C. P. Anthologies

Free Upcoming Contests

2012-02-17T10:03:00.000-05:00

I've rounded up information about a few writing contests that are fast approaching. If you love competition, like me, then the following will probably make your mind explode with ideas. Deadline: 2/29/2012Contest Name: 2012 Writing ContestFor: WritersTheme: Anything goesSubmit: Fiction up to 1,500 wordsPrizes: $500 for 1st and $200 for 2ndWebsite: http://www.witf.org/

The Memory Eater is Coming

2012-02-11T11:50:00.000-05:00

I’ve been a bit slow with the blog posts lately, but this is the calm before the storm. I’ve been meticulously preparing The Memory Eater for launch, and with over 50 contributors, there are a lot of checks to be made. Not to mention that Word’s weapon of choice, formatting, nearly whooped me into submission. But the near-finished product (about 95% complete) has turned out so amazingly well,

CCC Call For Submissions

2012-01-23T09:36:00.000-05:00

The Columbus Creative Cooperative is accepting submissions for their 4th anthology (1st themed) “While You Were Out: Stories of Life and Death and Life”. This is a great opportunity if you’d like to see your work in print and be compensated accordingly. Here are some of the details: Genre: Any narrative form (story) Minimum word count: 1,000 words Maximum word count: 10,000 words Submissions

The Curse of Creativity!

2012-01-20T09:06:00.000-05:00

Okay, so there are a lot of pros and cons of being a writer. You can work whenever and wherever you want. It’s hard work, it takes a long time, and people throw tomatoes at you. You can make people fall in love with your fantasies or cause them to stop reading fiction altogether. But there’s one big anchor, in my mind, that is always dragging me near the shore of writing. It’s a switch I

Get Sidetracked (plus a Memory Eater sneak peek)

2012-01-11T11:16:00.001-05:00

As I’ve been pussyfooting around flirting with my writing lately, I found some cool writing-related websites to mess around with. Here they are, brought to you list style: Wordle This is a useful site that allows you to transform a bunch of text (even full manuscripts) into word clouds. The words you use the most will appear the biggest, thus helping you trim some of the monotony out of your

12 Writer Resolutions for 2012

2012-01-01T14:18:00.000-05:00

Since it's the New Year (Happy New Year, everyone!), I've got some helpful writer resolutions to share. So here we go... 1. Make time to write:Let's see...sleep, work, eat, family time. Chances are, your pie chart leaves about 5% of the day's time for your own personal enjoyment. What to do with that time? Relax, partake in a hobby, or write? I know it doesn't sound too appealing when put

People Don't Grow on Trees (An Embarrassing Email)

2011-12-09T10:45:00.000-05:00

I got a link from my wife yesterday directing me towards some investment banker’s interesting scary email to a girl he just went on a date with. I guess the short of it is, at the last minute, a friend canceled meeting this guy, Mike, at the Philharmonic, so Lauren ended up filling in. After one date, this is the email Lauren received (NOTE: As a blog dedicated to writing, I’m going to

Disney and ESPN Protecting Child Molesters?

2011-12-05T21:01:00.001-05:00

Up until today, I’ve kept away from topics regarding the news, politics, religion and other touchy subjects. I hate fighting with others about personal opinions and mainly wanted to focus my efforts here on The Memory Eater anthology and writing-related tools to help authors polish their craft. But alas, today I find myself conflicted over the hypocrisy I’m hearing regarding a topic I hold dear

56 Horrible Gift Ideas for Christmas

2011-12-03T17:41:00.002-05:00

Since Christmas is almost here, I wanted to compile a list of horrible gifts so Santa can make sure he doesn’t give me any of them. Feel free to print this list out and mail it to the North Pole! I always thought each banana in a bunch needed their own place. This also doubles as a troll's finger. The phone, not the man. His brother got a 50" LCD TV. Not only will this thing keep my kitchen

Waiting...And Another Anthology?

2011-12-01T11:30:00.000-05:00

I’m still alive! I finally wrapped up editing one of my novels for a competition. I had to add 10,000 words and fill in a few holes, but I can honestly say that this is my best work to date. Did I mention I’m mentally tired? Especially after putting The Memory Eater through two rounds of edits. I’ve been reading a lot lately—a few short stories from Fantasy and Science Fiction’s 60th

All About The Memory Eater Anthology

2011-11-11T12:36:00.000-05:00

I've gone ahead and published the page dedicated to The Memory Eater anthology. It can be found here and at the tab near the top of this blog. I will update the page as information comes in. Until then, thank you to everyone who has and continues to follow this project. C. P.

Finding Humor in Writing

2011-10-28T12:27:00.000-04:00

I'll be posting a new "All About The Memory Eater Anthology" page along with the details of where it can be purchased soon, but until then, I'm dedicating this lovely Friday (if frost and rain and gray are your thing) to a random assortment of writing-related humor. Unrelated—there's a crying baby next to me. What do I do? Related—here's a funny picture my wife showed me the other day. There's

9 Tips to Ease Your Editing Pain

2011-10-24T13:04:00.000-04:00

Most people cringe when it comes time to edit their work. Since I'm close to completing the second round of edits on the 27 selected stories, I thought it would be helpful to share some tips I picked up along the road to Mordor (The Lord of the Rings reference)…I mean becoming published. Be ConsistentSure, there are universal rules out there for grammar and sentence structure, but the rules

Back From the Hospital

2011-10-06T14:26:00.000-04:00

Just wanted to post a quick update—Eli Thomas joined us at 12:06pm on Tuesday, October 4th. He weighs 8 lbs. 1 oz. and is 21" long. We're all feeling great, and my wife and I appreciate all of your support. My son Ethan holding baby Eli. I'll be diving back into the anthology within the next couple of days. Until then, take care! C. P.

The Baby Countdown

2011-10-03T13:36:00.000-04:00

Tomorrow (October 4th, 2011), if everything goes smoothly, my wife and I will welcome our second child into the worldJ A picture of happiness. This is probably obvious, but for the next two weeks, my replies to emails/tweets/posts will be lagging. Before I shift gears here, I just wanted to post a quick update on the progress of the anthology: · I’ve selected 26 stories. · I’m

Magon the Dragon

2011-09-23T10:15:00.000-04:00

My four-year-old son loves stories, and lately he’s been asking me to come up with them out of nowhere. No books. No cheat sheets. Just pure, hardcore freestyling. So one night last week I ended up telling him a story about a dragon named Magon. The cool thing is, I also linked it to the Memory Eater. It also turns out that last week at preschool my son learned about authors and

Quick Update/Memory Eater Fashion Show

2011-09-21T11:08:00.000-04:00

There are 11 submissions I haven’t made a decision on yet remaining in my Memory Eater folder. Do they or do they not fit in with the rest of the selections? I’m debating that now. I’m also preparing an email to send out to all of the participating artists. It will include a permission form I’ll need signed in order to include each story’s illustration. The editing phase will begin next

Submissions Closed

2011-09-13T07:22:00.000-04:00

I’d like to thank everyone who dreamt up a story for consideration. I know the dedication it takes to hammer out a good story, so I appreciate every word, even if misspelledJ With the flood of final submissions waiting for me this morning, I’ll be hard at work for the next few weeks. Do note that if you haven’t gotten confirmation that I received your story, you need to email me ASAP so we

Final Day For Submissions

2011-09-12T08:27:00.000-04:00

Tonight at 11:59pm Eastern Time is the deadline for The Memory Eater submissions. Anything submitted after this time will be automatically rejected. For anyone struggling to finish, I just want you to know that these people......are here for YOU. If you have any questions, don't hesitate to email me at anthologies2011@gmail.com. Best of luck to those still writing!

Steps for Writing Success

2011-09-02T11:28:00.000-04:00

As writers, I think it’s extremely important that we’re able to balance everything we have on our plates. From queries for unpolished short stories to book trailers for novels-in-progress to workshops to contests—so on and so forth—it’s important to be able to step back from the chaos and say, “Okay, what do I tackle first?” The following are steps I take to ensure the maximum quality of my

Free Flash Fiction Contest—Win a Kindle!

2011-09-01T06:59:00.000-04:00

Over at the Columbus Creative Cooperative’s website, you can now enter their flash fiction “Bland to Grand” contest for free. First place wins a Kindle while second takes home a $50 Amazon gift card. For a full list of details and how to enter, click here.

Last Call for Submissions!

2011-08-29T07:12:00.000-04:00

It’s here. Authors have exactly two weeks from today to finish writing/editing and submit their entries. This makes the final deadline September 12th. That means we’re playing a video game with zero lives, only the lives are extensions. Also, the contest I mentioned a few weeks back will be opening on September 1st, at which point I’ll post the full details. First place will be receiving a

Full of Artists

2011-08-19T13:24:00.000-04:00

The artist positions are now full. If you haven’t checked lately, click here to view the updated showcase. To say the least, I’m thrilled with the talent participating in this anthology. Some quick numbers: · The 4 stories which were included in the book proposal I sent to a publisher have been illustrated, and they look awesome.· There are 6 stories I haven’t read yet.·

Progress Report—Upcoming Contest—CCC Book Preorders

2011-08-12T14:49:00.000-04:00

Questions for a publisher: Fellow friend and head of the Columbus Creative Cooperative, Brad Pauquette, is more than willing to answer any publishing-related questions to the best of his ability. Brad went from unpublished author to a publisher ready to start work on a third book in a matter of months, so feel free to inquire about his process and the trials and tribulations of taking charge

The Automobiles

2011-08-05T16:03:00.000-04:00

A few months ago, I started a band called The Office Band, and we released two amazing albums. Freshman AlbumSophomore Album While we penetrated many, many crowds, rumor began to circulate that The Office Band had hit the sophomore slump, and that we sucked. So I broke away from that band and joined another one called The Writer Band. We came out with these two albums: Slaying the Future with