Read "Letters to the Editor Week Two" by Dialecticdreamer

 dialecticdreamer has posted "Letters to the Editor, Week Two" for the Berettaflies thread.  During the second week, the threat level is Orange, which means important regular activities such as work and school may resume with caution.  The initial shock has worn off, and people are responding to the events in more organized ways  ... some good, others not so good.

Anyone wanting to write their own Week Two letter to the editor is welcome to do so.  The DW organization page is here.  lynnoconnacht is helping me make one for my PenUltimate Productions site, so please keep her posted on anything you write for this thread, using this template.  

You are all made of awesome.  The whole Berettaflies thing started out as one poem and has blossomed into a whole branch of its own.  :D  Thanks!

Disaster Bingo Card 11-3-15

Here is my card for the Disasters (No Hitting!) fest on allbingo. It will run from November 1-31.  The challenge here is to explore things that go wrong, and how people respond well or poorly to them -- with the bullseye being problems that can't be solved by hitting.  (See all my 2015 bingo cards.)

If you'd like to sponsor a particular square, especially if you have an idea for what character, series, or situation it would fit -- talk to me and we'll work something out. I've had a few requests for this and the results have been awesome so far. This is a good opportunity for those of you with favorites that don't always mesh well with the themes of my monthly projects. I may still post some of the fills for free, because I'm using this to attract new readers; but if it brings in money, that means I can do more of it. That's part of why I'm crossing some of the bingo prompts with other projects, such as the Poetry Fishbowl.

Underlined prompts have been filled.

( Read more... )

New verses in "The Power to Curse"

Thanks to a donation from lone_cat, there are 6 new verses in "The Power to Curse."   Watch the Spectrum helpfully shooting up the street while trying to corner Mr. Pernicious.  Superheroes, my left back hoof.

Poetry Fishbowl Open!

The Poetry Fishbowl is now CLOSED.  Thank you for your time and attention.  Keep an eye on this post, as I have more to write.

Starting now, the Poetry Fishbowl is open!  Today's theme is "I want my future back!"  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.

I have a linkback poem, "Full of Grace" (14 verses, Fledgling Grace).  NOTE: Today is a voting day in some states.  If you vote today, comment "I voted!" under the linkback poem to reveal a verse.


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 "I want my future back!"  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. 


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 LiveJournal, other blog, Twitter, Facebook, MySpace, 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.


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.


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 "I want my future back!"  I'll be soliciting ideas for explorers, astronauts, time travelers, people who have survived major changes, support crew, futurists, adventuring, exploring outer space, getting into trouble, deciding to help someone, getting out of trouble, asking for help and getting it, when help goes horribly wrong, inventing new things, starships, NASA, distant planets, laboratories, other dimensions, first contact, replicators, jump gates, xenolinguistics, peaceful aliens, sense of wonder, problems that can't be solved by hitting, souvenirs, endings and beginnings, other major life changes,  and poetic forms in particular.  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 first edition of Lewis Turco's The Book of Forms 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.) The rest of the poems will go into my archive for magazine submission.  Linkbacks reveal verses of "Full of Grace."

Poetry Fishbowl Open!

The Poetry Fishbowl is now CLOSED.  Thank you for your time and attention.  Keep an eye on this post, as I have more to write.

Starting now, the Poetry Fishbowl is open!  Today's theme is "I want my future back!"  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.

I have a linkback poem, "Full of Grace" (14 verses, Fledgling Grace).  NOTE: Today is a voting day in some states.  If you vote today, comment "I voted!" under the linkback poem to reveal a verse.


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 "I want my future back!" 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.


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 LiveJournal, other blog, Twitter, Facebook, MySpace, 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.


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.


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 "I want my future back!"  I'll be soliciting ideas for explorers, astronauts, time travelers, people who have survived major changes, support crew, futurists, adventuring, exploring outer space, getting into trouble, deciding to help someone, getting out of trouble, asking for help and getting it, when help goes horribly wrong, inventing new things, starships, NASA, distant planets, laboratories, other dimensions, first contact, replicators, jump gates, xenolinguistics, peaceful aliens, sense of wonder, problems that can't be solved by hitting, souvenirs, endings and beginnings, other major life changes,  and poetic forms in particular.  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 first edition of Lewis Turco's The Book of Forms 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.) The rest of the poems will go into my archive for magazine submission.  Linkbacks reveal verses of "Full of Grace."

Poem: "I Want My Tomorrow Back"

This is the freebie for today's fishbowl. It was inspired by prompts from janetmiles, redsixwing, LJ user My_partner_doug, and Book_worm5. It's based on Brad Bird's Tomorrowland, which was a wonderful movie right up until it turned out that the shining future had never actually been completed, a bait-and-switch distastefully parallel to losses in our current timeline. So I fixed it.  This poem also fills the "happy ending" square in my 10-1-15 card for the trope_bingo fest.


"I Want My Tomorrow Back"


Imagine the future
you want to see real.

Reach for the stars,
even if other people are
trying to take them away from you.

Pin your hopes to the vision
of a seat held open for you.

Wade through wheat and water
into the land of tomorrow.

There will be obstacles;
there will be enemies;
overcome them all.

Use your head.
Use your hands.
Be the future that
you want to become.

When you get there
(and you will  get there)
the future will unfold at
your feet, whole and
shining with promise.

Step into it and find
your flying car, your jetpack
your rocket ride to the Moon.

If you want your tomorrow back,
then reach out and take it.

Read "Fade to Black" by Siliconshaman

 siliconshaman has posted "Fade to Black," the second part of "Fade to Grey."  Ashley meets the SPAZMAT team who transfer her to the new location.