On Writing and On Publishing

As promised in earlier posts this summer—and noted by Milblogging.com—there are two new static pages on the Red Bull Rising blog, each of which focuses on writing about military experiences:

• "On Writing" expands on an Aug. 1, 2012 blog-post that discussed how writing about writing fits into the blog's mission of "illuminating ways in which citizen-soldiers past and present—as well as their families—can be remembered, supported, and celebrated." It now includes a "first assignment" to prompt others toward recording their own military stories. It also lists five useful books on writing military-themed poetry, fiction, and non-fiction.

• "On Publishing" presents an evolving list of journals, contests, and anthologies to which creators of art, photography, poetry, fiction, and non-fiction (including blogs and memoirs) may submit their work for potential publication. Keep in mind, the editors of some these 2012 markets and venues have not yet announced whether their efforts will be reprised in the future. Also, if you know of other opportunities through which to share or publish one's works, please send information to: sherpa AT redbullrising.com.

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Here are a few more writing-news nuggets:

ST. LOUIS-AREA WRITERS WORKSHOP FOR 'PEOPLE WHO SERVE'

St. Louis-area writing workshop on the campus of Washington University focuses on "people who serve"—veterans, volunteers, first-responders. Six-week modules give participants a concrete timeline and objective. For more information, click here.

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MUSINGS ON E-PUBLISHING AND COMBAT MEMOIRS

Memoir-writing coach and author Jerry Waxler has recently written a number of posts relevant to writing and publishing military memoir. In a review of a short memoir about George Orwell's reaction to genocide in the Ukraine during Stalinist rule, he notes the utility and power of publishing such hard-to-categorize works in electronic format:

If "Orwell and the Refugees: The Untold Story of Animal Farm" was published traditionally, a bookseller or librarian would not know where to shelve it. Does it belong with books about the history of Eastern Europe, or the history of English literature, or is about the investigative journalism of a woman whose grandfather wrote a memoir? Because [Tanya] Chalupa published her story as an eBook, she didn’t have to worry about these distinctions. By cutting across categories, she is free to express herself in a variegated style and high-energy content that suits the broad interests of a hungry mind.

While visiting Waxler's site, be sure to check out his "Ten Things to Learn from Combat Memoir," which is presented in two parts here and here.

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SHERPA SAYS: 'SEE YOU AT THE SUMMIT!'

The inaugural "Sangria Summit: A Military Writers' Conference" is Sept. 12-14, 2012 in Denver, Colo. For earlier Red Bull Rising coverage, including news on how Sherpa will be facilitating conversations there, click here.

Topics will include Tactics, Techniques, and Procedures on writing, editing, publishing, marketing, and selling!

See you at the Summit!