Seeking Personal Stories about Mothers and Motherhood

The story site Common Ties has been publishing personal stories to rave reviews since October 2006. Among its themes, Common Ties is seeking stories about mothers and motherhood to be published starting on Mother's Day. The deadline is May 8.

Most of us retain powerful stories about our mothers/stepmothers/female legal guardians. Your mother might have gotten you the lead in all the school plays, been a shoulder to cry on during hard times, been the inspiration for your current career, or instilled in you values you still hold dear. Or she might have had trouble resisting the bottle or the whip and been the cause of more years of counseling than Woody Allen has had. Most likely you have both good and bad memories, and we would love to see your most compelling stories based upon those memories. You can also tell stories about other mothers you have known, as well as your own experience with motherhood.

Typical payment is between $100 and $200 and in some cases, can reach up to $1,000. Stories should be between 750 and 3,000 words.

Ericka Lutz on American Public Media Show "The Story"

LM Senior Editor and Red Diaper Dharma columnist, Ericka Lutz, wrote a column, "Truth. Parenting. Sex. Ouch." several months ago about talking with her daughter about sex. Ericka and her daughter Annie's interview with the American Public Media Show "The Story with Dick Gordon" produced by WUNC, will be broadcast Friday, April 27 at 1:00 p.m. (EST). Ericka spent an hour taking about sex ed with her daughter and the interviewer. Of the experience, Ericka explained it was, "Exhausting. Nervewracking. Really wonderful."

There are lots of ways to listen:

LIVE... if you live in an area that gets "The Story."

STREAMING ... on the Internet from the WUNC website at 1:00 p.m. (EST) www.wunc.org. ONLY in North Carolina Fridays, 1:00 p.m. (EST). CLICK the red LISTEN NOW category and choose a program to listen on your desktop.

PODCAST... using the player of choice (iPod, MP3, SanDisk, PubCatcher, etc...) by entering this link: http://thestoryonline.org/archive/podcast.xml

XM SATELLITE RADIO... Wednesday-Saturday at 2:00 a.m. (EST) on Channel 133

ARCHIVE... of the show at: http://thestory.org/archive/

Call for Submissions: Glimmer Train

Glimmer Train Press is looking for short stories (12,000 word limit)about family matters. The dates are April 1-30 and October 1-31. The editors at Glimmer Train want "stories to READ like fiction."

http://www.glimmertrain.com/familymatters.html

A crusading publisher pushes Niger's limits

Read Under The Saharan Sun columnist Jennifer Margulis's latest story in The Christian Science Monitor: A crusading publisher pushes Niger's limits, Maman Abou's anti-corruption scoops are profitable, but dangerous to report.

http://www.csmonitor.com/2007/0417/p20s01-woaf.htm

Abou, a free speech crusader who owns Niger's biggest publishing house tells Margulis, "I'm human like everyone else. We're always scared that something bad will happen to us, but I'm not scared enough to give up the struggle or my convictions."

Choice Mom Expo

The first ever large scale Choice Moms Expo (a single mother by choice) will be held in the San Francisco/Berkeley area on Saturday April 28. This event will feature more than 14 expert speakers on fertility, financial planning, how to adopt, parenting advice, dating and answering the daddy question. Even if you can't make it to the expo, the Choosing Single Motherhood website (http://www.choosingsinglemotherhood.com) includes a discussion group, newsletter, resource links and the award winning book, Choosing Single Motherhood.

Book Deal: Congratulations to Sophia Raday!

Fans of former LM editor Sophia Raday's column Mommy Athens, Daddy Sparta will be delighted to hear that Sophia has recently signed a contract with Beacon Press for a memoir about her "red state, blue state" marriage. Look for the book in Spring 2009.

Mom TV?

Notes from the Underbelly is getting decidedly mixed reviews, but read one Literary Mama's take on it. Former LM columnist Liz Finn-Arnold reviews the new sitcom over on TV Squad.

Crazyhorse/Tupelo Press Publishing Institute

The first annual Crazyhorse/Tupelo Press Publishing Institute will be held June 4-30, 2007. The institute offers hands-on opportunities for graduate students and emerging writers to learn about literary publishing. At the institute, students will work with Crazyhorse Editors Carol Ann Davis and Garrett Doherty in classroom and real-world settings; Jeffrey Levine, Tupelo Press Publisher and Editor-in-Chief, will offer guest lectures as well. Over the course of 4 weeks, students will participate in the process of choosing 25 finalists for the 8th annual Tupelo Press First book Prize, and receive a behind the scenes look at how a first book in poetry becomes successful. For more information please visit http://crazyhorse.cofc.edu/pubinstitute or contact Carol Ann Davis at davisca@cofc.edu.

Hip Mama Essay

Would you give a newborn baby a sugar cookie? Even if you were desperate? Read about that first cookie in Caroline Grant's essay on Hip Mama. Caroline edits Literary Reflections and writes the column Mama at the Movies.

San Francisco MotherTalk with Santa Montefiore

Join Literary Reflections editor Caroline Grant and British writer Santa Montefiore on Sunday, April 22nd at 7:30 p.m.,for a reading and conversation about Montefiore's new novel, The Gypsy Madonna:

Elegant Anouk, a dealer in American antiques, dies leaving the Metropolitan museum an uncatalogued, multimillion dollar painting by Titian. Her son, Mischa, never even knew she owned it. This mystery sends him on the trail of his own history, back to that French village of his childhood. He expects to uncover the origins of the Gypsy Madonna; he never expects to find himself.

As with all MotherTalks, there's no need to read the book first, just come for good food, conversation, and pick up a signed copy at the event.

For more information, email Caroline Grant at reflections (at) literarymama (dot) com

Philadelphia MotherTalk with Maribeth Fischer

Philly area moms won't want to miss Literary Mama co-founder Andi Buchanan and Miriam Peskowitz, both of MotherTalk Inc., in a conversation with Maribeth Fischer, author of the novel The Life You Longed For.

"Mother Talk" is an old-fashioned literary salon with good food, good company, and good conversation. And you don't have to read the book first -- just come for the wine and conversation and pick up a signed copy from the author while you're there.

Location: 2200 Delancey Place, Philadelphia, PA
Friday, April 20, 7:00pm

Focus on Amy Hudock!

This month, Literary Mama profiles our brilliant Editor-in-Chief, Amy Hudock. Read about the birth of our magazine and get an insight into the woman who got us all started and keeps us all going.

Amy is also currently featured in SKIRT! magazine's "she'ssoskirt" section. "Motherhood is how I found my voice," Amy says.