2009 Kathy Fish Fellowship

The winner of the Fellowship will receive $500.00, to be paid as follows: $100.00 on announcement of the winner, and $100.00 upon publication of each of the four issues in 2009.

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It seems that many awards in people's names are established posthumously. We're ecstatic that we can recognize Kathy Fish while she's still very much alive and kicking. As she stepped down as our Fiction Editor, we at SmokeLong wanted to recognize Kathy's enormous contributions to the magazine and to the writing community as a whole. In particular, Kathy has always been a great champion of new writers and has exhibited an uncanny talent for finding previously unpublished writers whose work just shines.

We want to foster that sort of commitment to new writers, and in that vein, we created the Kathy Fish Fellowship. All writers previously unpublished in SmokeLong Quarterly are eligible to apply. Following are the guidelines for application and the terms of the award itself:

Application Guidelines
1. Applications should be emailed to fellowship@smokelong.com.
2. Applications should include five samples of your flash fiction (stories of a thousand words or less). These samples may be unpublished or previously published in venues other than SmokeLong. We'll be reading these to get impressions of each applicant's writing. The writing samples should, as a whole, best reflect your ability, style(s), etc. Show us who you are as a writer through these samples.
3. Applications should include a few paragraphs (under a thousand words total) about what you hope to accomplish in the next year with your flash writing. Are there specific elements you want to improve? A larger story you want to tell through a series of flashes? Help us learn how we can help you realize your goals should you win this award.
4. Samples and paragraphs about goals, etc. should be included in the body of the email, rather than as attachments.
5. There is no application fee.
6. Application deadline is December 20, 2008.

Fellowship Awards
1. The winner of the 2009 Kathy Fish Fellowship will be considered a "writer in residence" at SmokeLong for each of the four issues to be published in 2009. Each issue will include one flash by the Fellowship winner.
2. The winner of the Fellowship will receive $500.00, to be paid as follows: $100.00 on announcement of the winner, and $100.00 upon publication of each of the four issues in 2009.
3. The winner will be announced January 20, 2009.

Again, this award is open to any writer not previously published in SmokeLong Quarterly. It is not restricted to writing program students (as we are all, in some way, students of writing), although we will certainly be distributing this announcement to various writing programs. We also encourage teachers of writing to pass this announcement along to their students.

We're looking forward to reading your applications, and we want to once again extend our deepest gratitude to Kathy for all she's done for SmokeLong and for writers of flash fiction. Thank you, thank you, thank you, Kath.

Previous Fish Fellows
2007: Beth Thomas
2008: Stefanie Freele

Short Story Market - Familymaker

Familymaker, an online magazine currently in start-up production, is seeking freelance writers to contribute short, original narratives or queries on family-centered themes. Articles should be anecdotal, around 500 words, and based in personal experience, observation, or interview.

We seek to present a wide range of topics within the broad themes of parenting, family-building, practical concerns, challenges to expect, advice, suggested activities, and humor. Our expected audience will include, but not be restricted to, young families. We hope for positive and informative articles, human interest stories that share insights and experience.

Following is a brief list of suggested topics that we do have interest in, though it is not required that proposals, draft essays, or queries be specifically on these topics:
•Survival skills for hard economic times
•Stay at home Dads
•Pros and Cons of Home Schooling
•How recession may reshape family values
•Making an intercultural marriage work
•Teenagers' advice to their parents
•Planning for your future
•Adoption experiences
•Fostering children in need
•Preparing for family life
•The value of marriage
•Pitfalls and challenges

Submissions should be the author’s original material, and preferably unpublished. In the event that any submission is chosen for publication, compensation ranging from $30-$100 will be offered at the editor’s discretion. Payment will follow publication.

Please send draft essays on speculation, or queries, and brief biographical information, to the Managing Editor at kay@familymakermag. org

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Pumping Your Muse (Creative writing book)

Windwalker (Fantasy)

Beyond the Fifth Gate (Fantasy)

For more about the author of this blog check out Theinkslinger.net.