's Burke-Gilman Trail.

You can read all about Andy's biking adventure and even catch a glimpse of him standing next to his seven-speed cruising bike that he picked up on Craig's List.

Karl Wirsing, the managing editor for Rails To Trails Magazine did the interview.

Red Bird Editorial

Libby Ellis has launched her own freelancing editorial business, Red Bird Editorial.

Click on her company's name to see a red bird prance across your screen and to read more about Libby's new adventure.

A Review of Sarah Hannah's Inflorescence by Shannon Walsh

Shannon Walsh's review of Sarah Hannah's Inflorescence in Zoland Poetry begins:

"It would be unfair not to admit before delving into this review that it is with some bias. Sarah Hannah was my teacher, friend and mentor until her death in May of 2007; six months before the release of Inflorescence. Yet this relationship in itself might not have created a blind spot when it comes to Hannah’s poetry. Instead the problem, if it is a problem, is that when I read the poems in Inflorescence, I hear her read them, with every perfect inflection and intonation, a pleasure that unfortunately others can no longer have."

The rest of her review is here.

Shannon, who is an associate editor at Zoland Poetry, is in the second year of the M.F.A. program at Emerson.

London Review of Books Reviewer Competition

Megan Marshall sent along news of the following competion open to anyone 26-years-old or younger.

Here's the e-mail that accompanied the poster:

From: "LRB (editorial)"
To: "LRB (editorial)"
Sent: Monday, January 21, 2008 11:19 AM
Subject: LRB Contest

Dear LRB contributors,

We've recently set up a competition to encourage young reviewers. It's the
first time we've done anything like this, and it's a bit of an experiment.

I've included the details below and also attached a poster. We would be
grateful if you could tell your students about it.

With many thanks,

Deborah Friedell

Young Reviewers Competition

The London Review of Books is holding a competition for young reviewers. The
prize for the best entry is £1000 and a one-year subscription to the LRB.

Prizes may also be awarded for runners-up.

Each entrant should submit one review, praising or unpraising, between 2500
and 3000 words long, of any work of fiction or poetry published after the
beginning of 2007. The review must be original, unpublished work (it is
allowed to have appeared in a student periodical).

Entrants must be under the age of 26 at the closing date, 2 June 2008.

Please send submissions, along with contact details, to
competition@lrb.co.uk (as an attachment), or by post to:

The Editors
London Review of Books
28 Little Russell Street
London
WC1A 2HN

We regret that we are unable to acknowledge receipt of entries.

Parenting for profit...who knew?

So, apparently there is money to be made in this parenting gig after all. I’m freelancing (note the word freelancing means there’s a paycheck involved, finally!) for a local Asheville title called WNC Parent, and I’ve use of a free model in my daughter, Pascale. Last article was on winter fashion for children, and though I had fun writing it, and Pascale had fun as my model, I did lose money, as I when I saw how delicious she looked in said winter fashions, well…had to buy a few new preschool outfits. (She already dresses far better than I do). I’ll send the link when available. It's a print pub, and it takes a while for the magazine to post online. It's the south. We're allowed to be slow...
Best to all of you in your writing.

Lockie

January 20, 2008 11:37 AM

Dig Laura

Laura Dargus, who has been acting as interim managing editor of The Weekly Dig for several months is, according to WD's founder, "interim" no longer. Laura is now the full-fledged managing editor.

Rails to Trails to Karl

Karl Wirsing is now managing editor of Rails to Trails magazine in Washington, D.C.

He also reports that he is recovering nicely from knee surgery.

Damsels in Success

In addition to being a full-time instructor at Emerson, Elizabeth Parfitt is a regular contributor to Damsels in Success, a forum for professional women.

Lockie's Parenting Pieces

A couple of new pieces by alum Lockie Hunter appeared in December.

One was "Top 10 gifts for teens and tweens" that appeared in WNC Parent Magazine in December 2007.

The other was "Top 10 gifts for baby's 1st Christmas" that appeared in the living section of the Asheville Citizen Times.com on December 10, 2007.