The Corner Club Press Issue One Teasers!

Here they are, finally! *Note: Flash fiction teasers will not be posted simply because there is a danger of giving too much away with such short pieces.

Gehenna by Kevin P. Keating

This is what they do to him, to the old man, after a lifetime spent in quiet contemplation among books of eschatology.

They parade him before the students on high holy days, not unlike the mummified thumb or shriveled toe of a medieval saint or mystic, an artifact to be revered as a symbol of piety, celibacy, wisdom and dread. Recently forced into retirement, the old man is given the title “Instructor Emeritus,” an honorific bestowed upon those priests too ancient and addle-minded to continue teaching without embarrassment or scandal in the classroom. Though rare and often ritualized, these appearances are meant to satisfy his need to be among the students, his proverbial “lost flock” whose intellectual curiosity seems to dwindle with each passing year.



Into the Unblinking Eye by David Copper

Whitfield manor was empty and uncomfortably quiet. The rumble of dark brown bodies – bustling, fumbling, fussing, slipping into creaky corners to evade the glare of young Master Whitfield – had receded long enough to grant Tillie a long-desired moment of repose between laundry and the preparation of supper. But something was wrong: the door to Young Master Whitfield's bedroom was ajar and a sudden thud inside snapped Tillie into wide-eyed alertness. Seconds later, Abbey, Tillie's nine-year-old niece, scampered out, a pint-sized tornado of lead-heavy breaths and incriminating tears.


Note for the Bright Star by Tom Sheehan

Fred Chandler, editor of the weekly and only newspaper in Quipilanta, The Bright Star, enjoyed looking out one side of his shop window the day the issue was printed. He’d already placed the front page in the window and watched early risers stop to look at the page, read some of the items on the page, and pass on. A few other shop owners, real early risers like he was on most days, with a lantern to guide them to their work place, read the page under the light of the lantern, swinging their lanterns to assist in their reading. The lanterns threw soft shadows into his editorial office. The lighting activity was, he had decided early in the career of the paper, a significant part of issue day.


Rooted in Lies by Eric Devine

I looked where he directed: Jamie’s ass was cresting out of her jeans without panties to obscure the view. It was a cherry of a backside, and as I took in the rest of Jamie's contours, I realized how Huff had pointed her out. It was in a proud manner, as if he were displaying a trophy, and it made me wonder. "Did you tap that?"

His entire body shook at the question, "No." He slumped in his chair. "But I would."

We sat for a while, not speaking, and I itched inside. Huff, my only friend, looked like a clam attached to his desk, and I wasn’t sure if the question was too much too fast. But ever since the move--really, before--I’d been listening to my older brother Scott’s advice: New school, new girls; get laid as fast as you can. Wasn't that why Huff was pointing her out? He sat up then, as if he’d been forming the next question the entire time, "You ever hit it?"

The truth was on my tongue, but Scott's voice filled my head, again: Just do it. Don't be some fucking angel your whole life. Shit, a solid ten lies can turn you into somebody else.

Planting Roses in Iraq by Walter F. Giersbach

She stood and waited until he nodded, wanting to make sure he had really chosen her.

“My grandfather was a lawyer,” she began softly. She read methodically in remarkably good English, her words marching evenly over her lips like orderly soldiers. “He worked for the Ministry of Justice and wore a white shirt and smelled like roses when he went to work every day. He worked for justice. Then the war came and I saw them take my grandfather away. They shot him and two other men and put their bodies in a hole outside our town and the machines covered up the bodies. I saw this happen at night. My father and mother and brothers cried but they could do nothing. I said we should dig him up and my father slapped me. In the spring I planted a rose in the ground where he lay sleeping and watered it and white roses grew. Then my father took our family to Basra and we were helped to go to Syria and then to America. I hope someone is watering my white roses. The end.”


Scattershot by Mark Willen

He was washing the vegetables, somewhat more cursorily than if Sally had been there to supervise, when he heard the noise—a kind of metallic ping. He couldn’t quite place it, neither its nature nor its location, and went back to washing. He was wiping his hands on his already soiled khakis when he heard the second ping. The living room. Definitely the living room. He went to investigate but found nothing amiss. Then, just as he was leaving the room, he heard the sound again, and his eye caught some motion, a tiny piece of glass flying into the wall and falling to the floor. He picked it up and turned it around. He saw holes in three of the foot-square panes that made up the living room windows.


We are the Dead by Dorian Dawes


The First was all that we knew in our city of dead. His thoughts were our thoughts. We were the enactors of His will. We had no purpose but His purpose. And in our ignorance, we believed that this was good.

Within our conscious there are but scattered echoes of what was before the First. They are the remnants of His memories, fleeting visions that we embrace when they come and abandon when they are gone. Up until now, they have been useless to me. Up until now, I have not needed to know.

Now, I think they are more important than anything. They are certainly more important than this existence we lead, this unlife.

Money or Circulation?

Based on a question I found on AbsoluteWrite, I decided to blog about it, particularly because I'm an aspiring author as well as fiction editor of The Corner Club Press.

So, the main question was this: Would you submit to a magazine that paid well but had poor circulation?

I automatically knew my answer was no. For one thing, I care about readers more than I care about money. I want to be like Emilie Autumn, who calls her fans 'muffins.' She cherishes and adores her fans, and I want to be one of those writers that cares about her fans as well. Call me idealistic, but while I write what I want to write, I also want to bring smiles to those who are going to read my work. And I WANT people to read what I've written. It's not enough for me to simply hand out my work on-line or whatever and say 'read it.'

For another thing, unless you're able to support yourself on writing alone, which many can't, you shouldn't even be writing to pay your bills. Most writers have a steady paycheck, and writing just gives them extra money. Money's nice and great, but I'm willing to bet that extra money will go to things you don't even need. There are writers out there who make a steady living off short stories, but it's because they can afford to. Some of them might even have taken a chance by quitting their jobs and jumping into the short story market, but for writers like me who don't want to be kicked out on the streets because I can't pay my bills, I'm going to have a steady job until I know I can support myself with writing without having to risk anything.

And another thing, a market that has poor circulation has poor circulation for a reason. That market is likely going to do nothing to bolster your credentials as a short story writer. Sure, editors, like myself, only care about the story and not the credentials behind the story, but magazines that often have poor circulation are magazines that'll probably fold in the future. Don't you want to be with a magazine that'll archive your work for a long, long time? A magazine guaranteed not to fold in the near future?

I'm being critical, I know, of those who opt to sell out and run for the money rather than the circulation. But you shouldn't be writing for the money in the first place.

Call me judgmental, call me whatever, but I've never been the one to sell out. Money's nice, but money can't tell you what a great story that was, how that story changed someone's perspective on life, or whatever positive things fans say to authors. By all means people should be paid for hard work, and I'm definitely not saying we shouldn't desire money for our work, but at the same time we also need to be realistic and realize the short story market is damn competitive. You should just be happy you're getting published at all, particularly because ones that do pay well sometimes have less than a 1% acceptance rate.

The Corner Club Press Still Seeking

Just want to update that we are still seeking submissions through February 5th. All submissions thereafter will be considered for issue 2. But we will not be closed. We will simply be putting issue 1 together while giving ourselves a good time frame to collect submissions for issue 2.

The Corner Club Press Open for Subs!

(This will be our unofficial logo for now)

You can read all about our dream start on our actual website, but here's a little information:

We're open to most genres/themes.
We offer a token payment of $50, but this is ONLY for THE best short story/THE best poem in each issue. After issue 1, we plan to start taking donations, but for now this thing is purely funded out of our pockets.
I myself would personally love to see some YA stories, but am open to a lot. Recently accepted a western story, so my tastes are pretty all over the place.
We love stories with surprising twists. Enthrall us. Literary stuff doesn't hurt either.
Dazzle us.

Here's our link: The Corner Club Press

Nailing That First Chapter Part One

Two days ago I attended this nifty little webinar, which you can attend again, I believe, January 8th. I would have blogged sooner, but fever took me, and so I was down for two days. But now I'm better and back with a little advice on nailing your first chapter.

First chapters, for many writers, are probably the hardest chapters to write. Mark McVeigh even says a lot of writers write the first chapter last. You can argue that's the case for me, because the first chapter is the only chapter I had to DRAMATICALLY change, but in reality, that's the first chapter I re-wrote and nailed--according to my independent editor.

In any case, first chapters are crucial to nail because this is the chapter agents are going to first lay eyes on, the chapter that's going to make or break your chances for a partial, and the chapter that gives them an indication of your writing skills. I could go on and on about its importance, but I'm praying a lot of you reading this already know why it's so crucial.

So what makes a successful first chapter? What is the anatomy of a successful first chapter? For starters, you have your hook. Here's the hook of my first chapter: "Rivulets of blood stream down my back, splashing red dots on the parquet floor that look like cherry spatter." What does my hook establish? Voice, for one. Perhaps a little bit of setting, as well. The only time I see the word 'parquet' used is books taking place in the 19th century. There's also a little bit of conflict, too, because there's a reason blood's sliding down my MC's back.

Your hook needs to establish your character and some conflict. A hook involving description setting isn't going to do it, because your character is not involved, the setting is not your character, and while you may be trying to establish mood, you can do this after you've established your character. There are tons of examples of hooks you can find scattered all over the internet, but one thing most hooks have in common is change: something is about to happen that often causes change in the character. Those are the best hooks, in my opinion.

After the hook, you have your first 150, which is another chance to lose the attention of a literary agent. You have a lot to establish in 150, but you also don't want to put too much in the first 150. You need to establish setting, character, voice, and conflict (the reason why you're opening up with this particular scene in the first place), and while these are only four things, they can in fact be a lot if you haven't properly established these in the first 150, and I can tell you a lot of writers don't. My best advice for the first 150: don't even think about the rules, because if you think about them too hard, think about what you still have left to establish, you might end up with a convoluted mess. That's what I did when I re-wrote my first chapter, which took about two and a half hours, probably, and I did my best to ignore all the "rules" out there while unconsciously bringing them out in my writing. But, according to my IE, it's a successful first chapter, and while a writer just starting may not be able to manage that, it takes practice. Lots and lots of practice. And being able to handle criticism and realizing when that criticism is going to change your chapter from diamond in the rough to a polished gem.

Even after your first 150 you're not safe. An agent can still choose to drop out of your first chapter if you can't hold his or her attention with tension, voice, conflict, characterization, and so on and so forth. And those are seriously hard to manage. Next blog post, I'll tell you what successful first chapters do and how you can possibly write one.

CONTEST!

So, after requesting an iTunes gift card to use for myself, I realized at the last minute that my iPod had crapped out, so an iTunes gift card is essentially useless to me. :( But...this does give me an opportunity to give it up as a contest prize!

What do you have to do to win this? Essentially, you have to read chapter one of Witch Tourniquet, which you can find at Amber Skye F. Then, you have to answer one question so I can make certain you actually read it and didn't just say you read it for the points.

Question:

Who steps into the room just as Alice is about to attempt suicide? (This can actually have two answers depending on interpretation). This will be worth a lovely 10 pts.

After you've answered my question in the comments box, you have chances to earn more points, so start social networking away. 1 pt. for each post on facebook, tweet on twitter, whatever, and post the links to these things so I know you're not lying. :P Do all this in the comments box and please post your REAL name.

Here's what you need to post:

Contest at Amber's Editorial Dream. Prize for the person with the most points!

There, that shouldn't be too much for those Twitter users.

Get networking!

Also, the winner will be posted under the supporter's tab on my website. If you're already under there, then you've just gotta work for the gift card.

Well, have at it!

Contest will run until December 31st.

Differences between Writing Tutors and Editors

Okay, so the title is misleading, because, let's be real, there isn't much of a difference between us. If you've ever tutored at a Writing Center before with the policies my Writing Center has, then you'll know that, as a tutor, you're not supposed to provide an editing service. This is a misnomer, because this is essentially what tutors do. Let me explain.

First, I want to mention what is basically the only difference between a tutor and an editor are. A tutor actively engages his or her client in the editing of his or her own paper. An editor passively engages his or her client in the editing of his or her own paper. That's really it. Oh, and tutors who work at a university are usually limited to 30 minutes or an hour and we can't touch client papers, but that's besides the point.

What I mean when I say actively engaged is the client usually reads his or her paper aloud to the tutor, since reading a paper aloud can help spot mistakes. The tutor will then engage the client in dialogue about potential problem areas, whether or not the paper needs to be restructured, if the thesis is strong or not, and other issues. The tutor will right then and there, while the client is editing his or her own paper, help come up with a solution to fix any problem areas.

An editor passively engages clients by pointing out problem areas while the client is not around, and then usually e-mailing these corrections to the client. The editor and client can then choose to engage in dialogue after corrections have been submitted, but the editor usually works alone without active client input.

I've been tutoring for about a semester, and I feel a semester is long enough to conclude that what we do as tutors is provide an editing service, despite what Writing Center ethics may claim. It might be politically incorrect to say we provide editing serves, but we nonetheless do.

Editing, as defined by the English Oxford Dictionary on-line, "[is to] prepare (written material) for publication by correcting, condensing, or otherwise modifying it."

What we tutors do is help clients modify, correct, and sometimes condense their papers so they can prepare them to be turned into their professors for a grade (and some do come in for publication or portfolio help). We might not be writing on their papers, but we are still providing them the sort of feedback an editor would provide.

How do I know this? I have an independent editor. Many Writing Centers claim they don't provide editorial services because providing an editorial service would mean (and this is just my interpretation) writing the paper for the client. Editors don't even do this. In fact, my independent editor will tell me about her other clients, and sometimes she'll say to me, "I'm not writing the books for them. That's their job." I'm going to assume this is the same for an editor of a publishing house as well.

I have received feedback on three chapters of my novel thus far, and the criticism I have received is the sort of criticism I dish out in the Writing Center. She will suggest changes I should make, and I do the same thing with clients at the Writing Center. She won't make the changes for me. She will point out a few grammar errors, and if they are consistent, she will let me know and not point out the rest of them. I do the same thing with clients at the Writing Center. I'll point out a few errors, tell them why they're errors and how to properly use this piece of punctuation, but I will not point out all their errors, particularly if they are consistent throughout the paper. She'll also help me restructure if need be, and I do the same thing with clients at the writing center.

While I as a tutor can't provide as in-depth feedback as she can as an independent editor, this is only due to time limitations. Otherwise, writing tutors and editors provide roughly the same feedback. So to claim tutors don't provide editorial services is a misnomer. We might not be writing suggested changes on their papers, but we are verbally suggesting changes for their papers, and this is still helping the student prep his or her paper to be graded. We aren't prepping their papers to make a guaranteed A, but independent editors cannot also guarantee that a client's manuscript is going to be published.

Of course, tutors do function as teachers more than editors do because we are teaching our clients, but a good independent editor will also function like a teacher as well--just in a different way.