Spotlighted Literary Events

Nov. 2nd, 10 am: Speed-dating pitch session with literary agents at Boston's Hotel 140. Sponsored by Maine Writers & Publishers Alliance.

Nov. 2nd, 7 pm: rick j, Mindy Dillard, and Mikey Golightly join musical and authorial forces at Portland's Three Friends Coffee House.

Nov. 4th, 7 pm: John Irving (Last Night in Twisted River) at Portland's Bagdad Theatre. Tickets: $28.

Halloween To-Do List

Zinesters Talking at MCL

When you think of the library, a few things may come to mind: librarians in cardigans and glasses that shush you if you're too loud, fines you don't want to pay, long lines for the computer....but what about zines?

That's right, zines! Did you know that Multnomah County Library is actually one of the greatest resources in Portland for zines and zine events? Zines, short for magazines, are self-published little gems of creativity that can range in topics from building a backyard chicken coop to autobiographical comics. Not only does MCL have a great zine collection available for checkout, but they also host a speaker series called Zinesters Talking where zinesters from both near and far talk about their work and zine culture. The series is currently in its fifth year, and there is only one session left, so be sure to check it out!

Tuesday, November 3, 6:30–7:45 p.m. Central Library, U.S. Bank Room

Historic Zinesters Talking:

Discuss the recent history of chapbooks, poetry and zines in Portland with Kevin Sampsell (co-author of Haiku Inferno; publisher, Future Tense Books; and small press champion, Powell's City of Books) and Leanne Grabel, poet (Lonesome and Very Quarrelsome Heroes, Short Poems by a Short Person), performer and teacher. Both events in the Historic Zinesters Talking series will be recorded and cataloged in the library's podcast collection.

Photo Story Prompt: Skyscraper

Write whatever comes to you--short or long, fiction or truth.


We'd love to see what you come up with! Post your story in a comment below, or e-mail it to photostory@indigoediting.com.

Feel free to comment on each other's stories and just generally enjoy the process of playing with the written word and the world it creates.

Happy writing!

Photo: "Skyscraper in Puddle" by Tim Schnurpfeil

Editorial Tip of the Week: Know Nouns Now (Halloween Edition)

Ah, the noun. One of the most essential parts of the English language. So important, in fact, that the Orange Word Wonder dedicates nearly seven pages to an exploration of its definition and use. Because, of course, Chicago reminds us that it is the noun that allows us to name things. It is because of nouns that we can differentiate between the guy dressed up as a superhero and the one in the corner dressed as Scooby Doo.

More importantly, how else could I develop so many pet names for my peachy punctuation guide? It's true. Without nouns, we'd be lost. So let's use 'em properly and learn those properties, eh?

The Tangerine Taskmaster tells us "nouns have four properties: case, gender, number, and person."

Case includes nominative, objective, and possessive: the ghost is over there (nominative), see the black cat (objective), the witch's brew is ready (possessive). The noun only changes when using the possessive.

Gender "classifies nouns into masculine, feminine, and neuter." In English, the entire noun often changes to denote "male or female humans or animals."

Jenny and Freddy went as a witch and a warlock, but Elizabeth and Don won the costume contest with their duo the mare and the stallion.

However, compound nouns also "contain specifically masculine or feminine nouns or pronouns."

"The headless horseman is after my girlfriend!" he exclaimed.

Other common usages are nouns used "in personification" or with "feminine suffix such as ess or ix." (Buyer beware: Chicago notes that these suffixes are quickly becoming "archaic.")

Finally, number indicates whether the noun is singular or plural (It takes less time to carve a pumpkin, but a lot of pumpkins are much more festive!).

Person "shows whether an object is speaking (we the ghosts will haunt forever), spoken to (ghosts, begone!), or spoken about (the ghosts were hauled out of the haunted house and revealed as fakes).

Boo!

Just kidding, the ghost weren't real. Pay attention!

Spotlighted Literary Events

Oct. 25th, 6:30 pm: Joan Mairs invites you to read and browse works by NW authors Jerry Isom, David Oates, Penelope Scambly Schott and Joseph A. Soldati at Portland's Moonstruck Chocolate Cafe. Free, donate to support girls' orphanage in rural Haiti.

Oct. 30th, 6 pm: Roving Writers Read at Flying Cat Coffee Co., 3041 SE Division. Prose and poetry on spookier subjects--such as skeletons in family closets and humans behaving monstrously. Thea Constantine, Gloria Geiser, Eleanor Malin, Diana Rogero, Luna Nova, Cecilie Scott, and Alida Thacher. Open mic to follow.

Oct. 31st, 6 pm: Celebrate Halloween with wine, soda, and readings by Thomas Fucaloro, Christian Georgescu, Robert Harris, Suzanne Heagy, and Sarah Sarai! $8.

Photo Story Prompt: Kite

Write whatever comes to you--short or long, fiction or truth.

We'd love to see what you come up with! Post your story in a comment below, or e-mail it to photostory@indigoediting.com.

Feel free to comment on each other's stories and just generally enjoy the process of playing with the written word and the world it creates.

Happy writing!

Photo: "Kite boy 1" by Colin Brough

Editorial Tip of the Week: Possess the Rules of the Possessive

"Mine!" A common phrase belted out by two-year-olds, jealous significant others, and chocolate lovers everywhere. We humans seem to love knowing that something belongs only to us. Sure, we all claim to know how to share. But what happens when we're all grabbing for the last slice of pizza? Then phrases like "you snooze you lose!" and "finders, keepers!" sometimes override our better, kinder judgment.

Because we all like to differentiate between mine, his, hers, theirs, and ours, the possessive becomes essential to our daily lives. Whether it be blogging, conversing, or writing the newest and greatest American novel. Chicago reminds us that "the possessive of most singular nouns is formed by adding an apostrophe and an s, and the possessive of plural nouns (except for a few irregular plurals that do not end in s) by adding an apostrophe only." However, there are a few particulars that you might get caught up in when trying to wrangle your possessions together in a sentence.

Does the person's last name end in an s? Then you should be sure it is Jones's brand new, state of the art pumpkin carver. What? Is that weird? You should see it; that guy can carve an Obama pumpkin in four minutes, flat. Efficient and patriotic.

If you have two nouns that are closely linked, remember our Peach Punctuation guide notes they are "considered a single unit in forming the possessive when the entity "possessed" is the same for both; only the second element takes the possessive form. When the entities are different, both nouns take the possessive form."

My sister's and brother's significant others came over for dinner last night and loved our new pumpkin.

Many college grads live in their father and mother's house to save money.

My cats' and dogs' toys.

However, if you are working with compound nouns and noun phrases, "the final element usually takes the possessive form."

Now, go forth and possess things! Although, remember, it does feel good to share!

For more information about specific possessive rules, seee 7.26 - 7.30 in your Chicago.

Spotlighted Literary Events

Oct. 17th, 6 pm: Come to the Writer's Dojo and celebrate the launch of Ink-Filled Page Red Anthology. Music, art, readings, and food galore!

Oct. 22nd, 7 pm: Visit Cornerstone Books in Boston for Thursdays Theatre of Words and Music! Featuring author Julia Glass and music by Julie Dougherty!

Oct. 24th, 2 pm: Marina Marchese will be at Pastaworks in Portland reading from her book Honeybee. Preorder signed book and stay for honey tasting!

Book Talk and Memoir Workshop

Sunday, October 25th 4:00 pm - 6:00 pm
2772 NW Thurman St.
Portland, OR 97210


"At age 61, I was earning a Masters in Teaching degree. As part of my student teaching I taught a section on memoir writing to 8th graders. I thought 'Hey this is fun,' and so I began Some Days Chicken, Some Days Feathers. Part of my mission is to get readers started on their own story. I will conduct a fun-filled, hands-on memoir workshop that will get you scribbling! Join us at The Clearing Cafe for a no-host nosh or glass of Chablis. I promise you some laughs along with giving you the tools to put your history into a format that will impress your family and friends."
-Bob Ferguson, Author of: Some Days Chicken, Some Days Feathers

Accomplishments

2007 Wordsmith winner of The Columbian Newspaper
2008 Hillsboro Argus article about two retired teachers taking students to Korea
2007 Argus article reference to a football great.
2006 Roseburg News review article about 40 years of successful coaching from a wheelchair.

Photo Story Prompt: Airport

Write whatever comes to you--short or long, fiction or truth.


We'd love to see what you come up with! Post your story in a comment below, or e-mail it to photostory@indigoediting.com.

Feel free to comment on each other's stories and just generally enjoy the process of playing with the written word and the world it creates.

Happy writing!

Photo: "Airport" by tania64

Editorial Tip of the Week: One, 101

Many of us who love literature may find ourselves avoiding numbers. Some of us read because we'd rather not calculate. Of course, this definitely isn't true for all bibliophiles! Still, my father often laments that, when Mom was reading to my sister and I, he should've been right there with a calculator showing us that numbers are fun!

However, no matter how hard we try to avoid numbers, they still come up in our writing. They crop up and remind us that because two trains traveling 301 miles will inevitably cross paths at "Point A" or "Point B," you should know when to spell and when to use numerals.

Chicago does.

Generally, Old Orange and Faithful recommends spelling out "whole numbers from one through one hundred, round numbers [hundreds, thousands, hundred thousands, and millions], and any numbers beginning a sentence. For other numbers, numerals are used."

Of course, in scientific or technical material, numerals are typically used across the board. (You know, because they don't have bad childhood memories in which they feel tricked by the promise of "word problems.")

As an alternative rule, Chicago notes "many publications, including those in scientific and financial contexts, follow the simple rule of spelling out only single-digit numbers and using numerals for all others." Buyer beware: this could lead to "awkward locutions," so proceed with caution and "flexibility." Now, if you ask me, ten dollar words are also awkward. Alas, I am not the author of the Tangerine Tablet, and I do appreciate the clarity with which it explains most grammar gripes. Moving on.

Take home: remember to maintain consistency and flexibility when using numbers multiple times in a paragraph or paper. Consistency is the key to success. "If according to rule you must use numerals for one of the numbers in a given category, use them for all in that category. In the same sentence or paragraph, however, items in one category may be given as numerals and items in another spelled out."

For more information, exceptions, and rules, see 9.8 - 9.13 in your own Salmon Syntax Guide.

Spotlighted Literary Events

Oct. 13th, 5 PM: Visit Klindst Booksellers, Oregon's oldest bookstore in continuous operation, for a reading and signing by Shaindel Beers.

Oct. 14th, 4 PM: Portland's own The Monkey and The Rat hosts Anne-Louise Sterry's launch of Aunt Lena's Cucina. Food, wine, music, AND mystery guest!

Oct. 16th, 7 PM: Author Stephanie Griest at the Fine Arts Studio Theater in Nebraska. Reception and book signing to follow! Click here for more info.

Photo Story Prompt: Riding a Bike

Write whatever comes to you--short or long, fiction or truth.


We'd love to see what you come up with! Post your story in a comment below, or e-mail it to photostory@indigoediting.com.

Feel free to comment on each other's stories and just generally enjoy the process of playing with the written word and the world it creates.

Happy writing!

Photo: "Riding a bike" by Mateusz Stachowski

Editorial Tip of the Week: Trading Long Division for Word Division

We've all probably encountered and conquered (hopefully) the white space caused by writer's block. That stark, blank page that makes writers cry, cringe, run, or take a swig of their favorite alcoholic beverage. We all know the hardships of that white space. But what about the other types? Say you're writing a great line, something truly inspired of course, and you
suddenly are forced to drop onto the next line because of space. (Like that visual example, folks? Thought you would.) Now, there's that horrible jolting white space. You know it can be remedied with a simple hyphen, but how? Often something that seems simple may become complicated by a word like knowledge or criticism. Words as "tricksy" as they come.

What was that? Pull out Chicago? Okay, we're getting there already!

I'll have you know that sometimes even Chicago does not have all the answers. Shocking right? Deep breaths. "For end-of-line breaks, as for spelling and plural forms, Webster should be the primary guide. The dots between syllables in Webster indicate where breaks may be made; in words of three syllables or more, there is usually a choice of breaks."

However, there are some hard and fast rules that you can stick to. For instance, single-syllable words should never be divided. Also, "one-letter divisions are not permissible." So, if you were planning on writing like that a-gain, don't.

Chicago does let us know it has an opinion, even if they aren't the foremost guide. The manual recommends "dividing according to punctuation." In doing so, our tricksy term knowledge becomes knowl-edge as opposed to know-ledge.

The Big Orange also suggests dividing after a vowel as long as it does not affect the pronunciation. Thus, criticism should be "criti-cism" not "crit-icism."

For compound words, prefixes, and suffixes, you are actually encouraged to just do what feels right and divide at the "natural breaks." Any displeasure with this freedom becomes "dis-pleasure" not "displea-sure."

Now if you come across a gerund (didn't you know that was what a form derived from a verb that functions as a noun is called? hmmm...), you may divide "before the ing." "Dab-ing, run-ing, fiz-ling." You get the picture.

That is that. For continued fun with hyphens, see 7.30 - 7.45 in your Chicago manual and say bye-bye to ugly white space!

Spotlighted Literary Events

Oct. 6, 7 PM: Songs of Ascension with Norman Fischer & Meredith Monk at Poets House, NY. Cost: $10 or Students/Seniors $7

Oct. 9, 6 PM: Come to Blackbird Wine Shop to taste wine and hear Oregon poets Peter Sears, Shaindel Beers, John Morrison and Pamela Steele.

Oct. 10-11: Wordstock 2009 is finally here! Come enjoy Portland's "annual festival of books, writers, and storytelling" at the Oregon Convention Center!

Photo Story Prompt: Sit and read

Write whatever comes to you--short or long, fiction or truth.


We'd love to see what you come up with! Post your story in a comment below, or e-mail it to photostory@indigoediting.com.

Feel free to comment on each other's stories and just generally enjoy the process of playing with the written word and the world it creates.

Happy writing!

Photo: "sit and read 2" by Sanja Gjenero