And here it is...

By Karen Dums

My copy of Harper Lee's Go Set a Watchman arrived in the library's courier delivery today.
I am unsure.
Should I dive in and read?
Should I let it sit on the shelf, resting for a bit?
Should I send it back without turning a page?
I am unsure.
Ms Lee is an elderly woman in ill health. Her sister Alice, who passed away last November, was both her lawyer and her protector. Was there a reason this manuscript lay hidden these many years? Therein lies my quandary. My passion for To Kill a Mockingbird in both book and film format knows no bounds. If you've read anything I've ever written this may be a known fact and I apologize for any redundancy but you see...
I am unsure.
Are those surrounding Ms Lee looking out for her best interests?
If this book was refused by an editor once what makes it any more publishable now?
Is someone trying to parlay an icon's name into ready cash? It would not be the first time.
I am unsure.
The cover is lovely. Has that same look and feel as the earliest of the Mockingbird printings had.
Hmmmm. One can't judge a book by its cover now can one?
And I'll admit it, I've been using this silly mindset for an excuse since I first heard, months ago, that the book was coming out in July.
"C'mon Karen, it's a book, another book by Harper Lee!"
Ahhh how refreshing a little self induced pep talk can be! That was so very easy. No longer am I unsure. The decision is made. After work this evening I will shed my shoes, curl up on the sofa and open the pages. What I find will not sully what has long been my respect for Nelle Harper Lee and her initial foray into the land of book publishing. It's provided her a Pulitzer Prize for Literature, among other awards, and she's been living off royalties her entire life -- at least that is what I am left to presume. Atticus, Boo, Scout, Jem... everyone grows and changes, but Watchman will not change Mockingbird. Nothing can.
Still...I'll let you know what I think.
Then again, don't I always.

It is  beautiful, isn't it?

plays with words...

by Karen Dums

"Now is the winter of my discontent." Hardly original but appropriate. The weather, our most overly-used conversational topic, has been less than stellar. Snow is wonderful. Sub-zero temps not so much. In any case, just a few months back I finished a novel, my first complete beginning to end, edited, formatted, ready to go novel. Exciting? Yes. The querying of agents and publishers? With a bow to redundancy, not so much. There's the waiting and wondering; leaves me feeling restless to begin something new. Or perhaps revisiting something old. If there were a  piece of oak attached to my frontal lobe I could not be more stricken with writer's block. Thus I had an idea. A simply marvelous idea. Well I liked it anyway and so did the rest of my fellow Guild members. We're sponsoring a writing contest. Can you hear the skip of happiness in my words? I hope so. I'm so excited.

Use them

It's not our first writers' contest, but it has been awhile so why not? We love the craft of wordsmithing. Why not open ourselves up to the works of other like-minded wordsmiths and enjoy? And we want it to be fun. Oh. Never doubt that we take our writing very seriously. But we've titled this latest contest "Plays with Words" since we want it to be more about the shared experience of penning something than a down and dirty competition. We will give entrants work a good look over with an unjaundiced eye, that is our promise. Red pens may flash! But in the end it will be about the writing process and what it brings to each writer's life as it is shared with others.

We've learned one valuable lesson (at least one, most probably more) from our first contest. Comparing apples to apples. Thus we are splitting the contest in a unique way. Poetry vs. poetry, short story/essay vs. short story/essay. There will be prizes in each category. More than one actually. Why not fire up the computer or pull out your best pen and notebook and give it a try? It's not difficult. But we do have a few rules. It must be an original work of the person submitting it and it can be no longer than 7,500 words (that gives a lot of leeway). There is no specific age criteria -- good writing is good writing regardless of age. There is no specific genre criteria. If you write sci-fi, romance, thriller, anecdotal...any and all will fit. Send it via snail mail to Writers Contest, 141 N 4th Ave., Park Falls, WI 54552 or use the hotmail address found on this site to send it via email, placing Writers Contest in the subject line. We'll take it either way. Read it, respect it and give it our best critique.   

First day for accepting submissions is Thursday, Jan. 15. Last day for accepting submissions is Monday, Feb. 16. The final decisions will be made at our Monday, March 2 meeting and the winners will be notified within that week by their contact of choice. Monday, March 9 beginning at 6:30 p.m. we will host an open read in the board room of the Park Falls Public Library. Participants are invited to read their works and accept their prizes. We'll have a refreshment table. Some of us might horn in with a work or two of our own.

We ask that participants place their name, the word count of the piece they are sending and their contact information on the entry. That's it. Hope to hear from you very soon.