One TEEN Story is coming! (And a deliciously spooky story to read right now)

One Story, the non-profit group that celebrates short fiction by publishing one short story each month for the last ten years, is now going to offer stories written about the teen experience for “young adult readers of every age” – they know YA has a wider audience than only teens. I’m thrilled!

I love their format – simple and ad-free, just the right size to slip in a pocket or purse – or to tuck inside a boring textbook…

Check out One TEEN Story – issues will begin in September 2012.

For authors, the submission guidelines are posted as well.

You must be pretty excited and impatient to read an excellent short story right now! Well, good news – You don’t have to wait until September.  Get thee to Hunger Mountain and read The White House – a deliciously creepy ghost story starring Amarilla Sarah Weathersby and including a “predatory piece of post,” by Jennifer Wolf Kam.

I’ve had the pleasure and the privilege to read some of Jen’s other works of fiction. Let’s just say, if you love spooky fiction, remember her name!

Sarah Wones Tomp

WRITING ON THE SIDEWALK

 

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Rainy Friday

Yet another whirlwind week – I feel a though I’ve misplaced a serious chunk of time somewhere along the way.

Here’s a quick post in honor of the rain – we’ve had soooo much rain – a list of books to curl up with this weekend. These are definitely where some of my time has gone. These are all books I couldn’t put down.

• Bird in a Box by Andrea Davis Pinkney: Sweet historic middle grade fiction told in alternating points of view from Otis, Willie, Hibernia; each whom is rooting for Joe Louis to become the heavyweight champion of the world.
• The Mockingbirds by Daisy Whitney: When teen pianist, Alex Patrick, is date-raped at her elite boarding school, she gets help from an underground student society in facing her assaulter in this thoughtful exploration of an unfortunately common scenario.
• Split by Swati Avasthi: Two brothers try to start life over, away from their abusive and oppressive father.
• Blink and Caution by Tim Wynne-Jones: A beautifully written thriller starring two endearing teens living on the streets. The amazing use of second person point view to show psychological frailty is enough for its own long blog post — coming some time. This book is brilliant and surprising!

And if that’s not enough, be sure to check out Hunger Mountain.

Happy reading!

Sarah Wones Tomp

WRITING ON THE SIDEWALK

 

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Hunger Mountain

I got lost on Hunger Mountain yesterday. Wow, there’s a lot to think about there. Kathi Appelt’s Blurring the Lines is an absolute must read. She made me laugh and cry and want to write and create. My head and heart are full of her words and I love it.

And if you are in the mood for some healthy competition… The guidelines for the Hunger Mountain annual contest (known as the Katherine Paterson Prize for Young Adult and Children’s Writing)  are here! You can even read the winner of last year’s contest – Crazy Cat, a short story by Liz Cook – it’s fun and surprising and sweet.

From the Hunger Mountain website:

Hunger Mountain is both a print and online journal of the arts. We publish fiction, poetry, creative nonfiction, visual art, young adult and children’s writing, writing for stage and screen, interviews, reviews, and craft essays. Our print issue comes out annually in the fall, and our online content changes on a regular basis.

The Hunger Mountain editorial offices are located at the Vermont College of Fine Arts in historical Montpelier, Vermont. Vermont College of Fine Arts is the first college devoted entirely to low-residency, graduate fine arts programs, offering an MFA in Writing, MFA in Writing for Children and Young Adults and MFA in Visual Arts.

It’s a good place to get lost.

Sarah Wones Tomp

WRITING ON THE SIDEWALK

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