Volume IIII, Issue 4
January 26, 2015
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Dear ,
Sometimes, what a writer longs for most is.... a
reader.
If 2015 is the year you're going to send your work out into the world so it enjoyed by readers, this zine is just for you. Because I have a great resource to share -- NewPages.com. Here's how they describe themselves: "NewPages.com is news, information, and guides to literary magazines, independent publishers, creative writing programs, alternative periodicals, indie bookstores, writing contests, and more."
One of the "mores" is a blog that, among other things, offers a "Lit Mag Covers - Picks of the Week" feature. I love this one that features a collage called "The Books of Common Prayer" by Margaret Brommelsiek.
Newpages.com is not only a great resource to help you find markets for your essays, poems, and stories, it's a great resource for you as a reader. Today's featured writing is an essay I discovered in a publication I discovered in NewPages.com.
So go check it out, and be sure to let me know when your work gets accepted for publication. I love that kind of news!
Love and light, Maureen Upcoming WordPlay
COASTAL WRITING RETREAT Connect with Your Creativity at the Sunset Inn (Writing—and
more—as Renewal and Inspiration) only five spaces left! Renew yourself and reconnect with your own creativity, whether you are a practicing writer, closet writer, or as-yet-to-pick-up-the-pen writer! The techniques and prompts we’ll use
will spur your imagination, and can be used to create nonfiction, fiction, and/or poetry—the choice is yours. $378 for the weekend beginning Friday February 20 through Sunday February 22. The Coastal Writing Retreat includes writing sessions, two nights’ lodging, two breakfasts and Saturday lunch (hotel tax and Saturday dinner at a local restaurant not included). Additionally, for those who might like to stay another day to work on their writing, or to just enjoy the beach, the Inn is offering
to Coastal Writing Retreat participants only, the opportunity to stay Sunday night, February 22, at half price. WHERE: The Sunset Inn, 9 North Shore Dr., Sunset Beach, NC 28468
WHEN: Friday, February 20 – Sunday, February 22, 2015 TO REGISTER: Contact the Sunset Inn at 888.575.1001 or 910.575.1000 (if you would like to handpick your room, view your choices here first, then call). Because the Inn is holding rooms for you, our participants, they are blocked off as
unavailable online. Register soon by phone – this is a popular event and there are only 5 more spaces available.
-----------------------------------------------------------------THE HEALING POWER OF WORDS (Writing As a Healing Process) only four spaces left! What benefits can writing provide –physically, mentally, spiritually? Are some ways of writing more healing than others? And can we create quality literary work as we heal? In this retreat that incorporates recent discoveries in the field of mind-body-spirit connection and Dr. James Pennebaker’s ground-breaking ideas on writing as a way to move through loss and grief, you’ll learn methods of writing that help navigate loss and grief on
your life path of growth and wholeness. You will choose your ideal balance between community time and solitude as you use writing as a transformational tool in any way that best serves you. And, if you’re looking, you’ll find the genesis of new poetry, creative non-fiction, and/or fiction. Note: Tears honored. Laughter likely. Inspiration guaranteed. WHERE: The Sunset Inn, 9 North
Shore Dr., Sunset Beach, NC 28468
WHEN: Friday, February 27 – Sunday, March 1, 2015 TO REGISTER: Contact the Sunset Inn at 888-575-1001 (if you would like to handpick your room, view your choices here first, then call). Because the Inn is holding rooms for you, our participants, they are blocked off as unavailable online. Register soon by phone — this is a popular event and there are only 4 more spaces available. More WordPlay
opportunities here.
It was 1982, and I was three years out of college, working as a temporary secretary while doing voice-overs in New York. Feeling adrift and tired of the uncertainty of the voice-over world, I applied for a part-time job transcribing tapes for a psychiatrist who was studying post-traumatic stress disorder. Arriving for my interview, I was struck by the marble lobby of the Upper East Side building, the waiting
room lined with books. The interview with Dr. G went well. An older man with silver hair, he was kind if formal, asking me a few questions before outlining the responsibilities of the position. I had to be discreet. I was not to talk to the patients, who would sit in the waiting room within view of me. My job was to answer the phone, take messages, and transcribe tapes. There was another psychiatrist who shared the office, Dr. M, and while I would see him occasionally, my work would have nothing to do with either him or his patients. It all seemed very manageable, and after going in and out of offices as a temp for so long, the
position seemed to offer a quiet haven. Click here to read the rest of this essay published in Referential Magazine, "A Celebration of the Interconnectedness of the Written Word."
WordPlay Now! Writing Prompt This is WordPlay -- so why not revel in the power and potential of one good word after another? This week, it's "readers." PROMPT:
I was taken by the phrase "waiting room lined with books" in Raima Evans's essay "Voices" -- I'm not sure I've ever been in a waiting room like that. But I have very distinct memories of reading in waiting rooms, and of seeing other people read. How about you? Write about someone, real or fictional, reading a book in a waiting room.
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MAUREEN RYAN GRIFFIN, an award-winning poetry and nonfiction writer, is the author of Spinning Words into Gold, a Hands-On Guide to the Craft of Writing, a grief workbook entitled I Will Never Forget You, and two collections of poetry, This Scatter of Blossoms and When the Leaves Are in the Water. She believes, as author Julia Cameron says, "We are meant to midwife dreams for one another."
Maureen also believes that serious "word
work" requires serious WordPlay, as play is how we humans best learn -- and perform. What she loves best is witnessing all the other dreams that come true for her clients along the way. Language, when used with intentionality and focus, is, after all, serious fuel for joy. Here's to yours! |
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