Military Writing Workshop in Colorado Springs May 3-5

CORRECTION: An earlier headline incorrectly listed the dates of this workshop. The correct dates are May 3-5, 2013.

The May 2013 Sangria Summit Military Writers' Workshop will offer insights into the process of writing, getting published, and promoting your work, with a focus on the unique challenges of writing about the military. Panel discussions and how-to seminars will be applicable to both working and aspiring creators of non-fiction, fiction, and visual content.

The event will take place May 3 to 5, 2013 in Colorado Springs, Colo. at the Mandatory Fun store. Address and telephone for the business appears below.

The event is "free" for Sangria Summit members. Memberships are $100 per calendar year. Purchasers are entitled to attend each of two weekend workshops in Colorado Springs, one in May and the other in October. They also receive a 5 percent discount at the following Colorado Springs retail businesses:

• Dragons and Dragoons, a game and book store at 6510 S. Academy Blvd Suite B, Colorado Springs, Colo. 80906; 719.576.0549

• Mandatory Fun, 722 Cheyenne Meadows Road, Colorado Springs, Colo. 80906; 719.576.0545

Memberships may be purchased by calling Mandatory Fun at: 719.576.0545, during regular business hours:

• Mondays and Wednesdays: 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., Mountain Daylight Time (MDT)

• Thursdays and Fridays: 10 a.m. to 9 p.m.

• Saturdays and Sundays: 1 p.m. to 9 p.m.

Conference schedule and hotel information were unavailable at press time.

Red Bull Rising readers will remember previous blog-posts from the inaugural Sangria Summit event, which took place last September in Denver. Since that time, the blog has also been sponsored by the co-founders of the Sangria Summit, a mutually supportive relationship that ends amicably at the end of this month.

"The Sangria Summit sponsorship allowed the Red Bull Rising blog to focus more frequently on writing about military writing," says mil-blogger Randy "Sherpa" Brown. "A lot of good ideas and connections were made at the inaugural event, and through the resulting blog coverage. Most importantly, some of the alumni have gone on to concrete achievements in a short period of time."

As examples, Brown cited:

• Helena Kaufman, Nathan Brookshire, and Marius Tecoanta re-launched the Military Success Network. Brookshire and Tecoanta are also co-authors of "Hidden Wounds: A Soldier's Burden."

• Antonio Salinas, author of "Siren's Song: The Allure Of War," has completed the manuscript and signed a contract for a second book.

• John Holmes, creator of PowerPoint Ranger, recently released an e-book titled "Even Zombie Killers Get The Blues."

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Note: This content regarding military writing is underwritten by Victor Ian LLC, a military media and gaming business. The business publishes Lanterloon, an eclectic lifestyle, technology, and military blog; has physical retail storefronts called "Dragons and Dragoons"  and "Mandatory Fun" located in Colorado Springs, Colo.; and hosts military-writing workshops and other events under the "Sangria Summit" brand name.

Boonie's Haiku Contest Winners Announced

The winners of "Boonie's Haiku Contest" are announced below. More than 50 entries were considered.

During judging, names were removed from entries. The judges looked first for strict adherence to the 17-syllable format (lines of 5-, 7-, and 5-syllables) specified in the contest rules, then moved on to consider questions of how the poems evoked nature and deployed military life. The best created a surprise of recognition.

First place goes to Mariecor Ruediger, who will receive a $200 boxed set of "China Beach," soon to be released for the first time on DVD. (Due to music rights issues, it was never released on VHS.) Here is the winning entry:

One bare Huế tree
Shields a tower position;
Home is far away.

The judges said: "We liked how the reader is left to determine whether the tree shades the guard tower, provides cover for it, or potentially blocks its view. We also liked how the poem suggested Vietnam."

Second place goes to John Mittle, who will receive an autographed and personalized edition of David Abrams' 2012 novel "Fobbit." Mittle is a contributor to The Duffel Blog.

From dusk until dawn
fighting from my cozy desk,
Bronze Star on the way.

The judges said: "The 'on the way' cracked us up! So did the sudden idea of the Bronze Star as either wishing star or morning star."

Third place goes to Joseph Davidovski, who will receive a "Blue Falcon" coffee mug designed by Doctrine Man!!

Sandstorm blocks out sun
Birds, vics, talibs stay quiet
Still the slides march on

The judges said: "Anyone who has weathered the 'red air' of a no-fly situation will recognize how nature can stop everything but PowerPoint and a staff meeting."

One entry, from tgdrakes, practically created its own category, generated by the power of its laugh-out-loud gravitas. It will be appropriately (?!) recognized with a separate Doctrine Man!! Blue Falcon coffee mug.

Sh-- in the shower?
Why in the f--- would someone
Sh-- in the shower?

The judges said: "Profound. Profane. And, in many ways, a nearly perfect description of the challenges of FOB life."

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Honorable mentions included the following, presented here in random order:

By Mariecor Ruediger:

Bleak like grim winter,
Combat makes me spring then fall:
This ain't no picnic.

The judges said: "This one sneaks up on you, like old age and bad knees."

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By NavyOne:

Sprint in a flightsuit
Long tarmac, rip my crotch
Warm Iraqi breezes

The judges said: "This is an effective reminder of why 'going commando' is never a good idea, even when wearing Nomex. It also makes us want to sing the theme to 'Born Free'!"

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By Travis Martin, founding editor of The Journal of Military Experience:

OD green stretches
White salt stains: Chalk-lined soldiers
Echo restless sleep.

The judges said: "Anyone who has spent a hot, sweaty night on a transient-tent Army cot will recognize the salty-shadowy outlines evoked by this writer."

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By Nate Didier:

COP Kalagush night
Raining rockets again right?
Commando will fight!

The judges said: "Rhymes and references to Red Bull territory downrange in 2010-2011 Afghanistan! In this case, 'Commando' is a 1st Battalion, 133rd Infantry Regiment call sign. 'Attack! Attack! Attack!'"

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By mil-blogger America's SgtMaj:

Silly pogue don't know
Gunslingers don't drink lattes
Macchiato sir?

The judges said: "Eskimos allegedly have 17 different words for snow. We imagine there are also 17 different ways to pronounce the 'sir' in this poem, each with its own unique flavor. And sprinkles of sarcasm."

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By Tim Kindred:

My mind thinks of home
I'd love a beer and Maid-Rite
Not an MRE

The judges said: "Bonus points for using juxtaposing an acronym and a much-beloved Midwestern brand!"

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By Scott McDaniel:

Where is the Kandak?
Alone at the command post.
Oh, it's Thursday night!

The judges said: "We think this lonely letter from an Embedded Training Team member is potentially the first time that 'Man-love Thursday' has been recorded in Western war-poetry!"

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By Jim Keirsey:

Eight deployments down
most surreal thing I've seen is
KAF's TGIF

The judges said: "This is the most adept use of acronyms we've seen! And it alludes to the carnival vibe some got from seeing a T.G.I. Fridays restaurant on a downrange boardwalk."

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By Raj Bose:

POWs
Nodding a smile to the guards
Through the barbed wire fence

The judges said: "This, like the Mona Lisa, was nicely ... enigmatic. And universal."

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By "Dark Laughter" at The Duffel Blog:

This summer sandstorm
Couldn’t blind the first sergeant
To my day-old shave.

The judges said: "This is beautiful! It places the reader in both time and place, and also feels a bit like a Burma-Shave ditty."

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By Krystal Miga:

Oh it’s you again
Working, living, together
It’s like we’re married

The judges said: "This writer found a memorable new way to evoke the ideas of 'Groundhog Day' and the 'downrange spouse.' If you have to ask what that means, don't ask."

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Finally, a bonus quasi-entry from cp3002, commenting at Tom Ricks' "The Best Defense" blog:

An empty Rip-It,
held to your ear in Helmand
sounds like the ocean.

The judges said: "Marines love the sound of the sea!"

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Note: This content regarding military writing is underwritten by Victor Ian LLC, a military media and gaming business. The business publishes Lanterloon, an eclectic lifestyle, technology, and military blog; has a physical retail storefront called "Dragons and Dragoons" located in Colorado Springs, Colo.; and hosts military-writing workshops and other events under the "Sangria Summit" brand name.

Mil-blogger Surveys Iraq, Afghan Wars Through Arts

http://acolytesofwar.com/

"Time Now," a military blog that reviews "The Iraq and Afghanistan Wars in Art, Film, and Literature," has been added to the Red Bull Rising blog-roll. It appears in the right-hand column of the webpage, under a new "Military Arts and Culture Blogs" category. In past posts, blogger Peter Molin has considered topics including contemporary war poetry and literature, photography and cinema, and theatrical and dance productions.

Molin, a U.S. Army officer who served on Embedded Training Team in Afghanistan's Khost and Paktiya provinces in 2008-2009, also maintains an archived of his deployment experiences at "15-month Adventure."

Red Bull Rising blog readers may remember that Paktiya Province was the area of operation of the Iowa Army National Guard's 1st Battalion, 168th Infantry Battalion, during the 2nd Brigade Combat Team (B.C.T.), 34th Infantry "Red Bull" Division's (2-34th BCT) deployment in 2010-2011.

Unlike the standard "the views herein do not reflect those of the U.S. Army" boilerplate, Molin's disclaimer regarding his deployment is clear, conversational, and worthy of duplication by other mil-bloggers. Note how he blends both his blog's mission and intent:

I am an active-duty Army officer. I started this blog to keep friends and family informed about my deployment to Afghanistan in 2008-2009 as the leader of an "Embedded Transition Team." I have kept it going since because it gives me a chance to reflect on the experience and because at least some people say they still enjoy reading it. My intent is to write in interesting and original ways about the war without being critical of the US or the Army, without compromising security or operations, and without saying anything remotely unflattering about the great military personnel and civilians with whom I served.

Here are some of Molin's reviews of contemporary mil-poetry collections:

• Walter E. Piatt's "Paktika." Piatt deployed to Iraq twice and Afghanistan once, when he was a battalion commander in Eastern Afghanistan Paktika Province. He is a past commandant of the U.S. Army Infantry School, and is currently a deputy commanding general with the 10th Mountain Division. Unfortunately, "Paktika" seems to be out of print, but his 2003 collection titled "She Came to the Door to Wave Good-bye" is still available here.

• Paul Wasserman's "Say Again All." Wasserman is an Army Aviation NCO. His chapbook is available through Lulu.com here.

• Elyse Fenton's "Clamor." Fenton is the wife of a combat medic. The 2010 collection is available on Amazon here. Another review of her work, suggested by another Red Bull Rising blog reader, appears here.

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Note: This content regarding military writing is underwritten by Victor Ian LLC, a military media and gaming business. The business publishes Lanterloon, an eclectic lifestyle, technology, and military blog; has a physical retail storefront called "Dragons and Dragoons" located in Colorado Springs, Colo.; and hosts military-writing workshops and other events under the "Sangria Summit" brand name.

Air Force Academy Lit-Pub Targets War in First-Person

Founded in 1990, the War, Literature & the Arts is an international journal of the humanities published by the Department of English and Fine Arts at the United States Air Force Academy, Colorado Springs, Colo. The annual journal is published both in print and online.

"From time out of mind, and in all cultures, war and art have reflected one another," its mission statement reads. "WLA seeks to illuminate this intersection. We publish short fiction, poetry, personal essay/memoir, visuals, and scholarly essays for a general audience."

The editors continue:

If it seems to fall to the historian to make distinctions among wars, each war’s larger means and ends, the trajectory for the artist, regardless of culture or time, seems to fall towards an individual’s disillusionment, the means and ends of war played out in the personal. For the individual soldier, the sweeping facts of history are accurately written not in the omniscient, third-person plural, but in the singular first. We live in a culture that values the individual. Our works of art about war mirror this welcome bias.

For the current (2012) issue, visit here. An online archive back to Winter 1999 appears here.

Submissions are welcomed year-round via on-line portal here. Simultaneous submissions are acceptable; materials previously published in other venues are not.

The journal also maintains a Facebook page here.

There is also an occasional but heavy-lifting blog here.

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Note: This content regarding military writing is underwritten by Victor Ian LLC, a military media and gaming business. The business publishes Lanterloon, an eclectic lifestyle, technology, and military blog; has a physical retail storefront called "Dragons and Dragoons" located in Colorado Springs, Colo.; and hosts military-writing workshops and other events under the "Sangria Summit" brand name.

Classified: 'March Hare Press' Seeks Military Poets

The March Hare Press sends into the void these cryptic lines, telegraphed into a few lines of fine print. Think of it as verse, in the terse style of a newspaper advertisement:

"MARCH HARE PRESS seeks poetry from enlisted military personnel or veterans for an anthology. Looking for authentic voices. Three poems, 40 lines or less. Include contact info. Reading period ends April 30. No fee."

Send submissions to:

Editor, March Hare Press
200 Norfolk St.
Cambridge, Mass. 02139

Or e-mail: editor.marchhare@gmail.com

Thanks to the Veterans Writing Collective for the tip!

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Note: This content regarding military writing is underwritten by Victor Ian LLC, a military media and gaming business. The business publishes Lanterloon, an eclectic lifestyle, technology, and military blog; has a physical retail storefront called "Dragons and Dragoons" located in Colorado Springs, Colo.; and hosts military-writing workshops and other events under the "Sangria Summit" brand name.

Mil-blogger Adds New Voices to PTSD Site

A former M2 "Bradley" driver, Kentuckian Scott Lee is a veteran of Operation Desert Storm, an associate editor with The Journal of Military Experience, and founder of the blog "PTSD: A Soldier's Perspective," which he has written since 2007. After years of writing about his own experiences with Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (P.T.S.D.), Lee says, the blog hit a something of a sweet spot. He realized he'd helped establish a community of people asking similar questions about everyday life with PTSD.

Lee describes how his blog has evolved from a mission of personal discovery, to one of mutual support, peer-mentorship, and even healing:

In the beginning, my blog was anything but healing, a lot of venting of anger and triggering others. I was all about shocking people by revealing my inner self. I still do that in some form, the graphic nature of our condition needs a similar style to make others understand through the use of metaphors. It wasn't until 2009 that it began to take on a healing message. It was in 2010 that I really started to notice the natural development of a mentoring system through working with other writers and caregivers on expressing themselves through blogging.

The blog's formal mission statement now reads: "to educate, support and engage Veterans and Caregivers."

Contacted by those caring for loved ones diagnosed with PTSD, Lee says, he was able to tell strangers what he'd previously forgotten or failed to tell his own friends and family. "It allowed me to say to them what I failed to tell my ex-wives and caregivers in the past," he says. "The insights drawn from my experience of two messy divorces offers help to others in navigating obstacle courses that derailed my life. Often I find myself in discussions [with caregivers and veterans] about why and how we think, feel, and act."

After a recent site redesign, Lee has been joined by a cadre of contributors, each offering his or her own voice and perspective regarding PTSD, Traumatic Brain Injury (T.B.I.), and Military Sexual Trauma (M.S.T.).

Those contributing to Lee's blog include other alumni from The Journal of Military Experience and the 2012 Military Experience and Arts Symposium, including Travis Martin, Michelle Monte, and Angela Peacock, as well as others.

While the events they describe may have happened years ago, some of the featured personal narratives are immediate, brutal, and raw. These are stories of military service, sacrifice, and struggle, but they are the kind that too often remain untold. The public needs to see and hear the realities of these stories, just as much as those who face such challenges every day.

Lee's plain-spoken disclaimer, found on the front-page of his blog, attempts to put the truth-telling into context: "This site contains emotionally charged and graphic accounts of experiences concerning Military PTSD," it reads. "You may be triggered if suffering from a psychological injury and others may equally be affected!"

In addition to blogging, Lee pursues other writing interests in both fiction and non-fiction. In 2012, he assisted Heroes Fallen Studios' Clayton Murwin in interviewing Korean War veterans for an upcoming two-volume graphic novel, underwritten by the U.S. Department of Defense.

Lee also maintains a Facebook fan page for his PTSD-themed blog. Click here for more information.

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Note: This content regarding military writing is underwritten by Victor Ian LLC, a military media and gaming business. The business publishes Lanterloon, an eclectic lifestyle, technology, and military blog; has a physical retail storefront called "Dragons and Dragoons" located in Colorado Springs, Colo.; and hosts military-writing workshops and other events under the "Sangria Summit" brand name.

Group Launches Second Mil-Writing Contest, Anthology

The Warriors Arts Alliance has published a call for submissions to a second volume of military-themed fiction, non-fiction, poetry, and photography. The non-fiction category includes creative non-fiction, essay, and oral history.

Both the anthology and a related contest are open to all military personnel, veterans, and military family members. As the group's website states, "This series of anthologies preserves and shares the perspectives of our military and veterans of all conflicts and of their families. It is not only an outlet for artistic expression but also a document of the unique aspects of wartime in our nation’s history."

The group's first published work, titled "Proud to Be: Writing from America's Warriors," was published in November 2012. Both volumes are in partnership with the Missouri Humanities Council and Southeast Missouri State University Press.

A 5-minute video of a 2012 reading event celebrating the publication of the first volume is available here.

Contributors to the first volume will also read at a veterans' recognition reception titled "In Their Own Words" at Southeast Missouri State University Wed., Feb. 13, from 7 to 9 p.m. Monitor the Warriors Arts Alliance's website or Facebook page for forthcoming details.

Deadline for the second volume is July 1, 2013. Winners and contributors will be notified not later than Nov. 1, 2013. Submissions may be made electronically or in hardcopy. Additional details follow:

• Limit one submission in each category per person.

• Only previously unpublished work will be considered.

• Poetry: up to three poems (Five pages maximum).

• Fiction, essay, or interview: 5,000-word limit.

• Photography: up to three good-quality photos. (The book will be published in black and white).

• Submissions exceeding the limits will be disqualified.

• Include a biography of no more than 75 words.

Writers may submit to the anthology only by mailing both the work and a Self-Addressed Stamped Envelope (S.A.S.E.) for notification to: Warriors Anthology, Southeast Missouri State University Press, Mail Stop 2650, Cape Girardeau, Mo. 63701.

Writers my submit to both the anthology and a $250 contest by e-mailing previously unpublished work to: upress@semo.edu. Additional details follow:

• Entries must be submitted as Microsoft Word document (.doc or .docx format).

• Keep poems in one document (with first poem as title).

• Put your name and contact info on first page and nowhere else on the manuscript.

A $250 first-prize will be awarded in each category. All contest entries will also be considered for publication.

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Note: This content regarding military writing is underwritten by Victor Ian LLC, a military media and gaming business. The business publishes Lanterloon, an eclectic lifestyle, technology, and military blog; has a physical retail storefront called "Dragons and Dragoons" located in Colorado Springs, Colo.; and hosts military-writing workshops and other events under the "Sangria Summit" brand name.

'A Journalist, a Satirist, and a Truth-Squader ...'

Sometimes, attending a conference or a trade show is pays for itself with just one chance meeting or epiphany. This one, from last week's mil-blogging track New Media Expo, starts out sounding like the beginning a bad joke: "A journalist, a satirist, and one-man truth-squad walk into a room ..."

I had this mug-shot taken in Vegas.

As mentioned in a previous Red Bull Rising post, I was invited to participate in a panel discussion regarding the "next generation" of mil-bloggers, along with Mark Seavey ("This Ain't Hell" and The American Legion's "The Burn Pit" blogs) and Paul Szoldra ("The Duffel Blog.")

At first, there seemed to be few similarities, beyond the fact that each of us is a U.S. military veteran. Szoldra's biting social commentary is raw, timely, and gut-punchingly funny. ("First Sergeant Gives 72-hour-long Weekend Liberty Brief," is a recent example.) Seavey's targeting of "Stolen Valor" offenders is passionate, articulate, and grounded in his law-degree training. Me? I started my own blog-journey as a storytelling citizen-soldier, and ended up with my return to my journalistic roots. These days, I write as much to encourage others to record their stories, as I do to relate my own.

During our collective hour in the spotlight, however, I came to this realization: Each of us is engaging, in different ways and forms, in an effort to make sense of a post-OIF/OEF narrative.

I'm old enough to remember the 1970s and 1980s, when people were still arguing over What the Vietnam War Meant. Heck, people are still discussing it, along with similar conversations about the Cold War and Operation Desert Storm. "Everybody knows why they go to war, but no one is quite sure why they went."

Exploring, examining, arguing, and documenting what it means to have engaged in this "Global War of Terror" seems just as important as what the first generation of mil-blogs set to do: Report first-person narrative from the front lines, in a manner less filtered than that of traditional forms of media.

Anecdotally, of course, there seems to have been a recent renaissance in writers who are continuing to do just that. You'll find some of them recently added to the Red Bull Rising blog-roll: James L. Gibson is one. Afghan Battle Fox is another.

Different stories, different times, different tactics, different voices.

But always "one team, one fight."

And mil-blogs still matter.

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Note: This content regarding military writing is underwritten by Victor Ian LLC, a military media and gaming business. The business publishes Lanterloon, an eclectic lifestyle, technology, and military blog; has a physical retail storefront called "Dragons and Dragoons" located in Colorado Springs, Colo.; and hosts military-writing workshops and other events under the "Sangria Summit" brand name.

10 Talking Points Prior to a Mil-Blog Conference

I'm honored to have been invited to participate in Mil-blogging track at The New Media Expo 2013 in Las Vegas next week. (See Milblogging.com here for details; I'll post live-streaming details when I get them.)

Properly caffeinated and motivated, I'll be on a panel with fellow veterans and writers Paul Szoldra (founder of the satirical "The Duffel Blog"), and Mark Seavey ("This Ain't Hell" and The American Legion's "Burn Pit" blogs).

(The last time I was in Vegas? I had just come out of The Box at Fort Irwin, Calif. Spent a weekend decompressing with my kid brother. Rented an AK-47. Gave him the black rifle. Also visited The Pinball Hall of Fame, because that's how we roll.)

Moderator and fellow mil-writer Ward Carroll says we'll have 60 minutes to collectively solve all the world's problems. Of course, if we have to use MDMP, we won't even get past terrain analysis.

Given the participants, I'm sure it'll be idea-packed, free-wheeling, and even loose-cannoned. To help get my head in the game, I put together this patchwork of possible talking points. Some are old, some are new. I thought I'd share them as sort of a preview. Let me know what you think!

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Mil-blogging, like homecoming, is a journey. Not a destination.

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I started writing the Red Bull Rising blog in December 2009, when it looked like I was going to deploy to Afghanistan. My military job involved, among other duties, advising the commander on social media technology and techniques. I started writing under a pseudonym because, at the time, Army policy on social media was so fuzzy. There's nothing like learning by doing, even if you're doing it in secret.

I've met a lot a great people, seen some impressive things, learned some quirky skills. In addition to my freelance writing and editing, for example, I've recently taken on a day-job writing online military stuff for the military. Every day, I'm glad I know how to spell "HTML."

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Regular Red Bull Rising readers know that I've occasionally attempted to articulate some sort of Grand Unified Theory of Mil-blogging. Here are a few notable installments:

• "Mil-blogging Tips, Tools, and Tactics, Part I"
• "Mil-blogging Tips, Tools, and Tactics, Part II"
• "Lessons-Learned After a Year of Mil-blogging"
• "Re: Classification of Mil-blogs"

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Some Red Bull Rising sponsors have helped expand that discussion to "writing about military writing." A blog, after all, is an engine that can generate news, views, and fictions. You can use a blog to capture the spirit of your times. You can hone a thesis or body of work through a thousand daily mistakes. You can present a truth as you have come to know it. 

In short, it's journalism. Both the poetry and the prattle. "A first draft of history." 

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My newspaper and magazine buddies still make jokes about how all bloggers must write while wearing pajamas. I'm just glad they think I'm wearing pants.

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I knew I was training to be a dinosaur when I majored in newspaper journalism back in the late 1980s. I just didn't think I'd live long enough to see the asteroid hit.

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Being able write anything you want doesn't mean you should.

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From the Merriam-Webster's definition of "journalist:" 

• "A person engaged in journalism; especially a writer or editor for a news medium"
• "A writer who aims at a mass audience"
• "A person who keeps a journal"

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Bloggers: First, do no harm. 

Then, be humble. Be grateful. Make sure it's not all about you. Make it about your words. And your work. And what your words and work can do in the world. 

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Pay it forward, but give thanks along the way. 

Remember Sherpatude No. 24.

Red Bull Rising wouldn't be where it is today without a thousand kindnesses from these and many others: Milblogging.com; Military Writers & Reporters Association; Garry Trudeau's/Doonesbury's "The Sandbox"; Tom Ricks' "The Best Defense"; Carl Prine's (now off-line) "Line of Departure"; Kanani Fong; Kentucky Woman; Jeff Courter; Ben Tupper; Travis Martin; Deb Marshall and Susan Swartwout; Victor Ian LLC; The Red Earth MFA program at Oklahoma City University.

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Note: This content regarding military writing is underwritten by Victor Ian LLC, a military media and gaming business. The business publishes Lanterloon, an eclectic lifestyle, technology, and military blog; has a physical retail storefront called "Dragons and Dragoons" located in Colorado Springs, Colo.; and hosts military-writing workshops and other events under the "Sangria Summit" brand name.

'Consequence' Magazine Focuses on Culture of War

According to its website, Consequence literary magazine is an "independent, international literary magazine." Located in Cohasset, Mass. and published annually, the magazine accepts submissions between June 1 and October 1 each year. The magazine's content comprises short fiction, poetry, non-fiction, interviews, visual art, and reviews focused on the culture and consequences of war.

For an online copy of the Spring 2012 issue, click here. Subscriptions are available. Rates are $10 for one year, $19 for two years, $28 for three years. The publisher also welcomes donations.

• For fiction and non-fiction: Submit one piece of no more than 5,000 words.

• For poetry: Submit up to five poems of any length. Translations are acceptable. A $300 annual prize in poetry is offered. For details, click here.

For more details on how to submit to Consequence, click here.

The publication has demonstrated a willingness to creatively engage the veterans community. In October 2012, for example, the magazine conducted a two-session poetry workshop for veterans, in conjunction with the Massachusetts Poetry Festival.

For a Facebook page, click here.

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Disclaimer: This content regarding military writing is underwritten by Victor Ian LLC, a military media and gaming business. The business publishes Lanterloon, an eclectic lifestyle, technology, and military blog; has a physical retail storefront called "Dragons and Dragoons" located in Colorado Springs, Colo.; and hosts military-writing workshops and other events under the "Sangria Summit" brand name. 

Flash-Priority for Flash-Fiction Contest Deadline!

An annual fiction contest for works written with fewer than 1,000 words is accepting e-mailed submissions until Dec. 31, 2012. The Sixth Annual Micro Awards will recognize stories that have been published in print or electronically in 2012. Self-published materials are acceptable. For full contest rules, click here.

The contest website lists materials that will NOT be considered eligible:

• Poetry
• Performance scripts
• Non-fiction
• Translated fiction
• Excerpts from longer works of fiction
• Visual art with literary texts

Winners and finalists will be announced in March 2013. The author of the winning story will be awarded $500.

To get more of a feel for the competition, be sure to check out the administrators' comments about each previous year's winners and finalists, from 2012, 2011, 2010, 2009, and 2008.

Shout-out to the Warrior Writers blog for the tip!

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Disclaimer: This content regarding military writing is underwritten by Victor Ian LLC, a military media and gaming business. The business publishes Lanterloon, an eclectic lifestyle, technology, and military blog; has a physical retail storefront called "Dragons and Dragoons" located in Colorado Springs, Colo.; and hosts military-writing workshops and other events under the "Sangria Summit" brand name.

Contest for Veterans: Celebrate Public Lands by Dec. 6

The U.S. Bureau of Land Management (B.L.M.) and Sierra Club are co-sponsoring a writing and visual arts contest that calls for military service members, veterans, and immediate family members to express their appreciation for public land. Original photography, videography, creative writing and essays should be submitted on the theme of "What my public lands mean to me."

This land is your land, these words are your words. Unfortunately, the deadline on this opportunity is also danger-close: 11:59 p.m. Eastern Standard Time, Dec. 6, 2012.

According to a contest website, photos and videos should depict "depict land managed by the Bureau of Land Management, National Park Service, U.S. Forest Service, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, U.S. Bureau of Reclamation, or other Federal agency."

Blog-editor's note: I'm pretty sure that Fort Irwin, Calif., is land managed by a Federal agency. Someone out there might appreciate that.

Other random details follow:

• Photos must be 300 dpi and between 3 and 5 MB, and in TIFF or JPEG format.

• Videos should be between 30 seconds and 3 minutes in length.

• Essays may include photography.

For complete rules, click here.

Entries will be judged by a panel of BLM and Sierra Club employees, on criteria including creativity, passion, technical ability, and public vote.

Winners will be announced Dec. 21, 2012. Winning entries will be featured on BLM and Sierra Club websites and social media. Winners will receive "outdoor support kits."

One caveat or quibble: Why specify "active-duty service member," given that so much of today's U.S. military capability comes from the Reserve Component? Of course, if you're a reservist who has previously deployed for a period of longer than 6 months, you're arguably a veteran. And, if you're a reservist currently downrange serving on active-duty, well ... there you go. This contest was made for you and me.

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Disclaimer: This content regarding military writing is underwritten by Victor Ian LLC, a military media and gaming business. The business publishes Lanterloon, an eclectic lifestyle, technology, and military blog; has a physical retail storefront called "Dragons and Dragoons" located in Colorado Springs, Colo.; and hosts military-writing workshops and other events under the "Sangria Summit" brand name.

Editor's Advice to Mil-Writers: Be Flexible, Be Engaged

In terms of military writing, November 2012 exploded with the publication of multiple anthologies focused on themes of war, peace, service, and remembrance. Many of these journals have open calls for submission, and an eye toward publishing new volumes in 2013.

These include:

• "Proud to Be: Writing by American Warriors," published by the Southeastern Missouri University Press and others the first of this month.

• "O-Dark-Thirty," a new quarterly journal published Nov. 11 by the Veterans Writing Project, Washington, D.C.

• The Journal of Military Experience at Eastern Kentucky University, Richmond, Kent., its third volume to be published in November 2013.

Despite looming deadlines, the editors of these publications recently offered Red Bull Rising readers their insights into writing for, submitting to, and getting published in journals and anthologies.

This is Part III of a 3-part series of blog-posts resulting from those on-line interviews.

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Travis L. Martin is a baritone-voiced evangelist and advocate, a standard-bearer for changing the ways in which veterans issues are framed and discussed on campuses naionwide. The Iraq War veteran is the founder and managing editor The Journal of Military Experience, published for the first time in 2011 on the campus of Eastern Kentucky University, Richmond, Kent. In July 2012, the publication's second volume was published in conjunction with the inaugural Military Experience and the Arts Symposium, a national-level arts and learning event that brought together veterans, arts practitioners, and educators on the EKU campus.

While a graduate student of English at EKU, he helped create a multi-disciplinary Veterans Studies Program that offers an academic minor or certificate. He continues to teach while also pursuing his doctoral research at the University of Kentucky, Lexington, Kent., regarding 19th and 20th century war memoirs.

In parts literary, arts, and academic journal, The Journal of Military Experience publishes selected works of fiction, non-fiction, poetry, and the graphic arts. The journal's third issue is scheduled for publication in November 2013. Deadline for submissions is Dec. 31, 2012. Click here for guidelines.

Selections from the first and second issues of The Journal of Military Experience are available free of charge at the EKU Encompass website.

Print back-issues are also available here and here.

As managing editor, Martin attempts to make The Journal of Military Experience a venue in which veterans can explore old stories in new ways. He encourages experimentation, and instills a collaborative approach to crafting and curating the publication. "My goal with the JME is to help authors craft the best story possible through one-on-one workshopping and mentorship," he says:

I want our authors to use publishing with the JME as a resource to improve both their works and their overall skills. I sincerely hope that the works we help out with end up in larger bodies of writing. That said, I find myself trying to balance this 'idealism' with rigor and quality. We expect the author to hold up his or her end of the bargain and give it 100 percent. I think anyone with the guts to write their story probably has a good one to tell. We just want to help.

Martin advises aspiring writers and artists to aggressively research the journals, contests, or anthologies to which they're submitting:

Think about where you are with your work before submitting to a journal; think about what kind of conversation you want to enter into and what kind of audience you want to reach. [...]

When in doubt, read. Get copies of the journals and previous editions that you are considering submitting to. What are the common themes in their stories? Do they go for the 'guts and glory' stories? Do they attract both female and male authors? Put yourself at an objective remove, and ask yourself where your writing fits or stacks up. If you want more info, just ask.

More than anything else, Martin relishes the engagement, the collaboration, the conversation. "If other editors are anything like me, they probably have no life and live vicariously through the works of their authors," he jokes. "Because of this, they love making new friends. Write up a brief synopsis of what your work is about and get the conversation going before sending in your work." He continues:

My ambition to be a source of support and growth contrasts greatly with journals that reject works outright. I don’t mean to disparage those different approaches. If a journal attracts extremely experienced and accomplished authors, odds are they have earned a reputation that helps them do so. You might think brushing elbows with the greats is a good idea from the get-go. However, you might find that the reviewer weighs your portfolio of publications and affiliations at a proportion inappropriate to the quality of your work. You might also find that the audience for a journal is not the one you want to address. The JME is engaged mostly with returning veterans and those active in the veteran support communities. Other journals might be looking to start a conversation with someone totally different.

Like any veteran editor, however, Martin is also always on the lookout for conversational danger signs and tripwires. "I’m of the belief that no piece of writing is ever complete," he advises:

When someone attaches a story along with a note that says they have written the perfect piece, I get a little weary; I know this person is going to have a tough time taking criticism because they don’t see room for improvement. It’s just not a realistic approach to take. Be humble. Be flexible. These things are not at odds with being a great writer.

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Disclaimer: This content regarding military writing is underwritten by Victor Ian LLC, a military media and gaming business. The business publishes Lanterloon, an eclectic lifestyle, technology, and military blog; has a physical retail storefront called "Dragons and Dragoons" located in Colorado Springs, Colo.; and hosts military-writing workshops and other events under the "Sangria Summit" brand name. 

Q&A with Ron Capps, Veterans Writing Project

In terms of military writing, November 2012 exploded with the publication of multiple anthologies focused on themes of war, peace, service, and remembrance. Many of these journals have open calls for submission, and are working toward publishing new volumes in 2013.

These include:

• "Proud to Be: Writing by American Warriors,"  published by the Southeastern Missouri University Press and others the first of this month.

• "O-Dark-Thirty," a new quarterly journal published Nov. 11 by Veterans Writing Project, Washington, D.C.

• The Journal of Military Experience at Eastern Kentucky University, Richmond, Kent., its third volume to be published in November 2013.

Despite looming deadlines, the editors of these respective publications recently offered Red Bull Rising readers their insights into writing for, submitting to, and getting published in journals and anthologies.

This is Part II of a 3-part series of blog-posts resulting from those on-line interviews.

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Ron Capps is a 25-year Army veteran and founder of the Veterans Writing Project. The Washington, D.C. based non-profit offers writing workshops for soldiers, veterans, and military families; helps research the use of writing as medically effective therapy for patients diagnosed with Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (P.T.S.D.) and/or Traumatic Brain Injury (T.B.I.); and publishes both online and print literary journals.

Capps is also author of "Writing War," a portable curriculum for teaching creative writing techniques to military audiences.

Why should writers consider submitting their works to journals and/or anthologies? How does it potentially benefit their output, development, and/or marketability?

Primarily, the value to submitting to and publishing in journals is in developing a portfolio of work. Very few writers get a book deal with their first work. Publishers love to see that a writer has been previously published, especially in established literary journals or magazines. It does a couple things for the editor or publisher: It shows that the writer has established a readership—this leads to increased sales—and it means that other editors have already seen the work, helped the writer get it ready for publication, and in a way validated the choice the publisher is making to purchase a collection of stories, poems, or essays, or a book-length work.

And writers who are trying to develop a deeper portfolio should probably not publish multiple pieces in the same journal—I mean, unless it’s The New Yorker or some place like that. Try to publish your work in as many different journals and on as many different platforms as possible.

What roles do journals/anthologies play in communicating military experiences to audiences? What types of audiences do they reach?

This varies wildly. Narrowly focused journals tend to have a narrowly focused readership. If a journal only publishes military-history essays for example, readers who want science fiction or fantasy are unlikely to subscribe. Even journals that publish a broad range of works can sometimes be too narrowly focused in their targeting of readers. If an editor or publisher is trying to help bridge the divide between the military and civilian communities, it’s important to put the journal into the hands of both groups. We give copies of our journal away to military units, ships, hospitals and veterans service organizations, but we also put copies in front of civilian readers, too, through book fairs, writers’ conferences and online marketing.

As both a writer and an editor, what success strategies would you suggest toward getting published in journals/anthologies? How do you select/craft works to submit? How do you choose markets to which to submit work?

From the writer’s standpoint there are two things that are critical first steps: Fit the conventions, and stand out from the crowd. This sounds a little contrary, but it’s not. You have to fit the conventions in that you have to submit to the journal in the format they expect and demand. You can’t just drop something over the transom in a manila envelope and expect to be published. You have to use the journal’s preferred method of submissions, put things into the proper format, attach an effective cover letter, and get it to the editors in the format they demand.

Plus, you have to make sure the manuscript is in the best possible condition. Spelling, grammar, and formatting errors are killers. But you also have to stand out from the crowd. Your writing has to be fresh and interesting. Don’t use stale metaphors or too much jargon. Make sure your characters’ dialogue sounds realistic and their actions are believable.

Once you’ve reached that point in developing your manuscript and are ready to submit, think a bit strategically. Go to the library or bookstore, or online, and read through copies of journals to make sure that what you’re submitting is what the editors want. Don’t submit a story about zombies to a journal that focuses on unicorns. Make a list of 10 journals that publish works like yours. Start by submitting to three. When you hear back from those three—either way—move to the next three and so on. It’s helpful to make a matrix to help you track this stuff, too. I have specifically and successfully targeted stories to journals just because I thought the story might be of interest to the editor. So make sure you read the editors’ bios, too.

And there is some etiquette here. Once you’ve submitted, be patient. Most journals will tell you right on their submissions page how long you should expect to wait. Part of your submissions matrix should a column that lists a date when you feel you should query. And if they’ve got one of your pieces, don’t send more until you’ve heard back about that one.

Capps was recently interviewed by National Public Radio here.

To be published four times annually, "O-Dark-Thirty" is available for $10 PayPal purchase here, and $30 annual subscription here. Gift subscriptions may also be funded for wounded and deployed service members.

For submissions guidelines, click here.

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Disclaimer: This content regarding military writing is underwritten by Victor Ian LLC, a military media and gaming business. The business publishes Lanterloon, an eclectic lifestyle, technology, and military blog; has a physical retail storefront called "Dragons and Dragoons" located in Colorado Springs, Colo.; and hosts military-writing workshops and other events under the "Sangria Summit" brand name.

Editor: Military-Writing Anthologies Are a 'Triple-Win'

In terms of military writing, November 2012 exploded with the publication of multiple anthologies focused on themes of war, peace, service, and remembrance. Many of these journals have open calls for submission, and are working toward publishing new volumes in 2013.

These include:

• "Proud to Be: Writing by American Warriors,"  published by the Southeastern Missouri University Press and others the first of this month.

• "O-Dark-Thirty," a new quarterly journal published Nov. 11 by Veterans Writing Project, Washington, D.C.

• The Journal of Military Experience at Eastern Kentucky University, Richmond, Kent., its third volume to be published in November 2013.

Despite looming deadlines, the editors of these respective publications recently offered Red Bull Rising readers their insights into writing for, submitting to, and getting published in journals and anthologies.

This is Part I of a 3-part series of blog-posts resulting from those on-line interviews.

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Susan Swartwout is the editor of "Proud to Be: Writing by American Warriors," a 255-page anthology of veterans' fiction, non-fiction, and poetry published earlier this month by the Southeast Missouri State University Press. (In the interest of full disclosure: The author of the Red Bull Rising blog has a poem that appears in this work.)

The project was undertaken with assistance from the Missouri Humanities Council (M.H.C.) and the Warriors Arts Alliance, the latter a non-profit organization dedicated to building communication and understanding between veterans, families, and communities through creative writing and visual arts.

Swartwout calls anthologies a potential "triple-win" for military writers, families, and members of the public:

[T]he soldier-writer is the expert voice here. Without those voices, the general American citizen remains hugely uninformed about the daily events and the ground-level opinions of our soldiers involved in conflicts. We only hear the news media’s coverage, maybe a few oral stories from friends and family. But little else is actually crafted by the soldiers into a permanent piece of written communication that is published in a professional volume to help inform the public.

The anthology format preserves not only the individual pieces of writing, but also the multiple opinions and viewpoints of involved human beings, all in one artifact. The printed anthology informs the public, allows the soldiers’ and their families’ voices to be heard, and preserves their writing. Triple win.

Swartwout also notes the utility of published credits in marketing oneself or one's work: "For the soldier, or any writer, it never hurts to have a publication credit or two! When one enters the job market—or reenters—publication credits can help make the difference between [one] writer's application and all the others. Businesses like employees who can communicate well in writing."

According to a news release, the road to achieving the final "Proud to Be" product was long and twisted:

The warriors writing project began with Geoff Giglierano, executive director of the Missouri Humanities Council, and Deb Marshall, president of The Missouri Writers’ Guild, who paired up to launch a pilot program: The Missouri Warrior Writers Project. The project featured creative writing workshops in veterans hospitals to promote self-expression and confidence, with laptops provided by Missouri Humanities Council and writing instruction by Deb Marshall.

The workshops metamorphosed into the Warriors Arts Alliance and a new project: an annual anthology funded by the Missouri Humanities Council. The Missouri Humanities Council and Warriors Arts Alliance extended their partnership to include Southeast Missouri State University Press and its director Dr. Susan Swartwout, who edited the anthology. The project grew to include a writing contest, judged by stellar writers Mark Bowden (“Black Hawk Down”), William Trent Pancoast (“WILDCAT”), and veteran/poet Brian Turner (“Here, Bullet” and “Phantom Noise”). The title of the anthology emerged from veterans’ comments about the pride they feel in serving their country [...]

The $15 book is available via Amazon as well as directly from the university press.

To help celebrate the anthology's publication, an evening of readings from the book will hosted by the St. Louis Poetry Center Nov. 27, 7:30 to 9:30 p.m., The Focal Point events center, 2720 Sutton, Maplewood, Mo. 63143.

Submissions guidelines for the next volume will be published later this month.

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Disclaimer: This content regarding military writing is underwritten by Victor Ian LLC, a military media and gaming business. The business publishes Lanterloon, an eclectic lifestyle, technology, and military blog; has a physical retail storefront called "Dragons and Dragoons" located in Colorado Springs, Colo.; and hosts military-writing workshops and other events under the "Sangria Summit" brand name.

Poet Explores Healing, Humor in His Words About War

U.S. Army photo

Trained as a member of a U.S. Army rocket-artillery crew, Jason Poudrier once helped rearrange large swathes of terrain with high-explosives blasts. Now, he quietly crafts words and memories with a sharpshooter's precision. The 29-year-old veteran and Purple Heart recipient is now a high-school teacher of advanced-placement English in Lawton, Okla., a coach of cross-country and track teams, and a published poet who regularly explores and engages with military themes.

Poudrier's work is full of darkness, heart, and humor. Reviewers often comment on his occasional references, for example, to Bugs Bunny cartoons. In one poem, he observes "I flipped a switch: / The rocket launched / and landed with an / Acme cartoon cloud." In other, a character muses that he should've taken that left turn in Albuquerque. He's not necessarily making light of his experiences as a soldier, but he is making light with them.

"I realized that not all war poetry has to involved these stark-death-dark images. I wouldn't want to read a book that was all that," he says. "There is inspiration in the military, too. Not to mention moments of great joy, more pure than anything else you'll ever experience. I want to do something with those moments, too."

While some aspire to be poets, others have poetry thrust upon them. Having graduated from an Oregon high school in 2001, Poudrier joined the U.S. Army for the bonus and to see the world. He first trained and then was stationed in Oklahoma. From there, he deployed to Iraq in time to race toward Baghdad with Charlie Battery, 3rd Battalion, 13th Artillery Regiment.

"As weird as it sounds, I feel lucky to have been there when I was," Poudrier says. "There was a clear enemy. We knew who were shooting at, and they were shooting at us." Artillery units that deployed later to Iraq, he notes, were often assigned non-artillery missions. He got to fire rockets.

The Multiple Launch Rocket System (M.L.R.S.) on which Poudrier was a crew member is a long-armed weapon. In some cases, he says, they even had to drive away from Baghdad and back toward Kuwait, to get the minimum 7-mile distance their weapons system needed to breathe. The system can reach targets out to 190 miles.

During Operation Iraqi Freedom, the crew jumped nearly every day in the desert, and slept on their trucks and tracks.

Then, they got blown up.

Poudrier lost both friends and flesh in the attack. Adding insult to injury months later, he would learn the attack was the result of friendly fire. A U.S. Air Force pilot had allegedly thought their missile launcher was an enemy anti-aircraft system.

Poudrier had come back injured and angry, although unwilling or unable to realize the extent of his hurt. He had begun to think of they Army as a potential 20-year career, but found that his self-referral to mental health services had blocked a second deployment with this unit. A mentor helped get him lined up for a "Green to Gold" program, which would have resulted in a 4-year degree and an officer's commission, but that fell through, too. Poudrier decided that, if we wasn't able to go shoot rockets with this buddies, or continue his education while in the Army, he needed to fight for a medical discharge.

"It's not what I wanted, but it was probably the best thing for me," he says. "There was a higher power looking over me. Because, the way I look at it, if I try to make something happen and it doesn't, then it was supposed to be something else. I was doing everything I could to stay in, and it wasn't happening."

First enrolled as a business major, Poudrier found himself gravitating toward creative-writing classes in the English department. He struggled and sweated with military themes in longer-form prose, but found a useful and efficient tool in poetry. "Take a brief moment. Get as precise as you can on the details-the actions, the emotions, the smells," he says. "Suddenly, instead of this huge timeframe in narrative that I'd have with fiction or non-fiction, I just have this brief moment. I can work on it, and play with it, and stop working on it, and go back to it. It worked for me."

Earlier this year, Poudrier published a collection of poems titled "Red Fields: Poems from Iraq." He also presented seminars at the inaugural "Military Experience and the Arts Symposium" at Eastern Kentucky University, Kent. On Nov. 11 in Indianapolis, he will be reading as part of the Kurt Vonnegut Memorial Library's "Veterans Reclaim Armistice Day: Healing through the Humanities."

His work also appears in these recently published anthologies:

• "Remembrances of Wars Past: A War Veterans Anthology"

• "Proud to Be: Writing by American Warriors"

A sampler of three of Poudrier's poems—"Red Fields," "Bagdhad International," and "Fort Sill's New Housing Division"—also appear on the "Sugar Mule" literary magazine here.

While everyone is different, Poudrier has found the writing of poetry useful in reconciling and resolving painful memories.

"Part of PTSD is intrusive memories. You don't have control of them," he says. "You have a flashback, and all of a sudden it's coming in. You were driving down the road, now you're somewhere else and you have no idea how you got there."

"To me, it was almost as if the memory were saying 'I do not want to be forgotten. I am something important that happened in your life'. The way I look at it is, if a poem is supposed this precise image--that's exactly what this intrusive memory is. I'm going to write that out—as is, not trying to put any poetic devices on it. I'm going to capture that image," he says.

"I'm going to cognitively pull up that image that is being intrusive. Now, it's on a piece of paper. And I can choose to look at it when I chose. I'm not going to forget that memory. It has been recorded. But, now, instead of an intrusive memory, I have control of it."

In Poudrier's opinion, there can be as much benefit in sharing and publishing a poem as in writing it. "One of the most healing moments is when ["Red Fields"] was selected to be published. What I think a lot of military writers don't get, particularly when they're writing but they're not seeing the therapeutic side of it, is writing itself is just half the process. The other half of the process is that it needs to be read by somebody. It needs to be communicated."

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Disclaimer: This content regarding military writing is underwritten by Victor Ian LLC, a military media and gaming business. The business publishes Lanterloon, an eclectic lifestyle, technology, and military blog; has a physical retail storefront called "Dragons and Dragoons" located in Colorado Springs, Colo.; and hosts military-writing workshops and other events under the "Sangria Summit" brand name.