My Mom Is My Hero

Being a mother often proves the most difficult, and the most important, job in the world; one that includes conflict but also brings rich — albeit often unspoken — rewards. In this anthology, we seek to honor real-life mothers and, therefore, want inspiring, true, personal stories that speak to the challenges, ultimately positive experiences, and extraordinary relationships between mothers and their children (mothers of all ages, i.e., grandmothers count). The majority of stories in this collection will be written from the adult child's point of view, but it is also acceptable to submit third person stories by authors who have intimate knowledge of the mother and her children. Also a woman who served as a mother figure, who played a significant role, or who performed a heroic deed may also be honored. Heroic deeds range from rescuing a child from physical peril to holding down a steady job and raising children with exceptional values or work ethics. As we will print very few stories focused on illness or dying, we encourage authors to choose another time that illustrates your mother’s unique character, drive, strength, dedication, tenderness, generosity, intelligence, humor, etc. Bring your mother to life on the page and show the world why she is worthy of accolades.

Submission Deadline
November 30, 2007
$100 per published story, plus one copy of the book.*

Early birds may indeed catch the worm!

Please click on Hero Series Guidelines for details.
* The editor will select three stories in each anthology for an additional prize. The First Prize story will earn an additional $100; the Second Prize story will earn an additional $75; and the Third Prize story will earn an additional $50. The editor, not the publisher, is offering the prizes.

Help Wanted: Literary Mama Seeks Web Wrangler!

Job description:

Update the content of the Web site on a weekly schedule, using Moveable Type, FTP, and HTML. Maintain the integrity of the site: update templates and style sheets, fix broken links and outdated code, add new departments or sections as the site grows, and filter and report C Panel statistics. Work closely with Senior Editors to plan and strategize moving our large, complex, heavily-archived site to a new Web host with new authoring tools. Train technical assistants and editors as needed.

Requirements:
The person in this position must be relentlessly cheerful and fearless about figuring out what they don’t know. The job also requires:
· Demonstrated expertise in HTML and Moveable Type 3.
· Knowledge of other authoring systems such as Moveable Type 4, Drupal, and WordPress is a big plus.
· Comfortable with the structure and needs of a large-scale online publication with many authors (beyond the scope of a large blog).
· Unqualified attention to detail.
· Ability to meet weekly deadlines.

This is not a paid position – we are all volunteers here. But it’s part-time, and you’ll get a behind the scenes peek at running an online publication, a fabulous line on your resume, and access to lots of great writers and editors.

To apply, send letter and resume to cmgrant AT speakeasy DOT org

Church Moms

Taken From Leslie Morgan Steiner's "On Balance" this morning:
Elizabeth Eisenstadt Evans left parish ministry in 2002. She is currently a freelance writer, columnist, and supply priest living in Glenmoore, Penn., with her family. One of her projects is editing a collection of cautionary, inspiring, humorous, and candid "stories from the sanctuary" about the lives of female clergy. Are you an ordained woman-on call 24/7, trying to find time for your spouse, kids and maybe even a monthly manicure? Are you expected to give awesome pastoral care, preach sermons that convert hundreds, have kids who are role models for the entire youth group and a "perfect" marriage? She would love to hear your story at Bellettreliz@hotmail.com.

Reproductive Rights

Congratulations to LM's own Susan Ito (Life in the Sandwich) whose essay is featured in the anthology, Choice:True Stories of Birth, Contraception, Infertility, Adoption, Single Parenthood and Adoption edited by Karen E. Bender and Nina de Gramont. In today's Huffington Post, Karen E. Bender writes about the ongoing battle over reproductive rights and the limitless meaning of the word choice. Ms. Bender uses quotes from Susan's essay about her personal struggle and I for one am looking forward to reading these stories!

ARM conference

York University’s 11th annual conference on motherhood, hosted by the Association for Research on Mothering, will focus on something mothers too often ignore – their own health and well-being.

“Mothers around the world are given the responsibility of caring for their families’ health, but while they are taking care of everyone else, their own health often takes a hit,” says Women’s Studies Professor Andrea O’Reilly. “We’re going to be looking at why mothers often end up physically and mentally drained and what types of support they need.”

The Maternal Health and Well-Being Conference, which will be held in downtown Toronto from Oct. 17 to 20, will include a wide range of topics, including work-family balance, postpartum depression, “mother blame”, reproductive rights and racism. A common thread through many of the presentations is health, broadly defined, says O’Reilly, director of the Association for Research on Mothering. The association was formed after the first conference on motherhood was held more than a decade ago and now has more than 600 members internationally.

see Maternal Health and Well Being Conference for details.

New webzine seeking submissions

Carol Ungar is in the process of setting up a webzine that will feature poetry, creative non fiction, fiction and visual arts that explore different aspects of female Jewish identity from a traditional angle---no Rabbi bashing please. Sorry, no pay but hopefully some exposure. Carol is interested in edgy high quality original material, doesn't mind reprints at this point which will leave the reader with an expanded appreciation of the richness of the Jewish traditon.
Email Carol at tzirelchana@yahoo.com Thanks in advance.

Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award

Are you a writer longing to be discovered? Submit your manuscript for the Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award. It’s the perfect opportunity to become the next great novelist: the winning author will receive a publishing contract from Penguin Group, including promotional support for their book on Amazon.com, and a media suite from Hewlett-Packard.
Check out the website for details.

Summer Reading

Caroline Grant is LM's Literary reflections editor and writes, Mama at the Movies.
Caroline has an essay called, "Summer Reading" in the latest issue of Motherverse.

I don't see Ben working to read, although he's been interested in
books and letters since he was a baby. We used to leave a couple
boardbooks along with the stuffed otter and doggie in his crib,
waking some mornings to the sound of him chattering and turning the
thick pages. We called it his morning book group. When he was two,
he got interested in what Tony and I did at our laptops hour after
hour, and he'd asked to type words, too; I still have some of these
files, long lists of his favorite words in giant blue font: "Mama!
Dada! Ben! Cookie!"

Wondertime Magazine

Looking for something new to do with your family that doesn't involve spending a lot of money? Or would you like to find a way to get everyone outside...together?

Check out the November issue of Wondertime Magazine to read Deesha Philyaw's article on geocaching, (complete with photos of her family!) Geocaching is a high-tech treasure hunt. You find hidden "caches" by going to www.geocaching.com and entering your zip code (or the zip code or wherever you want to geocache). You pick a cache--which is hidden somewhere, usually in a waterproof container--and the listing on the website will give you waypoints, longitude and latitude coordinates you enter into a handheld GPS. The GPS directs you to the hidden cache--but only within 30 feet or so, so you really have to search. The caches are filled with small treasures, and if you take something, you leave something for someone else to take.

Deesha writes The Girl is Mine for LM and you can find her website at, The Last Word.

Wondertime magazine can be found at Barnes & Noble bookstores.

Thereby Hangs a Tale

Thereby Hangs a Tale is currently accepting submissions for its fourth print issue, due out in fall 2008. Each issue of Thereby Hangs a Tale explores the stories that form around a single word. For this issue, the word is TASTE. As always, the interpretation is up to the writer! We accept fiction, non-fiction, and essays up to 2,000 words. The deadline is February 15, 2008. For more info and details about submissions, go to www.therebyhangsatale.com

MotherVerse

MotherVerse, a magazine dedicated to the biological, cultural, psychological, and universal state of motherhood has created a new format for mothers:

You don’t have to be a writer or have your own blog to get your voice heard on the internet. MotherVerse wants you to Mother Out Loud right here. We think ALL moms should have the right to speak up, no matter where you are on the globe..no matter who you are or what you do.

So get your voice out there and send us a short (500 words or less) statement on what it is like to mother in your corner of the globe. We have included little ‘interview guide’ if you need a little guidance, but please feel free to go your own direction. We want to hear what you’re thinking about, what you’ve been working on, how the heck you make it day to day, what you love, what you don’t and what you think the world needs to hear. Or, hey, just tell us what’s going on in your living room right now. It doesn’t have to be spectacular, just honest and yours (ok and spellchecked too). If we deem it blog friendly we’ll post it along with your name (aliases are ok), region, photos, and any website link you may have.

Submit your words and any photos you would like included to submissions@motherverse.com with Mothering Out Loud in the subject line. We’ll let you know as soon as it goes up and you can start bragging to your friends. (just a little note, we will assume if you send it you want it published..you will maintain rights to your own work but by submitting it you give us the right to publish it on the blog asap, and, of course, we reserve the right to not publish your work if we so choose).

A Cup of Comfort

Six Great Publishing Opportunities for Personal Stories in the following categories:

Loved Ones of People with Alzheimers (last call)
Divorced Women (deadline extended)
Breast Cancer Survivors (with Redbook Magazine, deadline extended)
Military Families (new)
New Mothers (new)
Adoptive Families (new)

The bestselling A Cup of Comfort book series is now seeking submissions for these six new anthologies. Stories must be true, original, positive, narrative essays (creation nonfiction), and 1,000-2,000 words. Entrants pay no fees. Writers' guidelines: http://www.cupofcomfort.com/share.htm.

The WAHM Magazine

Thanks to Erika Dreifus of The Practicing Writer for the latest tip:

WAHM, the new, interactive, content-driven, virtual on-line magazine for work-at-home parents is coming in January 2008! We're getting ready to launch this innovative approach to providing work-at-home parents with the information they need and want. The WAHMmagazine is a forum and resource for those who currently are or have been full-time or part-time work-at-home-parents. WAHM is designed to disseminate information about the whole enchilada of being a work-at-home parent.

Department features include:

Voices—a featured interview with a work-at-home parent, ideally a well-recognized figure

The Nitty-Gritty—a section devoted to work-at-home business issues
Parenting—well...duh.

Relationships—these need nurturing

My Time—a section devoted to relaxation, rejuvenation and personal time

Health and Fitness—because sometimes our own health and fitness needs get neglected.

Stories from the Trenches—a section devoted to creative non-fiction and fiction that relates to being a work-at-home parent …
got to The WAHM Magazine for submission guidelines.

Parenting 101

Parenting 101

Join the Newswomen's Club of New York at 6:30 pm on October 3rd,
when we discuss the world of writing for parenting magazines. Our
five guests -- all editors at nationally known parenting magazines --
will offer an overview of how to pitch, research and structure
articles ranging from service pieces to personal essays.
They'll also discuss what kinds of ideas do and don't work
for their publications as well as answer questions from those in the
audience.

Our panelists:

Ada Calhoun, Editor-in-Chief, Babble.com and AOL News Blogger

Judy Goldberg, Senior Editor, Parents

Rachel Lehmann-Haupt, Executive Editor, Plum

Jenny Rosenstrach, Senior Editor, Cookie

Joy Press, Culture Editor, Salon

Cost: $20 members/$25 non-members to be paid at door

Location: Playwright Act II restaurant at 732 8th Avenue bet 45th
and 46th in the party room. 212-354-8404. Attendees can get food and
drinks before and after the event.

The Secrets behind Writing and Selling Your First Book

Do you have a great idea for a book but don't know how to go about writing and selling it? Have you written a book that is collecting dust in your desk drawer? If you'd like to know what publishers and agents are really looking for, come to Laura Mazer's, (former Lm columns editor) one-day seminar at the Meridian Gallery in San Francisco on October 21st. Learn the top 10 reasons book proposals are rejected and how to avoid those pitfalls. Learn how to promote yourself so you'll get noticed. This workshop will give you the tools you need to first book project written, sold, published and on the shelves in bookstores.

When: Sunday, October 21st, 10am-4pm.
Where: Meridian Gallery, San Francisco
How: www.mediabistro.com
Fee: $125