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So, seeing how submissions are closed for both Unity and Nation, I have been in my editing cave! Classes started this semester, so I will be doing more writing and editing on weekends. My husband and I are also remote teaching three kids at home, and even though classes haven't started, I am teaching them fun projects, while Aaron has them doing school Bo. Ring. All exciting stuff!
Anyway, all this to say that two amazing books are coming in September! You know what I am really excited about? Sending the hard copies to the contributing authors. Each contributor is getting one copy of Unity. I love getting hard copies of books where my work is published. It's a real joy. Finally, I want to share my poem "Sex Camaro" which I posted online. It was too long for a meme, and my bro Kuya David from Pen Clique suggested that I do an online presentation. If you are not familiar with this great poetry community from Califas, I highly recommend their online poetry clashes and interviews. Oh, have you missed all the rad author interviews I've done on YouTube? Check them out here!
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 Cover crafted by PritJ Designs: https://www.facebook.com/pritijdesigns/ Penned in the City: a Creative Writing Group for All is proud to produce its first chapbook Nation.
Who: English Writing Poets Who Else: Artists Theme: Nation Genre: Any Line Length: Any Deadline: August 16, 2020 Payment: *.pdf copy Submissions are due to pennedinthecity@gmail.com. Emailed attachments are preferred; include a valid address and email. In addition, you can indicate what font you want, and we will try to accommodate your choice. Artists, submit your pieces to pennedinthecity@gmail.com. The resolution should be 300 dpi. This is a charity edition published by Barrio Blues Press. All profits are going to the Chicago Freedom School.  Get you paperback today for only $15.00 through Flowering Song Press. Also available through Amazon and Barnes and Nobles. Finally! A guest, and a wonderful, revolutionary guest, Matt Sedillo. I couldn't have asked for a better human being to officially launch the interviews on my channel. Come learn about this writing process and book, Mowing the Leaves of Grass. https://youtu.be/W9w4JJAyulI  UNITY: VOLUME 1
OPEN *NEW* Submission Deadline: June 28, 2020 end of day last place on earth. MAGICAL REALISM, MAGICAL DREAMS. What is Magical Realism? It is the artful fusion of the magical or supernatural into reality. The magical is commonplace and normal, not shocking or scary. Consider works by Gabriel Garcia Márquez, Isabelle Allende, or Franz Kafka. Consider current anime that fuses legends into contemporary society. *Do not send High Fantasy, sword and sorcery. The fiction must take place in "our world." *Rated R accepted. Accepting: Fiction, Poetry, Art, and Photography. *You can submit one work per category, but with a maximum of two categories*. Reprints: Yes, if rights have reverted. Theme: UNITY. Together we are stronger! Whether the tone be comedic, romantic, or dark. We're not looking for a blatant moral of the story; it's up to you how you work the theme. Works that speak towards the transformation of our world to a better one are preferred. Word Count: Fiction submissions must be 500 to 3,000 words in length; Poetry submissions must be 2 to 30 lines in length. Formatting: Both Fiction and Poetry should be Shunn formatted and submitted as a MS Word document. Art or Photography should be sent as an image file with a minimum quality of 300 dpi. Compensation: Penned in the City will pay accepted writers and artists in hard copy. Additionally, one contributor will be chosen by the editorial board to win a hard copy of Hungry Thing by Shawn Klimek. All accepted contributors will vote to select the charity for the next anthology. Submit! Email attachments to pennedinthecity@gmail.com Thanks for reading! Don't forget to read the submission requirements carefully before sending your work. Also, join the new Unity contributors group if you have submitted or plan to submit in the future. https://www.facebook.com/groups/603641667161749/  This pandemic has affected all of us. It has brought an insurmountable amount of work and union stress into my life. It has increased new health challenges, including a long week and a half of a lung infection—prolonged because of medicine shortages. It has also triggered epic migraines that last for days. That headaches are now almost impossible to manage.
Through all of this, however, I have increased the number of friends and have a tight community of writers I can count on for support. I have also started seeing a counselor and taking anti-depressants. I have a fantastic life coach who is helping me manage burnout. Last but not least, I am working with the spiritual director I trust. All of these drastic changes have caused me to reflect on how to take care of myself or try to figure out how to take care of myself. What am I working so hard for? Why do I make such herculean efforts to serve others and not prioritize my family—my husband and children—to the max? Why don’t I ever prioritize myself? That is on what I am focusing. Getting my priorities straight and not being such a damned workaholic. Family and I come first. At least, that's the plan. I also have areas of study I want to dive into that will bring me life and intellectual fulfillment. I want to practice slow multitasking. There’s a cool Ted Talk "A Powerful Way to Increase Your Natural Creativity" by Tim Harford on it which really sparked my motivation.
Anyway, if I it will be to focus on my writing and these priorities. I have always enjoyed doing internal work. The problem is that it hasn’t really stuck. Life is too short to be asking these questions at my age. I lost friend suddenly, out of the blue. I don’t want to blink out having focused so much on overworking myself without purpose. 9/4/2020 The Cover for Unity: Volume 1: A Magical Realism Anthology Is FINALLY Done! #barriobluesRead NowI couldn't be more pleased with the final collaborative effort! A huge hug of gratitude to Andjela Vujić (who designed the original cover) and Norbert Somosi for the magical artwork and final cover design. Beautiful. Just beautiful! If you are interested in submitting fiction, poetry, or art, see the Call for Submissions. Members of Penned in the City will get priority, so I invite you to join the group!  Author Jay Crowley JUDIE, THANK YOU FOR DOING AN INTERVIEW FOR MY READERS. Thank you for inviting me. TELL MY READERS MORE ABOUT YOU. WHERE ARE YOU FROM? I have won several writing awards. I was selected to be in Who's Who of Emerging Writers 2020, which will be out in May on Amazon. My writing is crisp and fresh, which makes the books fast reads. WHEN DID YOU KNOW YOU WERE A WRITER? WHAT WAS YOUR FIRST STORY OR CREATIVE WRITING WORK ABOUT? I am not sure I am a writer. Ha-ha, I am a good storyteller. I first started writing newsletters then procedure manuals for work. My first creative writing was a children story called “Natalie’s Adventure,” which is a short story of a precocious young girl. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE GENRE TO WRITE IN? A little bit of Nevada history with a mystery. IS THERE SOMETHING YOU WOULD LIKE TO DO BETTER, AS A WRITER? Always. I try to read several books each week by new authors and old to see what the readers would like. My weakness in past-tense, and have been working on that like mad. Here are some of the action-packed stories I have been involved with: The novel, Laura, is about a murder that takes place in the Elko area. Laura, also My Selection of Short Stories, the best from different anthologies. "Not Worthy-Story of Revenge," a Novella about Indian Schools. Maggie is about horse poaching, airmail arrows, and a quilting club that helps to solve the mystery. My new book, Drum of Hope, about the Sutro Tunnel in NV and sex trafficking, will be out the first of April. Many of my short stories were written for an online magazine Five59.com. However, I also published in the following anthologies: Other Realms-A Collections of Fantasy I & II, 13 Bites, Vol III and IV, Heard it on the Radio, and Plan 559 From Outer Space, MK II & III, Free for All, Collapsar Directive, Christmas Lites VII and VIII, and Christmas Lites IX. Also, in Tales of the Southwest. All are on Amazon in paperback and kindle plus Barnes and Noble online. Many stories have received five-star reviews. NOW, YOU PUT OUT A BOOK RECENTLY. TELL US ABOUT THAT WRITING JOURNEY. WHAT ARE YOU MOST PROUD OF IN THIS BOOK? Maggie came out in September 2019. It is about two old broads and their dogs. I had to learn how to fly a drone for the story. The story deals with airmail arrows from the 20’s (a little history) and wild horse poaching of today (a little mystery). Best friends search for airmail arrows in Nevada, but they run into horse poaching and much more. To help with the mystery, they bring in the “Wild Stitchers,” a quilting group to help them solve it. This adventure is full of facts, fun, and excitement. This book was fun to write, and so far, people have enjoyed reading. DO YOU HAVE ANY ADVICE NOW YOU WISHED YOU COULD GIVE YOUR YOUNGER-WRITING SELF? Don’t give up. One of the hardest things for a writer is to have confidence in their writing. It is scary to put your work out there and have it rejected. But you put on your big-girl panties and suck it up. There are millions of authors so that the reader has a choice on what they want to read. One author can’t please everyone, so you find your niche. I try to help several young people and most like to write fantasy, which is great, not my genre, but the same rules apply . . . Never give up. PLEASE, TELL US ABOUT YOUR UPCOMING WRITING PROJECTS AND CALLS FOR SUBMISSIONS. My upcoming book, which will out the first of April, is called Drum of Hope. I educate people about a historical tunnel (the little history) and sex trafficking (a little mystery). ONE LAST FANTASY QUESTION: DO YOU THINK WRITING CAN TRANSFORM THE WORLD? IF SO HOW? That depends on the person. For me, it is an escape, and I learn about other people and cultures. But I try to get my glass half full. I think it is essential that we teach people to read, starting with children. Turn off the TV and let them read for a bit. Read to them when they are young. Go to the nursing home and read to the elderly. I guess we can live in a fantasy world if we all try. WHERE CAN READERS FIND YOU ONLINE AND/OR ON SOCIAL MEDIA? Visit my website www.sweetdreamsbooks.com or email: jaycrowleybooks@gmail.com I am also on Amazon. THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR TAKING TIME OUT OF YOUR BUSY SCHEDULE. I KNOW BEING A WRITER IS BUSY ENOUGH. I HOPE YOU HEAR FROM YOU AGAIN WHEN YOU LAUNCH YOUR NEXT BOOK. I hope you ask me back. About the Author: Jay Crowley is the pen my name for Judie Crowley. I live in Jack's Valley near the base of beautiful Lake Tahoe, Nevada. All of my stories originate in Nevada, which offers an exciting background, providing lots of story opportunities. "A little history with a mystery." There are two dogs and a cat in the family, and quite often, a dog is in the stories.  Download Maggie on Amazon for only $6.99.  Free on Amazon with Kindle Unlimited. 21/3/2020 Call for Submissions: Unity, Volume 1: A Magical Realism Anthology by Penned in the City #barriobluesRead NowThis is a mock-up of the book cover. We will do a cover reveal in a week. Unity Call for Submissions:
The administrators of Penned in the City are thrilled to announce a new charity anthology, titled: Unity. Recently, there has been an increase in racial hate crimes and divide amongst working-class people. We in Penned in the City believe people should come together to uplift each other towards a better world. Thus, we are calling artists, poets, and writers of both poetry and fiction to contribute to this critical work! The first anthology will have a magical realism focus. What is magical realism? Magical realism is the fusion of the magical like folklore, magical creatures, religions, into the reality of the characters. In essence, the magical is commonplace and normal. Consider works by Gabriel Garcia Márquez or Isabelle Allende. Consider current anime that fuses legends into contemporary society. You do not have to write or produce art about COVID-19. However, we prefer works that speak towards the transformation of our world to a better one, whether the writing and artwork are uplifting, dark, or somewhere in-between. Of course, Penned members will get priority. We will pay writers and artists in hard copy, and those contributors will vote to select the charity for the next anthology. For now, we are thinking of giving the profits to Doctors without Borders. Fiction: These can be original or reproduced works, so long as the author owns the copyright. We are accepting works in any genre. Submissions must be 500 to 3,000 words in length. Fiction must be Shunn formatted and sent as a Microsoft Word attachment. Poetry: These can be original or reproduced works, so long as the author owns the copyright. We are accepting works in any genre. Submissions must be 2 to 30 lines in length. Poems must be Shunn formatted and sent as a Microsoft Word attachment. Artists: We are accepting photography and original artwork, original or reprinted, so long as the author owns the copyright. One submission per artist. Submit a minimum 300 dpi image. Images must be sent as an attachment. ------------ You can submit one work per category, but with a maximum of two categories. The deadline for all writers and artists is May 1, 11:59 p.m. Central U.S. time. Email attachments to pennedinthecity@gmail.com. Submit any questions to the editorial board of Penned in the City at pennedinthecity@gmail.com. |
Dr. Jesú Estrada,
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