« March 2009 | Main | May 2009 »
April 30, 2009 | Three Cheers Winners
The winners of the Spring 2009 Three Cheers and a Tiger Writing Contest, as chosen by judges Bellman and Bonnets, are:
Gold: "The J" by Nathaniel Tower
Silver: "Stuck in the Middle" by Brian Behr Valentine
Bronze: "Lady Fingers" by Amanda Divine
Congratulations!
Thank you to everyone who entered. Our next contest is A Midsummer Tale, our creative non-fiction contest. The 2009 theme will be announced tomorrow.
Posted by The Editors at 06:04 PM in Contests
April 28, 2009 | From TC 9:1 - "Strike" by Casey Hill
We should go bowling sometime
when it's nice outside
and everyone's happy
feeling the grass
sway like an April kite
in the wind between their toes.
I love how they love springtime
and only springtime days
when the sun shines down on them
alone to keep them company.
Posted by The Editors at 10:04 AM in Literary Journal
April 23, 2009 | From TC 9:1 - "The Oaten Hands" by Nathaniel Tower
His hands were made of oats.
It wouldn't have been so bad if he hadn't been a horse whisperer.
His hands were like that when he was born. No one really understood why. Neither of his parents had any body parts made of oats. Neither of them had even eaten any oats the morning the conception took place. But sure enough, when Edwin MacGrain was born on that windy November night, he slid out, covered in all the embryonic goo, with hands made out of thousands of sturdy oats, all clumped together in the exact shape of normal looking hands.
Posted by The Editors at 01:00 PM in Literary Journal
April 20, 2009 | Congratulations to Kate Gibalerio
Kate's story "Malicious Acts" is one of the storySouth Million Writers Award Notable Stories of 2008. Congratulations!
The top ten stories of the year will be released May 15th, with the public vote for the top story beginning then.
Check out the rest of the notable stories here.
Posted by The Editors at 06:33 PM in Community , Literary Journal
April 18, 2009 | Query Article Update
TC Editor Stephanie Lenz (Baker) has updated her article "The short, sweet guide to writing query letters" with new information on e-queries. Click here for the update.
Posted by The Editors at 03:56 PM in Articles
From TC 9:1 - "A Requiem for Javier" by Dave S. Shearer
Colin stood at the top of the bridge looking out over the bay in the moonlight. His dark hair flipped and fluttered and his jacket ripped loudly in the breeze. The bay stared back at him, a sea of living ink, churning and crawling in the night. Somewhere down below lay the body of his best friend Javier Ruiz. He had lain in a sunken grave for exactly one year to the day.
Colin stared at the water, watching the way the moonlight played off of the waves. He tried not to imagine the body of his friend beneath the water's darkness, but the images came anyway. He saw a skeleton covered in barnacles, crabs scurrying back and forth across fish-eaten bones. He forced himself to push the image away and after a moment he saw Javier again as he had been, dark eyes shining within his deep olive complexion, handsome and bold, an image of youth and vigor. Colin looked back at the water. "There are worse places to be buried," he supposed. "At least it's quiet…"
Posted by The Editors at 01:01 PM in Literary Journal
April 17, 2009 | Tools for the Modern Writer
This month's Absolute Blank article is "Finding the Perfect Pencil: Tools for the Modern Writer" by TC Editor Theryn Fleming (Beaver).
Posted by The Editors at 02:30 PM in Articles
April 13, 2009 | From TC 9:1 - "Dead Cat" by Melanie Summers
She sets the cardboard box on the countertop right in front of you, her fingers still fondling the Chiquita Banana logo on the box. She looks exactly how you imagined a female trucker would look: five-foot-two, stout belly, greasy hair peeking out from under a black ski cap, and Roman numerals tattooed onto her knuckles. A metal chain swung from her wallet as she walked through the glass doors of Park Hill's Animal Hospital, hugging the cardboard box. It is her red nose, rubbed raw from the used Kleenexes stuffed in the pockets of her faded black jeans, that throws you off.
The counter separates the two of you like the Plexiglas wall in bad prison movie: prisoner, visitor; receptionist, client. You hand her a clipboard with the appropriate paperwork trapped under a plastic clip. The word Rimadyl is tagged across the clipboard along with most everything else in the office, pencil cup holders, staplers—all the latest freebies from Addison Pharmaceutical Company. The trucker takes the paperwork gently, as if the mere strength of her hand would shatter the hard plastic, but, then again, she may have just been tired. Her slow scribbling lulls you to sleep until the scent of stale piss and feces seeps through the cardboard box.
"His name is Andy."
Posted by The Editors at 12:19 PM in Literary Journal
April 08, 2009 | From TC 9:1 - "Already Gone" by A.M. Riley
Each day as I get ready for work, I look in the mirror, questioning the stranger, that guy shaving his three-day-old five o'clock shadow, who dares stare back at me with such a steady gaze. I hate him. Sickened by the shake in his hand, it's hard not to notice the liver spots and stray dark hairs that have begun to creep along his hands and arms, a quiet warning that time is against him. The razor left on the counter, a touch of water and blood still there, marks the beginning of the day.
The sound of pebbles crunching under the tires of the heavy Chevy Nova is the cue to grab my faded blue work jacket and get going. I can barely make out Jerry's face from the fog that surrounds him. The sweet smell of weed slaps me as I slide across the cold leather seat catching for a moment, as I do every morning, on the sharp edges where it is ripped and torn. I accept the joint, cradling it comfortably between my fingers. Jerry and I say five or six sentences during the twenty-minute ride. I thank him for dropping me off on his way to work. He nods and cranks up Zeppelin as he screeches bald tires across the newly paved parking lot.
Posted by The Editors at 02:29 PM in Literary Journal
April 03, 2009 | From TC 9:1 - "The M.A.A.T." by John Riha
Good morning. The Moral Ambiguity Aptitude Test is designed to measure deviation from the national norm established by the landmark research of Dr. Richard Hancock and Dr. Yi Taguchi in 2006. The test will take approximately one hour, although some of you may finish in as little as five minutes. Be sure to read each question or statement thoroughly and complete the test in the allotted time. If possible, check your answers. There are no right or wrong answers, but some answers may be more significant than others. Good luck!
Posted by The Editors at 11:54 PM in Literary Journal