Full Read with Meredith Resnick

WE'VE GOT A NEW HOME!

2009-09-24T22:23:00.000-07:00

Visit The Writer's [Inner] Journey ... you'll find bestselling authors, professional creatives and emerging voices in quirky dialogue on how they write and why it works.

See you there.

We're Moving March 1, 2009 [and you're invited]

2009-02-16T13:06:00.000-08:00

Full Read is in for some big, beautiful changes.
We're upgrading to new digs at The Writer's Journey http://innerwritingjourney.blogspot.com/

At The Writer's Journey you'll find creatively succulent (juicy, tasty) interviews with best-selling contemporary authors, professional creatives and emerging voices in literature and spoken word. You'll love their quirky dialogue about how they write and why it works.

See you March 1, 2009.

A Father, A Daughter, And An Ethics Snafu Over Her Book?

2008-10-30T20:14:00.000-07:00

Yup.
That's what the New York Times reported earlier this month via blog.
It appears that being a proud dad trying to promote his daughter's graphic novel won't get you out of hot water when it comes to the city of New York. As the blog reported: "...one person’s parental pride is another panel’s ethical transgression." He was fined $500.
So much for bragging rights.
Read the full story from the New York Times October 21, 2008 edition here:
http://cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/10/21/my-daughters-fabulous-book-an-ethical-yarn/

Spread the Hope: Help Save A Writer's Home

2008-09-11T08:32:00.000-07:00

I don't know Lori Hall Steele personally, and it's likely neither do you.
It's likely, too, that you can't imagine going through what she's recently had to face.
But first, a little about her: She's only 44 years old, and as a writer she's published more than 3,000 (3,000!!) articles for local, regional and national publications. She edited Michael Moore’s book Dude, Where’s My Country? and helped launch his Traverse City Film Festival.
That was then.
Now Lori is fighting for her life. And her home. And to keep life right-side up for her young son. This single mom lives in Michigan. Last September she mysteriously lost the ability to move her feet. The paralysis spread. She was soon diagnosed to ALS (Lou Gehrig's disease). She's unable to work in the career that allowed her to shine. Fellow freelancer writers over at FreelanceSuccess.com have built a website in order to collect funds to save her home which risks going into foreclosure.
Fellow freelancers have turned into social workers: making endless calls to the ALS society, United Way and state and local government offices. They've drafted wishlists. A silent auction is in the works. And they've set up a site--Save Lori's House--where donations are accepted through PayPal and credit cards.
http://www.savelorishouse.com/
Whether you donate or not, please pass this on to others. Martin Luther King said: "Everyone can be great, because everyone can serve."
Perhaps this is the path of service, just for today?

Meredith

http://www.savelorishouse.com/

Second Sundays Open Mic--coming to OC in October!

2008-09-08T12:15:00.000-07:00

I am excited to announce the first in a series callled Second Sundays Open Mic, hosted by Laguna Beach Books*, on Sunday, October 12, 2008 at 5 pm. Writers of fiction and non-fiction will have an opportunity to share their work---3 minutes of it (aka: 180 seconds, 525-ish words, 2 double-spaced pages in 12-pt type, 40 lines double spaced...you get the idea!).

A random drawing of names will determine who goes first, second, etc in what promises to be a great evening. I'll be there, too, introducing everyone who reads, and sharing my own 3 minutes as well.

Some people call what we're doing "fast fiction," "punctual poetry" or "three-minute memoir," but the true inspiration for this event came from DimeStories, a new program in development for NPR. The show's concept grew out of an open mic series that began in San Diego four years ago at The Grove bookstore. Writers are given a time limit of 3 minutes to read their work, which allows for a fast-paced evening with tightly-edited pieces, great writing and the opportunity to meet, mingle and muse about the craft.

By hosting Second Sundays, Laguna Beach Books, a large supporter of many community-based organizations, is proud to be part of the thriving writing community here in Orange County.

A $5 donation at the door is welcome (to cover incidentals and to keep the fun going). I'm looking forward to seeing and hearing your words on October 12.

*Laguna Beach Books (Coast Hwy & Brooks, at The Old Pottery Place) 1200 S. Coast Hwy, Ste. 105 Laguna Beach, CA 92651 949-494-4770

Something new for writers in OC (Orange County) CA

2008-08-29T15:10:00.000-07:00

A new, monthly open mic event is just around the corner. The inspiration: DimeStories (see post below). Keep checking back. More to be revealed...

Dime Stories

2008-08-02T21:32:00.000-07:00

A great new feature will be hitting the airwaves in the coming months via NPR : Dime Stories. Novelist Amy Wallen, along with memoirist James Spring will host the show. Have a look and perhaps submit a 3-minute story of your own.
http://www.dimestories.crossingthegap.com/

"20 NEW LIT MAGS" [revisited...rather quickly]

2008-05-08T12:32:00.000-07:00

Apropos to yesterday's post, it seemed just plain wrong not to include at least the links. Thank you, Poets & Writers, for this list, and the links, and doing all the research.

See the current issue (May/June 2008) for more on what these journals are looking for, and visit the sites below. Lots of places for poetry...

Alehouse http://www.alimentumjournal.com/

Barrelhouse http://www.barrelhousemag.com/

Bateau http://www.bateaupress.org/

Cadillac Cicatrix http://www.cadillaccicatrix.com/

Cave Wall http://www.cavewall.com/

Coal Hill Review http://www.coalhillreview.com/

Ecotone http://www.ecotonejournal.com/

Five Chapters http://www.fivechapters.com/

Fringe Magazine http://www.fringemagazine.com/

Grist http://www.gristjournal.com/

HoboEye http://www.hoboeye.com/

Lumberyard http://www.lumberyardmagazine.com/

Make http://www.makemag.com/

Marinalia www.western.edu/marginalia

One Less Magazine onelessmag.blogspot.com

Palabra http://www.palabralitmag.com/

Quiddity www.sci.edu/quiddity

Slice http://www.slicemagazine.org/

Subtropics www.english.ufl.edu/subtropics

Let it go

2008-05-07T20:13:00.000-07:00

The May/June issue of Poets and Writers has a cover story called:

20 NEW LIT MAGS

Submit Your Work Now

Good advice, and something I always need to hear. Whether it is to the 20 NEW LIT MAGS or somewhere else.

Submit your work now.

It's another way to say: Let it go.

Fonts

2008-05-06T19:44:00.000-07:00

The New York Times online is published in the font Georgia. That's what my friend and editor at Pacific Comminications, Chris Villaflor, told me when I told him I liked the font. He said he cut and pasted it onto his computer's desktop and with some detective work, sluethed it out. I like that he went to all that trouble. I like when people follow a line like that through. There is something comforting about knowing the font of a paper you like, something intimate between you and the written words.

My friend, novelist Amy Wallen, writes her emails in Comic Sans. That's because (I think) she's funny, and she's a humor writer and it just fits her personality.

My husband, Jon, an accountant, prefers Arial. Need I say more?

I like Optima and Palatino. They are both appealing, like Georgia, and clean but refined.

My kids write emails in texty formats, with letters that they say sound like words but don't look like words.

4 blogs x 31 days = 124 posts

2008-05-01T13:02:00.000-07:00

I've gotten a lot of great information about the business of writing over the past couple of years from an online website called "Freelance Success" but I think the thing that will perhaps help my blogging proficiency most is a recent challenge posed by fellow writer Michelle Rafter. Michelle challenged bloggers to post at least a single entry each day onto their blogs throughout the month of May. That's 31 posts. In a row.

I was, I think, maybe the 16th or 17th writer to take her challenge. Then I remembered I had 4 blogs, most of which I neglect. So I took Michelle's challenge, posting a brilliant. "I'm in" on the Freelance Success forum, and then signed off my computer and had a panic attack about what I was going to write. That's 4 blogs x 31 days = 124 posts. I scratched my head. What was I thinking?

(My) Word for the Day

2008-02-06T11:42:00.000-08:00

Today I dedicate my writing to the word "overstate". Overstate as opposed to understate. I have a habit of understating things, trying to hard to slip in under the radar, but still slip in so I can fit in. I want to try to something different today, which is why I'm paying homage to the word overstate. I'm going to do my very very utmost best to overstate myself--feelings, thoughts, descriptions, colors, sounds, you name it, on the page. I'm going to let myself use lots of adjectives and adverbs! I'm even going to use a lot of exclamation points!!!!! I want to exaggerate and expand and stretch and pull and expose and reveal and luxuriate in all the words that I can, and do it in such an over-the-top way that you just can't miss it.

What will be your word for today?