Where Words Take Us/Calls for Submissions

A writer never knows where the words will take him/her. In 1939, Robert L. May, working in the marketing department for Montgomery Ward, created the words for a coloring book and titled it RUDOLPH THE RED-NOSED REINDEER. Before deciding to use the name “Rudolph,” May considered "Rollo" and "Reginald." Would the story have been as popular with either of the other names? Maybe, maybe not. Later, May’s brother-in-law, Johnny Marks, adapted the rhyming text as a song, and Golden Books released it as a picture book. The story didn’t stop there. It has been developed into an animated TV special and a full-feature film.

Did the writer imagine that his character would become one of the most widely known in the world? Probably not. There’s no way to predict what will become an enduring classic. We write what we enjoy and hope others like it, too.

So here’s to words taking you to where you want to go and to places you never imagined. Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to all my fellow writers.

Call for submissions for adult writers:

John Ciardi Prize for Poetry is offered annually for the best unpublished collection of poetry. Prize is $1,000 and publication by BkMk Press. Deadline: January 15 postmark. (Also offered with same deadline: G.S. Sharat Chandra Prize for Short Fiction.)

Deadline: January 15 postmark.

Submission guidelines at http://cas.umkc.edu/bkmk/poetry.html

Call for submissions for young writers:

Speak Up Press[ages 13-19]

· All work must be your original creation (fiction, nonfiction, or poetry)

· Your pieces should be 2500 words or less

· Submission Guidelines at http://speakuppress.org/submissions/

Check out more contests on my blog: http://nancykellyallen.blogspot.com/