April 30, 2016

Fond Memories, Bright Futures – May Submissions

Fond Memories, Bright Futures – May Submissions

This month we reminisce about those times – some long ago, some close in our minds – that make us smile. May takes me back to my sister’s birthday and family get togethers. It takes me back to three generations of moms on Mothers Day – my grandmother, my mom and my sister. I don’t think I’ll ever buy so many flowers and Hallmark cards as I did then. We also look ahead at what’s to come. May is the month of college graduations and the beginning of a young person’s foray into “the real world.” As a former college employee, I loved seeing their bright, wide-eyed faces as they began their next stage of life. It also marks that turning point when the last breath of winter is extinguished and spring fully envelops us…

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April 29, 2016

Podcast: “Ancestor,” Episode 3, by Scott Sigler

Podcast: “Ancestor,” Episode 3, by Scott Sigler

“Ancestor” is what you might term a serious or sophisticated story. By that I mean it has character development, a complex plot, and a lot of subtlety lying just below the surface of it being an action story. These are good things for a story to have. You may have read novels, or listened to other novel podcasts, where the plot is the thing, and the only thing. Like a Dan Brown novel. So get comfortable, pay attention to Scott Sigler’s more elaborately developed story, and feel yourself become immersed in it. Because you will. And you’ll be glad you did. From Scott: President Gutierrez wants Murray Longworth to take charge of a new government agency specially designed to handle “Special Threats.” However, Murray has some conditions that he needs to have met before he will accept the…

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April 29, 2016

We Were Featured in Authors Publish Magazine!!

We Were Featured in Authors Publish Magazine!!

Good morning Café patrons! The great folks at Authors Publish magazine have written a review of our community of creative folks. You can read it here. Authors Publish is a FREE resource that connects writers to publishers, literary magazines, articles on writing craft and a litany of other resources. Please join us in thanking Caitlin Jans, Ella Peary and Jacob Jans by checking out their site and their Facebook page (they have great writing prompts there). So pour yourself a nice big mug of joe and take a look at what they have to offer. — Your Baristas  

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April 26, 2016

“Indecision: Choosing a Career in Writing” by Rachael Allen

“Indecision: Choosing a Career in Writing” by Rachael Allen

[Photo: Manhattan. Which box do you choose?] I want to be a writer. Well, what do you want to write? Novels, short stories, articles? Academic papers, scripts, speeches, songs? English, Italian, Spanish, marketing materials, instructional manuals? I don’t know. Moreover, I don’t want to choose right now. And yet, in declaring a major, in finding summer jobs, in approaching the time when I will no longer have school to define myself by, it feels as though I have to choose—at least momentarily, to shroud that indecisiveness that jitters inside me. In part, my confusion seems to fulfill the generalizations of an English major and perhaps, moreover, a liberal arts student—you do not have a set career path, you will not make much money. Even if you do find that sweet spot of a job, they…

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April 22, 2016

Podcast: “Ancestor” Episode 2, by Scott Sigler

Podcast: “Ancestor” Episode 2, by Scott Sigler

After that completely daft beginning, you’re probably getting real curious to see why this wacko Chinese genetic engineer is allowed to walk around without a strait jacket on. And you would be right to wonder. If we left you hanging last week, it’s because we didn’t mention something pretty important at the end of the blurb, so here’s the whole thing for you to, ahem, chew on: There’s just one problem: these ancestors turn out not to be the docile herd animals Colding’s team envisioned. Instead, Colding’s work has given birth to something big, something evil. ……AND IT’S VERY, VERY HUNGRY! Scott goes on: Galina Porischova has a clandestine meeting with Paul Fischer. She wants to blow the whistle on Genada’s research. We begin to see exactly how far Genada is willing to go to…

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April 19, 2016

50 Ways to Sell Your Writing — #1 (Traditional Book Deal)

50 Ways to Sell Your Writing — #1 (Traditional Book Deal)

Traditional Book Deal (Agented) Part one of multi-blog series by Jason Brick on how many ways there are for writers of all stripes to make a living doing what they love.  Check out #3 over at brickcommajason.com This is what most people think of when they think “published writer.” You write a book. Then you find an agent to represent your book. Then the agent finds a publisher to print and distribute the book. A couple years later, you have a book out. Most books you buy at Barnes and Noble were published this way. Most names you know as published authors got their work out this way. It’s the most familiar model, and the one served by most writers’ conferences. The market for this is huge, and well-serviced. But it’s a competitive field growing…

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April 16, 2016

Podcast: “Ancestor” by Scott Sigler

Podcast: “Ancestor” by Scott Sigler

Scott Sigler is The Man of Podcasting. We can thank Scott because it was he who really got it all started, podcasting novels. His first was “Earthcore,” which is as memorable as when it first came out in 2005. He has been prolific ever since. Today we introduce “Ancestor,” podcast first in 2010. Here’s Scott’s introduction: Every five minutes, a transplant candidate dies while waiting for a heart, a liver, or a kidney. Imagine a technology that could provide those life saving organs for a nominal fee…..and imagine what a company would do to monopolize that technology. On a remote island in the Canadian Arctic, P.J. Colding leads a team of scientists who have discovered this holy grail of medicine. By reverse engineering the genomes of thousands of mammals, Colding’s team has dialed back the…

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April 13, 2016

“Why We Write” An editorial by Lloyd Prentice

“Why We Write” An editorial by Lloyd Prentice

Why We Write Words flit in and out of our awareness like fish in shoals— many so drab we scarcely pay attention; others teach us or guide us, imbue memory and behavior like computer code. Some few— some few inspire us, change us in subtle and striking ways, play on our minds and emotions like a maestro on a concert grand. These words, by and large, are invisible to the eye. They slip through and resonate, indeed explode, at the deepest levels of our being. Words that matter are the product of disciplined study and practice— hard won. At best— an art. Words that matter are most often composed in solitude over lonely hours. Every serious writer I’d venture yearns to tame the ineffable, express the inexpressible with elegance and beauty. Writers of non-fiction weave…

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April 8, 2016

Lew Holzman – Digital Art

Lew Holzman – Digital Art

Editor’s Note: When Lew Holzman emailed us with a few images for us to consider for the Fictional Café, we were instantly struck by the imagination and diversity that we saw in his work. Some are photographs overlaid with other images, creating a haunting effect, while others seem to be more like collages cut and pasted together electronically. We won’t peek too far behind the curtain, but hopefully you get a sense of the magic that Lew’s creative mind can perform with our modern technology. If you like what you see here, check out his personal page and his Fotographers group, where you will find other artists’ work as well. * * * Body “Walkin on Substrates”   “The New City”   “Plastic Surgery #2”   “City at Night, Lumicta VII”   “Bermuda Rectangles”  …

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April 6, 2016

Patrick Flynn’s Thinking Man’s Poetry

Patrick Flynn’s Thinking Man’s Poetry

  Angels, Pearls and Mannequins “Neither cast ye your pearls before swine, lest they trample them under their feet…” Matthew 7:6   Each New Year I stop by family graves asking for ease, as if anything they could do would put me on track, and then I drive south:   there, a half-moon, slightly less really, was a half-buck short of a dollar. I thought today would become warmer and make up the difference. There, I would hammock under heaven:   arms stretched back behind my head, gazing at clouds moving across the face of a broken moon on a black Formica sky.   When I needed truth you were honest:   but there’s distance between us. Everyday you slip more new clothes over pearl-dusted mannequins in window displays.   You may have forgotten I…

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