Poetry Fishbowl Open!

[ysabetwordsmith]

The Poetry Fishbowl is now CLOSED. Thank you for your time and attention. Please keep an eye on this space as I am still writing.

Starting now, the Poetry Fishbowl is open!  Today's theme is "alternate realities."  I will be checking this page periodically throughout the day. When people make suggestions, I'll pick some and weave them together into a poem ... and then another ... and so on. I'm hoping to get a lot of ideas and a lot of poems.

Some of my series play into this. Fledgling Grace brings up personal changes and altered expectations, along with the alternate realms of heaven and hell.  Monster House has different layers of reality between people who know or don't know about the monsters, along with their own dimensions like closetspace.  One God's Story of Mid-Life Crisis deals in altered realities of the chemical persuasion.  Path of the Paladins similarly touches on divine realms in some entries.  Polychrome Heroics features characters such as Dr. Infanta who can see altered futures, and those like Damask who have experienced major alterations of personality and/or internal dimensions like headspace.  Los Conquistados  is alternate history.  Kande's Quest ventures into the underworld of the white demons.  The Time Towers is all about actually altering reality through time travel.

In shared worlds, The Blueshift Troupers and Schrodinger's Heroes are both designed to be fanfic-friendly; The Blueshift Troupers deals in changes of self, while Schrodinger's Heroes explicitly deals with alternate realities across the dimensions.  The Ursulan Cycle is genderbent Arthurian Cycle.

Currently eligible bingo card(s) for donors wishing to sponsor a square:
Summer in December Card 12-1-18

Click to read the linkback poem "Always Carry Your Goodness" (16 verses, Polychrome Heroics: Fortressa).


What Is a Poetry Fishbowl?

Writing is usually considered a solitary pursuit. One exception to this is a fascinating exercise called a "fishbowl." This has various forms, but all of them basically involve some kind of writing in public, usually with interaction between author and audience. A famous example is Harlan Ellison's series of "stories under glass" in which he sits in a bookstore window and writes a new story based on an idea that someone gives him. Writing classes sometimes include a version where students watch each other write, often with students calling out suggestions which are chalked up on the blackboard for those writing to use as inspiration.

In this online version of a Poetry Fishbowl, I begin by setting a theme; today's theme is "alternate realities."  I invite people to suggest characters, settings, and other things relating to that theme. Then I use those prompts as inspiration for writing poems.


Cyberfunded Creativity

I'm practicing cyberfunded creativity. If you enjoy what I'm doing and want to see more of it, please feed the Bard. The following options are currently available:

1) Sponsor the Fishbowl -- Here is a PayPal button for donations. There is no specific requirement, but $1 is the minimum recommended size for PayPal transactions since they take a cut from every one. You can also donate via check or money order sent by postal mail. If you make a donation and tell me about it, I promise to use one of your prompts. Anonymous donations are perfectly welcome, just won't get that perk. General donations will be tallied, and at the end of the fishbowl I’ll post a list of eligible poems based on the total funding; then the audience can vote on which they want to see posted.

2) Swim, Fishie, Swim! -- A feature in conjunction with fishbowl sponsorship is this progress meter showing the amount donated.  There are multiple perks, the top one being a half-price poetry sale on one series when donations reach $300.



3) Buy It Now! -- Gakked from various e-auction sites, this feature allows you to sponsor a specific poem. If you don't want to wait for some editor to buy and publish my poem so you can read it, well, now you don't have to. Sponsoring a poem means that I will immediately post it on my blog for everyone to see, with the name of the sponsor (or another dedicate) if you wish; plus you get a nonexclusive publication right, so you can post it on your own blog or elsewhere as long as you keep the credits intact. You'll need to tell me the title of the poem you want to sponsor. I'm basing the prices on length, and they're comparable to what I typically make selling poetry to magazines (semi-pro rates according to Duotrope's Digest).

0-10 lines: $5
11-25 lines: $10
26-40 lines: $15
41-60 lines: $20
Poems over 60 lines, or with very intricate structure, fall into custom pricing.

4) Commission a scrapbook page. I can render a chosen poem in hardcopy format, on colorful paper, using archival materials for background and any embellishments. This will be suitable for framing or for adding to a scrapbook. Commission details are here.  See latest photos of sample scrapbooked poems: "Sample Scrapbooked Poems 1-24-11"

5) Spread the word. Echo or link to this post on your Dreamwidth, other blog, Twitter, Facebook, Digg, StumbleUpon, or any other social network.  Useful Twitter hashtags include #poetryfishbowl and #promptcall.  Encourage people to come here and participate in the fishbowl.  If you have room for it, including your own prompt will give your readers an idea of what the prompts should look like; ideally, update later to include the thumbnail of the poem I write, and a link to the poem if it gets published.  If there is at least one new prompter or donor, I will post an extra freebie poem.

Linkback perk: I have a spare series poem available, and each linkback will reveal a verse of the poem.  One person can do multiple links if they're on different services, like Dreamwidth or Twitter, rather than all on LiveJournal.  Comment with a link to where you posted.  "Always Carry Your Goodness" has 16 verses and belongs to Polychrome Heroics: Fortressa.     
 

Additional Notes

1) I customarily post replies to prompt posts telling people which of their prompts I'm using, with a brief description of the resulting poem(s). If you want to know what's available, watch for those "thumbnails."

2) You don't have to pay me to see a poem based on a prompt that you gave me. I try to send copies of poems to people, mostly using the LJ message function.  (Anonymous prompters will miss this perk unless you give me your eddress.)  These are for-your-eyes-only, though, not for sharing.

3) Sponsors of the Poetry Fishbowl in general, or of specific poems, will gain access to an extra post in appreciation of their generosity.  While you're on the Donors list, you can view all of the custom-locked posts in that category.  Click the "donors" tag to read the archive of those.  I've also posted a list of other donor perks there.  I customarily leave donor names on the list for two months, so you'll get to see the perk-post from this month and next.

4) After the Poetry Fishbowl concludes, I will post a list of unsold poems and their prices, to make it easier for folks to see what they might want to sponsor.

5) If donations total $100 by Friday evening then you get a free $15 poem; $150 gets you a free $20 poem; and $200 gets you a free epic, posted after the Poetry Fishbowl.  These will usually be series poems if I have them; otherwise I may offer non-series poems or series poems in a different size.  If donations reach $250, you get one step toward a bonus fishbowl; three of these activates the perk, and they don't have to be three months in a row.  Everyone will get to vote on which series, and give prompts during the extra fishbowl, although it may be a half-day rather than a whole day.  If donations reach $300, there will be a piece of bonus material.


Feed the Fish!
Now's your chance to participate in the creative process by posting ideas for me to write about. Today's theme is "alternate realities."  I'll be soliciting ideas for dimension travelers, fish out of water, people with mental differences, clergy, shamen, counselors, psychiatrists, philosphers, archaeologists, psychedelic explorers, foreseers, other people who deal in alternate realities, looking ahead, looking back, comparing differences, losing your way, losing your mind, remembering things that aren't anymore, supporting each other through hard times, traveling, fighting, struggling to survive, bringing solutions from other realities into the one you're in now, counseling, changing the way things are, discovering problems, troubleshooting, finding creative solutions, asking questions, helping others, alternate dimensions, Faerie, the Underworld, the Afterlife, cyberspace, laboratories, churches or temples, counseling centers, cemeteries, drug dens, other places where realities overlap, entheogens, dimensional portals or devices, time travel, alternate history, future history, reality tunnels, imprint vulnerability, different perspectives, personal growth, confusion, determination, unforseen circumstances, Self-Duplication, Reality Warping, and poetic forms in particular. But anything is welcome, really. If you manage to recommend a form that I don't recognize, I will probably pounce on it and ask you for its rules. I do have The New Book of Forms by Lewis Turco which covers most common and many obscure forms.

I'll post at least one of the fishbowl poems here so you-all can enjoy it. (Remember, you get an extra freebie poem if someone new posts a prompt or makes a donation, and additional perks at $100-$300 in donations.  Linkbacks reveal verses of "Always Carry Your Goodness."  The rest of the poems will go into my archive for future use.

Comments

[jtthomas]

Jumping the ship and leaving a reality, as so many of us would probably consider at this point.

Falling into another reality unexpectedly, unpreparedly, and without knowing what the hell happened. Especially when it ends up being someone even more unexpected rescuing whoever it is.

Liminal spaces.

[curiosity]

I second liminal spaces. Especially the ones you usually pass through too fast to notice.

Poem

[ysabetwordsmith]

This inspired the free-verse poem "Unseen, the Yellow Woods." We don't necessarily see the opportunities all around us.

26 lines, Buy It Now = $15

Poem

[ysabetwordsmith]

Backchannel prompts from Anthony Barrette and my partner Doug inspired the free-verse poem "The American Dream." It's everything we ever wanted ... almost.

25 lines, Buy It Now = $15

[alexseanchai]

portal fantasy a la Narnia but polytheistic

multiple realities intersecting

Poem

[ysabetwordsmith]

Your prompts inspired the free-verse poem "Crossroads on the Hero's Journey." Magical realms have a meeting point.

35 lines, Buy It Now = $15

Poem

[ysabetwordsmith]

A backchannel prompt from Hikaru inspired a pair of free-verse poems:

In "The Heart to Rejoice," a team comes looking for the Chosen One, but he wants nothing to do with them and runs to find his mother.
88 lines, Buy It Now = $44

In "The Perfection That Eludes Us," Shannalyn defends her son Eric against kidnappers from another realm.
361 lines, Buy It Now = $181

[starbit]

LiFC from the pov of jarvis? on account of he's an AI and thus his reality is different from humans (i really like love is for children ok?)

Poem

[ysabetwordsmith]

"Life in Quicktime" is today's freebie.

Hulk

[fuzzyred]

Hulk talking to Doctor Samson about some of the things that have happened. Any topic for the session, I'd just like to see how a session like that would go.

For Schrodinger's Heroes: a story where they go to another universe and one of the main characters has a different specialty. Frex, someone with a math specialty now has an affinity for English. Same level genius, just different area. It would be interesting to see if/how that would change the person. Can be any person and any area of expertise.

Re: Hulk

[ysabetwordsmith]

Your Schrodinger's Heroes prompt inspired the free-verse poem "Crazy Fun in the House of Mirrors." Several team members get sucked into another dimension, but help is not quite where they expect to find it.

185 lines, Buy It Now = $93

[siliconshaman]

Hmm... how about a refugee Superheroine from the Marvel'verse [comics or MCU] winds up Terramagne [with nerfed powers of course] and finds it rather more... sane.

For that matter, how about someone from L-space winds up in T-space? And contrary to all tropes, then tries to figure out how to open up a stable portal to help more refugees escape..

Well ...

[ysabetwordsmith]

You're on the right track, but neither of those scenarios are an ideal fit. Try again?

Ok lemme see.

[curiosity]

Visions, premonitions, whatevs about various possibilities for soups after The Big One hits. Granny Whammy's tale spreads. She's a hero! Some forks insist soups caused the quake. They're villains! Traumatic manifestation of abilities skyrockets on that one day. It's the end times! It's instant evolution! It's contagious! Waily waily!

Is Shiv going to encounter Stan and Lawrence again?

[librarygeek]

Who is the fewmet who did the mystical working with Bernhardt on changing people in Turq and Nebuly's cohort? Where I was getting upset at the soul work violation? Are they scientist or clergy? Have they lost their way, their mind, struggling to survive? Have they had premonitions about the raid, and know they need to make amends, or has something noticed them and making their OWN repairs?

More about the Asian and African centaurs please! Any Jews ever grabbed by Bernhardt, and he didn't know they were Jewish, but we recognize a Mengele, don't we, Precious? I don't know why my inner Gollum needs a say there, something about evil radiation starts my college paper about the inanimate evil of the One Ring as shown on Hobbits.

[zeeth_kyrah]

In my own spirit training, warp is a natural resonance that every soul has, providing change and balance but also causing error. It twists or reshapes things but can also stabilize them (you can use warp on itself, warping the warp back to true), and too much warp can cause damage rather like too much atomic radiation. Thus warp and evil are entangled effects, since evil involves wrongful harm.

Since spiritual energies can radiate or have zones of effect like physical energies, something containing a lot of warp could indeed passively cause someone to behave differently than before... and I'm betting since warp builds up in places of evil, spiritually sensitive people would probably be affected by Bernhardt's working areas.

Also, when working with spirits, you don't always get a comfortable "show summoning". Sometimes you get an alien or a monster... and sometimes that's deliberate. Add evil or warp, and things can go bonkers when enough power gets applied.

Or you get an angel, but hey, we could use some Holy Shining Ones in that mess.

[alatefeline]

Negotiating the maze out of the self-reinforcing warped world view dysfunctional family or quasi-family relationships. Possibly Polychrome?

Talking to, through, or within mirrors.

Gently bending the currently-most-likely timeline back away from the darkest path.

[technoshaman]

Mmmmmmmmmmmm, that last one seconded VEHEMENTLY. <3

Dividing lines between realities

[ng_moonmoth]

Perceptions of neurovariant folks in the Lacuna/in the Arms

Cal vs. Calliope: Is Cal around much these days? Does Calliope ever go around out of uniform? Can Cal/Calliope reconcile the differences in treatment?

Two Foxes (on the rez; already respected, even though still linking up with family and people) vs. Kenzie (off the rez; scorned), and Iron Horse support ("We stood up for one of our people" vs. "You beat up a bunch of our guys real bad"). There's gotta be a fight coming there; pretty sure it won't be pleasant when it happens. Also, many Iron Horses have superpowers. Will it be a fair fight? Will the white folks complain if it isn't? Tough choices here.

Re: Dividing lines between realities

[ysabetwordsmith]

Your Calliope post inspired the free-verse poem "Stick Like Glue." Vagary needs to buy craft supplies, and discovers that it's a little easier to get along with Calvin than with Calliope.

278 lines, Buy It Now = $139

[chanter1944]

*Terramagne: The young woman rescued from an abusive family situation via clicking the 'save me' lifeboat icon during a library search... I wish I could remember her name. Jemina? One alteration in circumstance can seem like a step into another reality.

*Schrodinger's Heroes: Male (maybe a sterile tom, and pronouns need not match that designation) tortie Schrodinger goes dimension-hopping solo and at relative speed, and catches cat's eye snapshots of several realities as they do. Fun, silly, poignant, horrifying, flipping adorable... and many more variations can easily be in play here. Totally your call.

*Schrodinger's Heroes again: Scarlet, a modded-out audio and visual antenna array, and a quiet night in the TEF compound. Make of *that* what you will... I can just picture Scarlet watching the equivalent of Saturday morning cartoons from a universe partway down the andervector where, say, Manifest Destiny was never an adopted doctrine, or the one where the anglophones lost on the Plains of Abraham.

Poem

[ysabetwordsmith]

Your Schrodinger's Heroes prompt mixed with another to make the free-verse poem "Batting Around." This is why evil!Schrodinger keeps making trouble.

Hold for other prompter.

[mama_kestrel]

The role of belief in entering liminal spaces, especially those which border on realms of Spirit.

Those who carry their realities within themselves. For example: Modern psychiatry would probably consider Jeanne d'Arc delusional, and the Voices she listened to imaginary - but what if they were real? Certainly they gave her excellent military advice. She lived in both the world in which England and France fought and the world in which saints and archangels spoke with her directly. She was innocent enough to tell people the source of her knowledge. But what of others, who hear the messengers and share the message, but do not mention the source? Or the doctor who "knows" what's wrong with her patient, ordering the tests to prove it rather than find it, or the one who gets good outcomes where no one else does?

For Fledgling Grace, in particular: The difficulty of living a lie when one's plumage speaks the truth of one's reality.

And for Polychrome: what reality do the centaurs inhabit? They have the intelligence of humans, at least in part the hormones and instincts of horses....how does that affect their perception of the reality, even aside from the horrors of their creation?

And just for sheer silliness - the Teflon Tesseract gets the hiccups, and deposits Shroedinger in Dr. Banner's lap some afternoon.

Poem

[ysabetwordsmith]

Your centaur prompt inspired the free-verse poem "The Reality of Cruelty." Ansel and Turq meet some new centaurs and find out more details about the mad science going on, this time with disturbing ethnic overtones.

WARNING: Includes very touchy topics in African-American, Jewish, and Vietnamese groups.

486 lines, Buy It Now = $243

[wyld_dandelyon]

A lot of alternate history stories are past-facing--that is, some writer looks back at history and thinks, what if it had happened a different way?

But within the story, whether it's our reality or a character's reality, we can't change the past. The most we can do is learn to look at it differently, to change what it means to us in the present, so we can choose a future that is different than the one that we would have had, without that change in understanding and attitude.

[satsuma]

Sounds like a good time, themewise, to check in on what the gods are up to in Path of the Paladins? a poem from one of the gods perspectives would be nice, if you’ve got an idea for that, but I’m flexible :)

Will drop $50 in your paypal once I find my card, I think the cat stole my wallet again

Poem

[ysabetwordsmith]

This inspired the free-verse poem "Passing Around." The gods discuss sharing paladins, with somewhat amusing results.

88 lines, Buy It Now = $44 (prepaid)

That means you have $6 left over for other poetry. Which open epic do you want to reveal new verses?

[kelkyag]

The Monster Hunter's work with the gremlin's fur, in use.

Pyewacket and its boy sorting out being friends.

History lessons with the Lurking Shadow.

Poem

[ysabetwordsmith]

Your history prompt inspired the free-verse poem "The Shadows on the Wall." In summer school, the children of Monster House learn history through maskmaking and playwriting. Then at night, they get different lessons from the shadowfolk.

69 lines, Buy It Now = $35

[louisadkins]

Conflicted strangers find themselves in an unknown world where Angels hide cruel intentions behind smiles and Demons whisper truths to those who dare to hear them. (I have a preference for succubi, but yeah.)

Poem

[ysabetwordsmith]

This inspired the free-verse poem "Cruel Intentions and Difficult Truths." When a policeman answers a disturbance call, he finds a college student burning unauthorized materials in a barrel. And then things really get weird.

307 lines, Buy It Now = $154

Done for the night!

[ysabetwordsmith]

I still have writing to do, but I'm done for now.

[bairnsidhe]

Sorry to have missed it (finals week), but I'll try to fund something off this anyways.

Well ...

[ysabetwordsmith]

Good luck with finals.

As for funding, there are plenty of medium and long poems, as well as some reasonably sized epics. Keep in mind that the mid-month activity this time will be the big year-end sale.

[justastrangegal]

Eee, they end quick! I'll try to catch the next one! *thumbsup!*

Well ...

[ysabetwordsmith]

A fishbowl usually runs for somewhat over 12 hours, on the first Tuesday of the month. Next one will be on January 8 (since few people are available on January 1).

Poem

[ysabetwordsmith]

A backchannel prompt from dialecticdreamer inspired the free-verse poem "Not the Opposite of Life." When the winter migration brings new whales south, Steel gets into a nasty fight about religion.

480 lines, Buy It Now = $240