K is for Killer Links, Kit Carson and Black Jack Ketchum

First, today's killer links:

The deadline for the Pen Women Flash Fiction Contest is May 1. Theme is Are you Devious at Heart? Tell us a story in 100 words or less.

LibroVille is a new site doing website hosting for authors. Right now, it's free, and I believe the first twenty get to keep it free for life in exchange for helping iron out any wrinkles. It sounds like you'll be a bit of a beta tester, but that's not a bad deal for web hosting and such.

The Lexicon Writers Conference in North Texas will be in July. Writers who get there early get to participate in learning to shoot different weapons, horseback riding, golf and a pub crawl. At the end of the conference, there will be a trip to a casino in Oklahoma. Now, that's how Texans do a writer's conference!

For locals, the Pikes Peak Library District has a sort of mini-conference and signing for readers and writings, coming up this weekend, called Mountain of Authors. I'll be there, so come say hello if you end up coming!

Alright, for today's Wild West lesson, I couldn't make up my mind, so I'm going to try to do a short bio of both Kit Carson and Black Jack Ketchum. We'll see if I can accomplish that.

it Carson

Christopher Houston "Kit" Carson was born December 24, 1809 in Madison County, Kentucky. He was number eleven out of fifteen kids (some reports say nine out of fourteen), and his father died when he was nine years old. He had to work to earn money for the family, so he never really received a formal education. In 1826, at around age sixteen or seventeen he joined a wagon train on the Santa Fe Trail, starting the journey that would lead him to the life of a famous trapper, Indian Agent, soldier, mountain man and explorer.

In 1828, he was hired to go on a fur trapping expedition into California. He ended up doing this in the Sierras and the Rockies, along with other mountain ranges in between, until 1840, when he became hunter, then chief hunter, for Bent's Fort here in Colorado. During those trapping years, he became very involved with the Natives, marrying an Arapaho woman (Waa-Nibe, which meant Singing Grass), followed by a Cheyenne woman (Making-Our-Road), after his first wife's death shortly after birthing their second child.

In 1842, John C. Fremont hired Carson to be his guide on map-making expeditions to the west. He worked with Fremont for years, gaining fame in his reports, and being noted as an American hero. Together, they ended up embroiled in the Bear-Flag Rebellion in California, and Carson went on to help U.S. soldiers during the Mexican-American War. When the war had finished, he became a rancher in New Mexico, though he did run dispatches to President James Polk, at times. During this time, he married his third wife, Maria Josefa Jaramillothen, who was fourteen years old at the time. They had eight children together.

From 1854 to 1861, he served as Indian Agent to the Ute and Apache Indians. He then officially became involved in the Civil War, with his responsibilities mostly centering around organizing infantry volunteers and dealing with the Navajo tribe's unwillingness to leave their land (huh, shocker). He was ordered to destroy their crops and take their livestock in order to "starve" them out, which ended successfully (for the U.S. government, anyway), and most surrendered to him. Though he, personally, treated them well, orders came through to move them, so he led them on the "Long Walk," which took them 300 miles from Arizona to Fort Sumner, New Mexico. There weren't enough resources in place to support them, causing disease and starvation, so the military ultimately let them leave Fort Sumner and go back to the New Mexico/Arizona border after they signed a treaty to stay there.

Before moving to Colorado in 1866, Kit Carson was awarded the title of Brigadier General. It was highly unusual for someone to reach this sort of ranking when they were illiterate, though he could sign his name. In Colorado, he expanded his ranch business (sheep) and was appointed commandant at Fort Garland, here in Colorado. He used his friendship with the Utes and good standing with the U.S. government to try to help relations between the two, even accompanying a delegation of Utes to D.C. to help their cause.

He died May 23, 1868, of an abdominal aortic aneurysm, and was buried beside Josefa in New Mexico, who had died a month before due to complications while birthing their last child.

Black Jack Ketchum

Thomas Edward "Black Jack" Ketchum was born October 31, 1863, in San Saba County, Texas. He's more interesting for his death than for his life, really. He and one of his brothers worked as cowboys in New Mexico, as well as Texas until they got bored and took to robbing trains. They and a few friends became the Ketchum Gang, hitting trains going through territory familiar to them due to their cowboy days.

The gang members loved to attend socials in Cimarron, New Mexico and Elizabethtown, and the townsfolk thought they were just well-off, well-behaved boys. They had no idea the boys charming their girls were, in fact, members of the infamous Ketchum Gang.

Briefly, the brothers went back to ranching, but it was entirely too dull, so they robbed the rancher and went on their way, showing up in a little town called Liberty, New Mexico, where they robbed a general store overnight and took off, the owner and his posse hot on their heels. Several folks were killed on both sides in a shoutout in an arroyo, and the Ketchum boys, sans their gang, headed off to Arizona, where they joined the Hole-in-the-Wall Gang, headed by Butch Cassidy. They continued robbing trains until July 11, 1899, when the rest of the gang went to rob a train without Black Jack. His little brother died of gangrene in prison, thanks to a gunshot wound, but Black Jack had no idea, or so he maintained.

On August 16, 1899, Black Jack attempted to rob a train, still unaware of his brother's demise. He ordered the train stopped so he could uncouple the cars, but he'd stopped it on a tight bend that made it impossible to uncouple them. Instead, the conductor snuck up on him with a shotgun. They fired at each other, with Black Jack taking a gunshot to the arm that almost severed it at the elbow. He fell out of the train and the conductor took off, warning stations ahead of the robber stuck out in the middle of nowhere. Dizzy and ill for his injury, Black Jack tried to flag down several trains, finally getting one to stop. He surrendered to them and asked them to take him in. They took him to Trinidad, Colorado, where his arm was amputated, and he was taken into custody, ordered to hang.

On April 26, 1901, after many delays in his hanging (obviously...the robbery was in 1899!), Black Jack was finally led out to the scaffold. By this time, he just wanted to get it over with, and requested they hurry up. The San Francisco Chronicle reports his last words as being, "Good-bye. Please dig my grave very deep. All right; hurry up." Unfortunately for Black Jack, the rope was too long or they had misjudged his weight (there'd never been a hanging in that county, nor was there ever another one). Black Jack fell so hard that he was decapitated, which has only happened two other times, once in 1601 and once in 1930. The ruling to have him hanged was later considered unconstitutional, and he was the only outlaw ever hanged for robbing a train in the state of New Mexico. Tickets were sold to his hanging, and little souvenirs were made and sold, including little dolls with nooses around their necks. Sick.

Would you pay to go to a hanging? Do you think that being kind to the Indians you've uprooted makes a difference when forcibly removing them? Any links to share?

May you find your Muse.

*Letter K courtesy of OCAL of clker.com
**Kit Carson, seated, By Mathew Brady or Levin C. Handy [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons
***Navajo prisoners of Kit Carson year 1864 forcet on Long Walk, (Arizona Historical Society), Wikimedia Commons
****Tom Ketchum aka "Black Jack" (1863-1901, Source: http://www.claytonnewmexico.net/images/blackjack/blackj1.jpg, Wikimedia Commons
*****"Black Jack Ketchum getting fitted with a new necktie." He is being hanged at Clayton, N. Mex. Terr., 1901, Department of Defense. Department of the Army. Office of the Chief Signal Officer. (09/18/1947 - 02/28/1964),
National Archives and Records Administration, College ParkLink back to Institution infobox template, Still Picture Records Section, Special Media Archives Services Division (NWCS-S), Wikimedia Commons

E is for Wyatt Earp & Every Helpful Link I Could Find

Yeah, so I had to stretch for the helpful links portion of the title. What can I say??

I'm going to list a few helpful links for writers and then I'll launch into Wyatt Earp's story.

This past month's Pikes Peak Writer's Write Brain workshop for writers is available for free online! You do not have to be a member of Pikes Peak Writers to enjoy this informative MP3 file entitled Wearing Many Hats, presented by Jodi Thomas. Click on that link and look to the right on that page for the link for the actual recording. It is underneath the green Resources box (not in it).

Amazon now has a solar charging Kindle case available.

Are you devious at heart? Like writing flash fiction or want to try your hand at it? The Pen Women Flash Fiction Contest is still on, deadline May 1. First prize is $100, Second is $50, Third is $25. Entry is $10.

The Hysterectomy Association is having a Short Story and Poetry Contest for female writers. Click the link for more details.

The Write Practice is having a Show Off Writing Contest. The winner will receive help polishing the story. There is a new competition each month with a different theme (this month's theme is "spring" with a deadline of April 9). Each month's winner will also be part of an anthology at the end of the 12 months. I did not see mention of pay, but I merely scanned.

arp. Wyatt Earp.

The Earp Brothers, sons of Nicholas Porter Earp, a justice of the peace, were James, Virgil, Wyatt, Morgan and Warren, I believe in that order. They also had three sisters, Martha, Virginia and Adelia; one older half-brother, Newton; and a half-sister who died before they were born (she was 10 months old), Mariah. Nicholas was a busy man, if you know what I mean...

I had originally intended to cover all the Earp brothers, but good heavens, do you see how many of them there are? There's no way for me to do these guys justice in such a short format, so I will just try to cover the most famous (infamous?) of these guys: Wyatt Earp.

Prepare to be surprised...I may burst some bubbles.

Wyatt Berry Stapp Earp (yikes) was born March 19, 1848 in Monmouth, IL. The Earp family moved around the country for years, even as far as California, before ending up in Lamar, Missouri in 1869. During that time, Wyatt worked as a rancher on the family farm, an assistant stage coach driver, a teamster, and he helped with the material transport and building of the Union Pacific Railroad. In November 1869, twenty-one year old Wyatt took over the position of constable for the town of Lamar from his father. He was officially a lawman.

Wyatt got married on January 10, 1870 to a woman named Urilla Sutherland. Unfortunately, she died sometime later that year of Typhoid fever; she was pregnant. Earp fled the state sometime in 1871, several legal charges having been filed against him accusing him of embezzlement and falsifying court documents during his time as constable. That year he was also accused of horse theft in Indian Country, and was taken into legal custody to be tried. He escaped jail by climbing through the roof (boy, jails sure weren't well built back then) and fled again, eventually ending up in Peoria, IL, where he became a pimp.

Are you wondering whether you read that correctly? I said A PIMP!

Yep, Wyatt and his little brother, Morgan, were arrested in a brothel on February 24, 1872. They were fined then set free. A few months later, the two were arrested again, this time in a different brothel. They were fined and had to sit in jail because they couldn't afford to pay. Shortly thereafter, Wyatt started pimping on the Beardstown Gunboat, a brothel on a ship. That's right, he was a floating pimp. Actually, some data claims he owned this boat, but I can't say for sure what's true.

He was arrested and fined twice more due to his services as a pimp on the Beardstown Gunboat. He also earned the name "The Peoria Bummer" in the newspapers of the day.

Perhaps it was this last arrest and fine, which landed him in infamy in the papers, but Earp moved on to Wichita, KS, first serving as a private "collections" man to get some money back for someone. He then became a member of the Wichita police force on April 21, 1875. Apparently, news of Wyatt hadn't spread all the way to Wichita!

He was removed from the police force in 1876 after an altercation with a rival of his boss's. His boss continued to employ him sort of under the table until Wyatt was once again accused of embezzling.

So what happened? Was he severely punished? Arrested? Horse whipped?

No, he went to Dodge City and got on the police force there. Gives you real confidence in the police forces of the day, doesn't it?

He came and went from the Dodge City police force between the years of 1876 and 1879, being rehired each time he returned from wherever he had wandered. It is claimed by some that he was hunting buffalo during those breaks. He worked with Bat Masterson a lot during this time, and they were good friends. By the time he left Dodge City in 1879, heading west, he was a well respected lawman, his past crimes forgotten.

Wyatt Earp finally came to Tombstone, Arizona in 1879, accompanied by a woman named Mattie Blaylock (real name Celia Ann), who he claimed as his common-law spouse. His brothers James, Virgil and Morgan all joined him with their families, and they began to stake mining claims. At some point, Virgil became a U.S. Deputy Marshal, and often roped his brothers into helping him. During this time, Wyatt served as a shotgun messenger for Wells Fargo, protecting the cargo on their stagecoaches. On July 27, 1880, Wyatt Earp was appointed a Deputy Sheriff of Pima County. He received many accolades from the press over the years, and was, again, a highly respected lawman.

Wyatt had major conflicts with Johnny Behan, who eventually became sheriff of the area. They were both attracted to the same woman, actress Josephine Sarah Marcus. Behan had a relationship with her first, but she kicked him out when she discovered him cheating. She and Wyatt hooked up, despite the fact that he had claimed Mattie as his common-law wife.

Later, Wyatt and Behan competed for the sheriff's role. Due to political issues, Behan became sheriff. He promised under-sheriff to Wyatt, but didn't follow up, instead appointing another man to the role.

No longer a lawman, Wyatt was hired to be an enforcer at a saloon, and given shares. He continued riding in sheriff's posses to catch stagecoach robbers and troublemakers, which landed him in the ill sights of the McLaury brothers and the Cowboys. Things continued to escalate until the incidents that led up to the fight at the O.K. Corral, which I wrote about yesterday under Doc Holliday. It should be noted that Ike Clanton told a very different story than Wyatt and his friend and brothers: click HERE to read the other side.

After the O.K. Corral incident, the Earps and Doc made their way through New Mexico and Colorado, ultimately finding themselves in Gunnison, CO. He took the actress Josephine as his common-law wife, having left Mattie behind in Tombstone. They were together the rest of their lives. Wyatt worked as a Faro dealer, owned several saloons, and continued to attempt mining. In 1884, Wyatt once again took on the cloak of a lawman, becoming a sheriff in Kootenai County, Idaho. In 1885, he left and went after gold in San Diego, CA. There, he juggled real estate, opening saloons and running them. He also became a gambler and started investing in racehorses.

In 1897, having traveled a bit more around California, Wyatt and Josephine went up to Alaska during the Klondike Gold Rush, once again opening a saloon in his city of residence. They continued chasing gold back in California and Nevada. In 1910, Wyatt began working as a bounty hunter, of sorts, for the Los Angeles Police Department until being involved in a dispute that became the Pot Ash Wars, which he was not further involved in. He moved to Hollywood and became a film consultant on Westerns. This he did until his death on January 13, 1929, age 80, of chronic cystitis, now believed to have been prostate cancer.

Some extra facts:

1. Wyatt Earp met a young John Wayne, who based many of his characters on the old lawman.

2. Earp was the last gunfighter from the O.K. Corral to die.

3. He was never shot. Shot at, yes, but no bullet ever hit its mark.

4. He met author Jack London while in Alaska.

5. His father was convicted of bootlegging in 1859.

6. Wyatt was not a lawman during his participation at the O.K. Corral, though he was considered to be acting as an Assistant Marshal.

Did you know these things about Wyatt Earp, or did you think he was squeaky clean like the film Tombstone made him out to be? Any other helpful links to share?

May you find your Muse.

*Silver E courtesy of OCAL at clker.com
**Wyatt Earp, circa 1869, by Sbharris at en.wikipedia [Public domain], from Wikimedia Commons
***Wyatt Earp Oval Photo public domain via Wikimedia Commons
****Dodge City Police Commission, June 1883, by Camillus S. Fly, ca. 1890. 111-SC-94129, public domain via Wikimedia Commons

Writing Contest Tips

We're down to the last month before the May 1 deadline for the Pen Women Flash Fiction Contest I'm chairing (click here for more information on that). This was my first experience in chairing or running a writing contest of any sort, and this has also been my first year of entering writing contests. I've learned a lot in the last year, and I thought passing across a few pointers might be a good idea. I thought about waiting until the contest was closed, but why not pass along helpful tips before the due date to give people an edge in the last month?

I don't know about you, but I'm someone who obsessively checks the rules for anything I'm involved in. Perhaps because of this, I was surprised by how many people entered a contest without actually having read the rules, or at least not very thoroughly. My first pointer?

READ THE RULES AND GUIDELINES. All of them. Don't just read them once, read them several times. Print them up, if you're so inclined. But do be sure you've gotten an understanding of exactly what is being asked of you. Some contests may let you get away with small mistakes, while others may use that as an excuse to pare down a sizable mass of entries. There's no way for you to know which category the specific contest you're entering falls into, so play it safe.

Don't do anything to your check. Don't staple your check to your entry. Don't use double-sided tape to affix it to your entry. Don't do anything that may damage the check, which will render it unusable. If you'd like, it is fine to fold a sheet of paper around the check so that it isn't visible through the envelope, but please, please, please do not do anything to affix it to the paper! I destroyed my nails trying to carefully remove checks stapled to paper, including one stapled directly in the middle of the check.

Use manuscript format unless otherwise directed. If there is no information about the formatting, assume they want it in standard manuscript format. This is the most professional way to present your piece. You took care in writing it, so take care in presenting it. You can find excellent guidelines on standard manuscript formatting here.

Don't do anything wacky with your submission. Whether you present your piece via email or snail mail, be sure your submission is plain. In other words, no frilly email backgrounds, no funky fonts, no colored or textured paper. I know this is a work of art you've labored over, and sometimes it seems like it should be presented with a flourish, but hold yourself back! Send it on plain white paper, and see the standard manuscript format guide for font type and size information.

Be sure to proofread your entry. I haven't seen a contest judging sheet yet that doesn't take grammar, spelling, typos, etc. into consideration when figuring the score. If you enter the most mind-blowing piece, but it is riddled with typos and misspellings, you are going to lose points. Don't let that be what loses the contest for you.

Do your homework before contacting those running the contest. If you write the person running the contest to ask a question clearly addressed in the contest's guidelines, it may impact you. Some may not even respond to those questions. If the only information passed along is an email address, with no website or written guidelines, by all means contact that email address for the guidelines. But if there is a website link or a set of guidelines, always be sure to check those guidelines for the answers first. It's okay to ask questions not addressed therein.

Check and double check! For me, personally, I always go back over my piece when I have attached it to the email to send (or printed it up, if that were the case). This assures me that I've attached the correct document, and also that I've met all of the guidelines. I go down the list of requirements systematically to be sure I've gotten everything as it should be. Sometimes those requirements are murky, so I tried to be clear when I wrote up this contest's guidelines, and I provided a link to a final checklist to hopefully help those entering have the best chance to have things done correctly. Check over your formatting, proofread for grammar, spelling and typos once more, check the requirements for entry, and check payment information to be sure you've got everything down pat. It's really disappointing to miss out on a contest because some small, but important, detail was overlooked. Don't let that be your downfall.

On a final side note, a lot of these things apply for submitting your writing for publication, as well as submitting for a grant or award of some sort. I also had the opportunity to be on a committee awarding a grant this past year, and it was so deflating to have an applicant who was strong in other ways, but who did not meet the requirements as they had been laid out. It was also incredibly frustrating. Always take the time to put your best foot forward, because what you turn in is all they have to judge you on.

Do you have any tips or pointers for entering contests, whether from an entrant's point of view or a judges/contest chair's? Please share! How do you feel about contests?

May you find your Muse.

[Mostly] Wordless Wednesday: A to Z Video Challenge Winner & Helpful Links

For today's [Mostly] Wordless Wednesday, I'm doing something a bit different than usual and posting the winning video of the A-to-Z Video Challenge. Congratulations to Rachel Morgan!



You can find Rachel Morgan at her blog Rachel Morgan Writes, and check out the cover of her next book!

For the next two weeks, I will be trying out blogging only twice per week, Monday and Wednesday. I may tweak that after the A-to-Z Challenge, but we will see. For the time being, helpful links will be posted on Wednesdays with my [Mostly] Wordless Wednesday posts.

Mardibooks is running a writing competition that may lead to publication. However, there does appear to be a cost associated.

Wonderful Reads of the Month is looking for authors doing promotions in April. They will put you in their free magazine for FREE! Sounds like a good deal to me, so if you're promo'ing a book and offering a deal in April, let them know.

Daily Science Fiction is a paying market for sci-fi and fantasy, and they're also great if you enjoy reading sci-fi and fantasy. You can sign up to get a new story emailed to you each day...FREE! I heard about this on Christine Rains' blog.

Less than two weeks to the A-to-Z Challenge! We'd love to get to 1500 signups by April 1, so come along on this exciting journey with us!

Finally, don't forget the Flash Fiction Challenge I'm chairing. You can find information about it on the Flash Fiction tab, above. It's a fun theme: Are You Devious at Heart?

Anything to share? Have you tried writing flash fiction yet?

May you find your Muse.

Thursday Helpful Links & Reminders

This will be a brief Thursday post since I'm insanely behind in everything! Busy, busy, busy, busy, busy week. In a good way, for the most part, but color me overwhelmed. Also, I started getting caught up with all your wonderful comments and visiting your blogs, and I will finish today!

Image courtesy of OCAL at clker.com

Okay, some links!

This first one might be of interest to writer bloggers trying to get out there. Ink Pageant is looking for blog posts on writing and publishing.

Jenny Woolf is having a really neat, travel-related giveaway. Go check out the eclectic mix of items she's offering for the giveaway! Tomorrow is the last day for it, so hurry and hop on over.

Chuffed Buff Books is looking for poetry submissions for an anthology with the theme "Journey to Crone." This is a paying market.

Real Women, Real Stories is looking for stories about women's lives for an anthology.

Finally, don't forget the Flash Fiction Contest I'm chairing, with the theme "Are you Devious at Heart?"; the A-to-Z Challenge is still taking sign-ups and is heading toward the 1100's; you can still vote for your favorite A-to-Z video; and the Pikes Peak Writers Conference is still open for those who haven't signed up yet.

Have a wonderful day! I will be visiting everyone who commented this week before the weekend! Sorry for falling so behind.

P.S. My son's field trip was great fun! I learned a lot, and seeing how happy he was when I showed up was just wonderful.

Any helpful links you'd like to share? Planning on entering the Flash Fiction Contest? Signing up for the A-to-Z? Need a little help in getting signed up for either of those or the conference? I'm here to help!

May you find your Muse.

Thursday Helpful Links: Writer's Grants, Contest, Fun Stuff & #atozchallenge

Before jumping into this week's links (which I think are pretty awesome), I'd just like to say that IT'S ALMOST THE WEEKEND!!! Despite the short week, thanks to President's Day, I've thought it was a day ahead all week. That makes today Friday...if only!

Also, see my new banner?! Jeremy over at Retro-Zombie rocks! I sent him one sentence and he completely nailed my inspiration for The Warrior Muse! Maybe you recognize his digital signature in the corner of the banner; Jeremy is also the person responsible for many of the A-to-Z banners and badges you're seeing around the blog-o-verse. Like this one:

Speaking of the A-to-Z and my co-hosts, we are hoping to get to 1000 signups for the A-to-Z Challenge by March 1. If you're waffling, now's the time to sign up! If you've already signed up, would you help us meet our goal by posting about it/sharing? This year's A-to-Z is going to be amazing!

Image courtesy of OCAL at CLKER.com

First, we have FundsforWriters. This site lists contests, grants and publications. You can sign up for a newsletter that will automatically bring you updates on these things. Very cool! I'm kicking myself because I know one of our fellow bloggers was asking for help due to medical reasons. If anyone knows who that was, can you send her the link? There are grants to pay medical bills for writers in need.

Image courtesy of OCAL at CLKER.com

There is a writing contest open, no entry fee. They also have an art contest associated with it, so this isn't just for writers! This is the Tarcher Top Artist Competition. It is associated with Penguin and the winners receive $5000 cash and, for the writers, a critique of their entire book by a Tarcher Books editor. Not too shabby, eh?

Image courtesy of OCAL at CLKER.com

This binder from the Novelists, Inc. was recommended by someone on LinkedIn. You will find tons of helpful information in it, and it is FREE! I scanned through it before I downloaded it and it is chock full of information helpful to writers.

Now, just for fun, here's some art carved out of old books (encyclopedias, dictionaries, textbooks, etc., all out of date, I believe).

Weekly Reminders:

Are you devious at heart? That's the theme for the PPB NLAPW Flash Fiction Contest. More information can be found on the Flash Fiction Contest tab at the top of my blog.

The A-to-Z Challenge is filling up fast! No worries, though, there is no limit to how many people can sign up to participate. The sooner you sign up, the sooner you can start getting to know your fellow A-to-Z participants. Click on the A-to-Z tab at the top of my blog or go to the official A-to-Z website for sign-up, information, helpful posts from our team and past participants, and video challenge pieces.

The Pikes Peak Writers Conference is filling up fast! The sooner you get registered, the better your chance at getting a Read & Critique appointment or Pitch appointment.

The Flash Fiction Contest I'm chairing for the Pikes Peak Branch of the National League of American Pen Women is open through May 1. I received the first official entry this week! Now if only someone would submit the first official online entry, I'd be all sorts of pumped!

Anything to share? Anything you'd like me to be keeping an eye out for that I'm not? Let me know!

May you find your Muse.

Yay & Twitter: Help!

Before I start talking about Twitter, I want to excitedly announce that I got the first submission for the Pen Women Flash Fiction Contest! Yay! I hope they start to flood in. If you haven't seen information on this Flash Fiction Contest, you can click the Flash Fiction tab at the top of my blog. I am the Chair for the contest, but am not judging it. Getting that first submission made all the hard work seem worth it!

Also, I attended a lovely Pen Women meeting on Saturday with guest speaker Cynthia Becker, who talked to us about researching for a biography (she wrote about Chipeta, wife of Ute Chief Ouray). I am hoping to pass along some of the helpful information she gave us, probably next Monday. She had great research links and ways to research that will help you with historical accuracy, whether you're writing historical fiction or a biography.

Lastly, I think I've landed on a fun extra for daily posts during the A-to-Z. I'm so excited to try it out! Speaking of the A-to-Z, we hosts are doing "getting to know you" posts throughout the next month-and-a half and answering questions you might find to be unexpected. Arlee Bird, our honorable leader in insanity, posted his on Saturday. Mine isn't until March, but you will find some fun posts from my co-hosts in the meantime.

Moving on to Twitter...

I signed up for Twitter last spring or summer, having received encouragement during the A-to-Z on how helpful it was for writers. I have not really gotten to know it well yet, and have mostly used it to reply to tweets directed at me and to post a link to each post here on the blog.

The problem is that I've been getting contacted more and/or tagged, and I'm not sure how I'm supposed to respond, what the Twitter rules of etiquette are, etc. I'm hoping some of you can help me.

When someone tags you in a "tweet" with the tag #WW what does that mean? Is it just referring people to a Wordless Wednesday-type post? Should I be responding with a thank you, re-tweeting, what? Help!

Also, if someone tags you with the tag #FF what is that for? Follower Friday? What does that mean? Should I be responding with a thank you? Once again, please help!

For my part, I always try to tweet a thank you to anyone who retweets one of my tweets (haha, writing that word over and over is weird). I follow back most who follow me unless it is blatant advertising, completely inappropriate (considering I have a twisted sense of humor, it has to be really inappropriate) or something porny, and I hesitate when it is someone with no tweets, or none that are recent. I also look at their number of followers versus the number they follow. If this is very lopsided and they have a ton of followers but are only following a few, I pretty much assume they intend to delete me after I follow back, so they will not get me as a follower.

If I happen to be on for whatever reason and see something interesting I want to share, I retweet it by clicking "retweet" at the bottom of their post (I specify that because I've since happened across a discussion on whether you should do it that way or whether you should copy the link and do a whole new tweet on it).

I'm trying to learn it because I hate thinking there is some proper way I'm supposed to be responding to various things on there and people who were nice enough to mention me are possibly peeved that I haven't responded appropriately. I'm sure there have been some other manner of tags, though I think #WW and #FF are the major ones I've seen. Is there a resource you might recommend for knowing what various hash-tags mean or would someone kindly tell me about the proper ways to behave in Twitter Land? I don't want to be known as rude.

I imagine I can't be the only one who has no idea what any of this means, so any answers provided in the comments will hopefully help someone other than me, as well.

What do #FF and #WW stand for and how should one respond to them when tagged/mentioned? Do you automatically follow back? If not, what are your specifications for whether you follow someone? Are you in the same boat as me...signed up, but completely clueless?

May you find your Muse.

Project 52 Update & Helpful Links: Contests, CAL, Submissions, Write Brain

We'll start with a quick Project 52 update:

I submitted a horror story this week! Yay! Doesn't mean it will be accepted, but I'm excited to have gotten my act together and to have submitted a work of fiction.

5. Submit at least 1 horror short story for publication

I can also cross off:

39. Contact publications about flash fiction contest.

#39 is why I'm behind on responding to comments and visiting blogs. I've spent a lot of the last two weeks, including the weekends, going through and finding contacts for the flash fiction contest. I will continue doing so, but the main drive is through, I think. Everything else is going to consist of random searches when I have a few minutes.

Can't believe I hadn't already crossed this off, but I forgot it was on my list:

48. Register for Pikes Peak Writers Conference.

Now for some links!

This sounds interesting, and there are some very cool prizes: My Gutsy Story Contest.

Here's another one that might be interesting: Essays for Hope.

I've heard about this contest the last couple years, and it has some high cash prizes: Scare the Dickens out of us Short Story Contest. It does have an entry fee, but it seems reasonable for the prize money.

This seems like a neat group/resource for Colorado authors (I am not a member, but contacted them about the Flash Fiction Contest, and they were very friendly and receptive): California Author's League (CAL).

I had not heard of these guys before, but it is something I wanted to look into a bit more (though I haven't yet): National Writers Union (NWU).

For those in or near Colorado Springs, there is a great Write Brain this month. I can't make it to this one, but it definitely sounds worth attending: Formatting eBooks 101, presented by DeAnna Knippling (you may remember her from the previous Write Brain I attended.)

Weekly Reminders:

Are you devious at heart? That's the theme for the PPB NLAPW Flash Fiction Contest. More information can be found on the Flash Fiction Contest tab at the top of my blog.

The A-to-Z Challenge is filling up fast! No worries, though, there is no limit to how many people can sign up to participate. The sooner you sign up, though, the sooner you can start getting to know your fellow A-to-Z participants. Click on the A-to-Z tab at the top of my blog or go to the official A-to-Z website for sign-up, information, helpful posts from our team and past participants, and video challenge pieces.

The Pikes Peak Writers Conference is filling up fast! The sooner you get registered, the better your chance at getting a Read & Critique appointment or Pitch appointment.

Anything to share? Anything you'd like me to be keeping an eye out for that I'm not? Let me know!

P.S. I will be posting over at the official A-to-Z Challenge Blog tomorrow about the A-to-Z Challenge and the importance of community among bloggers and writers. I'll post a reminder and link then!

May you find your Muse.

Thursday Helpful Links:

For today's helpful hints, I've got a smorgasbord (hey, I spelled that right the first time!).

First, Rachael Harrie's Fourth Writers' Platform Building Crusade is open for sign-ups. I had no idea it was time until I happened it across it on someone's blog. I think you have about a week to sign up. I'm not sure I'll be doing it this time around, but if I do it will be last minute sign-up, right around the time I miraculously get all aspects of my life caught up.

If you're not sure what the Writers' Platform Building Crusade is, I'll tell you! You sign up to participate in some mini writing projects. You are given specific dates for participation, and on the opening date you are given details for what you are supposed to write. You have a couple days in which to write to the given specifications. You visit other participating blogs and others visit your blog from the main linky list(s). You also compete, so there are judges and voting. If you've got the time, it's a great way to build your platform and stretch your writing skills.

An annual magazine, "Kansas City Voices," is accepting submissions through March 15, 2012. Don't let the name fool you, they are open for any quality subject matter, not just that related to Kansas or the midwest. They accept prose and poetry. This is a paying market.

Pentalk is a community on Facebook where you can view little mini-workshops on various writing-related items, share your expertise or look for someone else's guidance.

Dark Markets is a website that keeps you apprised of horror markets accepting submissions. There are some great projects on there!

Big World Magazine is looking for photos and stories that are travel/culture related.

Q&W Publishers are putting together an anthology on "The Old Weird South". This is a paying market.

Just a Contest appears to be a great site where you can track down various contests. You can even sort the categories for your search.

Finally, Writer Gazette seems like a wonderful overall resource for writers, listing resources, articles, calls for submissions, contests and such.

Weekly Reminders

Are you devious at heart? That's the theme for the PPB NLAPW Flash Fiction Contest. More information can be found on the Flash Fiction Contest tab at the top of my blog.

The A-to-Z Challenge is filling up fast! No worries, though, there is no limit to how many people can sign up to participate. The sooner you sign up, though, the sooner you can start getting to know your fellow A-to-Z participants. Click on the A-to-Z tab at the top of my blog or go to the official A-to-Z website for sign-up, information, helpful posts from our team and past participants, and video challenge pieces.

I'm officially registered for the Pikes Peak Writer's Conference! They are still open for attendees, but register soon if you want a chance at Read & Critique appointments or a pitch appointment.

Any helpful links or sites to share? Please feel free to share links and/or to ask me questions about what I've posted, especially if it's about the reminder links, as those are the ones I'm most familiar with.

May you find your Muse.

Thursday Helpful Links: Forensic Science, Flash Fiction, PPW Conference

Today's Helpful Links:

The Pikes Peak Writer's Conference is open for registration! You can go to their site at www.pikespeakwriters.com. You can also go to that site to join, which is free!

Speaking of Pikes Peak Writers, click here for the December Write Brain, a FREE MP3 workshop, with handouts you can print up, run by Chris Mandeville, PPW's president, entitled "52 Ways to Get Unstuck." It's worth listening to, even if you're not stuck right now. Chris is a great speaker and motivator for her fellow writers.

If you enjoy writing flash fiction, there's a great blog and newsletter that updates on paying markets, contests, etc. You can find the blog here, and if you look on the left-hand side, you can see where to sign up for the free newsletter. You can also request that information be put in there, such as if you're running a contest.

Speaking of contests, don't forget the NLAPW Flash Fiction contest with the theme "Are You Devious At Heart?" More information here.

Lastly, for mystery writers, or anyone writing about police investigations, there is a great informative blog called Forensics4fiction. He posts all manner of fascinating forensic information that you might have trouble finding elsewhere. This week included obtaining ear prints at the scene of a crime, touring the crime lab, getting fingerprints from dead bodies, shoe-print overlays and recovering erased marks from a white board. I don't even write crime, but I find it all fascinating.

I hope you find one or all of these links helpful. Come back tomorrow for an official A-to-Z announcement that includes an introduction to all the hosts.

Any interesting links you'd like to share?

May you find your Muse.

Monday Mish Mash, Including Flash Fiction Contest

First, I'm delighted to tell you that the Flash Fiction Contest, hosted by the Pikes Peak Branch of the National League of American Pen Women, and chaired by Yours Truly, is now open! This is micro-flash, so 100 words maximum. It can be found at the Pen Women website: www.ppb-nlapw.org.

The theme is: "Are You Devious at Heart?" You can take that in any direction you want to, horror, romance, mystery. I think it's a topic you can have a lot of fun with. You can enter by mail or email. Details are on the website, but feel free to ask questions of me directly on here, as well.

If you didn't see my guest post at Nikki's blog, authorinprogress, check it out!

For those that did the A to Z Challenge and/or the Follow-up Challenge this past year, Arlee is revving up the A to Z engines in preparation for the 2012 A to Z! It now has a dedicated website where you can track progress, read reflections posts and be a part of the discussion for the upcoming challenge: Blogging From A to Z April Challenge Blog.

If you signed up for the Follow-up Challenge here on my blog or on my partner's sites, it's still ongoing! You've got until the next A to Z Challenge to visit everyone (and then we start all over)!

I owe Jennifer at Jen's Bookshelf an apology. I don't believe I ever properly thanked her for the "One Lovely Blog" Award, and it's been nearly a month since she posted it. Thank you for thinking of me, Jen!

Finally, how about an update on the final week of ShaNoEdWriMo since I never did that? I got more than my goal of five chapters edited for that last week, which was awesome! As far as words written, I got over 5000 words written for the week!! Yay! It was the only week I met both goals entirely, but I'm happy with it, anyway.

That's more than enough for a mishmash, eh?

Any news to share? How did you do if you did any version of NaNo? Even if you didn't do NaNo, did you meet your writing/editing goals for the week/month?

May you find your Muse.

That's more than enough for now.