Publishing Opportunities at Full of Crow, MiCrow and On the Wing

The Written Remains Writers Guild is a friend of editor Lynn Alexander and Full of Crow magazine. We'd like to introduce you to Full of Crow and pass along these publishing opportunities.

MiCrow: Submissions are open for Full Of Crow's MiCrow flash fiction (winter) section. MiCrow is limited to 500 words for MiCrow Winter as the theme is "half" for fiction and photography. (half the typical word limit for flash= 500)

Submission guidelines: http://www.fullofcrow.com/.

You can check out MiCrow "Peek", Summer 2009, on the MiCrow page www.fullofcrow.com/microw.html

Full of Crowe Quarterly Fiction is also open for submissions. http://www.fullofcrow.com/fiction.html

Full Of Crow also accepts submissions of poetry on a rolling basis. Poetry, edited by MK Chavez, will now be quarterly. www.fullofcrow.com/poetry

ON THE WING has an editor at last, Michael Solender, who is working on rectifying the neglected non-fiction/opinion/essay section at Full Of Crow. Please consider checking it out and submitting your essays, commentary, opinion pieces, interviews and critiques. Have an idea? Run it by him, shoot off an email. Details at www.fullofcrow.com/onthewing.
E-Mail: mjsolender@fullofcrow.com

Lynn Alexander and Full of Crow says: Thank you, as always, for your support and for spreading the word. If you know creative people who might be interested in getting involved in some of the projects we have going on, PLEASE share our contact information. We can always use content, zine distributors, writers, photographers and artists.

Member Spotlight: Interview with Greg Smith, author of Final Price

Interview with Greg Smith,

author of Final Price

This month our Member Spotlight is on Greg Smith, author of the recently published thriller, Final Price.

JMR: Hi, Greg! Please tell us a bit about yourself.

GS: I was born and raised in Washington, DC. I have a BA in English from Skidmore College and an MBA from the College of William & Mary. I worked in public relations in DC and moved to Delaware to get married. I also worked in PR in Wilmington and Philadelphia before committing to fiction writing full time.

JMR: How did you get started in writing?

GS: I’ve always wanted to be a writer and it eventually dawned on me one day that in order to make it happen I had to…write! Sit down, come up with an idea and start typing, or filling legal pads with scribbles. When I finished my first novel, it was a great sense of accomplishment, but I look back on that VERY unpublished story and realize it was merely an important first step.

JMR: Your book, Final Price, was a quarter-finalist this year in the Amazon.com “Break Through Novel Award” competition and was published by CreateSpace. What is your book about?

Final Price pits a psychotic car salesman, Shamus Ryan, against a culturally conflicted Chinese-American homicide detective, Paul Chang. The story is set in Northern Delaware where Shamus takes out his murderous revenge on customers who waste his time and reject him. In the “small town” atmosphere of Wilmington, the seemingly random killings baffle the cops until Chang and his emotionally fragile ex-partner, Nelson Rogers, step in to find the common thread.

JMR: Can you tell us a little about the history of Final Price and your experience writing this particular book?

GS: I think this book has changed more than any other that I’ve written. Actually, in a lot of ways I think of it as my informal “graduate thesis.” It went through no fewer than ten drafts and years of intensive group critique led by a professional editor who improved my writing and craft exponentially. With her help we tried to find a home through conventional publisher routes but that is always a daunting path for an unknown. I got some good feedback but no offers.

I took a shot with the Amazon contest and got some more good feedback and even though it didn’t finish at the top, I was very pleased with the whole contest experience. After that, I decided to follow through and release the book as a self published work.

JMR: Final Price has been described as a thriller, a novel of suspense and a mystery -- is Final Price a cross genre novel, and if so why did you decide to combine these three genres?

GS: I don’t know about that, I think it stands as a thriller certainly, but within the mystery framework it is not so much of a “whodunit?” as a “Howtheygonnacatchhim?” I wanted to show the action from two distinctly different perspectives so the reader gets to be in the head of both the hero and the killer.

JMR: To a greater or lesser degree all authors write from personal experience, how much of Final Price is from your personal experience and how much research did you have to do in order to write this book?

GS: This book started from a simple premise that occurred to me during a long shift selling cars during a snowy day with few customers. What if, instead of sharing war stories with co-workers in the break room, a salesman totally snapped and lashed out against his most aggravating customers? Shamus Ryan was born. To play the other side of the equation I wanted to create an edgy hero who has plenty of dark demons of his own.

Paul Chang is an amalgam of people I’ve met throughout my life, as well as a bunch of stuff I simply made up (one of the beauties of writing!)

JMR: What’s the most unusual experience you’ve had related to the writing of Final Price?

GS: Sometimes when I tell people about the book and that I sold cars myself they get a funny look in their eye that always prompts me to remind them that it is fiction!

JMR: Can you tell us a few funny or unusual “facts” about Final Price?

GS: Of course all the characters are fictitious even if they were inspired by real people. More often than not, several people actually. Likewise, some of the annoying customer traits I gave the victims had some basis in fact. In particular, there’s a scene where the customers devour Shamus’s lunch then leave without buying. That happened once.

JMR: Your first book signing is coming up on Saturday, November 14th at Borders on Concord Pike. What other plans are in the works for Final Price and is there anything you’d particularly like to say to your readers?

GS: There should be more signings down the road. The local bookstores have been terrific. Also there are some online sites that specialize in Indie writers that I hope to work with.


Kindle has opened up another world of readers and hopefully they can reach folks I’d never see otherwise.


I’d like to thank each and every reader for taking a chance with a new author. Every time I hear from someone who enjoyed my book it makes my day.


To those who haven’t read it, if you like thrillers, give it a try! There’s a free sample on Amazon.

JMR: Do you have a favorite author and if so, who and why?

GS: Hard to pin down but since we’re talking about thrillers, Stephen King, Thomas Harris, Dean Koontz.

JMR: What other authors have significantly influenced your writing?

GS: James Frey, author of How to Write a Damn Good Mystery, (No connection to the disgraced autobiographer!)

JMR: Could you tell us a little about your other writing projects – past, present, future?

GS: Sure, I have two other complete novels, one a young adult fantasy and a second thriller based on a mind control conspiracy. I’m still looking for representation or publishers for those and have several new books in mind.


I have a short story, Street Smarts, published in Stories from The Inkslingers (Gryphonwood Press, 2007.)


The launch of Final Price has kept me pretty busy but the writing itch won’t be denied for long!

JMR: What has been your experience of the publishing world and what advice would you give writers, especially new writers seeking publication?

GS: It’s a marathon, and even for every “overnight” success if you look more closely you’ll see plenty of struggling.


Whether it’s writing, re-writing, polishing and marketing, take everything one step at a time.


Personally, so far it’s been a great experience. Since I’m doing it myself it’s certainly different than a big splashy marketing campaign. I liken it to forcing the proverbial tree in the forest to make a sound. Or to put it another way, each reader represents a spark, I never know which one will catch on.


So far most of the folks who have read the book like it, and word of mouth is the best marketing of all.

JMR: Thank you, Greg!

*Greg Smith was interviewed by JM Reinbold

Additional Information about Greg Smith and Final Price

Greg's first book signing for Final Price will take place this Saturday, November 14, 2009 from 1 - 4 p.m. at Borders on Concord Pike in Wilmington, Delaware.

Please stop by Borders and buy a copy of Final Price and chat with Greg. This is a great opportunity to support a Delaware author!

Check out Final Price on Amazon.com

Read a review of Final Price on Pick of the Literate

Poetry Workshop with Piotr Fiorczyk at John Milton Annual Celebration of Poets

The Written Remains Writers Guild is a friend and "follower" of the Broadkill Review, sponsor of the annual John Milton Memorial Celebration of Poets and Poetry, on Blogger and we'd like to pass along their announcement of this excellent poetry workshop coming up in December!



Poetry Workshop with Piotr Florczyk

The John Milton Annual Celebration of Poets and Poetry is pleased to announce a workshop with Piotr Florczyk. Mr. Florczyk, a native of Poland, is the editor and translator of Been and Gone: Poems of Julian Kornhauser (with a forward by Adam Zagajewski, Marick Press, 2009). His poems, translations and essays have appeared in such publications as Boston Review, Slate, The Southern Review, Notre Dame Review, Poetry Internation and World Literature Today. Mr. Florczyk received an Individual Artist Fellowship from the Delaware Division of Arts and the Anna Akhmatova Fellowship for Younger Translators. He teaches at the University of Delaware and Cecil College.

The three hour workshop, titled Still Life with a Poem: New Ways to Guide the Muse into the World, will be held Saturday morning, December 5, 2009, at 10:30 in the Milton Library, Milton, Delaware. Mr. Florczyk says, “ Although writing is a solitary activity, in this workshop we will immerse ourselves in the close reading and discussing of poems in order to gain a basic understanding of the many theories and techniques that underline poetry writing. We will study the art and craft of both canonical and emerging poets, including some who hail from non-English speaking cultures. Additionally, students will have the opportunity to revise and generate new work, and practice giving and receiving constructive feedback. It is my great hope that during our time together, we will not only produce exciting poems, but that we dispel various myths about poets and poetry as well.”

The cost of this workshop is $50 and space is very limited. Please email lindablaskey@aol.com as soon as possible to reserve a place (“poetry workshop” should be in the subject line). Ms. Blaskey will contact attendees to arrange payment.

For more information about the 11th Annual John Milton Memorial Celebration of Poets and Poetry:
Link to the Broadkill Review blog.

Link to the Broadkill Review on Facebook.

Check It Out: Free Ezine from WritingRaw.com

I received an email notification about this ezine. It looked worthwhile, so I'm passing along the info and a few observations.

Writing Raw is a FREE online ezine that supports new and emerging writers of fiction and poetry. There is also an assorted writing section for "everything else." Writing Raw offers writers the opportunity to have their work published online, getting stories, novellas, novel excerpts and poetry out into the community where they can be read.

*Note that Writing Raw identifies itself as a literary ezine, but I found many genre works among the literary offerings.

Writing Raw has interviews with well known authors, agents, editors and publishers, as well as book reviews.

Link to WritingRaw.com -- November edition is available now.

WritingRaw.com submission guidelines are here.  

*Note that Writing Raw does not edit your work, so make sure that any story or excerpt you submit for publication on their site is in the best possible shape conceptually, structurally and grammatically.

*Note that while new offerings are announced for each issue, it appears that all published work is archived on the site and available to be read. Writing Raw states on their website that all rights to work published in their ezine remain with the author.

WritingRaw.com is on Facebook

Inkslingers Update

Thanks to friends, family and fans Stories from the Inkslingers is being read all over the US and it's available in the UK, too.  Inkslingers updates from summer and early fall 2009 follow:

Stories from the Inkslingers is now on sale in the Gallery Shop at the Newark Arts Alliance in Newark, Delaware.

In November, Stories from the Inkslingers was one of the auction items at the Mosaic Gala that supports the Newark Arts Alliance and other Newark arts organizations.

Link to the Newark Arts Alliance.

Stories from the Inkslingers was on display at the Biggs Museum in Dover, Delaware from July 3 through October 25, 2009 as part of the Delaware Division of the Arts Award Winners IX exhibition.

Link to Biggs Museum.

Stories from the Inkslingers was on sale at the Deadly Ink Mystery Conference in New Jersey in June 2009.

Link to Deadly Ink.

Our publisher Gryphonwood Press took Stories from the Inkslingers on the road to book conventions this summer and reported our Anthology sold well.

On Amazon.com, Kindle digital editions of Stories from the Inkslingers ($1.99) are consistently selling better than the paper editions.

Link to Stories from the Inkslingers (a Written Remains Anthology) on Amazon.

Member News

It's never to late for good news! Take a look at what some of our Guild members have done recently ...

JM Reinbold and Ramona Long took their mystery novels to the next level at the Seascape Mystery Authors Retreat on September 18 – 20, 2009 in Madison, Connecticut on Long Island Sound. Joanne and Ramona, along with 16 other writers, worked with best-selling, award-winning mystery authors Hallie Ephron, Roberta Isleib and S. W. Hubbard.

Link to Seascape

Greg Smith’s novel, Final Price, was a quarterfinalist in Amazon.com’s Breakthrough Novel Competition. Final Price was published by CreateSpace. Guild member, Justynn Tyme created the cover for Greg’s serial killer thriller.

Link to Final Price

Sherry Thompson’s novel, Seabird, has been re-titled and re-released with a new cover as a duology by publisher Gryphonwood Press. The first book in the set, Seabird: An Invitation, is available now through Amazon.com

Link to Seabird: An Invitation

Justynn Tyme’s story The Argyle Oven Mitt Mystery was published in the New Absurdist Anthology 3. Justynn also created the cover art for the Anthology.

Download The New Absurdist Anthology 3 and Justynn’s story here.

Link to the New Absurdist website.

Justynn’s article on Podcasting appeared in the Absurdist Monthly Review #7. The magazine and Justynn’s article can be downloaded here.

Download free e-books from the Absurdist Monthly Review website.

Member News: Oct/Nov/Dec 2008 and January 2009

In October, Viet Dinh received an O. Henry Prize for his short story Substitutes which will appear in the 2009 edition of The O. Henry Prize Stories: The Best Stories of the Year (Available in May). 2008 was a very good year for Viet. At the beginning of the year he also received a National Endowments for the Arts Grant for Creative Writing which helped fund a research trip to India in support of his novel-in-progress and his writing career.

In November -- National Novel Writing Month -- the WR WriMo Team: Kristy Nichols, Joanne Reinbold, Sherry Thomspon (Captain) and Justynn Tyme wrote to victory! In December, Joanne participated in National Novel Finishing Month (NaNoFiMo) and will begin editing her mystery novel, Ding Dong Bell, starting in March during National Novel Editing Month (NaNoEdMo).

In December, honorary member Ramona Long received a Delaware Division of the Arts Established Artist Grant in support of her writing career. Ramona will be giving readings and teaching classes during the year as part of her DDA recipient responsibilites.

On January 4, 2009 Seabird by Sherry Thompson commenced its Blog Tour. Visit Sherry's Scribblings blog at Live Journal for a comprehensive list of blog tour sites and reviews.