Often times, reading and writing seem like lonely endeavors. Fortunately, they don’t have to be. The Palouse and the LC Valley have a plethora of opportunities for readers and writers to come together, share their hobbies, and improve their crafts. Below is a sampling of area events this spring. Continue reading
Author Archives: Khaliela
Zucchini Bandits Receives Honors
My story, Zucchini Bandits, won a Judges’ Choice Award in the 2018 IDAHO Magazine fiction contest.
Zucchini Bandits is a short story about an unlikely pair. Delfred Long was forced into an early retirement after surviving a heart-attack. Ronnie is a precocious seven-year-old. Neither are looking forward to spending the summer together. Over the course of the story the grandfather and granddaughter duo bond while engaging in zucchini related mischief and mayhem.
I have considered writing a series of short stories involving the adventures of Del and Ronnie, then compiling them into a chapter book. Who knows what mischief the pair will be up to next?
You can see other award winning stories on the IDAHO Magazine website.
Guns and Cats
I am a gun owner and a cat owner. Judging from the reactions of the overly ferocious crazy-cat-lady NRA types out there, you’d think I owned neither.
Like the makers of this supper-cute video, I don’t want big mean strays in the neighborhood. Especially not the big feral tom cat that terrorizes small children and dogs. Nor do I want bump-stocks and AR 15’s in the neighborhood. Especially not in the hands of the delusional man on the corner who also terrorizes small children and dogs. Unfortunately, the gun-waving-crazy-cat-lady-NRA members of the world want you to believe people like me, who want regulations for guns and cats, want to eradicate all guns and all cats. And that simply isn’t true.
I may never understand why some many people believe guns and cats are an all-or-nothing issue when there are clearly options in the middle.
Feral Cat Fiasco
My story, Feral Cat Fiasco: Lovable Until They’re Not, is featured in the January 2018 edition of Idaho Magazine. There were several edits to the story so as not to offend the sensibilities of the magazine’s readers. However, I have no such apprehensions, so you can read a bit that was cut from the story below.
Also, to see more information about my troubles with feral cats, check out this post on Feral Cat Solutions.
The Cut Bit:
Well, if they want to maintain a feral cat colony, let them do it at their house, I thought. And that’s when an idea took root. Continue reading
Laughter and Libations, 2017
It’s that time of year again. Beaten down by rampant consumerism, we’re all left wondering how to balance work and pleasure. Laughter and Libations is a survival guide of sorts, helping people to drink and be merry during a season over-powered with puritanical messages. This year’s edition includes recipes for favorite winter drinks along with three categories of songs: Traditional Treasures, Simple Substitutions, and Ridiculous Rewrites. Traditional Treasures can be traced back to a less than pious origin whereas Ridiculous Rewrites takes an originally pious hymn and alters it to appeal to our most base and carnal instincts.
ISBNs, Copyrights, and Barcodes, Oh my!
What is an ISBN?
An ISBN is the International Standard Book Number. It uniquely identities the book, publisher, and edition. The purpose of the ISBN is to establish and identify one title (or edition) from one specific publisher, allowing for more efficient marketing by booksellers, libraries, universities, wholesalers and distributors.
Parts of the ISBN
Each 13 digit ISBN consists of 5 elements separated by spaces or hyphens.
The five parts of an ISBN (13) are as follows:
Bigfoot Review, Call for Submissions 2017
For Monday FUNday this morning, the SFCC Pullman Creative Writing Club unveiled the cover of the 2017-2018 Bigfoot Review. The students will be working on this all year, with the expectation of having a book in hand in May 2018. Authors whose work is selected for inclusion will receive a copy of the book and have an opportunity to participate in a reading on May 23, 2018. Submission information is listed below:
Want to see your poem, short story, or play in print? Continue reading
November is Coming, 2017
NaNoWriMo is about to descend on Moscow, Idaho. Helmet wearing Scriblerians will invade coffee shops to plunder the page. During NaNo, writers take no prisoners, it’s a manuscript or bust. Below is a calendar of local writing opportunities for the Palouse and Lewis-Clark Valley. (Unfortunately, I have yet to discover where the Pullmanites plan to park their posteriors while putting pen to paper.) And once the budding novelist have completed the great American novel, they can learn how to publish their work by attending the Build A Book Workshop.
NaNo Rebels looking for opportunities to avoid working on a novel, look no further! A Confluence of Writers is hosting a Read-In at the Blue Lantern Coffee House in Lewiston, Idaho at 7 PM on Friday, November 3rd. Writers are encouraged to bring something to share (reading time limit is 5 to 7 min.) or just enjoy a warm beverage while listening to others. Continue reading
Build A Book Workshop
Have you longed to see your work in print and feel the heft of a book in your hands? Now is the time to turn dreams into reality.
The Build a Book Workshop, hosted by the Palouse Writers’ Guild will walk you through the steps of self-publishing from start to finish. Whether you long to publish a collection of short stories or poems, a memoir, novel, or other work, by the end of the workshop your manuscript will be formatted and ready for printing.
Bring your laptop and all files associated with your project, including any graphics. In just 3 hours you will learn how to format your text, upload a cover, format the spine, and discover the importance of ISBN numbers and bar codes. Continue reading
The Trouble with Football and Kneeling
I am conflicted. I didn’t used to be. I used to know where I stood. Kneeling during the anthem was a-okay by me! But like John Kerry, I was against it before I was for it. Or perhaps it was the other way around, I can’t remember now.
It all started innocently enough. Continue reading