Lit Up: Must Read
Our Latest News
In this newsletter:
➡Heavy Hearts ➡Poet’s Lament ➡Advice from our editors in our “On Writing” series ➡Surprise, Surprise! ➡Surprise, Surprise Again: Free Book Alert! ➡Closing Submissions ➡Valentine’s Event ➡Upcoming Anthology with cash rewards and publication by the Lit Up Press! ➡Highlights: 3 months’ best of handpicked and friend-linked by our editors with love! ➡New Writer Requests: Updates and Submission Guidelines ➡Help Us Continue our Mission! ➡Social Media Accounts
Welcome to 2020, a year in which we hope everyone will have excellent and clear vision! Already, we’ve been surprised by the wonderful work that has been pouring into Lit Up and we’re looking forward to seeing a whole lot more, with special events and contests and focus on writing well, telling stories well and enjoying the abundance of creativity here.
Heavy Hearts
But before we go any further, it is with heavy hearts that we share the news of our editor, Patrick Link, who suffered a stroke in late December and has been in the hospital bravely fighting to recover. Pat’s work here has been invaluable and his cheerful sharing of knowledge and expertise is sorely missed. I hope you will all join us in sending best wishes and prayers for his full recovery and his family’s fortitude in this most difficult of times.
Poet’s Lament
Yes, we are lamenting the loss of our wonderful poetry editor, Annie Caldwell as well — and no! Nothing awful has happened to Annie, but she has found her commitments now prevent her from being able to edit Lit Up poetry and share her extensive knowledge with us any longer. We wish her all the best and hope she’ll continue to submit her works to us as she can.
So we are currently without a second poetry editor and are looking for someone who loves the form, has experience, knowledge and a blazing desire to share that knowledge with others, and who can add to our editorial skills on a regular basis. Please let us know if you feel the call: [email protected]
Advice from our editors in our “On Writing” series:
A Maguire — Write What You Know A Maguire — A Few Words About the Narrator (Writing Tools) A Maguire — Setting
Annie Caldwell — How To Dress a Poem for Success Annie Caldwell — The White Space in Poetry
You can find them all: Here
Surprise, Surprise!
Now, we hear a lot of complaining after the glorious Christmas period. Complaints like: “Oh, why Christmas has to end?”, or “Couldn’t it last just a wee while longer?”, or “Darn, I just love Christmas. I wish I could hold onto this time for a bit”. And we thought, can we really hold on to it?
We also heard that some people had a very hard time getting through that time of the year, and from others that, for them, Christmas just won’t do the trick. Then we thought, how did they manage after all?
We talked about it and argued about it and eventually, we realised we could, in fact, do something about all this!
We put together a Christmas anthology of Winter and Wonder! How about that?
This magical collection of stories and poetry by talented writers explores the nature of one of our most divisive holidays, and the hardest of seasons.
Be charmed and thrilled with the possibilities of Christmas Eve, the warmth and love of family on Christmas Day, the rich traditions of preparation for the holidays and the cold consequences of the winter’s night, but above all, enjoy the imaginations of some of our favourite writers this Yuletide eve, with a cozy fire, a warm eggnog and some wonderful prose and poetry.
Tech person? Get your e-copy: Here Nothing better than an actual book? Get your paperback: Here
Please don’t hesitate to leave a review on Amazon or Goodreads or even post your favourite quotes if you feel like we deserve it! We are sure you understand how important it is for our writers to have your support!
Surprise, Surprise Again!
Free Book Alert!
Get the Kindle edition of “Crossroads — An Anthology of Short Stories” for free now!
Giveaway ends on Tuesday, February 4, 2020, 11:59 PM PST
“There are moments in life, unexpected or tragic or magical, where unpredicted happiness can turn us from a planned path, where events we hoped for are abandoned on the way, and dreams are left forgotten by the roadside. And sometimes, the choices we make bring pain or joy in ways utterly unforeseen, for ourselves and for those we love.
Twenty-five extraordinary writers write about the pivotal decisions that influenced a life or lives, as well as the consequences of those decisions, and give us a short story collection to be remembered.”
Get your copy HERE:
Closing Submissions
With the tail end of the silly season and winter in full frozen mode here in the northern hemisphere and the bushfires a problem in the southern, we are once again closing Submissions for a short period of time to allow our reduced editorial staff to catch up and have time to prepare for our special events this year.
Submissions will be closed from 1st February until the 18th February, with the exception of our Valentine’s Poetry and Microfiction Event pieces. Please do not submit regular fiction pieces during that time as they will be rejected.
Will You Be My Valentine?
It’s that time of year coming up, the middle of the month of February when love is in the air and the consumer industries go into overdrive trying to get you to buy candy and cards. Here at Lit Up, we’re asking nothing more of you than you dig deep into your heart and find a poem or a distilled moment of time for a microfiction piece to illuminate your feelings about Valentine’s Day!
Your topic is as wide as your imagination — anything to do with Valentine’s Day, love, requited or unrequited, misunderstandings, lust and on will be accepted.
We will be accepting:
Poetry in form only: Your poem has to be over 5 lines. Free Verse is excluded. Subtitle your drafts with the name of the form. Fiction pieces of up to 500 words.
with accepted pieces published until the 14th of February.
Submissions open: 8 February Submissions close: 14 February
Have at it, my friends and show us what you really think of this time of the year!
One winner of each category will get a free entry for our upcoming anthology contest!
Upcoming Anthology
with Cash Rewards and Publication by the Lit Up Press!
Prepare your notebooks, keyboards, and pens, stock up on beverages of your choice, and beware: this contest will change the way you think!
More details in our next newsletter at the end of February.
For now, we want you to vote: Fiction, Creative NonFiction, or Poetry?
Vote here: https://directpoll.com/v?XDVhEtiryrqqjHsB3YLhEgrRjI4eIkA
(Halloween and Valentine’s winners, and our Patreon community will get a free entry to this contest!)
Highlights
Our best published tales of the last three months handpicked by our editors and friend-linked only for you! Enjoy!
Our best Tales in Parts
Edd Jennings — Window to Heaven Jeff Suwak — The Existential Burlesque Cole Hardman — MitcHell
You can find them all: Here
Prose
Ronald C. Flores-Gunkle — Now I Lay Him Down Stephen M. Tomic — Back Again DiAmaya Dawn — Noah Battler Was a Loner V. Plut — A Christmas Time Ellie Scott — He Looks Old Alexandro Chen — The Sanity Thief // Messily Married Matt Cowan — The Book Deal Annisa Wanat — The Roots of Our Predicament Ecem Yucel — On the off chance of meeting you again someday Indira Reddy — Insomnolence Nancy Solak — The Creek Stephen Miller — Down by the River J.S. Lender — Cabbie in the Orange Grove John K Adams — Timing, No Wounds like Old Wounds Dale E. Lehman — Fireworks At Midnight R.S. Wolff — A Snippet of Human Existence
Poetry
Jef Littlejohn — Cupid’s Vanity, Mending in 3s. DiAmaya Dawn — The Sound of Feet in Powder Snow Jen Smat — Coming to the End Stephen Schatzl — Peach Pale Emma Briggs — Sudden Death and the Sea Will Schmit — Half the Man is Twice the Child Ashwini Dodani — I Miss Thy Shoulders V. Plut — A Walk Through December Scott Ninneman — You Call Me Ronald C. Flores-Gunkle — Me and the Mot Juste Sara Grace Stasi — Husk Kara. B. Imle — The Sheriff of Ladytown, Migration D. E. Fulford — The First Time Jonathan Greene — If I Were Like You Anna Rozwadowska — Incantations Antara Kundu — To 2019 Annie Caldwell — Winter Fangs Elle Rogers — Beth & Aleph Nerve — The Forever Sleep Efe Nakpodia — Diablo. Christina M. Ward 💗 — The Wisdom of Trees Jonathan Greene — Someday Jk Mansi — Aren’t We Like Succulents? Cole Hardman — Cups Sarah Stoltzfus Allen — Blessed
You can find them all: Here
New Writer Requests: Updates
Next opening to become a writer for Lit Up will be:
February 18th, 2020 until February 28th, 2020
Put your reminders, we are looking forward to reading your work!
Please read our submission guidelines to make sure we don’t reject your submission for unnecessary mistakes!
Don’t forget:
Our focus is one of imagination and wonder, of people and ideas and emotion, where up can be down, and in can be out, and what you believed was untrue might all become real.
Lit Up is dedicated to providing unique short fiction, creative nonfiction, and poetry for our beloved readers, and to helping writers improve their craft. Our mission is not easy but is certainly one we are determined to continue.
By supporting our community, you enable us to provide writing workshops, audio readings, book reviews, anthology publications, writing contests, and more.
Help us to keep our readers happy, and our creatives inspired, and in return, you will enjoy the benefits we have to give, and the pride of keeping the flame of creativity alive.
Make sure you follow us on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and our brand-new YouTube account! We will be promoting your work there!
Don’t hesitate to tag us when you share your Lit Up-published tales so we can repost, retweet, and share!
On Instagram, we will be sharing selected quotes from your wonderful tales!
On YouTube, we will be posting readings and some of the workshops! Please subscribe to our channel
:)
(Click on the icons above to find our accounts)
❤
That’s all for today.
Until next time, don’t forget to live, love, and create.
Much love to all of you, DiAmaya Dawn
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