Sky's the limit

The aeroplane takes off like an arrow towards an unknown destination. The wind lifts the plane’s wings giving them the required thrust to gain altitude rapidly. Twin headlights cleave a path through the darkness as the dull roar of its engines carries clearly on the cold night air.

Five pairs of eyes are turned up towards it, watching the lights steadily climb higher. The dull eyes of a prostitute, lying motionless as a paying customer grimly goes to work on her to get his money’s worth in the dingy room of a brothel in a fashionable section of the city, see an unattainable escape to another life...

Read the full story in the February 2014 issue of Writing Tomorrow

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

4025 words
Drama
US publication

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Words from the Wise

"I enjoyed reading this piece"

Valerie Polichar

Editor

Grasslimb

"We would be delighted to use your story."

Miranda Kopp-Filek

Editor

Writing Tomorrow Magazine

"I do enjoy reading your stories"

Ron Gaskill

Editor

Jerseyworks

"I can tell that the author has a good narrative sense and writes a lively story. Might I suggest that you rewrite this piece as a screenplay?  It seems a natural, due to your iconic presentation."

Michael Latza

Editor

Willow Review

"I enjoyed your story, sad though it is."

Sandra Costich

Fiction Editor

American Scholar

"Thank you for your intriguing piece. I have read your work previously and I must tell you that I always read it from beginning to end because you write so very well, and your subject matter, your protagonists too, are consistently much more than the ordinary. I do like this piece."

Gabrielle DePlancher

Fiction Editor

Total Quality Reading

The tale of the tantalizing title - The Whats, Whys, and Hows of titling manuscripts

I was counting the other day and it turns out that nearly 20% of my stories have been published under a title different from the one I had originally submitted. I don’t know what the figures on this phenomenon are globally – and in a world inhabited by a gazillion writers of every language and description, I don’t know how anyone would undertake a poll on such a large scale – but I reckon the trend is not uncommon.

If a story is a cake, then its title is like the icing: it is the pièce de résistance of one’s literary chef-d’oeuvre, the crowning glory, so to speak. Whether you’re christening a painting,...

Read the full article in the December 2013 issue of Writing Tomorrow

or

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

3600 words
Nonfiction
US publication

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Words from the Wise

"I enjoyed reading it and you make good use of some prominent authors."

Jonathan Telfer

Editor

Writing Magazine

"I like the piece"

Zachary Petit

Associate Editor

Writer's Digest

"I'd love to have it available for our December edition."

Miranda Kopp-Filek

Editor

Writing Tomorrow

"Nice read... the writing is good, the advice is essential."

Daniel D'Angelo

Editor

Writer's Chronicle

"We enjoyed reading the piece"

Susan Karwoska

Editor

Teachers & Writers Magazine

Writing myths busted!

Novice writers have abundant advice available to benefit from – keep practising, join a writing group, network online and read widely. Experienced veterans have already established a strategy of what works for them and they proceed to do enough of it to keep their fans happy.

However, for the intermediate writer – one who has just begun to get published – the waters are murky. Such a “developing writer” has not yet mastered sufficient skill to churn out a sure-fire winner each time he writes. Yet he is not a complete novice and knows the rules of what he is doing. For the benefit of all of us “developing...

Read the full article in the August 2013 issue of Writing Tomorrow

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

3350 words
Nonfiction/Writing
US publication

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Words from the Wise

"I think this is a very valid article"

Suzanne Ruthven

ex-Editor

The New Writer

Ask, and you shall receive (6 Questions you should always ask upon story acceptance)

Congratulations! A story accepted, a feather in your cap. So what next? Party? Hang on, the deal’s not done yet. For all you know, the magazine doesn’t pay kill fees. Or maybe it demands exclusivity. You don’t want to rush into a contract only to find out later you’ve been given the short end of the stick. Before you break out the bubbly, there are some key points that you will need to know for certain to complete – or even go ahead with – the sale.

What rights do they want?
What rights are you giving away? This is, by far, the most important question you will be asking upon acceptance because much depends...

Read the full article in the June 2013 issue of Writing Tomorrow

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

1570 words
Nonfiction/Writing
US publication

The confession

When the series of bomb blasts rocked the railways that week, Suresh remembered the three men. Their expressions, their gestures, their words suddenly took on a different meaning. Hadn’t he curiously run into them again and again at different stations? Didn’t they always seem agitated, as though something they were planning had gone wrong? Or perhaps, because something was about to begin.

Conscientiously doing his duty, old Suresh was bent almost double as he stumbled along the platform, mechanically stroking his threadbare broom in front of him. He had a long peppery beard and wild...

Read the full story in the December 2012 issue of Writing Tomorrow

or

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

3060 words
Fiction
US publication

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Words from the Wise

"Thanks so much for... such a wonderful, heart-wrenching story. I'd love to run The Confession for December. Fantastic ending! I think your new ending is absolutely brilliant...one of your strengths is describing the scene, and you did it fantastically. I hope you think so too. I love the "bereft of his beloved broom." Really sticks with us and brings us back to that moment we first met Suresh. ...This will be a great piece for you to add to your online/print collection. You've got a great, well-crafted story here! It's been a privilege to work on your piece."

Miranda Kopp-Filek

Editor

Writing Tomorrow

"Our editors enjoyed your piece; we feel it demonstrates considerable merit and skill."

Michelle Chitts

Editorial Intern

Griffith Review

"Some good images here"

Chris Heavener

Editor

Annalemma

"It's a distressing story told well"

Sandra Costich

Editor

American Scholar

"You have a knack for description."

Michael Latza

Editor

Willow Review

"You write with clarity, confidence, and a style that draws a reader into the unfolding tale wanting more of what you have to deliver. As soon as Suresh is introduced, the magic begins. (It) is a good story."

Gabrielle DePlancher

Editor

Total Quality Reading