Robin Layne's Blog: From the Red, Read Robin - Posts Tagged "anthology"

I thought I would do one more thing before I left, and that was to add the book Oregon Writers Alliance 1996 Anthology. I found out in the process that books don't have to have ISBNs to be in the data base. Yay! I also noticed that Medley of Fiction is not on my To Read list but on my Currently Reading list. Thirdly, I saw no option to edit my published blog posts. So there it it, folks.

I'm happy to talk about this latest publication I've added because it includes one of my fiction short stories, a personal experience story, and two poems. Although it was also a small-circulation anthology, you might be able to access it electronically through the Library of Congress. The data about that, which is printed on the back of the title page, confuses me because it says 1994. Evidently, the Alliance printed an anthology that year as well. I can't tell you about that because I wasn't part of the group that early. And I believe the 1996 was the last one they made. Sadly, writer's groups rise and fall with time.

Here are the contributions I have in this anthology:

"A Mother for Jackie" describes the agonizing legal battle of a woman over her baby--a battle in which she was consistently "punished" for trying to do the best thing for her daughter.

"The Princess and the Coal Boy" is a short story about a young woman pushed by her mother to change her size in order to land a man--and a lowly stranger who finds her beautiful just as she is. It includes my own illustrations, but the grayscale published versions don't do the original art justice. Unfortunately, the originals have been lost.

"Ouch" is one of my shortest poems, written for laughs, but sadly a little too true.

"My Peacock" describes an episode from my childhood with a pinata I loved and almost worshiped.

The Portland Writers' Mill will finish and upload its next anthology (volume this Sunday at its monthly meeting. The title hasn't yet been decided; a number of good ideas have been sent to the group for voting, all based around the book's theme of looking back and looking forward. At this meeting, members will be able to purchase the anthology at a one-time discount price of $3. If Amazon charges more, the balance will be due when the books are picked up. Books will be available to take home at the December meeting, December 15. That, however, is too close to Christmas for me to mail some to friends and relatives far away, so I hope I can get mine earlier.

The two previous journals are listed with my other publications and are available on Amazon: $6.95 for Volume 6, $7.95 for Volume 5. I think the price on the new one will be similar. I have writing and illustrations in both and also helped with the editing. This year's book includes two of my non-fiction pieces and three of my poems. The first non-fiction piece is "Some Call It a Cathedral," a descriptive child's eye view of summer vacations. The second is "Done Soon," an essay exploring possibilities of Christ's emotional life. The poems are "Any Color I Don't Like," a rant about technological distractions, "Face without a Voice," about breaking out of learned silence, and "Silver Pen," my first sonnet, on the writers' calling. "Face without a Voice" was first published in a Write Around Portland anthology and was quoted in a Write Around Portland New Years card.

I had very little time to edit this one, as too much "life" outside such volunteer service got in the way. I went over one story, not sure I did any more, other than going over my own writings for the final version.

I like that this year the journal will have an interesting title, with "the Writers' Mill Journal Volume 7" being just a subtitle. I think you'll be able to find it on Amazon under this subtitle. Otherwise, just look up The Writers' Mill Journal, and you should see all the ones they've made. We skipped a year this time, which means more opportunity for a good collection of writings.

The Portland Writers' Mill meets every 3rd Sunday from 1 to 3 at the Cedar Mill Library in Portland, Oregon. It has approximately 30 members, though not all come to all meetings and the public is invited. They hold a monthly writing contest, each month a different theme, with a word count of up to 1,200.

Sorry for not posting in such a long time! I meant to add another story to my collection of writings, at least, but it's not as good as the other stories posted. In a separate blog, I'll write about open mic experiences I've had. I spend too much time on the computer as it is. I enjoy getting out into the community. Enjoy your holidays and have a wonderful 2020! May the year bring spiritual 20-20 vision to you! It's already started for me.