Meeting Minerva's messenger

There’s not much to do when you are bed-ridden with only the bed bugs and mosquitoes for company, other than to stare at the ceiling, count the cracks and calculate exactly how much time the square inch of paint will take to peel right off and fall on you. So when the doctor ordered complete bed rest for an excruciating back pain recently, this is pretty much all I did.

Of the bed bugs and mosquitoes, there’s precious little to tell. They visited me often and at all hours of day and night, the bed bugs whispering local gossip into my ears and the mosquitoes bringing tidings from far off places. The paint ...

Read the full article in the October 2013 issue of Portland Monthly


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1200 words
Humour
US publication

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Words from the Wise

"This was fun to read"

Lorna Loveless

Editor

BackHome

"Lovely story"

Nicola Ross

Editor

Alternatives

"A clever and feisty tale - and a nice reminder that we should not underestimate how clever and nimble our fellow creatures truly are."

Erica Dorpalen

for the editor

Orion

"Your story is written in an interesting style - very expressive. The unusual situation of having an owl sitting on your toilet bowl is a great image."

David Peters

Editor

Fried Fiction

"This author has a knack for dry humor layered into complex language. There are many nicely-turned phrases in this piece"

Anonymous

Manuscript Reader

Quality Fiction

"It has merit"

Veronica Ross

Manuscript Reader

Antigonish Review

"We very much enjoyed reading it"

Tim Kroenert

Associate Editor

Eureka Street

"Interesting concept, an owl in the toilet"

Anonymous

Editor (1 of 6)

Flashquake

"I enjoyed reading the opening paragraph"

Anonymous

Editor (2 of 6)

Flashquake

"There are some lovely touches about your owl companion"

David Seideman

Editor

Audubon

"It’s an interesting piece"

John Hassell

Communications Manager

Ontario Nature

"(It) proved to be enjoyable... I consider my time reading your story as time well spent. I related to the fight-for-freedom theme and the characters' parallel determinations came across as entirely believable. It held my interest. As an editor, that's the best I can hope for and I found your story a pleasant distraction from my normal work. Thank you for your story."

Troy Swauger

Editor

Outdoor California

"Thank you for sending your lovely essay. I enjoyed it immensely. I envy the editor who gets to run your piece."

Tom Dickson

Editor

Montana Outdoors

A writer bites back

So you have gone through the pains of thinking up an original ground-breaking idea, wrecked your keyboard thrashing out the story, laid waste to the Dictionary searching for the most appropriate adjectives, run Spell Check, counted words, proofread till your eyes hurt, racked your brains for an attention-grabbing title and trawled through numerous resources to find the one perfect magazine to which to submit your masterpiece. Except that they want you to do it in a certain way. ‘Please follow our Submission Guidelines outlined below,’ they announce cheerfully. You’d love to, only...

Read the full article in the October 2013 issue of Writing

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Request to read the original article via email for just 99p! (T&C apply)

1320 words
Humour
UK publication

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Words from the Wise

"I like the work (it’s an intriguing concept and table-turner)"

Zachary Petit

Assistant Editor

Writer's Digest

"This definitely made me chuckle!"

Moira Allen

Publisher

Writing World

"I like this"

Jonathan Telfer

Editor

Writing Magazine

"Very clever, and I think it has potential to be a hit among writers"

Brett Popplewell

Editor

Feathertale Review