NEW AND IMPROVED

New Owner

Writingforums.com has been purchased by a group led by Baron, for a sum that will not be named.

Along with the purchase came a renewal of the site itself, including an upgrade from an older version of the vBulletin software to the present version 4.0.3.

Baron promises to breathe life into what had become a moribund franchise, and he and his group have many ideas along those lines.

Signs of recovery are already evident as traffic has increased in the short time since the ownership change.

Welcome

This the premier edition of the Writing Forums newsletter. We hope to grow and add more features and sections in time, but for now, this is what we have. We hope you enjoy this issue and hope that you’ll join us in the new, improved Writing Forums.

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Site News and Announcements

New Staff

The new owner has implemented a return to the site guidelines originally compiled by Chrispian, the site founder, and has added a number of new staff members. We hope you’ll join us in welcoming them.

Ash Somers heads up the Poetry and NaNoWriMo boards, Ilasir Maroa is now managing the Writing Discussion and Published Poetry sections, Like A Fox runs the RPG and WF Challenges areas, and co-manages the Literary Maneuvers board, one of the four overseen by moderan, who also works with the Lyrics forum, the brand-new New Media board, and the new Publishing section. Sam W and JosephB ably supervise the Writers’ Workshop. JosephB also manages the Fiction forum. Longtime member and recent returnee vangoghsear is the moderator of the Scripts forum.

Not quite new as they are retained from the previous administration are Farror, Foxee, Hawke, Joseph B, and Olly Buckle, plus site administrator Pawn. Olly Buckle received a promotion to Moderator from his previous position as Mentor, just previous to the sale and renewal of the site.

New Global Moderator alanmt should also be named to this list, as well as new admins Baron and Galivanting.

Pawn has been working steadily to upgrade the site and add new features and flexibility, and the rest of the staff have been working to preserve the atmosphere of camaraderie.

It should be noted that staff assignments change from time to time. Please consult the board for a current listing.

Good Words

Bádh Bheanntraighe

By Lady S.

Overcast sky throws shades of grey,

where freezing waves hiss and share

their memories, along Bantry Bay.

With an icy bite in salty air,

the spray rains down from overhead,

a watery veil of grieving.

The sea gives up her bloated dead -

departed but never leaving.

Tangled feelings plague frozen thought,

like rotting seaweed on the shore

of rebel country, where men fought

while dreams of liberty and more

were written into history.

A sister dies, another weeps

and murmurs of the mystery

of chance and of the hungry deep.

Dispassionate, the ocean foams

and cares not for those left to grieve;

the wind brings voices, heard to moan

their anguish that they cannot leave

the water’s chill embrace, or walk

again along the windswept sand.

Trapped spirits in the ocean talk

through fickle waves along the strand.

Lady S. Is donating proceeds from her book Who I Am to benefit WF.

Literary Maneuvers Contest Winner

The Last Bus

by moderan

There was a bike in the rack on the front of the bus. Rodrigo noticed it as he boarded, and lusted after it. Shiny and new, silver spokes gleaming, blue paint, 15 or 18 speeds.

“Man, glad I made it,” he said to the driver. “No more buses tonight. It’d suck to be stranded.”

The driver nodded and pulled the bus away from the curb. Rodrigo moved on down the aisle.

He took a seat midway between the reeking drunk behind the driver’s area and the rayon-clad working-women near the side door, and thought about how easy things would be with a bike.

“Yeah man,” he said to himself under his breath. “That’s 35 extra a month. I could eat lunch with that money. No more monthly bus pass.”

The bus passed by a Whataburger and his stomach rumbled in recognition of the smell coming in the window. He hadn’t eaten since the previous evening.

Two senior citizens got on at the next stop.

“I wonder who’s bike it is?” he thought, scanning the other passengers surreptitiously.

A couple of wannabe ‘bangers in the back, headphones on, jamming to the clubfooted beats of hip-hop, the waitresses and clerks and cashiers, some bluehairs out too late.

Another banger got on, sat down with the others, exchanging mysterious gestures.

Rodrigo gazed at his reflection in the side window. Too much frown, hairline heading for the border, the face of a working stiff. Life hadn’t been kind.

“I shoulda stayed in school,” he remarked. But he hadn’t, and the series of menial jobs that had been his life didn’t pay much.

“You never know, though. Things can change,” he continued, sotto voce.

The drunk got off.

“I deserve a break,” Rodrigo told the golden arches as they went by.

Most of the ladies and the three bangers got off by the cemetery. He watched the women waiting for the light to change. The ‘bangers headed into the graveyard. No doubt some stones would get turned over.

That left two waitresses and the seniors.

Three stops to go.

“Man, it’d be great to have a bike,” he thought.

The seniors got off at University.

“Can’t be the bus driver’s. Someone must have forgotten it.”

The waitresses got off. He waited to see if one of them claimed the bike. They didn’t.

“I shouldn’t take it. It belongs to someone. But I need it so bad.”

His stop.

Rodrigo exited, caught the driver’s eye, inclined his head toward the rack. The driver looked away, doing his best Sergeant Schultz.

“I hope this don’t come back on me,” Rodrigo said, pedaling away into the darkness on his new mountain bike.

Some words from the new administration

Baron

Baron, as the new owner of WF how have you found the transition so far?

There have been some teething problems but I think it’s been pretty painless. I’m glad to see the site on the upward trend again, with more activity and a more positive attitude.

What do you hope to see in the future for writingforums.com?

I’d like to see the site grow to the kind of level it was at a couple of years ago. I see WF as a place for writers of all levels of ability to come together to share, teach and learn. I’d like to see it a healthy workshop environment for teens to the Olly and Ox age level.

As a writer, where does your focus lie? Is there anywhere that people can view or buy your work?

I don’t really think of any kind of focus or aim. Writing is something that I do, that I’ve always done, and what draws my attention or what excites me changes on a day to day basis. I’ve done some collaborations with bands and some theatrical work and performance gives me greater satisfaction than seeing my work in print.

Over the years I’ve had novels and poetry published in the mainstream using pseudonyms. I now publish with a cooperative venture using my own name. A group of writers and visual artists have set up our own publishing label using Lulu as a printer and distributor. Work is available on our own website or through Amazon and other online retailers.

What do you do when not writing?

Recreationally, I spend as much time as I can with my family. To earn a crust, I’m a photographer, working mainly in the fashion and music industries.

Pawn

Just for the benefit of our readers and members, what are your personal goals and visions for writingforums.com?

I’d like to see the site renamed to penguinforums.com, and restyled in tasteful black and white. In place of blogs we’ll have bogs (for our marsh-dwelling penguins), articles will be replaced with icicles (obviously), and it will be rather quiet, owing to the difficulty of typing with flippers.

In all seriousness though, what I want for WF is to be nothing less than the largest, most active, most open, most beautiful, best featured, best organised, best staffed writing forum on the internet.

What are your specialties as a writer? Is there anywhere that people can view or buy your work?

As you can no doubt tell, I specialize in replying to interview questions.

What do you do when not writing?

I do web, print and media design under the name Brick Media Lab. When not quaffing Earl Grey tea, I collect Penguin Books, some of which end up on my blog, Today’s Penguins.

Galivanting

Just for the benefit of our readers and members, what are your personal goals and visions for writingforums.com?

Personally, I want to see WF back to what it was when I first joined when I was 17. I couldn’t watch this site die when it has offered so many people so much as still can.

What are your specialties as a writer? Is there anywhere that people can view or buy your work?

I write poetry 99.9% exclusively. No, I have never really given an attempt at being published, so right here is the best place to view.

What do you do when not writing?

When I am not writing, I am an unemployed chef and a “aquariumscaper” (people pay me to decorate their fish tanks)

Thoughts from longtime staff members:

Olly Buckle

Just for the benefit of our readers and members, what are your personal goals and visions for writingforums.com?

I am not one for personal visions or goals. the here and now is enough. Reading and writing go hand in hand, and my aim is encouraging the thoughtful and critical use of both, whilst enjoying it. How I go about that has to adapt and change to retain validity. On the other hand there is also a place for the familiar.

What are your specialties as a writer? Is there anywhere that people can view or buy your work?

I have no specialities, in fact I tend to jump from one thing to another, songs, poems, short stories, factual articles. I have work on associated content and you can see me doing a couple of pieces on youtube, Google Olly Buckle.

What do you do when not writing?

I have a chronic immune system condition which stops me doing as much as I once did, but I still garden and our youngest daughter has not quite left home yet, so I am still a Dad for another year or so. A guitarist friend and I are trying to work up an act and I tell traditional stories.

JosephB

Just for the benefit of our readers and members, what are your personal goals and visions for writingforums.com?

Life events inspired me to write, probably a little later than most folks. I first posted at WF on a whim, and in doing so, discovered the little thrill that comes when people tell you that they enjoy what you’ve written. I’ve always loved reading and books, but my passion for writing took root and grew at WF. I’d like to think that anyone who joins might have that same experience, and I’d like to be part of making it happen.

What are your specialties as a writer? Is there anywhere that people can view or buy your work?

I mostly write about relationships, mainly between men and women in the context of every-day living, and all the problems they often deal with – infidelity, addiction, grief etc.

I love writing short stories, but I’m also working on a novel. (Who isn’t?) I also enjoy writing poetry. It really gets the gears turning. I’m just now getting around to submitting some of the stories I’ve posted here to a few literary magazines, but so far, not takers.

What do you do when not writing?

I work as a graphic designer and creative director, and when I’m not doing that, I like to write, play and record music, create art in various mediums, cook, watch movies and hang out with friends. But mostly, I like to spend time with my wife and children. I’m especially trying to take full advantage of the relatively brief window when kids actually want to spend time with their parents.

Advertising

Writing Forums members and staff can now advertise their offsite projects in the new Promotions section.