| SPARKS: News & Notes from
Tiny Lights: A Journal of Personal Narrative
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Greetings!,
I hope you're bringing in the new year with the 2012 contest edition of Tiny Lights ! It went into the mail last Friday via bulk mail, which lives by its own rules and mysteries.
For those of you who are reading the winning essays, enjoy! And for those who need help waiting, here is a Searchlights & Signal Flares posting, and a little video about the power of love to transform the world.
 | | i love you and there's nothing you can do about it |
It's a new year, dear writers! Fill it with your writing!
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Searchlights & Signal Flares
Tiny Lights' Online Writers' Exchange
In spite of End of Days predictions a few weeks ago, we are still here, ready or not for another year. But since this is the season for taking stock, our question for this month is especially apropos:
Read the ruminations of Theresa Sanders, this month's featured writer, along with
Where do you like to write? (Deadline: 1/15/13)
What keeps you honest? (Deadline: 2/15/13)
Send Searchlights submissions with bio (and title!) to editor@tiny-lights.com
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Contest and Call for Submissions
 Kate Farrell, Linda Joy Myers & Amber Lea Starfire, Editors Where were you in the 60s and 70s? Seeking women with telltale stories of that extraordinary era for a unique anthology: Times They Were A-Changing: Women Remember the 60s and 70s. Prizes will be awarded to the top three works, though all entries are eligible for publication: First Prize: $300, publication, and 5 copies Second Prize: 150, publication, and 3 copies Third Prize: $75, publication, and 2 copies Deadline: January 15, 2013 Entry fees: $20 for prose, $15 for poetry. For complete guidelines and to enter, go to: www.timestheywereachanging.com
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Aqus Winter Speakeasy Literary Saloon
@ Aqus Cafe, Petaluma CA
Gather for a drink, a bite & a feast of words with hosts
Amanda McTigue* & Ransom Stephens. Winter gathering: Wednesday, January 10, 2013 7-9 p.m. @ Aqus Admission: $5 (free with meal or book purchase, easy to dodge, too)
to benefit Aqus & literacy organization TBA Programme: Tamim Ansary Amanda McTigue* Waights Taylor, Jr. Susanna Solomon Michelle Wing ATTN: WRITERS! Bring a short piece of writing and enter the drawing for the 2 open mic slots (4 min. each)! (* Introducing Amanda McTigue, our new co-producer!) Speakeasy.RansomStephens.com |
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Important Announcement Regarding
The Tiny Lights Personal Essay Contest
No Contest in 2013!
Now's the time I usually start campaigning in earnest for the Tiny Lights' annual personal essay contest. After seventeen years, the urge borders on knee-jerk. Frankly, I don't know how I'm going to face this coming February without hundreds of essays to manage, but the muse who started me on this merry chase back in 1995 is telling me I have to take a break. New lights glimmer on the horizon. A sabbatical is in order to discover what they have to offer.
My thanks to the thousands of writers who have made this annual adventure so rich over the years. Wish me luck on my journey, and please stay tuned for what 2013 will bring to Tiny Lights!
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Becky Povich, longtime contributor to the "Searchlights & Signal Flares" column here at Tiny Lights, had a publisher for her memoir,"From Pigtails to Chin Hairs." But in an all too familiar 21st century twist, she is now pursuing her dream of publication on her own, with the help of Kickstarter. See what you think and help if the spirit moves. Becky's Memoir
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Flash in the Pan
Online Quarterly @ Tiny Lights
An idea is trying to make itself heard re: Flash in the Pan. Hold off on submissions, please. Stay tuned!
What is a Flash in the Pan? It's life caught in the blaze of a match, a beam of moonlight, the glare of a home-made explosion. These pieces of first-person non-fiction prose (500 words or less) are like potato chips--you won't be able to stop with just one. Our gems are posted quarterly in January, April, July and October on the Tiny Lights website. A select few appear in the hard copy editions of the magazine. Send your jewels to editor@tiny-lights.com.
Go to:Flash in the Pan
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Read issues at www.echapbook.com See www.echapbook.com/submissions.htm for submissions guidelines. Contact Publisher Jo-Anne Rosen: echaps@wordrunner.com |
Writers Forum of Petaluma
presents
Frances Lefkowitz
"Tips and Techniques for Writing and Publishing Memoir"
February 21, 2013 7:00 pm to 9:00 pm
Petaluma Community Center, 320 No. McDowell Blvd.
$15 at the door
Tips and Techniques for Writing and Publishing Memoir and Personal Essays
Frances will talk about both the writing and the publishing aspects of memoir, and why it took her more than ten years to get the book into print. Bring your questions and a pad of paper, because we just might have time to do a few fun memoir-writing exercises, as well.
FRANCES LEFKOWITZ is an award-winning writer and editor who writes fiction and nonfiction, and publishes in magazines and literary journals, including Health, Martha Stewart's Whole Living, The Sun, Utne Reader, Tin House, Poets & Writers, and more. The former Senior Editor of Body+Soul, she is now the book reviewer for Good Housekeeping. She also teaches workshops in memoir and personal writing at libraries, bookstores, and retreat centers, including Memoir Journal's Master Classes and The Sun magazine's writing retreat at the Esalen Institute. She has appeared at LitQuake, Why There Are Words, the AWP annual conference, and other literary events.
For Info: www.thewritespot.us
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Redwood Writers Present:
How the E-Revolution is Changing the Newspaper Industry
Sunday, January 13 3--5 p.m.
Flamingo Hotel: 2777 4th St. Santa Rosa, CA
$5 members/$8 nonmembers
We all know that seismic change is happening in the world of media. Paul Gullixson, editorial director of The Santa Rosa Press Democrat, will speak about the "digital shift" occurring in the newspaper publishing industry, and how these changes impact not only the journalists on staff, but how they are also opening up new opportunities for freelance writers and their readers - online and in print. He will also be offering his top 10 tips on how to get a newspaper editor to publish your freelance submission. More information about Redwood Writers is also available www.redwoodwriters.org.
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Tiny Lights Recommends: Sonoma County Free Bookmobile Help bring free books to Sonoma County residents.
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For reservations, or more information call: OCA 707 874 9392. OCA is located in Harmony Village in downtown Occidental at 4008 Bohemian Hwy.
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Since 1995, Tiny Lights has been celebrating the power of personal voice with a biannual journal devoted to short essay. The annual essay contest, which offers $1500 in prizes, provides the material for the summer issue, while the winter issue is by invitation only.
The online component of Tiny Lights is designed to catch what can't be contained in the pages of the newsstand editions. Lights Online provides a venue for additional voices, information about Tiny Lights and resources for writers of personal essay. Sparks: Email News & Notes is our free monthly electronic newsletter.
Print editions of Tiny Lights, which includes original art:
Current issue: $5 each
Back issues: $3 each
Checks payable to Tiny Lights Publications, P.O. Box 928, Petaluma, CA 94953
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 Susan Bono, Editor
Tiny Lights Publications
P.O. Box 928, Petaluma, CA 94953
(707) 762-3208
www.tiny-lights.com |
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