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by Estrella Azul

Take a Moment to Write a Curious List Today

March 21, 2013 in Editorial - of Sorts, Gifts for writers, Writing Fun by Estrella Azul

Because I thought, today we could try something completely different.

I am a list lover. Not the To-Do List lover, which tends to grow rapidly and even without my approval. But a list lover nonetheless.

Ever since my friend, Judy Clement Wall, mentioned being gifted with the “Curious Lists – A Creative Journal for List Lovers”, I have had it on my wish list. That was back in 2009. This past Valentine’s Day, I got to choose a couple of things from my wish list for gifts – and went with the Curious Lists journal. It is one amazing gift!

The book is small, will easily fit into my purse. It is divided into 26 chapters, like “Lists for Boring Meetings”, “Lists for When You’re on the Phone”,  “Lists for Right Now”, and “Lists for When You’re on the Bus” (with my commute, that tends to be a lot of the time). In each chapter list titles are given and the contents are to be written by the reader. As of first opening it, I am enchanted, captivated, and simply in love with this book! I couldn’t wait to give it a try and see if friends wanted to join in on the fun. We had a blast!

So let’s have some fun today and write a Curious List together. I will write my list below, and you let me know in the comment section what Your own lists would look like. Deal?

I opened the book at random, to page 169 and the chose the bottom left list title, from the chapter “Lists for Vacations”.

Unwise Impersonations to Perform in a Public Bath: 

  • Bugs Bunny, looking around shamelessly while asking “What’s up Doc?”
  • A police officer, saying “Stick’em up!”
  • Paul Castellano from  Boss of Bosses: The FBI and Paul Castellano, asking “Who wants to sleep with the fishes?”

What other unwise impersonations to perform in a public bath can You think of?

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by Estrella Azul

This precious thing…

February 14, 2013 in Editorial - of Sorts, Thursday Writing, Writers by Estrella Azul

Given that it is Valentine’s Day today, and because I do not believe any type of love is meant to be celebrated on only one certain date, I thought of talking about something regarding love. The love of writers that is: writing, and how fulfilling it is when we “get” to do it.

~~~

The first time I reached 10,000 words in one day was a Wednesday 10K Day, on June 27th.

I wasn’t supposed to have the day off. But then I did, and decided to spend it writing. I could not have made a better choice!

Some preparations were made ahead of time, and I am so grateful for Milli’s Ace Your 10K Day! online course for that. Planning ahead was not necessarily something I did before. This time, I had a battle plan. While on previous 10K Days I just reserved the day for writing, this time I wrote specific blog post ideas, titles, and prompts to have at the ready and I went through it all following my “this is what I currently feel like writing” idea.

My “10K Day Writing Plan” for Wednesday, June 27 and Saturday, June 30 had thirteen items on it, as well as “blog comments, check-ins, work emails.” The plan was to check everything off the list and write the comments, work e-mails and check-ins during breaks. And so I did.

It was so easy to write without editing as I went along. Sometimes one just needs the reminder to turn spell check off and enjoy the ride. You can always come back later. Also, I started out with the hardest thing first—the piece I’d been dreading to write—and it led to a breakthrough. Once I got that out of the way, everything else fell into place.

I wrote several short blog posts, and was so happy to have them out of the way, I decided to only focus on those. The so-called small writings, at the end of the day, added up to 10,652 words (and several weeks worth of material for my blog!).

What I didn’t have crossed off from my list, I wrote/finished on Saturday.

Ah, Saturday . . . the day I could barely pull myself out of bed (insomnia definitely doesn’t help the creative process). The day when, even though I had been constantly reminding my mother that I would be writing on June 30th, I had a bunch of small chores to attend to which added up to quite a few hours of lost writing time. The day some of my pictures were rejected by a website. The day I was frustrated that I had no good ideas for flash fiction and poems. The day I did not feel like writing anymore.

The day I started writing this article and in the middle of it switched to writing a flash fiction piece I will submit to an online literary magazine after editing. The day I wrote a few thoughts down which turned into a poem. The day I was running low on energy but then after a latte break was so motivated I finished all the fiction I had previously started but still had hanging in the air, and even some extra pieces. The day I reached 7,016 words.

Up until that moment I am not even sure how long ago it was when I had everything finished!

So I called it a day. The house was all noisy again anyway and I couldn’t concentrate anymore.

However, it got me thinking about when I set up my Ace Your 10K Day! course profile. My description of what I hoped for was that the online course would -

- help me write more and finally be able to shut out the world around me while I do it. Even if I only get that 1 or 2 days a month for 10K Days, I’m hoping to start getting much more writing done during it and discover why it is that I currently seem not to get (enough) things done when I’d like to.

I am beyond happy to have reached exactly what I was aiming for.

It is so precious (in this day and age) having a whole day of feeling relaxed while doing something we love. Isn’t it?

Have you guys ever pampered yourself with taking a whole day for writing?
How much, if at all, do you prep ahead of time for writing?
Have you experienced days when nothing goes right, and then in ten minutes your whole day shifts around and you end up writing up a storm?

~ Estrella Azul

*Originally posted as a guest post by Estrella Azul on Fear of Writing. A rewrite of her last assignment for Milli Thornton’s Ace Your 10K Day online course.

*Image Copyright, Tracy Mangold aka @InkyTwig

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What do you gift writers?

December 20, 2012 in Gifts for writers, Tips and Suggestions, Writers by Estrella Azul

2012 is nearly over and I’d like to thank everyone in the #fridayflash community for making it such an amazing one, with so much awesome flash, and poems and even essays to read, each week!

Here’s wishing you all an early Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

—————————————————-

As for my article’s title? This is the season of gift giving, and more often than not, we end up with gifts we like, but which aren’t too related to our field. When I give a gift I like to really think about what the person would enjoy and use. Shopping for writers is rather easy, in my opinion, as we all have access to the basics.

While I do not personally have the one formula you could use to determine what each of your fellow scribbler and avid reader family members or friends would like to receive, I have put together a short list of things which could tickle their fancy.

  1. Gift baskets. I know what you’re thinking. Gift baskets come in all shapes and sizes, but not one shop or website carries one named “Writer’s gift basket”; right? They don’t, or at least not the ones I looked through as research for this article. So why did I include this here? Because, you can make it yourself! Grab a pretty basket and fill it up with: pens and pencils, pencil cases, bookmarks, mini journals, notepads, erasers, post-it notes in any or all shapes and sizes, stationery, note books (maybe something fancier, like a leather note book), day planners, diaries, bookplates, writing-themed magnets (magnetic scrabble fridge tiles), a book light,  and chocolate. Every writer loves chocolate.
  2. Books. Kind of obvious, yes. But every writer I know has a never-ending wishlist. Many have books on the craft of writing which they would love to read, yet simply can’t afford or feel that they shouldn’t indulge. See if they are willing to share the wishlist (or they might have one online on Goodreads, Amazon, or BookDepository so you can check it without them even suspecting what you are up to).
  3. An editor. Let me rephrase that since editors might not let you tie a pretty red bow around their neck: An editing session. Are the writers in your life in need of a second opinion? Are they letting their masterpiece collect dust on a shelf, or putting off writing/sending out query letters because it needs more editing? An editing session could help them out big time.
  4. A creative writing class. Either a real-life or an online one, many writers would like to further perfect their craft. Have they got fear of writing, issues with time management, or are in need of fresh creative energy to move out of a rut? There are several websites you can check out, and in case you can not decide on your own, include the writer in the decision making process. They are the ones who best know what they need.
  5. Customized items. Great stocking fillers. In this area of gifts, there are many things you can customize, like jewelry: cufflinks, pins and badges, pendants, bracelets engraved with their favorite (short) quote, earrings; clothing: T-shirst, neck ties, hats, scarves; and even kitchen items: mugs, serving trays, bowls, wine bottles, etc. And you can never go wrong with writing-themed Christmas tree ornaments!
  6. High end pens. Quill pens, fountain pens, ballpoint pens. These are good choices for every writer of course, but especially for pen-enthusiasts.
  7. Book ends. They seem underrated, but I think they are worth keeping in mind because they not only keep books from falling off not-yet-filled-up shelves, they allow for building a bookshelf anywhere – on a windowsill, a desk, etc. They also come in all shapes and sizes and are customizable to your writer’s dreams.
  8. Time to write. This can be as simple as arranging play-dates, taking the kids to a movie one day per week, going to visit the grandparents without your spouse on a weekend, taking over some of the chores or cooking dinner yourself so your writer will have a bit of time to themselves, to clear their head from the everyday worries and write without interruptions.
  9. A place to write.  If you are in the mood to make over a room in your house, how about giving your writer a cozy space to read and write in? A door to shut would be ideal, but even simply rearranging a shared space to make room for a bookshelf, a comfy chair, or a desk will go a long way.
  10. A writer’s retreat. If you can afford it, check out a few places close by and send your writer on a short writing retreat. A weekend away from a noisy house, in a cute little bed and breakfast is guaranteed to make their year!
How about you? Would you be happy to receive any of the above listed? How do you shop for the writers (and readers) in your life? Any ideas we could steal?

—————————————————-

As a disclaimer, the above listed are things I use and love, or I would love to receive.

I have personally worked with Karen Schindler in the past, and she has edited my work in such a way that she kept my voice throughout the stories; sometimes sending them back with edits that I didn’t even notice at first were not my own writing. I highly recommend Karen’s services.

In April this year, I took Milli Thornton’s Ace Your 10K Day online class. She has several classes to choose from, her insight for the issues I had were more than helpful as they were easily applicable; and overall, Milli was a pleasure to work with.

If you’re a crafter, a while back I made myself a writer’s clock and a travelogue. With a little imagination, they can easily be transformed to your own needs.

Happy gift giving!

~ Estrella Azul

* Photo copyright Estrella Azul

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An Editorial – of Sorts

October 25, 2012 in Editorial - of Sorts, Writers by Estrella Azul

After advancing to the Editor of Friday Flash Dot Org position at the beginning of October, I was thinking of writing and publishing this editorial of sorts last week. However, with NaNoWriMo’s fast-paced approach, I decided FFDO correspondent Catherine Russell’s article on Getting Ready for the Young Writers Program Next Month!  should be up early enough this month to give those interested time to check things out and prepare.

Please welcome our newest FFDO Correspondent, Mari Juniper of mari’s randomities, who shares short stories, poems, reflections and pretty things that fancy her and her visitors. She already has something in the works for your viewing pleasure, and I think you will have a blast reading Mari’s future articles!

~~~

Following is a creative nonfiction piece on what #fridayflash means to me; originally written and published as my entry for, and second place winner of, the #fridayflash Writer’s Contest in April, 2010.

One Stupendous Pile of Pens 

A pen exists to serve a higher purpose.

Each pen knows its destiny and writes waiting for its fulfillment.
As we read their creations we notice that not all the pens are shaped the same, their heads are all different: Reed Pen, Quill Pen, Dip Pen, Fountain Pen… each has its own personality and each pen is special in its own way.

I believe that all pens have their well-established path on this life’s stage; as even with a single written line they trace and create different worlds.

All these pen’s paragraphs, sentences, phrases, words, for me, equal small miracles.

Witnessing the passage of ideas from first pen stroke to end result; is an incredible journey.

Sometimes, somewhere in this voyage, a wonder slides in.

Each week, out of hundreds of penned imaginings, one creation is destined to arrive into certain hands, and when the two meet, time stands still and the hearts, of both reader and written lines, skip a beat.

My heart skips a beat several times a week. Actively engaging with the stories I read, I am pulled under by intense ideas, challenging or reinforcing my old ways of thinking, making the wonder of this journey ever so precious when I resurface.

In addition to these wonderful reading experiences, and fortifying my lifelong passion for everything that creative writing is, the best and most significant “things” I have received from participating in #fridayflash are the countless amazing new pen friends I now have, who I would not have met, or at least not in such high numbers, if it was not for this stupendous pile of pens #fridayflash contains!

All of what I wrote in this short essay back in 2010 are, to this day, still applicable. Thank you for that!

I am looking forward to working even more closely with the staff and contributors of Friday Flash Dot Org to hopefully bring all our writers and readers alike to a point where they, themselves can attest to the same feelings I expressed above about our wonderful community of writers.

~ Estrella Azul

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NewsFlash – Vol.4 #19

October 9, 2012 in Community News, News Flash by Estrella Azul

Out of nearly 5,000 entries, Dan Powell’s six-word story made the shortlist for the their Six Word Story competition.

Our own, J. M. Strother has a guest post up, Stop Editing, on the new and improved #Amwriting website.

Write What You Know – But what does that really mean? this is the question Angie Capozello answers on #Amwriting this week.

Tom Gillespie has interviewed Calum Kerr, writer, editor, lecturer and director of National Flash-Fiction Day. Go read it on Tom’s website.

Tom got interviewed himself regarding his writing, and you can read that over on Writer’s Checklist.

Congratulations to all!

~~~

As a short teaser, stay tuned for this week’s Thursday post where Jon Strother has a few announcements on FFDO staff changes; mainly on yours truly, Estrella Azul, advancing to the Editor of Friday Flash Dot Org position.

~ Estrella Azul Keep the good news coming! You can send in your news items concerning the Friday Flash community to Angie Capozello at  AngieC@fridayflash.org, to Jon Strother at jmstro@gmail.com or by contacting them on Facebook or Twitter. Or feel free to share your news by posting on the#fridayflash Facebook Group Page.

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NewsFlash – Vol.4 #18

October 2, 2012 in Community News, News Flash by Estrella Azul

Tim Collard had a short story, “Two of Hearts”, published in the gay e-anthology “Hold on, I’m Coming”, which is free to download.

“Wish, The Awakening” is Laura Eno’s new YA dark urban fantasy and it will be out on October 22nd.

Over at Write Anything, Tony Noland discussed sex scenes: why we write them, why they work, why they do not and how they fit within the context of the book. Also, he tells you how his mother reacted to the sex scenes Tony put in his first novel.

#TuesdaySerial is hosting a roundtable discussion about the new Amazon Kindle Serial publishing option, and a bunch of #fridayflash regulars (including Angie Capozello, PJ Kaiser, Tony Noland) will be taking part. Drop by today at 1:30pm Eastern. All the info is on the Tuesday Serial website.

Congrats to all!

~ Estrella Azul

Keep the good news coming! You can send in your news items concerning the Friday Flash community to Estrella at estrella.azul@fridayflash.org or by contacting her on Facebook or Twitter. Or feel free to share your news by posting on the#fridayflash Facebook Group Page.

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NewsFlash – Vol.4 #17

September 25, 2012 in Community News, News Flash by Estrella Azul

Rebecca Emin has written a rather bizarre story which she has buried because of the content. If you are not easily offended and old enough to be reading about sexual themes, you can find it here.

Dan Powell’s  story “The Man Who Lived Like A Tree“ has been nominated by the good folks over at Referential for this year’s Best Of The Net Awards.

Tony Noland tackles the question of “When is it finished?”, over at Write Anything. How do you know when your book/poem/story/etc. is done? His answer, not surprisingly, is that the question itself is flawed. He offer a better question – with a better answer – that makes for much better writing advice.

Icy Sedgwick, who has been working like crazy lately, finishing up a new book and revisiting the book she had published last year by Pulp Press, tackles in a guest post on Tony Noland’s blog one of the subjects that makes even experienced writers queasy: how to promote the book after it’s out.

Jodi Cleghorn and Alan Baxter will launch eMergent Publishing’s newest anthology “From Stage Door Shadows” Saturday evening as part of Canberra’s spec-fic convention Conflux. “From Stage Door Shadows” is another stellar showing from the Friday Flash community with Emma Kerry, Clive Martyn, Rebecca L. Dobbie, Sam Adamson, Laura Eno, Monica Marier, Lisamarie Lamb, S.G. Larner, Cath Barton, Jodi and Alan all with stories in the anthology. The anthology is available for a reduced pre-order price until Saturday. The stories will also be free on the Literary Mix Tapes website this weekend.

Congratulations to all!

~ Estrella Azul

Keep the good news coming! You can send in your news items concerning the Friday Flash community to Estrella at estrella.azul@fridayflash.org or by contacting her on Facebook or Twitter. Or feel free to share your news by posting on the#fridayflash Facebook Group Page.

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NewsFlash – Vol.4 #16

September 18, 2012 in Community News, News Flash by Estrella Azul

Jodi Cleghorn’s novella “ELYORA”, a contemporary horror set in country Australia, will appear in the Review of Australian Fiction‘s special December edition “Down the Rabbit Hole”. The majority of the novella’s first draft was penned during the June Rabbit Hole Event (30,000 words in 3 days) sponsored by the Queensland Writers’ Centre.

Donna and Alex Carrick have pulished a new cross-genre collection of stories called “EFD1: Starship Goodwords”, to be the first in a series of like collections.

Kemari Howell and Tomarra Armstrong are launching their new literary magazine Em Dash.

“The Ghost and the Graveyard” by Genevieve Jack (G.P. Ching’s adult pseudonym), is officially available everywhere.  You can find it by visiting the links in the upper right hand margin on her website.  As for something fun, the book was featured last Friday on Kindlegraph!

PJ Kaiser’s guest post, Amazon Turns the World of Web Serials on its Head, where she attempts to wrap up some of the buzz about Amazon’s announcement last week of “Kindle Serials” is up over on Tuesday Serial.

Linda Simoni-Wastila has been promoted to Senior Editor of jmww.

Congratulations to all!

~ Estrella Azul

Keep the good news coming! You can send in your news items concerning the Friday Flash community to Estrella at estrella.azul@fridayflash.org or by contacting her on Facebook or Twitter. Or feel free to share your news by posting on the#fridayflash Facebook Group Page.

 

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NewsFlash – Vol.4 #15

September 9, 2012 in Community News, News Flash by Estrella Azul

Laura Besley guest blogged on a fellow writer’s blog. Check out this link for her article about writing Flash Fiction. And of course, feel free to comment!

Laura Eno was interviewed by our own, Cathy Olifee-Webster. Cathy also asked Tim VanSant some bizarre questions.

Peter Newman has been blogging for about a year now and to celebrate he is writing anything that people want, no matter how weird or lame. He is open to prompts all through September. The blog post with the details is here.

My (Estrella Azul) latest travel article, where I take a short drive to “Bridal Veil Waterfall, Mărgău, Transylvania” is now up on Milliver’s Travels. Want to see a flying fox? Come on over.

Congrats to all!

~~~

Jodi Cleghorn let us know that the poll is now closed, and we have the results for how the BOFF2 cover will look like. Want to know what it is? It is *drumrolls* BLUE! Nice, safe blue. Click through to the Best of Friday Flash: Volume Two Cover Color Poll and take a look at it again.

~ Estrella Azul

Keep the good news coming! You can send in your news items concerning the Friday Flash community to Estrella at estrella.azul@fridayflash.org or by contacting her on Facebook or Twitter. Or feel free to share your news by posting on the#fridayflash Facebook Group Page.

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NewsFlash – Vol.4 #14

September 4, 2012 in Community News, News Flash by Estrella Azul

Brinda Banerje’s short story, “The Siege”, is featured in the fourth issue of the online literary magazine, CAKE: Short and Sweet. Brinda feels very excited and thankful that this group has helped her along with comments and encouragement.

Tony Noland, in his article over at Write Anything, talks about one really effective method for fixing “broken” characters – the tropes, walk-ons, cardboard, boring, half-drawn characters that populate many rough drafts.

Annie Evett also has an article up at Write Anything, where she talks about submitting your work. Go read it, she makes excellent points.

The Knights of the Round Table, on Goodreads, have proudly announced the one and ONLY winner so far of the Knights of the Round Table Reader’s Choice Award. To win this award, a book must average a 4.5 from all reader reviews, and must have received at least three reviews. The book that met the strict criteria, established by their reader poll, is “Immortal Desires” by Laura Eno.

Carrie Clevenger and Nerine Dorman let us know about the Bloody Parchment: Hidden Things, Lost Things and Other Stories now being released and available for purchase. And make sure you drop by Nerine’s place, there is also a Bloody Parchment anthology call for submission.

Also, Carrie Clevenger gave #FridayFlash a brief plug in this radio interview. Since it was done over the phone, it is not exactly the best quality, but still highly enjoyable.

Congratulations to all!

~~~

If anyone is interested, Calum Kerr (Director of National Flash Fiction Day) is running a 6-week online Flash Fiction course. Check out the link here for details!

~ Estrella Azul

It is great to be back, even though Estrella could certainly get used to being on vacation and reading all day long. Thank you for sending in your news items to Jon while she was away. Starting today, you can (again) keep the good news coming by sending in your news items concerning the Friday Flash community to Estrella at estrella.azul@fridayflash.org or by contacting her on Facebook or Twitter. Or feel free to share your news by posting on the#fridayflash Facebook Group Page.

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