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Carol's Blog (22)

My New Blog at Wordpress

As you may have noticed, this blog has been dormant for a long time. I have started a new blog on Wordpress - please drop by and check it out!

WWW.CDEMINSKI.WORDPRESS.COM

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Added by Carol on July 24, 2011 at 11:28am — No Comments

My first published short story!!!

Hi everyone,

I'm SO excited, I just got an acceptance notice for my first published short story!! It's been about a year since I got my first story-submission rejection, and now I have my first acceptance - I'm very happy with that!

The story is called Red Tide and will appear in the Aroostook Review, which is published in Maine (where my story is set.) As soon as I find out the volume and issue number I will post it here, meanwhile I couldn't help…

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Added by Carol on June 21, 2010 at 11:20am — No Comments

It's been a long time...

Hi all, it's been such a long time since I've posted anything I thought I'd leave a little "update" blog post.

I've

Added by Carol on April 8, 2010 at 8:23am — No Comments

What I Absolutely Can't Live Without

I've just gotten a copy of Lahiri's more recent short story collection Unaccustomed Earth. I'm really looking forward to reading it. I've also joined a book club at work. We haven't met yet, but we've selected Aravind Adiga's Between the Assassinations, which is also a collection of short stories, as our first book. We're planning to discuss the first three stories in the collection at the end of this month.

In the meantime, my writing has slowed down considerably. I'm frustrated by… Continue

Added by Carol on August 12, 2009 at 9:23am — No Comments

My first story rejection

I got a note from AGNI in email a few days ago rejecting a story I submitted to them for possible publication. Ironically, since I've come to understand that the vast majority of submissions are rejected, I actually felt good about the fact that they read my piece and responded to me in a reasonable period of time. I know that not all story submissions are going to work for every single publication I submit to, just because I'd like it to be published.

What's "good" about this… Continue

Added by Carol on July 25, 2009 at 10:12am — No Comments

Bloggidy blog blog

This all started innocently enough.

Ning makes it easy to add applications to each profile page so I thought, why not add an RSS feed so I can have blog posts from other people listed on my page? That way, the other people are doing the writing, and it helps refresh content on my page at the same time. Pretty clever, huh?

Surrrrre.

Then, I started looking for blogs to list on the RSS feed application, which limits entries to 5. I peruse other people's blogs… Continue

Added by Carol on July 17, 2009 at 1:37pm — No Comments

Interpreter of Maladies and its inspiration

I finished Ms. Lahiri's collection of short stories (Interpreter of Maladies) during the long July 4th holiday weekend and all I can say is Wow. Lahiri's writing is full of really sensual details along with a set of characters that feel very real, very three dimensional, particularly in their emotional lives and connections with one another. The very first story in the book, A Temporary Problem, is so surprising and quite intense while dealing with its charged emotional material very… Continue

Added by Carol on July 11, 2009 at 5:25pm — No Comments

Latest reading

I finished McCarthy's The Heart is a Lonely Hunter this week. I was disappointed in the book, I think it attempts to be melancholy but I just didn't connect with her characters. The book was first published in 1940 and part of the charm of the book is the time period and how its depicted, but that is also a drawback as well because it dates the book, in my opinion. I also had trouble with her attempt to "take on" the rhetoric of facism, which came across at times as preachy. Regardless, I was… Continue

Added by Carol on June 28, 2009 at 11:30am — No Comments

Self-motivation

My last Gotham Short Story writing class was this past Tuesday, 6/16 and in looking back I see I've made some friends, had an excellent teacher, learned a lot from everyone in the class and, the cherry on the cake, I've gotten some budding stories well underway.

Now that I won't be spurred on by meeting weekly with my class, I've found that I still have momentum and motivation to continue. I need to ensure that motivation is maintained for the weeks and months ahead. In part, I know… Continue

Added by Carol on June 19, 2009 at 9:13am — No Comments

I can't believe it but...

The 10 week writing workshop I've been attending is coming to an end next week. My writing instructor, author Anne E Wood, is passionate about her subject: Short Story Fiction. She brings a level of energy to each class that is both refreshing and inspiring.

At Anne E's prompting, I've written numerous assignments for the class and several short stories. I've also read many pieces of fiction by my aspiring classmates, countless short stories and a healthy number of novels. The… Continue

Added by Carol on June 10, 2009 at 11:17am — No Comments

25 images available of my Vancouver Island trip

If you would like to see more of the dramatic scenery and other sights from my trip to Vancouver Island, go to:

http://www.twitpic.com/photos/cdeminski

I would LOVE to hear your comments and feedback on these images!

Thanks
Carol

Added by Carol on June 1, 2009 at 6:30pm — No Comments

More beautiful scenery from Vancouver Island

Added by Carol on May 30, 2009 at 11:16pm — No Comments

Submitted my short story

After getting feedback in my Gotham Short Story class on a story I've been working on, I edited the piece and have now sent it off to two literary mags for their consideration.

It seems like there are more literary mags that now charge for reading submissions, but I'm sticking to those that don't. Mags like the North American Review and the Gettysburg Review have been around a long time, and have published well established authors as well as writers new to the small press scene.… Continue

Added by Carol on May 18, 2009 at 11:59am — No Comments

Going to Vancouver Island

In a few weeks, I'll be going to Vancouver Island for a week of rest, writing and relaxation. Victoria is the main city and there are a lot of areas to preserve the natural environment, whale watching, bear watching, etc. Last year I spent some time in Maine, and the websites do remind me a bit of Bar Harbor and Mount Desert Island.

Does anyone have any suggestions on places to go/things to see on Vancouver Island?

(1) http://www.hellobc.com

(2)… Continue

Added by Carol on May 11, 2009 at 8:51am — No Comments

Who are the readers of this blog?

If you are reading this blog, please send me a quick note to let me know... thanks in advance for your help.

Carol

Thanks to those of you that responded!

Added by Carol on May 10, 2009 at 4:30pm — 2 Comments

Up and running

My home computer was repaired (needed a new hard drive) and fortunately for me, all of the data - including my novel draft - was recovered, which was quite a relief.

My Gotham class has been going along splendidly, and it has encouraged me to go out and buy copies of the "Best American Short Stories" anthologies for 2007 and 2008. I'd be thrilled to know if anyone in Book Marketing has ever had their stories printed in Tin House, Zoetrope or other well known short story mag.… Continue

Added by Carol on April 27, 2009 at 9:00am — No Comments

A Slight Setback

Well, dear readers, in preparation for my upcoming writing class I set out to write a short story. I completed it a few weeks ago. Then I had an idea for a play, and I was able to complete that about a week ago. I've been getting more excited about starting my class... and then...

My computer's hard drive crashed.

Quit.

Kaput!

Sooo, thank goodness I have access to the short story and the play via email which I sent to a good friend of mine to read and… Continue

Added by Carol on April 13, 2009 at 8:41am — No Comments

Countdown to Gotham Short Story Class

Well gang, it's only going to be another few weeks before I start my short story writing class with Gotham Writers in Manhattan. As you may notice in my late Feb/early March blog posts, I've written a 2000 word short story as a way to prepare for the class.

Lately I've had a lot of ideas floating around and I've begun writing a play. My intention with any of these ideas I'm getting lately is to make them brief, get them down on paper and move on to the next idea. All of this activity… Continue

Added by Carol on March 28, 2009 at 9:22am — No Comments

Now on Twitter

If you'd like to read my tech related commentary on Twitter, please follow me at @CDeminski.

Added by Carol on March 10, 2009 at 1:30pm — No Comments

Finished the story...stream of conscious rant

I finished the first story. The main character surprised me because I started off trying to balance him with the other character, but he was there to let me know that the story was really about him and from his perspective. The ending was such a surprise to me... I honestly don't even know where it came from. I was re-reading the story to someone close to me, and I recognized some of what I had written as having come directly from my sub-conscious. The words are somehow related to where I am… Continue

Added by Carol on March 2, 2009 at 9:28pm — No Comments