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Post by booklady on Jan 27, 2007 17:07:32 GMT -5
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Post by juliastar on Jan 28, 2007 0:45:27 GMT -5
I am at 7.2 and still #1 -- which means the heat is on and I'll probably be target practice among the hungry and the vicious. I seem to have made an enemy of a pompous, rather dull windbag -- what am I, a weirdo magnet? Who knows, perhaps it has helped me rise to the top or will hurt me? It should be an interesting ride. If you haven't voted yet or want to re-join the fray or know somebody who might be interested, the link to join Gather (which you must do to vote)-- (it's free): www.gather.com/login.jspAnd the link to my first chapter: www.gather.com/viewArticle.jsp?articleId=281474976889660When voting, please keep in mind that one star is not very good and ten stars is kudos. My first chapter will stay up for only a few more days as they rotate new selections in. The first round stays open continues until March 15. Thanks!
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Post by slb2 on Jan 28, 2007 4:09:26 GMT -5
The gather-travel-writing contest that I entered a year ago was much less aggravating. The judging was done by a panel at first which winnowed it down to the top twenty (of something like 225 entries). Then a single judge selected the top submission. A professional travel writer won. Otherwise, I'm sure I would have taken that top spot.
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Post by gailkate on Jan 28, 2007 10:24:04 GMT -5
Indubitably, slb2 Do you think I could go in and vote again? I'm still troubled by the fact that the average was low when I was only the 2nd or 3rd commenter and gave it a 10. Maybe I didn't hit the key hard enough. (Jerry says I'm a timid button puncher, from remote openers to the microwave. Must be my ladylike white-gloved touch.) So I could go back and pund the thing, hammer it with authority, except I wouldn't want you to be disqualified for ballotbox-stuffing.
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Post by juliastar on Jan 28, 2007 12:16:41 GMT -5
I think it stinks if they let published travel writers into your contest, slb, and you should have won that trip.
I don't think the system will let you vote twice, gailkate. You probably did vote once already and the one vote saboteur brought my average down. You might write the administrator by clicking on the link in the left hand column and then clicking on the send mail link in the same location on the page that the first click brings up.
I'm going to dig deeper into my contacts list to see if I can sustain my average and counter the unibomber. At some level, I hate letting people know that I'm an unpublished writer. It is kind of like being unemployed, or something, isn't it.
I have a writing friend who would slap me and say, what would Lucy do. She herself jumped out of the bushes to have a chance to see if Anne Lamont would help her find an agent. Ms. Lamont wasn't too impressed with the tactic, but my friend still uses it to illustrate the depths of determination and humiliation one must be willing to pursue in this quest and she did find an agent and her book is published. Last I knew, she was working on another.
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Post by booklady on Jan 29, 2007 6:14:06 GMT -5
J*, I've been going over to your story every day, checking your score and reading the comments. You are one tough lady and very brave. I don't know how much moral support helps, but you have it here. It's sometimes absurd over there, comments about your writing being made by people who can't spell "judgment" or get their subjects and pronouns to agree. Consider the sources, and don't let them get you down.
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Post by juliastar on Jan 29, 2007 8:53:12 GMT -5
Thank you, BL. It has turned into cannibalism, I'm afraid, and at this point, even if I were to stay on the high road and emerge victorious, I'm not sure I would want to be associated with the whole thing. It does illustrate how hard trying to be published is and how desperate it makes people.
I don't think it would be a problem if you posted something to the same effect as your post here, over there. It is only going to get worse before it gets better. I was at 7.4 yesterday and a series of rapid fire ones caused my entry to nose dive. It climbs back up only to get slammed again and it isn't just happening to me, but it isn't happening to everybody. They are supposed to have fraud detecting software. It may recalibrate, but some damage has to have already been done.
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Post by juliastar on Jan 29, 2007 16:28:48 GMT -5
I want you to know that rmn has a great avatar over on Gather.com (I'm thinking do I know any Checkers?) and it is really fun when a rightwing leaner makes my day and restores my faith in humanity with a few kind words.
I got some private hate mail from a certain creep who refers to me as Al Queda in relation to his chances of winning (I guess). I wrote back and told him that fellow writers were friends not food.
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Post by gailkate on Jan 29, 2007 17:32:59 GMT -5
This looked like a helpful lead -
I see wonderful creativity here. Good work.
You may find The Editorial Department helpful for a critique and an evalution. Their website is editorialdepartment.net. I think it's great that you're writing, don't give up on it, and keep reading the fiction you love. Perhaps you will get your talent right up there with them. Richard Price is a good one. But study their technique as you read. And I must suggest reading Self-Editing For Fiction Writers, which is great.
"Cannibalism" is going too far, Julia my Star. Slow down and look at all the fine comments compared with the few critical ones.
And could we all remember that people's tastes vary? The truth is, I see all the strengths and charm in Dickens, but he can be SO depressing. Dang, I need brilliant before I'm ready to be depressed. Editors will judge the opening chapters based on whether there is a market, not whether it is everyone's market. Some of what Noble says is true, but he's off-base in implying that good writing comes in one flavor.
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Post by juliastar on Jan 29, 2007 21:56:53 GMT -5
This looked like a helpful lead - I see wonderful creativity here. Good work.
You may find The Editorial Department helpful for a critique and an evalution. Their website is editorialdepartment.net. I think it's great that you're writing, don't give up on it, and keep reading the fiction you love. Perhaps you will get your talent right up there with them. Richard Price is a good one. But study their technique as you read. And I must suggest reading Self-Editing For Fiction Writers, which is great. "Cannibalism" is going too far, Julia my Star. Slow down and look at all the fine comments compared with the few critical ones. And could we all remember that people's tastes vary? The truth is, I see all the strengths and charm in Dickens, but he can be SO depressing. Dang, I need brilliant before I'm ready to be depressed. Editors will judge the opening chapters based on whether there is a market, not whether it is everyone's market. Some of what Noble says is true, but he's off-base in implying that good writing comes in one flavor. Maybe it matters to English majors but to me it's much ado about nothing. For $300 I can hire a proof-reader to make sure a hypen is inserted every place a hypen goes. It is silly to worry so about it with a work in process or be so dismissive over it. It's not like the piece was unreadable and it isn't like a fellow contestant is capable of being fair and objective when commenting on the work of the competition. The persistent one voting to bring my score down is what I was referring to as cannibalism. Until I'm done editing , there is no reason for me to do, or pay to have done, the kind of painstaking edit you are talking about -- it will have to be done all over again. It is like being in the middle of a paint job, scraping the ceiling, and people sweeping up every five minutes.
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Post by juliastar on Jan 30, 2007 15:29:34 GMT -5
Baby Doll in the Grass is still in the top ten, hanging on by her fingernails. If you haven't voted yet or want to re-join the fray or know somebody who might be interested, the link to join Gather (which you must do to vote)-- (it's free): www.gather.com/login.jspAnd the link to my first chapter: www.gather.com/viewArticle.jsp?articleId=281474976889660The site is confusing. When rating, please keep in mind that a one star is not very good and ten stars is kudos, the best. You are not voting for me to click the one star, you would be voting against me. My first chapter will stay up until Friday.
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Post by juliastar on Feb 2, 2007 8:18:26 GMT -5
This is the last day my entry will be up. Thanks to everyone who has supported my efforts here. My beef has never been with constructive criticism. It has been with fellow entrants and their supporters unfairly attempting to influence the outcome of this contest by (1) one voting down the competition; and (2) spamming or liberally talking other entrants down on the other entrant's site; and (3) posting links to their own entry on another entrant's site. I emailed Dave S., and guess what. He is understandably feeling bad that his own site was voted down and it isn't getting any traffic. And surprise, surprise, Mark Y. is now in himself. As a potential contestant, he had no business interjecting himself into this space and I'm sorry, but I won't be returning the "favor." And Noble never did answer the direct question. Click on negative criticism and you'll find a same day entrant with two comments. One to gush liberally over some piece, fair enough, and the other to snark here. How would such a casual member even find my entry? Delete those comments from the discussion above, delete the self-interested ones from my score, and this entry would look entirely different. Aside from being overused and dull, all is not fair in love and war. It is why we have the Geneva Conventions. If you haven't reviewed and rated yet and could help me out, I'd like to build a little cushion. I was doing fairly well last night, but the "one vote" snipers came out to lower my score again. The link to join Gather (which you must do to rate me)-- _it's free_: www.gather.com/login.jspAnd the link to my first chapter, Baby Doll in the Grass under the pen name L. Donna Shepard: www.gather.com/viewArticle.jsp?articleId=281474976889660It is not readily apparent, but clicking on the ten star at the bottom of the text of the writing yields the highest score and the one star would be the lowest score.
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rmn
Sleepy Member
Posts: 75
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Post by rmn on Feb 2, 2007 10:52:22 GMT -5
I hoped my "10" helped, if even just a little. Damn, girl, it's a ruthless business you're getting yourself involved with. For what it's worth, if I met this Noble fellow on a sidewalk somewhere, I'd punch his lights out.
Be well. Good luck.
R
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Post by slb2 on Feb 2, 2007 12:09:32 GMT -5
psstt, rmn, isn't j* already IN a ruthless business? ;D
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Post by ozski on Feb 2, 2007 12:30:48 GMT -5
Wonderful work, j*. You are already a winner!
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Post by Trusty on Feb 2, 2007 14:18:46 GMT -5
j*, you deserve a 20. You already have a 10 just for passion.
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Post by booklady on Feb 2, 2007 17:36:23 GMT -5
It's been taken down. I just got an "article not available" message when I tried to access it. It's out of your hands now, and you did the best you could, and that's all you can do.
Julia*, you have written an excellent, moving novel dealing with some difficult subjects. I know that it's as good as most anything we'd buy on the "new fiction" table at Borders. It deserves to be published. I won't give back my copy of the manuscript, and I'll definitely read it again at some point. If this contest fails, please keep trying for a new agent. Don't give up on it or yourself.
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Post by juliastar on Feb 2, 2007 23:54:47 GMT -5
Thank you so much everybody. The way this has been going, hopefully I'm in contention for the next round. I finished with a 6.6, 176 votes and 161 comments, some fairly profound. Everything about the contest has been fairly erratic. A friend I've made waited anxiously for her story to come down last night only to find it still up this morning. I checked in on mine at the time it expired to record the vote at the cut off time which was 4:30. I figured I'd go home and download it and by 4:45 I was getting emails from friends who tried to vote late that it was down. And yet, there are still 1/19 stories that expired hours ago and they are still up.
I appreciate all the support and encouragement. Good, bad or ugly, I'll keep you posted. I don't think I'll know anything until April. If this contest fails, I'll dust off the query letter and go at this again the old fashioned way.
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Post by slb2 on Feb 3, 2007 14:33:26 GMT -5
J*, here's a place you might look for publishing. She's a friend of mine and her co-partner is Ellis Marsalis, both of Baltimore. www.obiejoe.com
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Post by juliastar on Feb 3, 2007 14:57:29 GMT -5
J*, here's a place you might look for publishing. She's a friend of mine and her co-partner is Ellis Marsalis, both of Baltimore. www.obiejoe.comIt looks interesting Susan, but they are publicists, not publishers. I would use them after I got the book deal and I would pay them, not the other way around. I am thinking out loud that if I were to advance to the next round, I would have to dig deeper to generate enough interest to keep advancing, things like press releases where I live now and in my home town in upstate New York and an email with graphics that the people I know of who participated in round one might be more willing to pass along. It is a bit unsettling. I shared my writing aspirations with a few trusted folks at the office who I thought would more or less be supportive and would keep mum, and I think they did for the most part, but when I went to make a copy in a part of the building away from any of those people, I found a copy of my first chapter on the copy machine. That was a very weird, exposed feeling.
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Post by slb2 on Feb 3, 2007 23:45:03 GMT -5
That would be bothersome to me, j*. Something good might come of it, though. We can all think good thoughts for you.
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Post by slb2 on May 7, 2007 9:56:08 GMT -5
Anyone know if j*'s submission has continued on in the Gather contest?
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Post by slb2 on May 7, 2007 10:55:16 GMT -5
Did some checking around and I believe that julistar's submission did not move onto the finalists spots.
Someone sent me a link to her work that did make the cut. I read it, though mid-way found myself bored and considered skipping the ending.
These contests are just not to be taken seriously. The chapters that I read of G.M.s, the person who sent me a link to her work, were in no way superior to juliastar's.
I doubt that j* comes back here ever, but I'd like her to know how wonderful her novel is and that I wish she'd pursue publication. And how frustrating to find her story junked and then to see other's (such as G.M.'s) continue winning.
However the winning takes place, it's not accurate as to the merits of the piece.
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Post by liriodendron on May 7, 2007 17:26:26 GMT -5
I'm in touch with j*. Her chapter did not move on in the Gather contest. She did ask me to convey her deep appreciation to you, slb, for the above post, and also to everyone who took the time to join Gather to read, vote, and comment on her first chapter.
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Post by slb2 on May 7, 2007 20:49:42 GMT -5
Thanks for the info Lirio. When are you going to stop being a grumpy member?
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Post by liriodendron on May 7, 2007 21:01:22 GMT -5
When are you going to stop being a grumpy member? (More posts like this and I'll get there faster, right?)
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Post by slb2 on May 7, 2007 23:06:07 GMT -5
mais oui, ma amie!
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Post by slb2 on May 20, 2007 23:23:50 GMT -5
This seemed as good a place as any to post those articles of mine that I've talked about, but never went on-line, instead staying in the hardcopy world of print newspaper. And while my editor doesn't mind me doing this, technically, the rights aren't mine at the moment. This article belongs to the newspaper, so no cut-n-paste, please. Just in case...
Obsidian Arts article published in the Minnesota Spokesman-Recorder
Afro-Cuban art reaches beyond esthetics, delving into social, religious, and political domains. Obsidian Arts gallery, sitting on the corner of Lake and Chicago in Minneapolis, hosts an array of artistic mediums representing Afro-Cuban art during the months of April – June. Working together, Christopher-Aaron Deanes and Victor Valens, served as curators for their current exposition, Afro-Cuba: Cognoscenti. Midway through their exhibition on May 12th, Obsidian held a special presentation to publicly introduce many of the artists involved in the project, hoping to initiate conversation and meaningful dialogue regarding art that emerges from the Afro-Cuban population living either in Cuba or the United States. The late-afternoon event opened with Deanes introducing the dozen people in attendance who had come to view works by artists Lidia Ester Aguilera Sanchez, Daniel Alvarez, Yopiz Martines, and Luis El Estudiante. Additionally, Pamela Plagge performed Cuban dance and Clyde Fraser responded to a poem he had lettered on the walls of the gallery. The portrayal of religion in the officially atheistic country since a revolution in 1959 drove their practice of religions underground, might seem gutsy. However, many of the artists chose to honor their beliefs in Santeria, an oral system of beliefs carried by captured West Africans who were bound for slavery in the United States. Orishas, or guardians, essential to Santeria faith, dominated the paintings by Aguilera Sanchez. Her work depicted many of the guardians, who, according to curator Valens, "take care of things" in the house, but also, "mess up your home." Cuban-born Valens, who regularly travels back to Cuba in part to participate in religious activities surrounding his faith in Yoruba, chided the current political obstacles to travel to Cuba. "It's ridiculous that you have to go to a foreign country in order to return to your own country to see your family," he said, referring to travel arrangements he'd made to Mexico and other countries as a steppingstone to his homeland. Dancer Plagge who lives in the Twin Cities also recently visited Cuba. After studying dance for 15 years, she was introduced to Rene Thompson, a Cuban dancer, and eventually traveled for two weeks around the island country. "Attending a religious ceremony was probably one of the most profound experiences while in Cuba," Plagge stated. The dance Plagge performed resembled a Santerian tambor, which is a drum ceremony involving spirit possession and Orishas. Ever the political hound, Valens returned again and again to ideas of oppression and dishonesty between the United States and Cuba. He imparted snippets of profound information regarding how the slave trade impacted the artistry of Cuba and how that impact continues to inform the work of today's Afro-Cuban artists. Often speaking in half-sentences, Valens berated no one in particular, "You had a leader until the 1960s. They (Blacks) go from Martin Luther King to Malcolm X and then they stop." Under the audience's appreciative applause, Jean Ann Durandes quipped, "we stop there, too," referring to not only Black leadership, but the Black movement as a whole. The audience, having added a few more members, also heard from poet Clyde Fraser. His reflections focused less on the present political landscape and more on the socio-economic changes he's experienced over the years from growing up in Aruba and relocating to the United States. The first lines of Fraser's poem, Cuba, cued his ruminations. "Awaken, awaken by the pitter patter of the early/ morning rain against my old metal roof/ Open my wooden shutter windows and the rush of cool fresh/ ocean breeze brushes past my face." Fraser recounted, "Some of my happiest days were before my eyes were opened up to wealth." Fraser contrasted his humble upbringing with contemporary youth in America. "It's the fight being in two worlds at the same time," Fraser said, in reference to acknowledging his beginnings while at the same time living in a land with many commercial riches and temporal opportunities. "I don't think they'll (his children) ever understand what it is to share the bags," Fraser lamented after enumerating the story of neighbors in the island of Aruba sharing their food with one another using small, plastic sandwich bags. It was a matter of survival, he said. The inseparableness of art, culture and politics remained key for many in the audience. When Durandes suggested that the Black community needed greater exposure to art, audience participant James Garrett, Jr. firmly disagreed. "We have not educated our own population to an understanding and appreciation of what art is and how it cab enrich us," Durandes said. "I would disagree patently," responded Garrett. "I think art is expansive. Art is what we live and breath every day. There's art all around us. There's art on the street, our neighborhoods are full of art." Saturday, May 26th, from 2 – 4 PM, the public will have another opportunity to learn about the history of Afro-Cuban art and to share their own perceptions regarding this important genre. Obsidian Arts is located at 2948 Chicago Avenue South, Suite 220, Minneapolis, 55407.
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Post by booklady on May 21, 2007 4:57:36 GMT -5
Somebody please bump this up for me so I remember to get back and read it. No time now!
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Post by slb2 on May 21, 2007 8:51:40 GMT -5
*bump* Actually, books. If you'd like, I could bring the paper to the St. Paul coffeeshop where we'll be deep in conversation in about two days.
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