An online literary journal sponsored by Fairfield University's MFA in Creative Writing
We’re excited to announce the second issue of Mason’s Road, and with it the publication of 28 new original works of poetry, fiction, creative non-fiction, and drama. Find your favorites and join the conversation with other fans of the literary arts.
Our focus for this issue is on “Settings.” Interested in learning more about a different element of the writing craft? Submit your suggestions here for Issue #3!
Hi Everyone!
Tired of getting rejected? Don’t give up. I call rejections “passes” because it has a softer sound. And I say, pass them on! They mean I’m at least out there trying.
I could have given birth to 5 elephants before I received my first acceptance, and I still have hope for the future. I am not beaten down. I still believe and persevere.
The writing life is part of my core and nobody is going to persuade me to stop. Not caring friends or family members or editors. As a colleague tells me, “No is just a prelude to yes.” So true, too. It has been my experience that when someone tells me “No, that won’t happen,” or “Never,” or “There should be institutions for people like you,” or “You must be good at something else,” sooner or later, I prove them wrong.
So, keep submitting. (What a word for the process!) Have courage and have faith. With hard work, lots of reading and rewriting, perseverance, and stamina, the “no ways” turn into “YES!’s,” sprinkled with high praise.
Don’t let anyone ever tell you that you are not talented. You are. : )
What’s my opinion about creativity and aging? I think designating a number to one’s creative output is ridiculous. To think that we peak at a certain age in our creative lives is plain silly. If we are disciplined and passionate about craft, our work will get better as we mature and deepen.
Not listed in this post are many novelists and writers over the age of 40 and there will be many more in the future. A few notables come to mind:
I could go on, of course, and I’m sure Grandma Moses would agree.
I know 17 year-olds who have won international poetry prizes and have begun novels. What about the young natural storytellers who are under 20 when they begin to create wonderful work?
There is no relationship between creativity and age. Carry on.
41 Over 40: Novelists Debuting Over Age 40 (PHOTOS)
19 days into our second CFS, we’ve received our 100th submission. Compared to the thousands other literary journals receive each reading period, this may sound unexceptional, but it’s a milestone for us nonetheless!
Here’s hoping to a 100 more in the days ahead. Remember, all submissions – including our radio drama cliff hanger, craft essays, and writing exercises – count regarding our $500 writing contest prize!
Keep them coming…
Happy new season one and all! There is something about September that makes us want to really delve into work. I have spent the summer reading many books for my thesis, but have not written all that much yet. Or so I thought.
In the wee hours last night, I woke to a surreal dream chock full of pointers about the real meat of my thesis topic. Reluctantly, I groped for my notebook and began scribbling though unfortunately, some of the foggy thoughts are illegible.
Mostly, I learned that we are not to fret. Our stories are writing themselves. Even as we sleep, the work is materializing on a subconscious level. FROM WHERE YOU DREAM by Robert Olen Butler is a fantastic book about writing. Butler talks about going “into your writing space straight from another dream state… . Go to language before you’ve had a chance for all those other uses of language to intrude on you.” Butler tells us that Graham Greene calls this the “compost of the imagination.” Butler calls this the ”dreamspace, the white-hot center of the unconscious.”
Wherever we go, whatever we see and hear, we are writing. Even as we drift into our dreams, in the darkness, we are writing.
Our next reading period has started – Sept. 1 – Nov. 1, 2010. The theme for this issue is “Settings – pieces that evoke a particular place or time.”
Mason’s Road will award a $500 prize to the best piece of creative writing published in the first two issues of the journal. Only selected work for the first issue (on Voice/Persona) and the second issue (Settings) will be considered, and only previously unpublished work will be eligible.
Please visit our submission guidelines for more.
Thanks for your consideration and good luck with your writing!
Taking a break from kids and writing my thesis: “Diary of a Mad Novelist: Marketing a Book in the Digital Age.” I don’t know which makes me crazier, but I’m pretty sure it’s the thunderous sounds of teenagers.
Just read an article in the Wall Street Journal about a guy named Seth Godin. He’s written 12 books, translated into more than 30 languages. He was chosen as one of 21 speakers for the Next Century by Successful Meetings.
For his latest book, Linchpin, Seth bypassed all traditional media and went directly to his readers. Seth is selling his book online – without Amazon or anybody else!
So much is changing, so fast, in the publishing industry. The entrepreneurial author is galloping away from traditional gatekeepers. Self-publishing is losing its taint.
I am wondering if online publishing is a viable path for a newbie author, or is it mostly a success story if you are already a known quantity like Seth Godin?
Check out Seth’s multiple websites:
Dear Readers,
Welcome to Mason’s Road! For those of us who are graduate students in Fairfield’s MFA program, Mason’s Island Road is the last stretch of a journey we look forward to twice a year, setting the mood and stage for our 10-day residencies where we get to know each other and our “writer within” better. We’re hoping this literary journal will be an extension of our learning, not just for us but for all our submitters, contributors, and readers as well.
We’re not quite sure what we’ll be posting about here – could be news about the journal, our contributors, quick interviews, special events for writers and artists in the area, rantings and rattlings about today’s literature and publishing – we’ll see where this road takes us. Wherever we go and however we get there, we’ll be glad for whatever company you care to give us along the way.
Feel free to respond to this post with comments, questions & thoughts about Mason’s Road. What would you like to talk about?
Cheers,
The Editorial Board of Mason’s Road
Sponsored by Fairfield University's MFA in Creative Writing Program | Copyright © 2012 Mason's Road