Virtual Writers’ Poem-A-Day (PAD) Competition Winners 2019
First Prize — ‘Morphos’ by Patricia Averbach My sister never flew to Costa Rica, so she never saw the great blue morphos glide and fall on iridescent wings through cloud forests, like magic lanterns glowing beneath dark canopies of leaves. If she’d been with me then, the way she’s always with me now, we would have followed those blue lights through trees glistening with rain to a clearing where we’d watch them rise and vanish into a vast expanse of sky. She would have made up names for flowers – Fallen Lady, Coral Ladder, Cloudy Skies and I would have smiled and not replied Passiflora, Lobelia, Heliconia, like the smart ass that I am oblivious to the pain a word can cause. Here’s what really happened. A call came late at night to say they’d found her comotose, she’d overdosed on Percocet and Tylenol. We flew, hoping to catch her still alive but arrived to find a placard with blue butterflies already hanging on her door. Patricia Averbach, a native Clevelander, is the former director of The Chautauqua Writers Center in Chautauqua, New York. Her debut novel, Painting Bridges, (Bottom Dog Press, 2013) was praised by Michelle Ross, book critic for the Cleveland Plain Dealer, as “an introspective, intelligent and moving novel.” Her second novel, Resurrecting Rain (Golden Antelope Press, 2020) won a Royal Palm Literary Award from the Florida Writers Association and was a semi-finalist for a Tucson Festival of Books Literary Award under the title New Moon Rising. Her poetry chapbook, Missing Persons, (Ward Wood Publishing, 2013) won the London based Lumen/Camden prize and was cited by Times of London Literary Supplement (November, 2014) as one of the best small collections of the year. Poet’s Website | Amazon Author Page Judge’s Note Our hearts were beckoned by the lush invitation of nature; then broken by the triple blows of raw honesty in self-examination, pain of regret, and depth of love: heartbreak that in some way, all humans share. Patricia has connected the personal to the universal, in powerful poetry. — Second Prize — ‘Self Portrait’ by Blitz I am: a brown snail with moon white shell on a dry mustard stalk, a red orange draped on bending branches by the receding sun, a silhouette in almond fluttering like cut paper in the ochre breeze, dropped fedora on the yellow leaves, large gloves hung by the yard rake, black bun loosened at nightfall, umber voice amid the trees. Blitz (AutumnBlitz Xenobuilder) was born to teachers of language, and is a child of immigrant culture. He studied fine arts (painting, drawing, sculpture), and has exhibited locally in the US and abroad, notably in Spain where he traveled via an Artist In Residence stipend in his search for Lorca’s duende. Blitz came to poetry later in his life on discovering open mics and workshops in Second Life®. He lives and works in Los Angeles, USA. Judge’s Note We could read...
Read MoreNaNoWriMo: Closing Pep Talk with Doyle Slen
“Oh here it comes, that funny feeling inside, Winding me up again, Every time we touch,” Why can’t this be love? (Musical accompaniment by Van Halen) Why? Because it’s NaNoWriMo. Love has nothing to do with it. Or does it? Would you do this just for giggles? If so you’re sicker than a sausage straightener trying to figure out American slang. Seriously, there are 320 million of us, and we have regional slang the rest of the country can’t figure out. What does that have to do with NaNoWriMo? Here in America we’ve just enjoyed Fangsgiving. Watched the kind of football that people really get injured in (3 games scheduled for Fangsgiving Day; how great is that?), not the kind where they just fall over holding their shins when the wind blows past them. And our most beloved bloodsport, politics, is roaring ahead unabated with knives drawn and brandished. And we’re pounding out 50,000 words this month. It has to be love. “No, no,” you might say, “Love is just a second hand emotion. Love has nothing to do with it.” With Love to Tina Turner It better. I wake up at all manner of stupid hours to scribble. I sit here until my eyes bug out of my head searching for just the right word. Those tiny icepacks to keep the fingers from swelling with the salt mine like labors are starting to wear thin. I have that crazed look on my face like Ozzy Osbourne on the cover of that great album ‘Diary of a Madman.’ I have a spreadsheet to keep track of my snippets and poppets and do-wangers and do-whatses and all those Seussisms that have escaped through the holes in my head. My coffee pot has raised a white flag and my pod brewer, yes I have a combo machine that brews both, wants a well-deserved vacation. In order to manage what we’re attempting you have to have some sort of love for it. Now this isn’t my first rodeo or whatever you have in your part of the world that uses that same ‘slang term,’ (see how I worked that back in?). I keep several projects handy so I don’t burn out on just one. Had that happen my first NaNo, and come January, I didn’t love writing. It’s the story. Your story. The story only you can tell. It keeps gnawing at you. Won’t let you think about anything else. Talks to you while you’re driving. People in the cars next to you give you stares and make faces at you. You may order NaNo at the drive-through of the Taco Burger Barn and then have to sheepishly apologize while slapping yourself in the face. You better have some love for it, to go through this. We’re closing on the finish line, whether you’re not there yet or you’ve already finished and are enjoying the well-earned fruits of your labor. Just a few more days. The craziness will be over...
Read MoreNaNoWriMo Pep Talk with Lizzie Gudkov
Look. Right there… See? That’s where you’ll be at the end of November, smiling, happy with everything you’ve accomplished. Whether you’ve written 50,000 words or not, whether you have reached your rebel goals or not, you’ll be there, smiling. Do you know why? Because you’ve worked hard. And that’s reason enough to smile. If you’re ahead of the game, congratulations. You are doing a great job. You’ve managed not only to keep up with the amount of words needed for each day, but you’ve also succeeded in going beyond what was expected of you. If you are behind, don’t panic. You still have five days left and I’ll give you a few ideas on how to survive the rest of the month. So, did you know Milk Wood keeps a lot of hidden secrets that will help you boost your word count? You didn’t know?! Oh, yes, it does. Come closer. Listen. On the main table, there are four books, neatly piled up. Floral Therapy, All About Roses, Women’s Power and Fashion. They look like pretty regular books, right? Well, in fact, they are code books for highly sensitive documents. Ssh. It’s a secret. Also, someone is Storing Memories in a scrapbook. Oak and chestnut. A heart and a branch. Next to that scrapbook, there’s a recipe on a notebook. I can’t read it though. The notebook has a few markers sticking out. What’s so special about that one marker with an arrow? I feel tempted to open the notebook and snoop, but the table is packed with people. Perhaps you can come over and check it out yourself. Oh, oh… And look at the planner: 584 Linden Lane SL, 90210 They are sending something to this address, a mail package. Deadline at 3:30pm. What could that be? And who is this “they”? Perhaps it’s a “she”. Why does she have a deadline? Tricky. And did you know there are some people in the Chapel? They are whispering something. Can you hear them? I wonder what they are talking about. I think it’s something about the old cemetery. Farther away, a lonely sailor is drinking too much by an old wooden boat. Who is he waiting for? Is he sad? I wonder… And why is he sad? At the beach, the picnic blanket is set. A fruit board, croissant sandwiches, and a cooler packed with drinks. Everything is ready for… Lovers perhaps? Oh, but wait! A thief! A thief is stealing the hot dogs. I can see a chase coming. In the meantime, the radio plays a soft tune. At Last. Is that Etta James? Walk around Milk Wood and you’ll be surprised with the number of ideas you can get just from taking a stroll through the sim. People, objects, colors and sounds, these are only a few examples that might trigger questions. Questions trigger ideas. Ideas trigger words and words boost your word count. Look. Right there. See? That’s where you’ll be at the end of November,...
Read MoreNaNoWriMo Pep Talk: More Than Halfway There
And suddenly, it was the halfway point. Could you call that Hump Day? Or is that reserved for Wednesdays? I think that’s an American thing, because this Brit had never heard of it for a long time and then thought it meant something completely different. Nomenclature aside, here we are at the halfway point, or possibly a little beyond by the time this gets posted. That graph thing on the website would have us be around the 25,000 word mark by now, but, well, if you read my previous post, you know what I think about that idea. You are where you are and that’s just fine. We’re all different. Some can do it at a steady pace. Some can sprint at start and then amble in for the finish. Others dawdle and prevaricate and then do a massive sprint towards the end (which is how most of my university essays got done). And, some, like me, write in fits and starts, as and when time and energy allows. My progress graph will probably end up looking like the ECG of a very sick person. You are wherever you are, however many words you have above or below that mythical halfway point and you are doing just great. Don’t go stressing about it. It’s meant to be fun after all. Halfway is just some arbitrary point along the way. And, just like Hump Day in the week, it’s different things for different people. For some it means that the worst is over and they can glide to the end of the week, for others, it means they have to ramp things up to get things done by the weekend. For me, Wednesday is just fish & chips night, because that’s when the fish & chips man comes round our way in his van. Which is great, because that gives me more time to write. There are many different reasons for doing this – a personal challenge, like doing a 5k or a Marathon; or doing it because, like Everest, it’s there; or doing it just for the fun of it. Whatever reason, somewhere in there you are doing it because you have a story to tell, a tale to relate. That’s the important thing – they are your words, your tale, your creation – a story only you can tell. So don’t worry about how well, or not, other people are doing. What you are doing is unique, and it will be wonderful because of that, and only you can do it. However far along the way you are, pause a moment, give yourself a pat on the back and a rousing cheer. You’ve got this far, and that in itself is an achievement. If you got this far, you can make it to the end and feel proud. You can do this! About Nathaniel Ballard Nathaniel Ballard is a fictional character in Second Life® who also now serves as his creator’s alter-ego online and as said creator’s pen-name....
Read MorePep Talk with Nathaniel Ballard
How can it be over a week already? Wasn’t it Preptober only yesterday? And yet, here we are, already nearly two weeks into NaNoWriMo. And what a busy week it has been. When I’ve not been trying to bash out my own daily dose of words, I’ve been watching the Nano community around the world. I’ve been reading comments and questions on the NaNoWriMo Facebook group, watching my buddies on the website, having discussions on my local group’s channel on Discord, and noting the progress of those people I actually know in Real Life™. Everybody is at a different place. Some are roaring ahead like a sprinter, getting words down like crazy. Some are toodling along, more or less maintaining the pace, and some, at this early stage, are struggling to keep up. And, of course, everybody is having to deal with Real Life™ getting in the way – sickness, broken-down computers, extra work shifts. I know that one. I can always tell when it’s NaNoWriMo because I suddenly get loads of texts asking me if I can cover for xxx at another shop, do a couple of extra days while yyy is on holiday. But, that’s life. It happens to everybody, and we keep on going regardless. We work around it somehow. The thing to remember is, whether you are at 500 words, 5,000 words, 20,000 words, or staring at a blank screen and a pile of scrunched up paper – at least you are giving it a go, at least you are trying. You are doing something a little scary, but amazing and wonderful and beautiful. It’s an adventure. Maybe some of you are writing an adventure story, but the very act is an adventure in itself. And, like any adventure story, things aren’t always going to go to plan, things aren’t always plain sailing. There are bumps and detours, setbacks and small victories before your adventurers get to their goal. It wouldn’t be an interesting story otherwise. It’s the same with your novel’s progress. That dotted blue line on the progress chart doesn’t really show the true picture. When you climb a mountain, it isn’t a smooth slope. When you climb a mountain, there are going to be easy bits, level bits and steep bits. Sometimes, you might have to go downhill for a while before you start to ascend again. Sometimes, you even look at the stretch in front of you and think “how the hell do I get past that?” Or you look ahead and can’t even see the peak. But, you can get there and you will. You will get to the top, and the view from there is glorious. Don’t worry too much about where you are relative to that blue line, concentrate on the words that are in your head, queueing up to get out and down on the page. Get them written and worry about the blue line later. Wherever you are on your adventure, however far you are up...
Read MoreVirtual Writers: NaNoWriMo Events 2019
NANOWRIMO AT MILK WOOD We are excited to announce that we’ll be hosting a selection of online workshops again this year. Click on the links below to participate at the specific time. These workshops are held in Second Life®. All scheduled events take place online at the Milk Wood Writing Group area (unless otherwise stated) or in the writing room at Book Island (Sundays at 12 noon PT). All are welcome to join us. ══════════════════════════ Writing Workshops & Write-Ins══════════════════════════ What’s NaNoWriMo and how do I join?Hosted by Harriet Gausman Tuesday 29th October, 20198am PT / 11am ET / 3pm GMT Want to know what all this NaNoWriMo nonsense is? Well, join us at 8am and we’ll run through the details and provide you with some great resources to make the challenge easier. We’ll share some plot storyboard and character development resources in readiness for November, and we’ll begin to plot in a timed writing session. About Harri In 2007, Harri conceded her élan vital to pixels and created the atmospheric Milk Wood, inspired by the Dylan Thomas radio drama, Under Milk Wood. Over the years, the sim has become a literary home to many artists and continues to offer a range of writing and reading events, providing opportunities for writers to cultivate their craft, develop literary poise, and establish a strong artistic voice. Harri is experienced at planning and hosting online events, and applies a unique approach to promoting and supporting writers. She is a NaNoWriMo veteran. Click here to be taken to the online event. ——–Huck’s Cube of NaNo – this year with added BrexitHosted by Huckleberry Hax Thursday 31st October, 20191pm PT / 4pm ET / 8pm GMT It’s National Novel Writing Month again! Prepare yourself for pep talks! If there’s one thing aspiring novelists can rely on in the month of November (besides sleep deprivation and bleeding fingertips) it’s other writers delivering their ‘top tips’ for getting 50,000 words written in the space of 30 days. Huckleberry Hax has absolutely no intention of deviating from this formula (chiefly because it makes him feel for an hour like a real, grown-up writer), and will be once again delivering his ‘Cube of Nano’ talk at Milk Wood as novelists assume the crouch position, ready for the starter’s gun. Why ‘cube’? Because he has six tips, and six without the framework of a cool geometric shape sounds like it really ought to be edited down to five – BUT WE DON’T EDIT DURING NANOWRIMO! Join us for an hour in voice on 31st October at 1pm SLT. Please come voice-enabled so you can hear Huck talk. Every person who types the line ‘When is it starting?’ five minutes into the talk *will* be given lines to write. About Huck Huckleberry Hax writes virtual reality novels, many of which are set in Second Life® (the best known of which is ‘AFK’). He has completed NaNoWriMo eight times. Click here to be taken to the online event. ——– NaNoWriMo Kick-Off...
Read MoreRecommended
Featured Writers
Follow Me