Click Here to Buy Undercurrents
Liquid-lympics
Ocean Medal: Osonegro, for “The Saltchuck,” her tale of the woman with the vision of the drowned man. So odd in so many ways. Interesting characters. Bonus points for the back cover photo.
River Medal: Forbidden Clams, for “Wyatt Burp.” Wait! I meant Wyatt Clams, for “Forbidden Burp.” No, I meant Wyatt Burp, for “Forbidden Clams.” A fun essay about a not-fun time.
Out of Competition: Three excellent entries by returning Oarsolympic champions:
- R Toady’s “Island Rule” was something of a sequel to his legendary Smurf story in “False Prophets/True Believers.” It was extraordinary for many reasons, but most of all the voices, the personalities, so vivid, so alive.
- Charles’ “Along Shaver’s Creek,” another lyrical look at scenes from his idyllic youth.
- Ghost of Majestic’s “Floating Believers,” in which we climb aboard a freighter and enjoy a few tense moments with our narrator, if enjoy is the right word.
Thanks also to Sandshovel and Kick the Kann for their contributions.
Friday, November 13, 2009
Thursday, July 2, 2009
Theme for Summer 2009
The title will be 'Undercurrents.'
A notion to consider: The rules change as you near the water's edge.
The theme is water and life on the waterfront: the riverside, the oceanfront, the creekside, the lake shore, an island -- or life on the water: a houseboat, a cruise ship, a traveling barge ... or something I'm not thinking of.
Guidelines:
E-mail stories to catoars at rocketmail.com from Aug. 14 to Aug. 21.
Preferred Length: Up to 3,000 words. I will accept longer stories from Cat Oars veterans.
For first-time Cat Oars writers: The stories will go through an editing process. Mostly just wording changes for clarity. You will review changes before publication. When you submit, put the following paragraph at the top of the story, above the title:
I agree to accept re-wording and-or working with the Cat Oars editor to get the text to our mutual satisfaction.
A notion to consider: The rules change as you near the water's edge.
The theme is water and life on the waterfront: the riverside, the oceanfront, the creekside, the lake shore, an island -- or life on the water: a houseboat, a cruise ship, a traveling barge ... or something I'm not thinking of.
Guidelines:
E-mail stories to catoars at rocketmail.com from Aug. 14 to Aug. 21.
Preferred Length: Up to 3,000 words. I will accept longer stories from Cat Oars veterans.
For first-time Cat Oars writers: The stories will go through an editing process. Mostly just wording changes for clarity. You will review changes before publication. When you submit, put the following paragraph at the top of the story, above the title:
I agree to accept re-wording and-or working with the Cat Oars editor to get the text to our mutual satisfaction.
Sunday, March 22, 2009
Announcing: RED
RED Special Edition
It’s expensive. Check the preview; it will be printed in red.
RED Standard edition
More reasonably priced. Printed in black.
RED MEDAL: Cufflink. It looked like he was in second position with “Red Land,” but then he came back with his later entry, “Hong Cha Lu,” which got extremely red.
CRIMSON MEDAL: Laiadevorah. She had the early lead with her very red, very strong rant, “Seeing Red.” I thought for sure she’d walk away with the red, but then the collective astral projection of the dancing red dragon appeared in “Hong Cha Lu” and the games were over. Nevertheless, Seeing Red was very red and very good, too. It should be a crime to make her feel that red. Maybe it is.
SCARLET MEDAL: Zendog3, for “Roy and the Red Hat.” I liked that the love story was was about a doctor and her patient, I liked that they were older, I liked the ‘skipped generation’ element of the story. There was just enough red. The Cat Oars ‘beginner’s luck’ advantage gets him the Scarlet.
OUT OF COMPETITION: Toady and Charles contributed the most ambitious stories. But they weren’t quite red enough to medal in this project even if I had let them in the race.
SPECIAL NOTE: Both Sandshovel and Swann contributed stories – “Prairie Storms and Crinoline” and “Red Fury” respectively – that ended the collection nicely. This is the second time a Swann story served as perfect last word in a collection.
Welcome to other newcomers GSVMach and Toyota Corolla. Welcome back to other veterans, Silvercharm and Wyatt Burp.
Thanks to everyone for trying something different. I really appreciate it. It’s Cat Oars 14 so I wanted it to be something special. I think it is, and that’s thanks to all of you for your fine work and willingness to experiment. I hope you’ll all look back on this fondly. I know I will.
It’s expensive. Check the preview; it will be printed in red.
RED Standard edition
More reasonably priced. Printed in black.
RED MEDAL: Cufflink. It looked like he was in second position with “Red Land,” but then he came back with his later entry, “Hong Cha Lu,” which got extremely red.
CRIMSON MEDAL: Laiadevorah. She had the early lead with her very red, very strong rant, “Seeing Red.” I thought for sure she’d walk away with the red, but then the collective astral projection of the dancing red dragon appeared in “Hong Cha Lu” and the games were over. Nevertheless, Seeing Red was very red and very good, too. It should be a crime to make her feel that red. Maybe it is.
SCARLET MEDAL: Zendog3, for “Roy and the Red Hat.” I liked that the love story was was about a doctor and her patient, I liked that they were older, I liked the ‘skipped generation’ element of the story. There was just enough red. The Cat Oars ‘beginner’s luck’ advantage gets him the Scarlet.
OUT OF COMPETITION: Toady and Charles contributed the most ambitious stories. But they weren’t quite red enough to medal in this project even if I had let them in the race.
SPECIAL NOTE: Both Sandshovel and Swann contributed stories – “Prairie Storms and Crinoline” and “Red Fury” respectively – that ended the collection nicely. This is the second time a Swann story served as perfect last word in a collection.
Welcome to other newcomers GSVMach and Toyota Corolla. Welcome back to other veterans, Silvercharm and Wyatt Burp.
Thanks to everyone for trying something different. I really appreciate it. It’s Cat Oars 14 so I wanted it to be something special. I think it is, and that’s thanks to all of you for your fine work and willingness to experiment. I hope you’ll all look back on this fondly. I know I will.
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