Poetry Press Release: SASE at Intermedia Arts

You Are Invited to

Emergence: Intimate Evenings of Poetry and Prose
Writer-to-Writer Mentorship Series Readings
December 11 & 18, 2006

WHEN/WHERE:
Mondays, December 11 & 18, 2006
7:00 PM at Intermedia Arts
2822 Lyndale Ave S, Minneapolis

Join mentors Sun Yung Shin, Joel Turnipseed, and Lyda Morehouse for two spectacular evenings of poetry and prose, featuring fifteen of the twin cities’ most talented emerging writers. Emergence: Intimate Evenings of Poetry and Prose celebrates the passion and dedication of new and emerging writers, and brings to a close our fall semester of Writer-to-Writer, the adult mentorship program in which intimate relationships are created and nurtured between artists, mentors, and the written word.

Fall 2006 Writer-to-Writer Mentees:
Britt Aarnodt
Roseanne Bane
Kelly Barnhill
David Beauvais
Marcus Harcus
Melanie Howard
Jane Levin
James Livingston
April Lott
Argie Manolis
John Medeiros
Chris Pommier
Rob Tregay
John Tribbett
Peggy Vork-Zambory

For the most up-to-date information, call Intermedia Arts at (612) 871-4444 or visit www.intermediaarts.org.

Intermedia Arts is located at
2822 Lyndale Avenue South, Minneapolis, MN 55408.

Intermedia Arts is a catalyst that builds understanding among people through art.

ABOUT WRITER-TO-WRITER:
Writer-to-Writer is an adult mentorship program that gives emerging and
established writers the opportunity to advance to their next level of
artistic development. Participants meet regularly throughout the
program, with one established writer mentoring four-to-six emerging
writers. Writer-to-Writer creates intimate relationships between
artists. Mentors act as artistic catalysts and partners, providing each
mentee with artistic feedback and professional guidance. This program
allows advanced artists to develop their community-based teaching
skills while working to support and strengthen our local literary
community.

Presented by SASE Literary Programs at Intermedia Arts

I Survived My First Poetry Reading in Years

This past Sunday I participated in my first poetry reading since i lived in across the street from Dolores Park in San Francisco in th late '90s. I went a couple times to a bar around the corner on Valencia whose name I forget and would read for three minutes. I remember the cavernous space, the stage and microphone and the luiquid green and blue spot that turned the patrons, most of whom were drunk or nearly drunk into a dim mist. I especially remember the curator motioning the "cut! cut!" motion across her throat as I went over my time and I remember thinking, people really do that?

By contrast the PRISM reading this past weekend was held at a coffeehouse in one of the most beautiful buildings dedicated to the literary arts that I know, OpenBook. I could read for up to an hour. Now, I ask you, what kind of sadistic writer would subject her or his audience to a whole hour of their poetry? Not I. Considering the special sort of trauma that public speaking visits on my brain, I was not prepared to read for more than 20 minutes.

It turned out well I was told. My partner and several of my friends came. Besides them there were maybe 10 or 11 people. The other featured reader was poised and delivered a good reading. His poetry is well worth checking out. His name is Steve Mueske. Below there is a link to his website on the left-hide side of this page under the Poets & Authors heading. He reminded me that humor in poetry is a good thing.

I'm looking forward to the next two readings I have lined up. December 18th at Intermedia Arts in Uptown and January 24th at Intermedia Arts as well. I'll post specifics soon.

Do come.

Enjoy Poetry? Say Hi if You're in Minneapolis This Winter

I haven't had the chance to update this blog in a couple days. I was working on another assignment for Lavender Magazine and scrambling to write a bio and find a picture for a couple upcoming poetry events I'll be reading at. I settled on the picture I have on this page. I really need a newer, less threatening one.

If you're in town, please stop by.

November 26
PRISM Poetry Series
From 1:00 to 3:00
At the Coffee Gallery
In OpenBook
1011 Washington Ave South

December 18
Writer-to-Writer Mentorship Reading
From 7:00 to 9:00pm
At Intermedia Arts
2822 Lyndale Ave S

January 24, 2007
SASE GLBT Reading Series
From 7 to 9 pm
At Intermedia Arts
2822 Lyndale Ave S

Warning: Post Contains Rant About Rejection from a Pro. Fiction Mag.

So, to the left you will see a recent rejection slip from Realms of Fantasy Magazine, one of the top professional markets in the speculative fiction genre.

Now, don't get me wrong, these poor editors have a lot on their plate, I'm sure. However ... HOWEVER, this has got to be the most insulting slip of paper I've gotten in the mail in a long time. I'm including those fake checks that lenders send you that look just like a real check made out in your name for thousand of dollars that say on the back "By signing this you are agreeing to pay back all this money at 500% interest and hand over your cats, too. Both of them."

Those are pretty low, but check out what this form letter says:

We regret that we cannot reply individually to each writer, but the most common reasons for rejection are:

• An old idea
• Unfamiliarity with the rules of grammar and/or composition
• and, most commonly, a story which simply did not "stand out"

You story may or may not have fallen into one of these categories. {emphasis mine}

OK, one expects that a huge magazine like this gets a zillion and a half submission per hour. Very likely a new mathematical formula had to be invented in order to figure out the precise speed at which manuscripts flood their mailboxes, but a simple note that says, "Sorry we couldn't use this at this time," would suffice I think. By implication of this blue slip, either my idea is trite, my grammar is poor, or ... just .. you know ... it sucked. Or perhaps, the caveat goes, it wasn't any of those things. Who knows, we didn't read it. And it ends with a knife-twisting, and I must say ironic, "Sincerely."

My Suggestion

You know what they should institute? And I can't imagine this would take any longer than it currently does to reply. They should just have small slips of paper printed with numbers with check mark boxes next to them. Each number indicates how many pages (or paragraphs) the
person reading the manuscript got through before they tossed it back in its SASE and sent it home. Just add the "We're sorry ... " line to the bottom and you have a useful, easy system that doesn't insult anyone and can actually help the writer understand what the publication might want.

Just my two cents.

Good night.

Writers + Business Sense = Money

I had an experience with a editor recently that really opened my eyes to how important it is for writers to be able to talk about money. Simply put: he offered to pay me $50 for a 650-700 word article. I said that was great, but could he possibly make it $75? When he didn't answer for a couple days, I was sure that I'd lost the job.

When he finally did answer, he said, let's start with 50. That was fine by me, after all I still had the job! So, I wrote the article, edited it, and made sure it was the best I could do. I turned it in right on schedule. He was so happy with the product and my professionalism, he sent me the $75 I asked for!

It may not seem like much, but it was a powerful lesson for me. A fearless attitude coupled with dependability and a well-written article can increase your bottom line.

Now, go forth and haggle!

This entry was posted as a response to a post at the Golden Pencil on a similar topic. And the blog Words on the Page wrote on this subject too.

Tiny Stories: On Writing Short, Short Pieces

It's been quiet here on the blogging front the last few days because I was finishing an assignment for Lavender Magazine, a local GLBT publication here in the Twin Cities. Every year they run their Fab 50 to let the world know what the most fabulous places and things are, and who are the most fabulous people. It hasn't been published yet, but I'll update the blog with the link when it is.

I have to say I enjoyed the type of writing that this required. Short, pithy blurbs of about 150 words each. You might think that limiting yourself to 150 words really stifles creatively, but, if anything, it really inspires the writer to go beyond his or her comfort zone, to examine each and every word. If it doesn't fit, it gets cut.

How do you develop the themes of each piece, include some practical information about each business, television show, or person and still manage to persuade the reader to check out whatever it is your writing about? Well, I can't say that I managed all of those things at once, but my strategy was often to evoke the emotions of the reader through sensory details in order to drawn in and intrigue the audience. Especially if I was writing about a place rather than, say, a TV show.

Ultimately, I guess the rules for good writing still apply, even at the subatomic level. The force of sensory details attracts the fickle reader.

On Querying for Travel Articles

Well, I think this is pretty cool: one of the knowledgeable and prolific Renegade Writers, Diana Burrell, has started a Dear Abby-type question-and-answer column on her blog. I submitted a question recently about an upcoming trip to Belize that my partner and I are taking and here's her answer.

I also applied to have a Career Makeover coordinated by these powerhouses of freelance writing success, but after seeing their first candidate, I kind of doubt they'll be swayed by the short plea that I typed up over a fifteen-minute break at work.

Networking: What not to do

I hate networking. It's such a pain that I think I must be doing it wrong. After all, isn't it supposed to be the holy grail of finding clients and getting work as a writer? I submit here my most recent attempt to connect with other writers and, thereby, more clients.

Editors Editors Everywhere ...

Last night I attended the Minnesota Magazine & Publications Association annual mixer, "A Magazine Celebration." Held at the Open Book building in downtown Minneapolis and hosted by the Loft Literary Center, editors, publishers and especially writers from the local scene attended. After picking up my badge I stepped into the main area and learned a couple new things:

• There are over 300 magazines published in Minnesota.


• Everyone there seemed to already know everyone else there.


• MMPA knows how to pick a pretty good red wine.

It was overwhelming. Sample magazines festooned the walls and overflowed tables. The temperature slowly climbed as more writers filed in until I was flushed and I was sure I was sweating in a very unattractive manner. Editors and publishers dressed in buttoned down shirts and pressed blouses sailed through the crowd making every effort to not meet my eye. This had the effect of making them seem a little ashamed of themselves. Their heads tilted down, eyes unfocused or trained on an empty corner of the room made it appear as though we were moving through two different worlds that coincidently, just for that night, overlapped.

However, I do count the night a partial success, because, if nothing else, I did meet someone there that I knew. Yes, I realize that the point of networking is not to meet people you know already. But seeing someone that I'd already worked with proved to me that I am making progress in cracking the circle of media movers and shakers. I like to call them the mediacrati.

What not to do when trying to work a room

Let this be a warning to you. Dont

• Waste time flipping through magazines or photocopied mastheads.


• Drink more than one glass of the wine.


• Wander aimlessly munching on a cracker so as to "give your hands something to do".


• Cross your arms over your chest, or put your hands in your pockets. Why is it that arms suddenly become superfluous at the most inopportune times?

Finally ...

Minneapolis was perhaps one of the last places in the US that I thought I would end up. But, circumstances being what they are and life being what it is, here I am. Now, after nearly three years (or has it been over three years, now?) I think this city has been a wonderful place to explore new avenues of expression and take on projects that would have been impossible in California, or other expensive and highly-hyped locales. Here I'm eking out an identity that includes

• Freelance writer
• I've written for local magazine Lavender and, years ago, for newspapers in California.
  
• Poet
• Through a Jerome Foundaiton grant, I and 5 other wonderful poets are mentoring with Sun Yung Shin in a program administered by SASE: The Write Place. This mentorship will culminate in a reading at Intermedia Arts . Stay tuned for more details on that.
• Fiction writer
• Journalist
  
• Landlord
• Homeowner
• Blogger
• 9 to 5 cubical jockey
  

You can bet I'll be blogging on all the topics above. As well as issues in the local and national lesbian, gay, queer, intersexual and transgender community.

And perhaps the crowning glory of it all, the jewel in my scepter of self-expression, the pinnacle of literary self-indulgence: I ambivalently present: this blog. Inevitable, no? I thought I would write a mission statement.

Words and Tricks establishes an intellectual space in which I and others can explore the impact of public and private ideas on our lives. The majority of posts I make to this site will concern the public realm of journalism, gathering news from around the web that I think readers will find interesting or compelling. Posting by others to this site will be encourage to foster community. It will also serve as a space for me to post excerpts from my work as a fiction writer and a poet and to market myself as a freelance writer.

So, there. One caveat: I reserve the right to change this statement as my goals for this site change and evolve.

Why have a statement like this? Well, one of the issues that kept me from being even halfway interested in starting a blog is that I'm not interested in posting a personal journal online. This isn't to say that a project like that doesn't have merit (after all, voyeurism is the force that underpins this whole World Wide Web, isn't it?), but that reason simply isn't enough to get me to the computer and pin me there to write And it's all about words. And tricks.

Just a couple days ago I read this post by Guy Kawasaki and I was struck by the first item

1. Think “book” not “diary.” First, a bit of philosophy: my suggestion is that you think of your blog as a "product." A good analogy is the difference between a diary and a book. When you write a diary, it contains your spontaneous thoughts and feelings. You have no plans for others to read it. By contrast, if you write a book, from day one you should be thinking about spreading the word about it. If you want to evangelize your blog, then think “book” not “diary” and market the heck out of it.

Of course, he doesn't believe in mission statements either, but you know ... take what you want and leave the rest. The statement gives this blog the focus it needs to remain pertinent, in my mind.

So, thanks for reading, enjoy and please comment.

Chris Pommier
c.pommier AT yahoo
Minneapolis, MN