Submissions period for poetry, fiction, creative prose and art for The Mom Egg 2012 Vol. 10 will be July 15 through Sept. 30, 2011. The issue will be a themed issue on "The Body"--the human body, of course, but also bodies of work, water, land, the body politic or corporate, the mind/body, etc. Submissions must relate to that theme to be considered.
Please include a brief, 3-5 line bio and cover letter. Submissions will be accepted via our new submissions manager (link below). Up to 5 poems; prose and fiction up to 850 words.
For submissions of book reviews, interviews and literary criticism, videos or computer-based works, please query first at info@themomegg.com.
Submit through our online submissions manager by visiting the website.
Simultaneous submissions are accepted, but please let us know promptly if your submission is accepted elsewhere. Email for notifications is info@themomegg.com.
We choose pieces based on artistic merit. We are a labor of love, and are unable to pay for pieces at this time.
The Mom Egg acquires first-time publication rights to the piece. We also reserve the right to republish it in a future electronic and/or print edition or anthology. Back issues are archived indefinitely. Rights return to the authors after publication: authors retain their copyright, so after their contribution has appeared in The Mom Egg, they may republish their text in any manner they wish--electronic or print--with acknowledgment of The Mom Egg as the original place of publication.
Do you keep a journal - or wish you could get one started? Literary Mama wants to help.
Three times a month, I'll post a writing prompt. Open a notebook and write for 10 minutes. Don't worry about grammar or punctuation - just write. Then let the writing simmer and your mind wander for awhile.
And who knows? Maybe you'll discover a character for your next short story or a theme for a narrative essay. Or maybe you'll use the idea to create a special holiday card or photo album for someone in your family. However you decide to use your journal entry, I know you'll enjoy re-reading it months--and years--down the road.
Also: Every three months, I'll accept submissions and choose a few pieces to post for LM readers to enjoy.
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At their grandmother's funeral in 1999, my husband and his cousins stood outside the church and reminisced. Like many families, they had crowded into the matriarch's home once a year to exchange gifts and share a meal. Slowly, the stories gave way to good-byes, and then one cousin asked, "When will we see you guys, again? I doubt we'll keep coming at Christmas now that Huldah's gone."
It was a good question. Fourteen years separated the oldest cousin from the youngest. Some were busy with college; others were starting jobs, getting married, or starting a family. Though they shared many childhood memories, they were too old to create new ones through games of hide-and-seek and too young to have many adult experiences in common. Plus, they lived in three different states.
Huldah's passing could have easily turned family into distant relatives. But, a few months later, my husband's parents and his aunts and uncles started talking: "You have to get together, so you can get to know each other as adults," they said to the cousins. "Otherwise, you'll never be part of each other's lives."
It took a couple of years, but, thanks partly to their organization and partly to their pressure, the Converse Reunion was born - and we've been re-uniting with my husband's cousins and their families for the past 10 years.
At our first get-together, the cousins rehashed details of their youth. For many of the stories, we in-laws could only listen and ask questions, but in subsequent years, childhood tales have given way to conversations that both cousins and spouses could appreciate. The present is mixed in with the past.
Our age difference no longer matters. Just as the older generation predicted, we've gotten to know each other, and we've learned that we like each other.
For years, we united simply because we were Huldah's children and grandchildren (or had married one of them). But now, we're connected by more than blood. We re-unite, because we choose to. We understand that it isn't the food that brings us to the table, it's the people sitting around that table.
And to be honest, it's no longer my husband's generation who reaps the most benefit from our get-togethers. It's the current third generation -- the oldest of whom is 19. They're surrounded, embraced, and celebrated by a group of adults who care about who they are and who they are becoming.
A new generation of silly moments and remembrances is emerging, and through that process, we unite.
Journal Entry: Write about one of your cousins. Describe a time you were together as children and another time you met as adults.
Note: This text is part of a longer piece, originally published in The Christian Science Monitor.
Amy Stockwell Mercer, former LM Columnist and Blog Editor, is giving away one copy of her new book. A Smart Woman's Guide to Diabetes is filled with advice, tips, and research from women living with the disease as well as doctors, nurses, nutritionists, and educators.
Leave a comment and your email address at the end of this post, and you'll be entered in her random drawing. Or, if you prefer, send your comment via email to lmblog(at)literarymama(dot)com. Entry deadline: September 8th.
Interested in what inspired Amy to write this book? Check out her Chronic Mama columns, published at Literary Mama from 2008 to 2010.
Stories of the Body: A Retreat
September 30-October 2nd, 2011
San Rafael, California
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"Stories of the Body: A Retreat" will take place the weekend of September 30-October 2nd, 2011 at the peaceful Santa Sabina Center in San Rafael, CA. Led by Literary Mama creative nonfiction editor Susan Ito, the retreat will be an opportunity for writing, reflection, contemplation and sharing.
Susan writes: "We all have a body. Motherhood changes our bodies, and the way we see them, in complex and unique ways. We'll explore the stories that come from our bodies while nurturing them, writing about them, playing in the art & collage room, or spending an hour as a hermit in Santa Sabina's simple and lovely straw-bale Hermitage."
Special discounts will be given for Literary Mama readers and especially for those who might travel a long distance to attend the retreat. Contact Susan Ito directly at susan(at)susanito(dot)com for information or to register, and include "Literary Mama/retreat" in the subject line.
We're pleased to feature this reader's response to one of our For Your Journal writing prompts.
Amanda King shares these thoughts about a picture she drew when she was in 5th grade:
Journal Entry: Write about the challenges of keeping a secret and the consequences of revealing it.~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
When I was in 5th grade, there was a boy named Jason who was wild and unpredictable. He had just moved to our town, but he had very quickly gathered a group of friends. I sat near them one day at the lunch table and listened uncomfortably to their conversation.
The group of boys were calling out the names of girls in our class, and Jason would say whether he'd like to a) Hold Hands with this girl, b) Kiss her or c) Have "bed sex" with her.
I was raised in a home dripping with, lathered, honey drenched, saturated with the wrath of the Lord. Although there were plenty of whispers about things happening in the dark corners of the sanctuary, (her uncle made her touch him during private guitar lessons... after his car accident he lost his impulse control and his daughter started peeing the bed... he gave the babysitter a ride home and she says he was drunk...) sex was not something to talk about, think about or even wonder about. If you wondered about naked bodies and what they did, exactly to make a baby, you were a sinner of the worst kind.
So, I was a fifth grade girl and we had started to learn about sex in school. They took all of the boys into another room and gave them pamphlets with blue covers, instead of pink. We learned about tampons and armpit hair, how to ease the pain of menstrual cramps. One day, the nurse put a condom on a banana.
I picked up little things about boy parts and girl parts, how the boy had a hotdog and the girl had a bun. I thought I had a pretty okay understanding of sex, especially since I spent the first few years of my formative life in a trailer park. The boy had a wiener that was pink and smooth and jiggly, and he would lay it in my bun, someday. Easy enough. And then somehow, magically, a baby was born.
I took some paper and markers upstairs to my room and I sat Indian-style on my bed with a hard backed book in my lap, and I drew a picture of a naked lady with boobs, and a naked man, with a hotdog. They were laying in bed together. I labeled their actions as "bed sex" like that bad boy at the lunch table had done. And then my mother threw open my bedroom door.
I freaked out and jammed the picture under my pillow. She asked me what I was doing, and I told her nothing. Nothing! She snooped and found the picture, and the holy wrath of God the Father was upon me. I was in SO MUCH TROUBLE.
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Amanda can be reached at demandablue(at)hotmail(dot)com.
The online literary journal for women, damselfly press, is seeking electronic submissions of original fiction, poetry, and nonfiction by female writers only.
The seventeenth issue will be available Oct 15th, 2011. Submissions are due by Sept 15th, 2011.
Their latest publication, Issue 16, includes a brand new audio feature.
These are the e-mails per genre editor:
Fiction: jennifer(at)damselflypress.net
Poetry: lesley(at)damselflypress.net
Nonfiction: nonfiction(at)damselflypress.net
Replace (at) with @ in sending e-mail messages.
Visit damselfly's website for more information.
Do you keep a journal - or wish you could get one started? Literary Mama wants to help.
Three times a month, I'll post a writing prompt. Open a notebook and write for 10 minutes. Don't worry about grammar or punctuation - just write. Then let the writing simmer and your mind wander for awhile.
And who knows? Maybe you'll discover a character for your next short story or a theme for a narrative essay. Or maybe you'll use the idea to create a special holiday card or photo album for someone in your family. However you decide to use your journal entry, I know you'll enjoy re-reading it months--and years--down the road.
Also: Every three months, I'll accept submissions and choose a few pieces to post for LM readers to enjoy.
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The 2011 Consumer Reports State of the Net survey found that more than one-third of the minors who actively use Facebook are under age 13 and shouldn't be using the site. (Facebook's policies require all users to be at least 13 years of age.) Of those under age 10, 18 percent were not "friends" with their parents and even fewer had spoken with their parents about online behavior and threats.
But the report also noted that social network sites manipulate privacy policies and settings so they can capture more personal information and, that because of federal electronic privacy laws, cannot close a child's account just because a parent requests it.
Some say the government should tighten age verification procedures for websites; others say parents should be more vigilant.
What do you think?
Journal Entry: What rules should be established regarding children and social networking sites? Should the rules by driven by the family or the government? Write an opinion piece, citing a personal example to support your position.
Chicken Soup for the Soul: Family Caregivers
101 Stories of Love, Sacrifice, and Bonding
We are excited to announce that we are working with Joan Lunden on this book, which will be published in March 2012. Joan is very passionate about this topic as she is the family member in charge of her mother's care.
Caring for a family member on an on-going basis is a very difficult task, whether the care is in your home, the patient's home, or an outside facility. It requires the caregiver to be patient, kind, compassionate and giving. And having a little humor doesn't hurt!
Are you caring for a child, spouse, partner, or sibling due to a chronic illness or long-term or permanent physical or mental disabilities? Did you move in with a family member to care for him or her due to age-related illness? Are you part of the "sandwich" generation -caring for a parent and a child at the same time?
Or are you the person receiving care from a family member? Your stories are important too.
(Please know that we are in awe of professional caregivers, but we are only seeking stories about family members caring for family members for this book.)
The true stories in this book will show how lives change when caregiving becomes your responsibility. They will describe how the relationship between loved ones is affected when long-term care is needed. They will point out ways in which laughter or a silver lining can be found during a difficult time. And they will inspire and support family members who are making sacrifices to make sure their loved ones are well cared for.
Please do not submit eulogies or biographies of your loved one. We want to hear about the caregiving relationship, either from the point of view of the caregiver or from the point of view of the person being cared for.
If your story is chosen, you will be a published author and your bio will be printed in the book if you so choose. You will also receive a check for $200 and 10 free copies of your book, worth more than $100. You will retain the copyright for your story and you will retain the right to resell it.
Please remember, we do not like "as told to" stories. Please write in the first person about yourself or someone close to you. Do not ghost write a story for someone else, except in the case of the person you are caring for, if that person would like some help doing the writing! If a story was previously published, we will probably not use it unless it ran in a small circulation venue. Let us know where the story was previously published in the "Comments" section of the submission form.
SUBMISSIONS GO TO http://chickensoup.com
Select the Submit Your Story link on the left tool bar and follow the directions.
The deadline date for story submissions is August 31, 2011.
Do you keep a journal - or wish you could get one started? Literary Mama wants to help.
Three times a month, I'll post a writing prompt. Open a notebook and write for 10 minutes. Don't worry about grammar or punctuation - just write. Then let the writing simmer and your mind wander for awhile.
And who knows? Maybe you'll discover a character for your next short story or a theme for a narrative essay. Or maybe you'll use the idea to create a special holiday card or photo album for someone in your family. However you decide to use your journal entry, I know you'll enjoy re-reading it months--and years--down the road.
Also: Every three months, I'll accept submissions and choose a few pieces to post for LM readers to enjoy.
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Dear Ellen,
Last night, you asked it if was hard to be a mom. At that particular time, I was rushing to get dinner on the table, one ear tuned in to you, the other tuned into the argument that was brewing between your brothers in the basement.
I sighed and hurriedly answered, "Yes, sometimes it is, but it's all worth it. Now go find something to do."
My answer was rushed a bit flippant, but you were satisfied.
"Good," you said, "cause I want to be a mom when I grow up." Then, with a big smile, you skipped off to join the noise in the basement.
After you went to bed, I thought a bit more about your question and my answers. And yes, being a mom is hard work. In fact, sometimes it's downright difficult. ...
If you're interested, you can read the rest of my letter in Chicken Soup for the Mother of Preschoolers Soul (2006).
Journal Entry: Write a letter to your child. Is it hard to be a mom?
Arms Wide Open is both prequel and sequel to midwife Patricia Harman's first memoir, The Blue Cotton Gown, which recounts events from a tough sixteen-month period of her life through the collective stories of her patients. In contrast, Arms Wide Open is her story, is told to the reader based on three journals that take us from Harman as a young mother living a sustainable, isolated life with her lover and son in a log cabin in the wilds of northern Minnesota; to Harman's life as a wife, mother and passionate birth advocate living in the hippie Commune on the Ridge who finds her calling as a midwife; to that of a mature, successful midwife and co-owner of a women's clinic living in a suburban, gated community in the Cedar House on Hope Lake in West Virginia. In her clear, strong voice Harman explores how she journeyed from point A to B through nature, birth and motherhood.
Harman's connection to the natural world is evident throughout the memoir. An early encounter with a bear on her front porch leaves her with a lasting connection to the bear as totemic symbol and future guide. Deliberate celebrations of summer and winter solstices throughout the years reveal her belief in the power of the earth. Harman has a curious wonder and keen eye that sees, appreciates, and captures the small wonders that might go unnoticed by others. These qualities bring life to her work, especially when writing about her interactions with nature.
As a midwife's memoir, the profound effect that caring for birthing women has on Harman's life is unmistakable. Arms Wide Open points to the connections between the work of birthing a child and the work of life, as both physically and emotionally challenging. At first, Harman is engaged in the hard physical work of chopping wood and trekking through the wilderness of rural northern Minnesota, turning the soil with bare hands to plant vegetables. Later, her work evolves into the work of birth, hands slick with olive oil welcoming babies into the world. Further still, she engages in her life's work with an open mind and heart to wipe away the tears of women patients who are floundering, to hold the hands of her spouse and children, to love them unconditionally and ease their suffering, and to encourage and reach out to others even when she herself is hurting.
In labor what might work to ease one contraction, won't ease them all. Women must move, change, and adjust in birth. Just as in life, Harman's book serves to remind us, the ideals or lifestyle in one phase of our life might not sustain us throughout. We have to be malleable, to be able to break ties, however painful, and to move on. Though this is hard, it is necessary. Harman shares several times, most poignantly when she leaves her lover and son in Minnesota to pursue her own dreams, in which she transforms herself in order to enter the next phase of life's journey.
As all mothers learn, this changing and shifting doesn't end with birth. It is only the beginning of a phase where we must learn to constantly adapt to the changes within ourselves, partners and children. As mothers, we must learn to let go. Harman struggles with this, as we all do, when her eldest son moves to Russia with his family and when her youngest son works to find his place in the world and moves back into the empty nest. We quietly hold our own pain and support our children with amoeba-like grace, stretching ourselves around our loved ones and surrendering to change.
Harman's memoir stands as an example by presenting moments of joy and pain, mistakes and successes, a life laid bare. If we read between the lines, her hope for us, as readers, mothers and human beings, is clear. May we be passionate about our lives, loved ones, and the earth. May we embrace our work, learn to surrender, and remember to enjoy the fruits of our labors. May we live with our hearts on our sleeves, care deeply and love fiercely. But mostly, may we ride the waves of life and embrace the journey with arms wide open.
The Tenth Glass Woman Prize will be awarded for a work of short fiction or creative non-fiction (prose) written by a woman. Length: between 50 and 5,000 words. The top prize for the tenth Glass Woman Prize award is US $500 and possible (but not obligatory) online publication; there will also be one runner up prize of $100 and one runner up prize of $50, together with possible (but not obligatory) online publication.
Subject is open, but must be of significance to women. The criterion is passion, excellence, and authenticity in the woman's writing voice. Previously published work and simultaneous submissions are OK. Authors retain all copyright is retained by the author.
There is no reading fee.
Previous winners are welcome to submit again for any subsequent prize.
Submission deadline: Setpember 21, 2011 (receipt date; anything received after that date will be considered for a future prize). Notification date: on or before December 21, 2011.
The winners will be announced on this web page. Submissions will not be returned, rejected, or otherwise acknowledged except for the winner and results announcement on this web page. I promise that every submission will be read with respect and with commitment to the voices of women in this world.
Only one submission per person per submission period, by email, with "Glass Woman Prize Submission" in the subject line and the text pasted in the body of the email (no attachments!*) to:
IMPORTANT:
- "Glass Woman Prize Submission" in subject line
- Text in body of email
- Please put your email address in the body of the email as well
I will regretfully ignore and delete submissions of anything other than specified above, for example: submissions with any kind of attachment*, more than one piece of writing in a given prize reading period, more than 5,000 words, poetry, plays, or submissions without "Glass Woman Prize Submission" in the subject line of the email.
*Please note that some fancy email stationery comes across as attachment; almost all illustrations come across as attachments; please do not use them in connection with the Glass Woman Prize.
For additional information, visit the Glass Woman Prize website.
At what age, for what purpose, and in what form will you share the secrets of your past with your children?
Author Dani Shapiro addressed this issue in an essay published in mid-July by The New York Times. She wrote this about Slow Motion, a memoir she penned before she married and started a family:
"Before I became a mother, I spent many years writing with no thought that some day I might have a child... I've often wondered whether I would have written that memoir -- one of seven books to my name, but the only one I would bodily throw myself in front of my son to prevent him from reading -- if the timing had been different, if the idea for it had taken root in me only after he had been born. It's a book I'm proud of, and the artist in me would like to think that I would have written it no matter what. But the mother in me isn't so sure. I might have stopped myself, for fear of what he might think some day. Certainly, it would have been a very different book, bearing the marks of time, maturity, experience. After all, one can't write with abandon if one is worrying about the consequences. And to have children is to always, always worry about the consequences."
It's an issue few writer-mamas think about until faced with a dilemma. On the flip side, is a writer compromising her craft if she meets a family member's request to not write about a specific experience?
Check out these essays from the LM Archives for more thoughts on the subject:
Exposure by Asha Dornfest: "Before I became a mother, there wasn't a single dark story in me. It's ironic that only now, when there are potential casualties, do the stories flow freely, unbidden, and beg to be told."
I Am a Secret Novelist by Marian Berges: "I'm still trying to keep my secret, but I'm not going to be able to much longer. We can't really hide from our children."
I wish you'd quit writing about me by Cindy La Ferle: "But it didn't occur to me, at first, that personal writing made public could be a tad self-indulgent if you got too careless -- or that what you might consider a "cute" family anecdote could mean nothing less than lunchroom hell to your kid."
What do YOU think?
A Room of Her Own's To the Lighthouse Poetry Publication Prize will be awarded for the best, unpublished poetry collection by a woman.
Submit 48 to 96 pages of poetry postmarked by August 31, 2011.
The $20 reading/entry fee is payable by check or money order to A Room of Her Own - please indicate "To the Lighthouse PPP" in the memo line.
Include a self-addressed stamped postcard (SASP) with your package for notification of receipt.
Your name and address should appear on the cover sheet only, along with the manuscript title, and your address and telephone number.
The award amount is $1000 and publication of your poetry collection by Red Hen Press. The winner will be contacted by phone or email prior to the web announcement date.
Send manuscript, SASP, cover sheet, and check (postmarked by 8/31/2011) to:
A Room Of Her Own
Attn: To the Lighthouse PPP
PO Box 778
Placitas, NM 87043
For more information, visit the A Room of Her Own website.
So ... How's your journaling? Would you like to share an entry with LM readers?
Until August 14th, we'll accept responses to the For Your Journal writing prompts posted in April, May, June, and July. We'll offer our feedback on each response privately before the end of the month and post our favorites to the LM Blog. Please email your responses of 400 words or less to lmblog(at)literarymama(dot)com with the words For Your Journal submission in the subject line. Submissions--up to two per person--should be in the text of an email; please do not send attachments. If submitting two responses, please submit in separate emails.
Here's a recap of the writing prompts:
April
~~ Find a poem that makes you say "That's it!"and use it as a template to write one of your own. Read the entire prompt here.
~~ Write about the challenges of keeping a secret and the consequences of revealing it. Read the entire prompt here.
~~ Choose one story about one ancestor and write what you know. Read the entire prompt here.
May
~~ Pretend your child is president of the United States. What advice would you share and how would you share it? Read the entire prompt here.
~~ Write about a time your child taught you how to play a game. What was the most important rule? Read the entire prompt here.
~~ How do you respond to your child's questions of "What's war?" "What does a soldier do?" and "Why is the flag only halfway up the flagpole?" How does your response change based on the child's age? Read the entire prompt here.
June
~~ Name an item you were reluctant to purchase for your family but since doing so, are glad you did. Describe a time your family used this item. Read the entire prompt here.
~~ What made-up words dominate your family conversations? Write a dictionary definition for each one. Then, re-create a scene and conversation in which it was used. Read the entire prompt here.
~~ What makes patriotism "hot" for you and your family? What makes your heart beat faster; what brings your hand to your heart and tears to your eyes? Read the entire prompt here.
July
~~ What role does marriage play in your family? How do your views compare with those of your parents? Is marriage one of your dreams for your children. Read the entire prompt here.
~~ Describe a time YOU were rewarded for completing a project. How did the reward make you feel about the project? Did it encourage you to do more? Read the entire prompt here.
~~ Write about a time you were in the "passenger seat." What did you learn from your child? Read the entire prompt here.