This week: Hey! Hey you! Edited by: Legerdemain  
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The purpose of this newsletter is to help the Writing.com short story author hone their craft and improve their skills. Along with that I would like to inform, advocate, and create new, fresh ideas for the short story author. Write to me if you have an idea you would like presented.
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Amazon's Price: $ 12.99
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Hey you! Hey! Nice to Meet You!
Some of the great features on this site are all the short story contests. Literally, every day, every week... every month, there are contests to join. They all have different focus and level of participation. If you love writing, love the short story, take a look around the site. Not only do you have your portfolio, but you have the opportunity to comment with, review, be reviewed and in general have some fun in our community.
This month's site contest "Journey Through Genres: Official Contest" is for poetry this time around. But many times short stories are allowed and the prizes are quite large. You have a much better chance for winning a site contest than you do on some outside writing contest. I'm not saying you can't, but the odds are a tiny bit better. Wherever you find contests that suit your style of writing, enter! Rarely does the contest cost gift points to enter so really, it's a matter of taking the time to submit your entry.
I do suggest you read the rules carefully, many require a word count or the prompt words bolded. I like to put a link to the contest at the bottom of the story so people can find the forum and compete. I also suggest you take the time to review some of the contestants when the contest is over, introduce yourself and get to know them! Having a network of writer friends can be handy when you're ready for an item to have a beta reader. That early pair of eyes can really be helpful to fine tune the story and find out if what you intend the reader to see/hear, actually does. Some of the most fun contests include an activity where you get to meet other members.
Finally, remember it only takes a moment to send a kind word to a fellow author. Those kind words might come on a day when they are struggling with writer's block, a cranky story, or just some kind of sucky thing in life. It never hurts to take a minute and pay it forward. 
This month's question: How do you network on WDC? Did it give you a positive experience? Send in your answer below!  Editors love feedback!
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Excerpt: Margaret skittered into the foyer, heels clicking on terra cotta tiles that appeared to be aflame, burning with the sunset hues filtered through tall windows on either side of the door. "Are you ready?"
Excerpt: I finally stopped crying. I didn’t start until after the funeral. I held myself together during his illness and after he passed. There were things to do, arrangements to make, people to greet. They mean well. I’ve been in their shoes. A person does’t know what to say or do. He just wants to help. You can’t get mad because they’re annoying you with their help and well wishes and sympathy. You have to be strong. I was strong.
Excerpt: The sign outside the shop read, “The Coffee Shop.” It was a small cafe situated in a large shopping mall; with a quaint Victorian-style look right down to having china cups and crockery. It stood out from other cafes and restaurants within the mall with a waiter service - you made your order and found a seat. A friendly waitress would bring it to you very popular with shoppers in the mall.
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Excerpt: Joe was very tired, and his hands ached from all the keyboarding he had done beginning early in the morning. It was nine p.m. when he decided that was all for today. He flexed his hands thinking he might be on the way to carpal tunnel syndrome. He put them in his lap and sighed deeply. Let them rest, he thought.
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Excerpt: It was quite a line-up of entertainment, and Shy-Anne was doing her best to convince me we would never again see that many quality stars in one place. “Cheryl, you’ve always wanted to see Willie live!”
Excerpt: “No.”The word bounced aimlessly off the walls of Andy’s small bedroom, but nobody heard it. Not even the one who had said it.
Excerpt: Each day around 12pm NOON WDC time, one of our dedicated volunteer judges will judge the previous day's entries and post a writing prompt. The contest for that prompt ends before NOON (11:59am WDC time) the next day. All entries that follow ALL of the prompt requirements will be judged according to the creativity in responding to the writing prompt only. This means that grammatical errors WILL NOT be a determining factor in deciding the winner!
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Excerpt: Everyone's had their heart broken. Tell me your experience and you may win 10,000 GPS! OR the Merit Badge of your choice!
Excerpt: You're probably not old enough to remember, but in the 1930's thru the 1950's pulp magazines were all the rage. Many of the great authors we hold dear today got their first paying jobs writing for pulps like Weird Tales, Astounding Tales, and True Detective, just to name a few. Speculative fiction writers like Ray Bradbury, Robert Bloch, H.P.Lovecraft, and Robert E. Howard all began submitting their stories and honing their skills.
THIS contest is designed to take you back to those days. So now you TOO can write for the old pulp fiction magazines just like the 'master story-tellers' did back in the day.
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Have an opinion on what you've read here today? Then send the Editor feedback! Find an item that you think would be perfect for showcasing here? Submit it for consideration in the newsletter!
https://www.Writing.Com/go/nl_form
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This month's question: How do you network on WDC? Did it give you a positive experience? Send in your answer below! Editors love feedback!
Last month's question: Do you write genre mashups?
Beholden  responded: Thank you so much for featuring my little story, "Homecoming" .
As regards genre mashups or writing in between genres, I wrote a whole book that accidentally invented a new genre. It is natural for me to write first and worry about genre afterwards but WdC has changed that to some extent. I try to enter as many contests as I can handle, which means I have to pay attention to the genre requested. That story, "Homecoming," is an illustration of how I sometimes drift away for the contest imperative. It was written for "SCREAMS!!!" but does not really fit into the horror genre. My excuse is that it follows the prompt very closely and had a mind of its own.
The overall result of this contest entering has been that I have now written in genres that I would not have dreamed of attempting previously. Horror? Not my bag at all but I keep trying to produce something to make Angus scream! Romance? Incredibly to myself, I've written one. Oriental poetry? I used to ignore it (we never learned about haiku in British schools) but now I love it, especially obscure forms from little-known parts of Asia.
All of this is thanks to WdC. Thank you to a wonderful group that has rekindled the writer in me and led me to fresh pastures.
I am, indeed, Beholden to WdC in more ways than one.
BIG BAD WOLF is hopping  answered: Did somebody say "Genre Mashup?" This wolf is the Alpha when it comes to doing that - take a look at most of my items - you'll be tripping over your feet, I have so many.
Lou-Here By His Grace  submits: Here is the original of one I have been tinkering and adding some more historical stuff too, but I think it will always be horror. "That Old Car" [E]
LegendaryMask❤️  sent: It is a new year and time for challenges and change. Here's to those new beginnings for us all.
Thanks to everyone sending in replies! It's nice to know my editorials are being read and some even take the time to reply. Much appreciated!
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Short Stories: February 05, 2020 Issue [#10007]
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