Jack Walker Press

books for verdant, thoughtful, and joyful living

Litfriends for July 2024 Creative writing with an emphasis on Memoir

LitFriends: It Was The Best Of Times, It Was The Time To Write.

From JackWalkerPress.com and AmyLouJenkins.com

In this edition:

  • New articles for craft and inspiration.
  • Writer news (add your news for the next edition).
  • Calls for Submission

Hello LitFriends,

Welcome new subscribers and thank you for being part of the LitFriends Community. I know many of you are writing this summer because you’ve submitted to the Voices Anthology Series. You may submit to both themes with open calls, see the details in our calls for submissions section below. Thank you to everyone who has submitted so far. At this time, most of our submissions are related to the Aging theme.

Ever had a writing teaching writing with you? Those who are taking our Complete Memoir Course, see me going through the same JUMP steps that they are taking. We are not advertising our Complete Memoir Writing Course now, but it is not technically closed. The course guides students to make meaning from their life using the proven JUMP method. (If you are not ready to begin a serious writing project, consider making meaning from your words and become a gift-giving master with the Write-A-Gift Launchpad. )

I’m chronicling my memoir writing experience with short videos that briefly explain some elements of craft within the description of writing progress. Check out the playlist of less than 5 minute videos and write along with me.

We writers are happiest when writing and we are most likely to progress when we structure writing time into our lives. Court your writing as you would that elusive potential partner who calls to your soul. Give them time and attention. And don’t be bossy and possessive. Let them have a life of their own. If you neglect the object of your desire, they depart.

Through the craft of writing, we build a bridge that connects our internal world with the broader human experience. May you continue to find joy and fulfillment in every word you write.

Here's our concise email with three sections to bolster your lit life a few times each month.

1. New Articles

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Keep Writing: Conquer these Five Momentum Stoppers

Writing can be profoundly fulfilling, yet many writers find themselves stuck, unable to translate their ideas into words. You can break free ... Read more

The Book Women of Kentucky: Packhorse Librarian

Let's Celebrate the Packhorse Librarians also Known as The Book Women

Explore some fun history of librarian heroes who brought the world to those in rural nooks of Kentucky... Read more

Should you use writing prompts to find the story of your Memoir

Begin Your Memoir: With or Without Prompts

The Pros and Cons of Using Writing Prompts in Memoir Writing

How does a Memoir writer begin? How does a writer pull a meaningful story from life events? Writing prompts often emerge as a useful tool to kick-start the creative... Read more

One more article from the archives:

🗒️ Classic Personal Essays

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Timeless Lessons: Learning from Classic Personal Essays With academic links to essays Let's dive into some classic personal essays.

These aren't old and boring tales, nope!

Click here to read more

2.    #WriterNews

Subscribers can list their news on our FB page, or message us through our Contact Us form or by email to AL at JackWalkerPress dot Com. ( ...trying to slow down the bots with a description of the address)

Kim Shur,'s (author of Nothing to Lose) new work of fiction will be released in October 2024:  Close Call (available from Cornerstone Press preorder) A door-to-door salesman’s visit shows Carol a new side of her mother and threatens the security they both had taken for granted; a woman finds out what happens when we’re “too busy to die”; a woman in her fifties celebrates her newly augmented body parts; four friends try to breech a chasm in their friendship by planning a reunion; and a researcher examines his relationship to creativity in a world where it has been deemed a mental illness. Carefully crafted, surprising, and humane, the stories in Kim Suhr’s Close Call unveil emotion in tight spaces, hearts in turmoil, and the searching soul of the Midwest.​

Barbara Cameron of Los Angeles won the Award in Nonfiction for “At the End of Cherry Tree Lane.” She received $1,000, and publication in in the 2024 issue of Dogwood.

3.    #CallsForSubmissions

(We make no warranty re payments or other expectations for calls for submissions from other venues. )

Jack Walker Press Anthologies

Seeking artful personal essays that widely explore themes. Current themes are related to the Aspirations of the United States and Aging. We want to have an experience as we read. Make us laugh, cry, think. Be truthful. Don’t bore us. Details: https://sendfox.com/lp/m76plr

The Taborian

The Taborian an online literary publication that will launch in January 2024. The Taborian’s mission is sharing written works from all walks of life. We are seeking submissions on a year-round basis for essays, short stories, and poems. Writers belonging to historically underrepresented racial or ethnic groups are especially encouraged to submit . Deadline: Rolling. Details: https://thetaborian.com/submission.

 

Litmosphere

Seeking Art, flash (fiction and nonfiction), poetry, and short prose (fiction and literary nonfiction). Payment: $50 per accepted poem, flash fiction and nonfiction; $100 per short fiction and literary nonfiction; $250 for non-exclusive online use of 15–30 images. Deadline: July 31, 2024.  Details at https://www.charlottelit.org/litmosphere/

 

Spoon Knife Anthology

Seeking Genre- bending short fiction, short literary memoir, and poetry. Theme: In celebration of the ninth year of Spoon Knife, the theme for Spoon Knife 9 is Numbers – stories in which numbers or counting or our relationship to numbers matter in some way. Payment: $20 plus 1 cent per word. Deadline: July 31, 2024. Details: http://autpress.com/2023/08/call-for-submissions-spoon-knife-9/

End Notes

 

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