Date & Time: 9/4/2010 6:48:08 PM User: Cynthia Note: Hi. Yes, I was aware that there is a CalliopeWriters.com out there. I hadn't actually checked it out until today. What I found was a site that hasn't been updated since 2008. The link to the discussion forum is dead. Someone must be paying to keep the domain, but they don't appear to be doing anything with it. Very sad. You always hate to see a magazine, whether print or virtual, disappear. Hope you're all enjoying the last of summer.

Date & Time: 9/4/2010 6:12:48 PM User: Lost Note: Did you know there's a CalliopeWriters.com website? It's a little looser than this one but interesting all the same. Why not give it a try?

Date & Time: 9/3/2010 8:02:44 AM User: Fiction Editor Note: To submit your work, go to the "Submissions" guidelines on the left side of the page and it will instruct you how to contact the appropriate editor. Generally, work accepted appears in both the print and web versions of Calliope, but we do use special web content only from time to time. For fiction, please contact me first before submitting by email. Thanks.

Date & Time: 9/2/2010 6:35:42 PM User: a question please Note: How does one submit work for this website rather than printed media? Thank you.

Date & Time: 9/1/2010 8:00:45 AM User: Fiction Editor Note: We are now open to submissions of fiction for stories to be published in 2011.

Date & Time: 8/23/2010 8:05:40 AM User: Fiction Editor Note: To get our minds back on the craft of writing, the 18th Annual Fiction Contest guidelines will be announced in the Fall 2010 issue.

Date & Time: 8/23/2010 7:00:28 AM User: Sandy Claws Note: Finally, we have our very own Gidget!

Date & Time: 8/22/2010 10:40:20 AM User: Surfer Girl Note: Hi all. Here are a couple web sites for a boring Sunday. www.testmybrain.org gives you instant feedback after you complete a 15-minute test. There are a number of tests to choose from. You can test your vocabulary and earn donations to the UN's World Food Programme at www.freerice.com.

Date & Time: 8/16/2010 6:13:04 AM User: Loyal serf Note: I think it's about time you'all stop pickin' on the purty lady. Calliope is unique and needed. As she sed, if'n you don't like it, you kin get your money back. Can't get that sort of a deal from just everyone. Not even our gubment . . .

Date & Time: 8/15/2010 10:06:53 AM User: Cynthia Note: Bob--I may have misunderstood your message. If you didn't post anything in Marketplace and are just disgruntled that Calliope is using some space to help members promote their work, my response probably didn't help. For ANYONE who is unhappy or disappointed with Calliope, it has always been our policy to cancel the person's membership on request and refund any unused portion ($4 a quarter). Just send me a note at cynthia@theriver.com.

Date & Time: 8/15/2010 9:31:30 AM User: Cynthia Note: Bob, Sorry, I'm confused. First, the Marketplace is free to members, so who are you paying? And I guess I don't understand what you mean about promoting folks other than yourself. Were you expecting a page of your own? We actually talked about that, but the bandwidth for this level of the web site won't support that many additional pages. The hard copy will also not support a page per "advertiser." And again, there's no extra charge for the promotion. As I probably mentioned some time back, the $16 membership fee is more than eaten by printing, postage (going up again in January--ugh!), web fees, contributor copies, and contest prizes. I think the subscription covers about half. We supplement for the rest, and I'm not complaining. But I'm really hurt, frankly, by your comment. Perhaps Marketplace was a bad idea since I can't seem to make anyone happy. Or maybe it's just the long, very hot summer that's making us all cranky.

Date & Time: 8/15/2010 8:11:57 AM User: Bob's yer uncle Note: Somehow, the most recent pettiness in this place reminds me of the story of the princess and the pea. Dunno why.

Date & Time: 8/14/2010 7:59:50 PM User: Bob Note: So I'm now paying to promote work other than my own? Do I get the same offer for a refund as Oh Bosh?

Date & Time: 8/14/2010 5:52:49 PM User: Cynthia Note: Hi there. The Marketplace is up and all the "ads" I've received so far are posted. Take a quick look at what your fellow writers have published.

Date & Time: 8/9/2010 2:56:32 PM User: oh bosh Note: And I'll treasure the memory of you standing there alone, clueless and waving for all you're worth.

Date & Time: 8/8/2010 5:18:35 PM User: Ed Note: The Marketplace page is now up and running.

Date & Time: 8/8/2010 11:02:30 AM User: Ol' Faithful Note: To "bosh" - go on, then, leave. We'll wave to you from the pier.

Date & Time: 8/7/2010 6:47:38 PM User: Ed Note: The Summer issue is now posted. A Marketplace page will be added soon. Hope you're all enjoying the weekend. Love the exchange on the Whiteboard. It's good to get a variety of viewpoints and input--even the ones I may not agree with, and no, I'm not burning anything. Calliope is not just a magazine. It's an organization of folks who are interested in some aspect of writing. It provides information, a place to submit your work, and hopefully, an occasional inspiration. Don't forget to look for the new fiction contest guidelines in the Fall issue, available sometime after Labor Day. And to the person who suggested we burn down the house, if the SIG is not what you were expecting when you joined, send me a note and I'll send you a refund. The membership fees have never covered all of the costs for this enterprise, but they help. For some of us, it's our golf game...our ebay bidding...our garage sale hopping. It's what we do for fun.

Date & Time: 8/7/2010 3:00:49 PM User: Anon Note: Before Calliope dipped a toe into web publishing, content was generally predictable and frankly somewhat stale. And that's fine. Calliope was comfortable and within reach of aspiring writers like myself. Personally, I think Calliope now presents more variety than before, and I think the current contributors are more talented and have more relevance than our small core of regulars. I see that as an improvement directly related to Calliope's open format and I wouldn't like to see that status changed. We should definitely keep the web version alive. I have no objection to self-promotion in Calliope by members. I think it might be entertaining.

Date & Time: 8/7/2010 12:37:21 PM User: Membership Advocate Note: I guess some readers have never seen a review of a chapbook in a literary magazine or in Small Press Review? Chapbooks are generally under 50 pgs. I didn't like the idea of a web version at first, but it gives Calliope greater exposure to a broader range of writers and readers, and perhaps some may enjoy it enough to become member/subscribers. I tend to agree that the web content should be limited, with the main emphasis on the print version. As for the proposed Marketplace column: an increasing number of our members are self-publishing these days. Why not help them to promote their work?

Date & Time: 8/7/2010 11:28:01 AM User: My Two Cents Note: I rather like the web version.

Date & Time: 8/7/2010 11:27:08 AM User: My Two Cents Note: We should allow subscribers (members) full website access and offer limited access to the public, i.e., nonpaying surfers.

Date & Time: 8/7/2010 8:14:16 AM User: oh bosh Note: Two book reviews of an 11 page booklet??? I think maybe you should allow both the paper and the website to die. "Book" reviews???

Date & Time: 8/6/2010 8:31:39 AM User: Bob's yer Uncle Note: I agree. The website is an interesting hobby for the webbie, but if it's what we used to call, in my business, division of effort, then snap the neck and let the little head loll. Also, the marketing thing is why many magazines have gone under - people can get all the advertising they can stand on TV and the lesser magazines. I'll cheerfully pay a bit more for Calliope if it means it can be kept what it once was, a workshop. (I must confess, I get it free. Perks of the perky, you see.) Quality costs more than mediocrity. Although I did see a gal wearing a T-shirt recently with the legend, in bold lettering, "UNLEASH THE POWER OF MEDIOCRITY!" [end of prolix ramble]

Date & Time: 8/5/2010 6:20:43 PM User: just a Bob Note: Where did the website come from anyhow? I don't remember any complaints from back in the day of paper-only Calliope. I wouldn't mind if the website quietly went away, especially if the money saved can be used to add a few more pages to each issue of real Calliope. And about the marketplace idea, I wouldn't like it if Calliope page space is wasted on marketing. Please leave the ads and self promotion tactics for the for-profit venues.

Date & Time: 8/4/2010 6:16:05 AM User: Joyless Note: What we need for balance is a fee for the web version. Or, let everyone stop buying the paper version, bankrupt the venture and rake over the ashes. Or maybe Cindy could get funding from the gubment. Then it won't cost anybody anything. Leibnitz was right!

Date & Time: 8/2/2010 10:40:16 AM User: Oh Joy Note: Why would anyone pay for paper while the web site is free and has more content?

Date & Time: 8/1/2010 6:46:34 PM User: ebber Note: thanks for the update

Date & Time: 8/1/2010 9:00:17 AM User: Ed Note: Maybe next weekend. It takes a full weekend of work to convert it, and we don't like to post it before the hard copies are delivered. Soon, ebber, soon.

Date & Time: 8/1/2010 7:07:53 AM User: ebber Note: when will the summer issue go live?

Date & Time: 7/31/2010 5:36:23 PM User: Cynthia Note: When you read the Coffee Break column this time, I thought I should mention that the "trust" article had to do with the Social Security Trust Fund and other government SNAFUs, not something personal.

Date & Time: 7/31/2010 5:34:24 PM User: Ed Note: The summer issue is in the hands of God and the USPS. Should be in your mail boxes early next week.

Date & Time: 7/25/2010 6:54:53 AM User: Old Guy Note: Great! Good to have new guys!

Date & Time: 7/22/2010 11:19:08 PM User: New Guy Note: Great -- as a first-time contributor, I can't wait to see the summer issue!

Date & Time: 7/19/2010 6:08:31 PM User: Ed Note: Summer 2010, issue #128 is at the printer and should be in the mail by the end of the week. It's a bit longer than usual--took a bit longer to assemble. Anybody going anywhere interesting for a summer vacation?

Date & Time: 7/18/2010 8:48:05 AM User: Fiction Editor Note: I've been told that the summer issue of Calliope will be in the mail soon. Web version shortly thereafter.

Date & Time: 7/18/2010 7:56:37 AM User: Sumer Icumen Note: What newstand? I always thought that Calliope was only available by mail and only to certain deserving folks carefully vetted by the vets.

Date & Time: 7/17/2010 6:00:30 PM User: mikey Note: When does the summer issue hit newsstands?

Date & Time: 7/3/2010 8:21:33 AM User: Fiction editor Note: I presume you mean emailed submissions. Yes. For submissions of fiction, contact the Fiction editor first; follow the guidelines for "Submissions" on the tab at the left side of the home page. However, we are temporarily closed to submissions of fiction until September 1. At that time, we will be selecting stories for issues to be published in 2011. For non-fiction, contact the General Editor, Cynthia Sabelhaus.

Date & Time: 7/2/2010 8:40:42 PM User: Penney Note: Do you do online submissions?

Date & Time: 6/18/2010 12:42:41 PM User: Onna Beech Note: Where is everybody? Dull out here in Loosha Land.!

Date & Time: 6/5/2010 8:43:29 AM User: Unrequited Note: Where is Ariel? Who is Ariel? Where is everybody? 'Tain't as much fun no more.

Date & Time: 5/26/2010 7:33:00 AM User: Angel Wings Note: Not quite ultimate editor. Lifetime word limit? That's a good one.

Date & Time: 5/25/2010 1:28:43 PM User: Kaw Lake Kate Note: Oh, maybe there's a connection between PCP (Angel Dust) and Angel Wings and I was too obtuse to see it. Thouhgts, ennybody?

Date & Time: 5/25/2010 1:22:56 PM User: PCP Note: I never did find out what happened to Ariel or who she / he was. Now I have another wraith to consider. Angel Wings? Unless it's the Ultimate Editor telling me I'm close to my Life's Word Limit.

Date & Time: 5/25/2010 1:20:51 PM User: Loring Note: My wife gets to read (and control) the PART I let her get her paws on. But my erotica are fairly tame by today's standards. So is my real life, alas.

Date & Time: 5/25/2010 8:37:38 AM User: Don Note: My wife forbids me to write erotic stuff...

Date & Time: 5/25/2010 7:35:17 AM User: Angel Wings Note: Why, to nominate one of you, of course.

Date & Time: 5/24/2010 2:44:42 PM User: Loring again Note: Hey, forgot - I like that nom de plume! Angel Wings! Lets me imagine the rest.

Date & Time: 5/24/2010 2:43:11 PM User: Loring Note: Nominations? For your inclusion in the Honor Roll of Weird, or to nominate one of us?

Date & Time: 5/24/2010 12:15:16 PM User: Angel Wings Note: Are we taking nominations yet?

Date & Time: 5/24/2010 10:49:33 AM User: Loring Note: Hey, if you can't enjoy your writing, sometimes NOBODY will! Might as well get it wrung dry. Glad to see I'm not the only one, Don. Maybe they'll have us bronzed and hung in the Calliope Hall of Strange.

Date & Time: 5/23/2010 8:49:18 PM User: Don Note: I got a bang out of Loring's claim of squeezing out a few tears while writing. My sister cracked up when I told her I laugh at my funny stuff and get scared when I write horror.

Date & Time: 5/23/2010 8:09:02 PM User: Don Sullivan Note: Artists, cartoonists, and now writers have their version. As Durante says, "Everybody wants ta get in de act." Is Nabokov's version worse than wearing white robes and strumming harps for all eternity?

Date & Time: 5/23/2010 8:50:20 AM User: PCP Note: Dunno. After a bit of mulling I think Nabokov's "hollow hum of blank eternity" sufficient threat to hope there is no conscious afterwards.

Date & Time: 5/22/2010 9:11:25 PM User: Don Sullivan Note: Great issue, as always. I liked all fiction in this issue, my favorite being Eleanor Michael's recycling spoof, "On Going Green." But the piece I liked best was the nonfiction by Steven Harvey, "The Art of Mulling." The only part of his essay I found hard to swallow was his view of religious conceptions of the afterlife. Actually, the only religious conception of such an afterlife is in the minds of artists and cartoonists: Wearing sandals, long white robes, strumming harps, and so on. But all said and done, I thoroughly enjoyed Mr. Harvey's essay.

Date & Time: 4/25/2010 9:03:19 PM User: a reader Note: "Letter No. 7" is unsettling, it moves me, I like it. If you read nothing else in this issue, be sure to read "Rejection", it's hilarious. "My Friend is Gone" is best of poetry this issue.

Date & Time: 4/20/2010 7:02:39 AM User: PolyCarbonatedPhil Note: Does the change to the system necessitate the removal of the scrolling feature? Trying to remember which page you saw a note on is tuff. Just one vote, however.

Date & Time: 4/17/2010 6:13:51 PM User: Cynthia (General Editor) Note: Hi. The Spring issue is in the mail. Should be in your mailboxes early next week.

Date & Time: 4/16/2010 12:58:24 PM User: Unperplexed Note: Thanks. I should have known, as we recited it enough in high school as to embed itself in one's brain.

Date & Time: 4/16/2010 8:49:29 AM User: Ruddie's Chappie Note: The "loved Egyptian night" is from Rudyard Kipling's poem, "The White Man's Burden."

Date & Time: 4/16/2010 7:46:01 AM User: Perplexed Note: HUH?

Date & Time: 4/14/2010 1:04:28 PM User: Unloved Egyptian Note: Nope. That poem is very, very non-PC today.

Date & Time: 4/10/2010 2:19:06 PM User: Cynthia Note: I'm posting this from my iPhone--cool. Another toy for the airport.

Date & Time: 4/10/2010 1:03:56 PM User: webweenie Note: So can you live with it this way PCP, or are you harbinger of yet another horde of outraged peasants with pitchforks? Your feedback is always welcome and appreciated. Me too, firmly grounded and content in my loved Egyptian night--haven't stumbled across that phrase in ages.

Date & Time: 4/10/2010 8:39:05 AM User: Poly Crow Paws Note: Okay, now, I see. I'm not computer-friendly, you see. Thank you for your patient leading me out of my "loved Egyptian night."

Date & Time: 4/9/2010 7:11:45 PM User: webweenie Note: Hola PCP...old whiteboard didn't work well with newer internet capable phones, etc., so I changed it. Also, there's now a basic column sort function so users can view entries sorted by user or by date. If a user wants to see all whiteboard entries made by Ponca City Phil, for example, then the user can click on the "User" column label and the entries will be sorted in alphabetical order.

Date & Time: 4/9/2010 3:41:20 PM User: Ponca City Phil Note: To Webmaster - Huh? More info for we aments out here in the sub-Mensa majority.

Date & Time: 4/9/2010 4:07:00 AM User: webweenie Note: 'scuse the whiteboard tweaks, mobile users were grumbling about our use of inline frames (whutever that is), thus the new look. Also, now you can click on underlined column headings to change the whiteboard sort order per your whim. Zing me a note if you find bugs (like THAT ever happens hehe.)

Date & Time: 4/5/2010 9:59:03 AM User: Loring Note: Hey, if there are any survivors from the FAYRDAW, la Pierna Tierna or UpDare? days who'd like to chat over lang syne, gimme an 'e'. lapierna@peoplepc.com

Date & Time: 4/1/2010 1:54:19 PM User: Ponca City Phil Note: Quick work, O Webperson! Thanx.

Date & Time: 3/27/2010 3:23:50 PM User: webweenie Note: And it's a very good idea. Thank you.

Date & Time: 3/27/2010 8:20:11 AM User: Ana Cronism Note: Hey, why not supply the issue NUMBERS on the back-issues index page? Since the issue numbers are the calendar we live by, rather than the old-fashioned Earth-Goes-Around-the-Sun basis, it would be a help. When somebody white-boards that she liked a poem in #122, fer instants, we could go there pronto. Just an idea, but I'll bet not too hard to implement. Thanx, y'all.

Date & Time: 3/25/2010 3:44:46 PM User: Crisp Kindel Note: Yup, you can send any story in one of their approved word-processor programs. And, yes, you can "tag" and describe and add a cover picture (JPEG) and a bio. Google 'amazon dtp' to get in. That's the Digital Text Platform. They'll assign you a "shelf" of your very own, into which you can insert what you have. I find the software easy to use and friendly. Since I am computer-duh, that was a great boon. Good luck.

Date & Time: 3/25/2010 6:37:30 AM User: El kaBong Note: I like the new readers a lot, especially the kindle. Does the kindle store accept books that haven't been published in paper format, i.e., straight from my mac to the kindle store? I'm curious too about "tags." Are you allowed to specify single-word tags when you sell with kindle store such that a search for all kindle books tagged with a word like...oh say "puppies" would return your title if you had associated that word with your book? Thanks for your observation about kindle, I've been thinking about it myself.

Date & Time: 3/22/2010 7:56:06 AM User: Loring Note: A while back I mentioned getting my books onto Kindle. I did have a little problem recently adding my picture and bio to the book descriptions. I asked for help and got polite, complete, concise, step-by-step instructions which immediaqtely set me to rights. The contrast with the usual "help" processes of other companies was startling. Apparently Amazon is feeling the threat from other books-on-line vendors and is going all-out to be user-friendly. Refreshing . . .

Date & Time: 2/28/2010 5:54:42 PM User: Poetry Reader Note: A little more Christine Schulze, please. A "Lovers of Autumn" and A "Lovers of Summer" are needed to complete Christine's "Lovers" seasonal tetralogy. "Lovers of Spring" and "Lovers of Winter" are by far the best Calliope has printed. Please give us more.

Date & Time: 2/15/2010 9:14:43 AM User: In the Know Note: The print version of issue #126 is out; the web version usually follows in a week or two.

Date & Time: 2/15/2010 7:16:35 AM User: Another reader Note: Where is #126? I checked every page and can't find it. Are you sure that link works right?

Date & Time: 2/8/2010 3:20:58 PM User: Faithful reader Note: #126 is great!

Date & Time: 1/25/2010 7:50:16 PM User: Sully Note: With but one exception, I've retained all rights in everything I've had published up to now. It's clear to me now what Amazon is looking for in their question about rights. Right now I'm working on publishing ebooks with Lulu, and after that I'll get back with Amazon. I also plan to check out Smashwords.

Date & Time: 1/25/2010 2:48:26 PM User: Lorin Note: Any piece of work for which I have not signed an agreement about rights I assume is mine - globally. Most magazines will tell you what rights they're buying if you query (which you should anyway!) I have some work for which the publisher has even sent me a document to be signed and notarized. But I've been in "small press" so much that I tend to forget. Query the publisher!

Date & Time: 1/24/2010 2:07:55 PM User: Sully Note: More aboot Kindle. Only one question threw me, the one about rights. They want to know if I have worldwide rights or whether I'm limited to one or more countries. Don't know of anything that would restrict my rights to any locality, but I'm kinda fuzzy on how to reply.

Date & Time: 1/20/2010 3:41:16 PM User: Lorin Note: Aboot Kindle - Yup. After I learned to answer EVERY question as it went along, the whole process to get a book into Kindle takes about an hour. 'Course, they need about two days to do their work to market it. But I have four in the store in four days. Kabbubba!

Date & Time: 1/20/2010 10:22:40 AM User: Sully Note: Thanks, Lorin. Yeah, it definitely looks like it's worth a shot.

Date & Time: 1/19/2010 2:46:46 PM User: Lorin Note: To Sully: Hey, ever think of going Amazon-Kindle? It's not hard.

Date & Time: 1/15/2010 9:24:09 AM User: Lorin Note: Aw!

Date & Time: 1/14/2010 3:40:25 PM User: Fiction Editor Note: Except for member/subscribers, Calliope will be temporarily closed to submissions of fiction until September 2010.

Date & Time: 1/7/2010 8:30:39 PM User: Sully Note: No, I wasn't defrosted, but I'll prolly need defrosting before this NC winter is over. My books aren't doing that well either. It takes more time, effort, and money to promote books than I can spare. But fortunately I don't need money, and anyway I'm enjoying myself. Here's wishing all a happy, healthy and prosperous 2010.

Date & Time: 1/7/2010 8:05:35 AM User: Lorin Note: Hey, Sully, did they just defrost you? Seriously, I was wonderin' where you were. It was lonesome out here with all these empty entries. Another novel! Lawsie! Good luck with it. Mine haven't sold too well. I figger by 2073 I'll break even.

Date & Time: 1/6/2010 10:23:28 PM User: Sully Note: Holy Moley! Would you believe I just found Whiteboard? Each time I've visited Calliope during the past few months, I've gone to Forums. It was a bit depressing to see that almost nobody was commenting on Forums (outside of the staff, Lorin and I were the only people to use the forum.) I kept waiting and hoping that Calliopers would get used to the forum and start using it. So today I visited and noticed Whiteboard, and out of curiosity I checked it out. Wow. How long has it been posted here? I went over the comments and noted that some folks miss Ariel. So do I. She's a bit abrasive, I think, but she speaks her mind. But at least she critiques, and we need all the critters we can get. Note to Nosey Ned: I've added a fourth book, a historical novella titled "The Menorcans of Florida." To be honest, I didn't write all those books last year, two of them are collections of short stories, which were written over the past eight years or so. The other two are novellas.

Date & Time: 12/25/2009 11:18:29 AM User: Freezing fiction editor Note: Merry Christmas everyone from the freezing fog-laden skies of the Pacific Northwest.

Date & Time: 12/25/2009 10:30:59 AM User: Justin Evening Note: Oh, I see. It chsnges from Whiteboard to Beigeboard. Tricksy!

Date & Time: 12/25/2009 10:29:09 AM User: Just noticed Note: Hey, this part ain't white. Wha' goes?

Date & Time: 12/24/2009 4:08:17 PM User: Loring Note: Have a Happy Season! Best wishes to the Calli-ope gang from those of us snowed in in Albuquerque!

Date & Time: 12/23/2009 4:28:24 PM User: Cynthia (General Editor) Note: Everyone, Just a quick "Merry Christmas" to all. And a belated Happy Hanukkah. The Christmas tradition in Tucson calls for tamales, refried beans, rice, and posole (a soup of hominy, pork, onions, and green chiles). The posole takes most of a day to make--six hours of simmering. Tamales are quick, unless you're making a hundred dozen as seems the norm. I ordered 3 dozen from a nearby restaurant. On Christmas Eve, Ralph and I host the family, two sets of aunts and uncles, my mother, sister and brother-in-law, plus any other relatives or friends that happen to be visiting the suspects named above. We don't go to midnight mass as is the tradition before the tamale feasting begins, but we eat enough lard to keep ourselves warm until spring. It's a lovely time (or so it would be if I weren't hosting and if I didn't have a gazillion things to clean, cook, and decorate before 6 p.m. tomorrow. So, just in case I don't have time to log on tomorrow, I wanted to be sure to wish each of you a wonderful holiday. Peace. Cynthia

Date & Time: 12/23/2009 2:38:47 PM User: Cynthia (General Editor) Note: Bob, Yes. Sorry I didn't get it into the data base (okay, just a spreadsheet...DB sounds better!) before I mailed this issue. Sorry. I'm glad it got to you.

Date & Time: 12/23/2009 1:23:31 PM User: Tartan Marine Note: Haiku The reader cares not, Twenty-four or twenty five. All is light inside. Just caught an error on my association’s newsletter for January, AFTER I had approved the proof. The cover still said “2009.” Luckily, it wasn’t on the press yet. Cynthia, did you get my address change? ~Bob Robert A. Hall 182-C Grove Avenue Des Plaines IL 60016

Date & Time: 12/21/2009 8:15:38 PM User: a reader Note: Heavy Breaths, A Lesson, Europe is Room Enough. Good stuff. Thank you.

Date & Time: 12/21/2009 9:30:36 AM User: Toasting in Albuquoikey Note: There's that (Brrr) COLD color again!

Date & Time: 12/17/2009 8:42:37 PM User: Cynthia (General Editor) Note: The Fall issue (number 125, by the way--some copies went out with 124 on the cover) includes the guidelines for the haiku contest. One change: the deadline has been moved back to February 28, due to the lateness with which the issue reached readers. Hope you all enjoy the holiday season. I'm still adding new lights to the display out front, trying to test the limits of the circuit breaker. Hope you find time to connect with old friends, drink a little hot chocolate, sample a cookie or two, listen to "Jingle Bell Rock" one more time (or 127 more times...), and RELAX. Happy holidays!

Date & Time: 12/14/2009 3:09:27 PM User: Faithful serf Note: Hey, Fall issue looks good, as usual. Impeccable, in fact.

Date & Time: 12/14/2009 9:38:30 AM User: Minor foraminifera Note: Told you! If it ain't got posts, the roof falls in!

Date & Time: 12/13/2009 9:21:35 AM User: Untic-untoc Note: Now,don't harass the pretty lady. She's doing the best she can (and better than we could.) Now, wot happened to the "forum?" It ain't workin' no mo'. (Not that it was a whirlwind before, now.)

Date & Time: 12/12/2009 4:44:39 PM User: TicTocTicToc Note: Well at least you have the year right, it will be 2009 for at least a few more days. Are you going to post an Autumn 2009 issue in 2010 or are you going straight to Winter or Spring 2010?

Date & Time: 12/7/2009 3:25:37 PM User: Baisley Note: Nope, t'ain't ferret. Mostly mongoose, I s'pose.

Date & Time: 12/4/2009 1:49:54 PM User: Loritt Note: T'ain't fer it. We're supposed to use the Forum for rants. Lemme know how it goes.

Date & Time: 12/3/2009 8:59:53 AM User: Larrytt Note: What's the point of having this Whiteboard if the people who run Calliope do not respond to messages here?

Date & Time: 11/27/2009 4:07:20 PM User: Tibet Fencing Team Note: Hey, how do you hold up your forum fence with no posts? Unquiring minds wunder . . .

Date & Time: 11/25/2009 4:18:17 PM User: Breathless O'Toole Note: Spring sprang. Sumer icumed. Now Fall has fell. Where's the magazine?

Date & Time: 11/21/2009 9:18:10 AM User: Phoebe Show Note: Hey, where is everybody? I took a stroll through the Forum and ain't nobody there, neither. Geetin' lonesome.

Date & Time: 11/7/2009 8:21:26 AM User: Five-by-seven Note: What's going on with the haiku issue? Non-poets wait breathlessly.

Date & Time: 11/1/2009 12:52:40 PM User: Lorin Note: To Miz Boss: There is a Biblical solution to your Mac-Problem: "Jesus saves. Why not you?" Seiously, I have an icon on my desktop screen that runs a batch program that copies everything in active use into a file on a FLOPPY. If you know a computer wizz (and I think you do) it can be configured to do it every seven or so minutes without your attention. But DO go offshore (to a removable disk). They may be lousy as beer coasters, but the 3.5s are pretty durable. Yep, I know the Lost in Hyperspace feeling. And I had to make it automatic. I'm not so disciplined that I can rely on myself to do good stuff.

Date & Time: 10/30/2009 10:27:45 AM User: Cynthia (General Editor) Note: Hi! Ralph added a "Plugs and Ads" page with member books. Loring's and Donald's books are posted there. The Fall issue was eaten by Microsoft, so it's being reconstructed this weekend. I hope to have it to the printer by Monday. I'm using MS Office for Mac, and it's a very unstable platform. Word crashes every other time I use it, but this time it was strange. Just as I was putting the finishing touches on the thing, the screen suddenly went blank and ALL the content had disappeared. I couldn't have done that had I tried, at least not without highlighting everything and hitting the delete key. So, who knows. I was able to pull up the old file with about half the content in place, but I didn't have time last week to add the rest. Last issue I lost a couple pages of poetry, then put one poem in twice and missed another. Ugh! I love my Mac. The only thing that doesn't work well is the Microsoft software. No doubt it's user error, but that still doesn't excuse its vulnerability to that type of error. C:)

Date & Time: 10/21/2009 6:51:29 AM User: Ned Ludd Note: Looks like the response to the new forum thing is wildly minimal.

Date & Time: 10/16/2009 8:23:06 AM User: Fiction Editor Note: The judging of the 17th Annual Fiction Contest has been completed and the Winners' List is on the way to those who provided a SASE or an email address. The last of the mini-critiques should be in the mail by next week. Watch for our formal announcement--coming soon. Thanks to everyone who entered the contest this year.

Date & Time: 10/8/2009 6:38:09 PM User: Cynthia (General Editor) Note: Hi! Check out 'Member News.' There's a description for each of Don's books. I'm green with envy at his output.

Date & Time: 10/3/2009 8:33:58 AM User: Lorn Note: To Sully - guess we're past our "use-by" date. But still "un-sullied?"

Date & Time: 10/2/2009 5:05:37 PM User: Diane Turnshek Note: Hi, Clara, I'd like to read your work--good luck with it. I liked your online review of _The Key to Rondo_ (written by: Emily Rodda). I run a workshop for young writers and my students have published all over the place. Send your work off! I know of no magazine that has an age limit in their guidelines, although some contests do. I came by here today because one of my friends placed in the fiction contest. Glad I did. I've enjoyed reading the online spring issue. I've been a MENSA member for years and never noticed Calliope. (Terrible powers of observation, I know.) Cheers.

Date & Time: 9/29/2009 1:07:16 PM User: Oogie Prinkels Note: Ariel, where are you?

Date & Time: 9/24/2009 6:56:59 AM User: Lorn Note: To the Webmaster - thank you for your patient explanation. I suppose it's all beyond me. I still have a phone on a cord and a drill with a crank and all that retro stuff. But I also have a retro mind - only sightly used. So, I think I'll leave this bright, new 20th Century stuff to the kids. Good luck with She-Who-Must-Be-Obeyed. I have one, also, for 52 years (without parole).

Date & Time: 9/23/2009 6:30:09 AM User: ralphie Note: I'm not sure what Hector's intent was. He posted his grumble as a reply to Lorin's, which seems reasonable to me, though he could also have simply posted it as a new rant instead. Give us a clue, Hector. The forums log-in prompt offers 2 options: "log in" and "forgot password". If the email address you entered during registration is legit you should be able to click the "forgot password" link and receive your password info automatically. If that doesn't work fling me a note and I'll take care of it for you. Sorry you're having trouble with it. She-Who-Must-Be-Obeyed asked about a way to support posting of works by the Calliope community (and others), and our old forum (now the whiteboard) just couldn't handle it. At least for the moment the new form is getting even less use than the old one anyhow, so I doubt you'll miss much banter if you just ignore it. Though I, for one, rather enjoy the ramblings of Lorin, Loring, Uthor the Unwashed, and all the other entities that live between your ears--hope you don't give up forums altogether. Let me know if you'd like help with the password thingie...

Date & Time: 9/21/2009 6:21:15 PM User: Lorin Note: Well, in just one day the "forum" has blamed poor Haiku Hector for my rant and forgotten my password. I think I'll just stick to my wet blankey and smoky fire.

Date & Time: 9/20/2009 5:00:25 PM User: Cynthia (General Editor) Note: Hi everyone. It's refreshing to see so many posts. We've had a very long dry spell. First, just wanted to say I miss Donald, too. I'm glad to hear he's working (therefore, alive). I sent him a note with the last issue but received no response. Since you're reading the white board, you probably have also been to the new Calliope Forums. Ralph the Webweenie has created a place where we are not constrained as to length, and where we can compile lists of references, book reviews, chat, or place a piece of writing out for review. The site requires registration, but it costs nothing and we are not tracking or even looking at the information you use to register. The software came with some of this functionality and couldn't be changed without a lot of work. Check it out. It's pretty empty right now, but that could change. Have a great rest of the weekend!

Date & Time: 9/20/2009 11:32:13 AM User: Fiction Editor Note: We welcome new writers, whatever the age. We published a short story from an 8th grader a few years ago, as well as other young people (below the age of 21). If you have a story to tell, just follow the guidelines and submit your work. We will reopen to regular submissions of fiction in mid-November, and look forward to seeing your story.

Date & Time: 9/20/2009 8:14:37 AM User: Numb de Ploom Note: Hey, if you're really a youngster, you have a leg up on the biggest fiction market in the US and A - that for kids and young adults. So many writers fail at those markets because they THINK they remember how kids think and miss it by a kilo. But don't let a day go by! You'll never be young again. I know - I'm into my FOURTH quarter-century and, well, where did it all go? Lots of luck, pal (palette?). If you need a bit of steering - Calliope has very good people who will help you for just the cost of asking them.

Date & Time: 9/19/2009 6:30:29 PM User: a reader Note: I know for fact that Calliope has published work from writers as young as age 12. Please see http://www.calliopewriters.org/issue_119/PoetryPage2.aspx . Work from younger writers might have been printed over the years but that's all I have in recent memory. I really don't think the present editors care how young or old you are. Why don't you give it a try. Good luck.

Date & Time: 9/19/2009 3:05:16 PM User: Clara DePlume Note: Does anyone know if there's an age cutoff for submissions? I realize you don't want any junk from young people and I promise I won't submit junk because I don't really write junk (I'm not being modest, my apologies, but really, I've read young people junk and that's not how I write.) Well, if anyone can get back to me soon I'd appreciate it a lot.

Date & Time: 9/19/2009 2:04:38 PM User: Nosy Ned Note: Noticed Don Sullivan's name mentioned the other day, and I thought it curious that he seemed to drop off the face of the earth after being a regular here (as regular as any of us are likely to ever by). So I googled him and found out he's got three new books on LuLu, and all three were published this year. No wonder he disappeared - - he's busy writing.

Date & Time: 9/19/2009 11:36:01 AM User: Semi-scholar Note: Gee, now that we've gone to 'whiteboard' I won't have to work off my detention by clapping erasers!

Date & Time: 9/16/2009 8:22:57 AM User: Fiction Editor Note: The 17th Annual Calliope Fiction Contest is now closed. Thanks to everyone who entered. The official results will be announced in Calliope's Winter issue, and winners and participants will be notified by email or snail mail by late October (or sooner).

Date & Time: 9/13/2009 7:40:57 AM User: Ralphie the webweenie Note: Well I checked, and my old buds Strunk & White still allow an exception to the semicolon/conjunction-comma rule IF the tone of the sentence is easy and conversational...and the only way I could be more easy or more laid back in www-ing Calliope would be to take up residence in an urn. I think I'm sticking with my easy and conversational comma sans conjunction, bring on the peasants and pitchforks. As for misspelled words, yah I know, but the little buggers are worse than gnats. If you find a typo please zing us a note and we'll fix it. My apologies for the boo-boos, and I'll try harder to make Calliope perfect--even if perfection bores us silly.

Date & Time: 9/12/2009 9:58:19 PM User: Another Fussbudgie Note: They don't care about things like punctuation or misspelled words. Good luck with trying to catch the eye of someone who cares.

Date & Time: 9/11/2009 9:34:34 AM User: Fuzzbudgie Note: Hey, Boss - you need a semicolon, not a comma, up there. ^^^^

Date & Time: 9/5/2009 12:56:55 PM User: Lorin Note: Ariel had a set-to with Don Sullivan on this forum almost exactly a year ago. The she/he disappeared. Dunno why.

Date & Time: 9/5/2009 6:23:57 AM User: Notta Clew Note: So who's Ariel?

Date & Time: 8/30/2009 1:06:15 PM User: Fiction Editor Note: For all you writers lamenting the "dog days" of summer, here's an exciting writing prompt to kick-start your creativity: "North, South, East & West," the theme of Calliope's 17th Annual Fiction Contest. Contest ends September 15--still time to send us an entry or two.

Date & Time: 8/30/2009 1:02:15 PM User: Maggie Note: Hey, whatever happened to Ariel? She had much to say and made much sense. Well, not always.

Date & Time: 8/30/2009 7:17:17 AM User: Arfer Murray Note: Huh! Maybe dogs get tired of people days, too.

Date & Time: 8/29/2009 6:44:23 PM User: Haiku Hector Note: Sultry orange sun -- Hot, steamed weak, shorts soaked in sweat -- I loathe the dog days

Date & Time: 8/22/2009 7:13:26 AM User: Miz Fitt Note: Nothin' much. Have a long novel "Pilgrim" in process. Hard to tell where it's goin' tho. She's a puta. Maybe I should start over. And you?

Date & Time: 8/20/2009 7:19:34 PM User: Ed Note: Guess it's just us'ins. What are you working on these days? (writing)

Date & Time: 8/20/2009 7:04:10 PM User: Auld Laut Note: Hey, where IS everybody?

Date & Time: 8/10/2009 7:36:38 PM User: Ralphie Note: Nice issue, I enjoyed every word of it. The poems are primo. New Orleans Song is best, followed by Lovers of Winter, Enough?, Weight Loss, and Being Careful. Halftime Band Geeks touched me but the disjointed structure is distracting. Lunch at Harrods is a smiler, and I'd like to see more like it. Longer doesn't mean better, of course, but the longer works in this issue are definitely better than the shorter works in previous issues. I found the longer stories more satisfying and more entertaining.

Date & Time: 8/7/2009 2:56:35 PM User: Eskel Molen Note: Harry Bridges? Never heard of him.

Date & Time: 8/1/2009 4:16:38 PM User: El Loro Note: Oh yaaaaah...Bridges, dude. I was thinking Harry Potter but Bridges is the one.

Date & Time: 7/31/2009 6:57:15 PM User: Lazy Scribbler Note: ...WHAT BOOK WOULD IT BE, AND WHY? -- "Bridges of Madison County" because it's barely a novella long and it took 2 weeks to write and it made a fortune in sales and rights and royalties. If I'd done Bridges I'd have much more time to focus on my true interest: beer.

Date & Time: 7/30/2009 12:02:05 PM User: Cynthia Note: Note: Hi everyone! Well, as usual, Calliope took a week or so longer to get out than I'd expected. You should have it in your mailbox in about 10 days. What's everybody doing to beat the heat?? It's 107 here. I'm beginning a 4-week Gotham class tomorrow--Selling Your Work. The price was right, and the class is taught by an agent. Should be interesting. Something to do with those 22 1/2 extra minutes I have each week. Does anyone have a marketing plan or process that seems to work?

Date & Time: 7/25/2009 6:10:40 PM User: Cynthia Note: Hi! Just a quick update on the Summer issue. It's done...but sadly, still at the printer. I missed their early Friday evening closing, so I should have it in my hot little hands on Monday and mailed out by Tuesday morning...in your mailbox by the end of the week. C:)

Date & Time: 7/19/2009 10:42:43 AM User: Fiction Editor Note: While we're all waiting breathlessly for the next issue of Calliope, why not take a little time to send a story to the Fiction Contest; the deadline is approaching, and we could use more entries. Remember: all entries are considered for future publication.

Date & Time: 7/17/2009 2:20:15 PM User: Lorin Note: Any book? Well, I'd have to say any book at the top of the Oprah list. Then I could retire and have people write books for me, as any good politician does. Seriously, I guess I'd pick The Trilogy.

Date & Time: 7/16/2009 8:07:41 PM User: Cynthia Note: Hey, how about a weekly question to spur conversation about writing? THIS WEEK'S QUESTION: IF YOU COULD HAVE WRITTEN ANY BOOK ALREADY PUBLISHED, WHAT BOOK WOULD IT BE, AND WHY?

Date & Time: 7/14/2009 7:35:52 PM User: Cynthia Note: Hi everyone! Well, as usual, Calliope took a week or so longer to get out than I'd expected. You should have it in your mailbox in about 10 days. What's everybody doing to beat the heat?? It's 107 here. I'm beginning a 4-week Gotham class tomorrow--Selling Your Work. The price was right, and the class is taught by an agent. Should be interesting. Something to do with those 22 1/2 extra minutes I have each week. Does anyone have a marketing plan or process that seems to work?

Date & Time: 7/13/2009 7:34:09 AM User: Iris Creme Note: To Yaaawwwnn - what have you contributed lately, pal?

Date & Time: 7/9/2009 5:46:39 PM User: Yaaaawwwwnnnn Note: BBBBbbbbboooooooooooring

Date & Time: 6/9/2009 11:19:03 AM User: Lorin Note: See, folks! She DOES listen!

Date & Time: 6/7/2009 4:06:03 PM User: Cynthia Note: Lorin, Great idea! Look for the details in the Summer issue, due out the week after the July 4th holiday.

Date & Time: 5/18/2009 1:24:14 PM User: Lorin Note: Any plans for the haiku / senryu contest? Overflowing here with short nonsense looking for an outlet.

Date & Time: 5/14/2009 7:40:29 AM User: Avid Reader Note: The Spring issue: Great cover art, energetic poetry, and a diversity of fiction. Enjoyed the articles on blogs, etc., too.

Date & Time: 5/5/2009 10:56:09 AM User: Icky Bald Note: Not just the best idea to print part of an article on the slick back cover. The postman or somebody handled it with burrito-besmirched paws and caused a slippage of the lettering to new locations not grammatically appropos.

Date & Time: 5/3/2009 12:16:19 PM User: Cynthia Note: ...oh, and this site will be updated with the Spring issue in the next week or so. C:)

Date & Time: 5/3/2009 12:14:55 PM User: Cynthia Note: The Spring 2009 issue is in the mail. Fiction Contest guidelines are posted (see last item on the menu to the left of this note. Best of luck to all of you. --Cynthia

Date & Time: 4/30/2009 10:14:56 PM User: Weather Girl Note: The Spring issue just came back from the printer and will be in the mail Friday or Saturday. Please watch for the Fiction Contest Guidelines in this issue. They will also be posted on the web next week. Note: for the fastest delivery to the fiction editor, use the address listed on the Calliope hard copy announcement.

Date & Time: 4/30/2009 6:21:47 AM User: Lizzie Faire Note: When is Spring this year?

Date & Time: 4/13/2009 1:52:30 PM User: Fiction Editor Note: Just to let everyone know that we are temporarily closed to submissions of fiction until after Calliope's 17th Annual Fiction Contest. The guidelines for the contest will be in the Spring issue, and on the web site.

Date & Time: 4/6/2009 6:18:09 AM User: yet another POD note Note: Nice blurb about POD on CNN this morning. Lulu is mentioned as are a few others. http://www.cnn.com/2009/TECH/04/06/print.on.demand.publishing/index.html?iref=t2test_techmon

Date & Time: 3/27/2009 8:35:38 PM User: Cynthia Note: The photo on the cover of the Winter issue was taken looking across a snow-covered coulee (a spring-fed pond) called East Lake outside Grand Forks, ND. That pond has now grown to cover the bases of the trees in the foreground, wash out surrounding roads and is threatening to invade the homes high on its banks. North Dakota is facing unprecedented floods made even more difficult by this week's blizzard and temperatures in the teens.

Date & Time: 3/26/2009 3:54:16 PM User: haiku hector Note: mittens left behind -- bashful green shoots brave the frost -- vernal changes loom

Date & Time: 3/20/2009 5:34:32 PM User: Writer X Note: I gave POD a shot a couple of years ago. Up side, you can get anything at all printed, it doesn't cost all that much (all things considered), and having a title written by yourself on your bookshelf fosters confidence and softens a bit of the doubt about whether or not you are (or ever will be) a "real" writer. No, it wasn't "the big break" but neither was it a huge swindle. My opinion is that POD rates a cautious thumbs up.

Date & Time: 3/18/2009 8:09:03 PM User: print-on-demand comments Note: I've heard tales about writers getting their big break via print-on-demand, but I never actually met or talked with a successful POD'er. SFWA has a very nice web page filled with statistics and comments about POD (see http://www.sfwa.org/BEWARE/printondemand.html), and I think you might find it useful. Also, Lulu is a rather popular POD site (http://www.lulu.com/). I think Lulu has been favorably mentioned here more than once. Good luck.

Date & Time: 3/15/2009 1:18:50 PM User: Help! Note: Anyone out there have any good advice / bad experience with print-on-demand services? I have a young friend who shows promise, but wants (wisely) to start little.

Date & Time: 3/7/2009 11:17:52 AM User: a reader Note: Re Issue 122 (more): The poetry in this issue is excellent, but Blink and Dirty Socks are special--they make me smile. They're small treasures. Thank you.

Date & Time: 3/7/2009 11:16:39 AM User: a reader Note: Re Issue 122: I truly enjoyed the Ed Krizek story. Nice twist, uncomplicated characters, good story. Also, I admire Ed Krizek's attitude about the pecuniary aspects of writing: "...publishing a short story and a poem or two is sufficient reward." Indeed, Mr. Krizek, indeed.

Date & Time: 3/7/2009 9:43:53 AM User: Don Sullivan Note: What I meant to point out was that it will make little difference whether you submit to a print zine or to one that has gone online. Editors of print zines that make comments usually continue to do so when they go online, and editors who never did comment on your submission probably never will. Cynthia, years ago I made a couple of submissions to the Glimmer Train Print zine. They sent rejection slips without comments, other than the standard "does not meet our editorial needs."

Date & Time: 3/7/2009 8:50:49 AM User: Farbel Glick Note: That's what I sed. I din' do nuthin' and the machine sed I was writing too much! About the color - I guess it's really gray, but my computer is having its periodic SAD. Actually two grays, one meaner than the other. Shucks, I liked the blue!

Date & Time: 3/6/2009 11:07:51 PM User: Cynthia Note: All, we appear to be experiencing intermittent web crashes. You get a strange box that suggests you have exceeded the word length capability, but you haven't done anything. Ralph is working it with the provider. In the meantime, if you get the error message. Go away. Come back in an hour or two. It's usually working again. As to a green screen, I haven't run into that yet. Colors should be blue and gray this time around. C:)

Date & Time: 3/6/2009 11:04:28 PM User: Cynthia Note: Don, I recently submitted through a slick online tool (Glimmer Train). But they just click a status button when they're done with you. You status goes from "In Process" to "Complete." No room for comments. Ah well. There's rumored to be a third possible outcome--Accepted. I have no actual evidence of that.

Date & Time: 3/6/2009 4:00:05 PM User: Don Sullivan Note: Per-sister, I always send an sase (business size envelope) when I submit a disposable manuscript. I almost always get a response with comments. Most editors email comments to me when I submit online manuscripts. If you want to save rejections, say for wallpapering your room, you can always make hard copies. :-)

Date & Time: 3/4/2009 11:22:20 AM User: loring Note: Still looking for a link to "Old Relic." We have a lot (of years, probably) in common.

Date & Time: 3/2/2009 9:13:35 AM User: Slithy Tove Note: Gosh, what happened to the purty color on the home page? It looks positively green. Or, at least, gree!

Date & Time: 3/2/2009 5:48:55 AM User: Per-sister Note: As publications are moving toward online submissions and recommending disposable manuscripts, I wonder whether comments will disappear. There won't be a paper copy on which to write said comments.

Date & Time: 2/21/2009 10:32:51 AM User: 2000 Down Note: Suggestion from a veteran loser - save the comments you get. You'll not only see some commonality which may help you with bad habits, it'll also give you an idea what a particular editor doesn't like. With time, you can zero in on the editor's likes, dislikes and, perhaps, monthly "cycle." I did see a pattern that suggested that editors, as a group, followed the phases of the moon. Then I realized it was me. I tend to get more "moony" in the waxing period. But waxing can always be painful, can't it? Anyway, good luck. Rejection is the first step on the road to acclaim.

Date & Time: 2/20/2009 10:17:04 PM User: Per-sister Note: I just received a rejection. I haven't had many. Not because I get accepted all that much. I just don't send out much (not a good thing). Thanks for the reminder. Persist. I'm on it, boss. But rejection still hurts. I know all the words: maybe the editor was having a bad day; maybe they just accepted a story too much like mine; maybe....; maybe.... Still feels someone just said, "Your work sucks! You will never produce work that doesn't suck. You suck."

Date & Time: 2/20/2009 3:33:52 PM User: Darer Note: It amuses me, as I'm sure it does other editors and editrices, that the "names" of today were the struggling (and often begging) amateurs of yesteryore. The lesson in this? Start. Persist. Persist. Someday you may be another Lawson Babbage Reynolds. After all, Poe was so unsucessful at first that he had to pay for the publication of his early works. As did many other "names." The first step in fame for any art is rejection. Wear it proudly. I've had over 2,000!

Date & Time: 2/17/2009 9:41:51 PM User: Cynthia (General Editor) Note: The Strand should be honored to be listed on the same page as Up Dare.

Date & Time: 2/16/2009 9:38:02 AM User: Damned with faint praise Note: "Right next to such an auspicious publication?"

Date & Time: 2/15/2009 11:23:17 AM User: Cynthia (General Editor) Note: Hi Loy, My writing teacher in the mystery class I'm currently taking lists UpDare right after The Strand in his credits. It was fun seeing your 'zine listed, especially next to such an auspicious publication. For everyone: check out allwriters.org. They host a number of classes and publish Quality Fiction magazine. Both Kathie and Michael Giorgio are great teachers, as are others teaching their workshops, I'm sure. (No, they're not paying me for this advertisement! I'm just very impressed with the work they do.)

Date & Time: 2/15/2009 8:49:30 AM User: Loyal one with three names Note: No, Boss, don't change a thing! If you think about it, out there there's somebody to kvetch about anything you can imagine. If you want to please everybody, you'll go catso. I know - I tried to please a much smaller bunch of subscribers and finally curled up in the coalbin with a winter's supply of Joe Crow. Keep on keeping on - for us!

Date & Time: 2/14/2009 4:42:28 PM User: Cynthia (General Editor) Note: Hi everyone! And happy Valentines Day! The Winter issue is in the mail. Even with the Monday holiday, it should reach most mail boxes no later than Thursday. Please drop me a note (cynthia@theriver.com) if you don't have it by the end of next week. As to the chicken/egg question, the web content in not updated until we're reasonably sure our subscribers have their copies in hand. We've even contemplated posting only the previous issue's content, giving subscribers an edge, but many of you have told us you want to have your writing available to all at the earliest possible time. So, the print issue goes out, then within a couple weeks the web is updated with the latest issue. We're open to alternative suggestions. Your input is always welcome.

Date & Time: 2/9/2009 4:09:14 PM User: In The Know Note: Print, of course.

Date & Time: 2/9/2009 1:11:57 PM User: Curious Kitten2 Note: Er, Ah, So- which comes first? The online edition or the print? Chicken or the egg? Mew mew mew!

Date & Time: 2/9/2009 11:39:03 AM User: Guilty scofflaw Note: Sorry, Joel. Just trying to leaven the bread. Mea culpa.

Date & Time: 2/8/2009 12:50:17 PM User: Fiction Editor Note: Joel: One of our endearing scofflaws perpetrated the notion that the issue was already out. Last I heard the issue was on the way to the printer. Cynthia usually posts a note on The Forum when she's about to mail out the copies. So, keep checking--it should be soon.

Date & Time: 2/6/2009 6:56:28 PM User: Joel Note: I didn't receive a winter issue and from the postings here it looks like I should have. Who should I email about this problem?

Date & Time: 2/1/2009 8:23:13 AM User: U.S.S. Clamperdown Note: Sorry, Boss. Just trying to get a rise out of the poor souls waiting by their mailboxes. My own experience is that Calliope is well worth waiting for. I managed to get out 84 issues of my poor little magazines, and that was a long haul. But 122? Is that inspiration, dedication or masochism? Waiting pantingly. . .

Date & Time: 1/31/2009 7:47:05 PM User: Cynthia (General Editor) Note: Cute....happy camper? Loring? The winter issue should be out this coming week. My work schedule has been getting in the way of 'real life' lately. But you will see an issue soon, I promise. Hugs and happy Super Bowl! As a resident of Arizona, I may even watch it!!

Date & Time: 1/29/2009 1:51:07 PM User: Happily Camperer Note: Hooray! #122 is the best ever!

Date & Time: 1/23/2009 9:54:09 AM User: Curious Kitten Note: Hello everyone and happy new year. Just wondering when the new issue of Calliope is going to hit the good ole intronets. I anxiously await new reading material. Hope everyone is faring well thus far in 2009.

Date & Time: 1/16/2009 4:35:55 PM User: Ollie Oxenrider Note: Sorry, Boss, but it's getting harder to even know what year it is in our own calendar. "Year of the Ox" sounds close, tho. Happily to hear that the Winter issue is getting through the immense Global Warming that our nation seems to be suffering. In many parts of the country mere survival is a challenge, I hear. Maybe that's why all the best magazines have a Southwest / West origin?

Date & Time: 1/16/2009 3:26:31 PM User: Cynthia (General Editor) Note: Never mind...I looked it up. On Jan. 26th, we begin the year of the Ox, 4707. I like the sound of that!

Date & Time: 1/16/2009 3:24:13 PM User: Cynthia (General Editor) Note: Happy New Year! I know, half the first month (1/24th of the year) is already behind us...but think of this as the point exactly between the Jan. 1 New Year date and the Chinese New Year which falls on Jan. 26th this year. The winter issue is on its way to the printer. Here's to luck and all good things in 2009....does anyone know what year number it is on the Chinese calendar?

Date & Time: 1/3/2009 9:43:49 AM User: Fiction editor Note: Happy New Year to all! If anyone's in the writing mood, we could use some short, short fiction (to 1,500 words) and fillers (to 500 words) for issues toward the end of 2009. Also, get ready for the 2009 Calliope Fiction Contest--the guidelines to be announced in the Spring 2009 issue. And thanks to the many contributors who saw our new listing in duotrope.com. We appreciate your interest in our little newsmagazine for writers.

Date & Time: 1/1/2009 11:25:06 AM User: Lorin Note: Best wishes for the New Year to all the Calley-Opers from Bugs-Bunny Town!

Date & Time: 12/28/2008 11:36:50 AM User: Senryu Very Mutch Note: So, why not a haiku / senryu contest? Good discipline, as I sed before.

Date & Time: 12/26/2008 9:34:38 PM User: haiku hector Note: biting pale blue gusts -- frozen ears and frozen nose -- snowdrops in the snow

Date & Time: 12/21/2008 9:00:24 AM User: Lorin Note: I agree with Don. Those "On the Bottom Looking Down" stories have their appeal, but real life can supply me with all the angst I need. My reading choices are lighter and happy-ending-er. Still, there seems to be a certain advantage to authors to have the dark reputation. They seem more "significant." Dunno. Maybe I'm on the wrong planet.

Date & Time: 12/20/2008 9:01:14 PM User: Ralphie in Tucson Note: The Nolan story "Descent" captures a single moment in the life of an ordinary man bound by extraordinary circumstances. Nolan sketches that moment, that life-ending moment of truth, in a way that refreshed memories of my own near misses, my own moments of truth. I like the story, it touched me. Our own Jerry Airth interviewed Mr. Nolan in issue #116 (Summer 2007), and that interview remains available online in Calliope's "Back Issues" section. I remember reading another Nolan interview years ago in which he stated he'd like his tombstone inscribed simply "He was a storyteller." He is indeed. Thank you Mr. Nolan.

Date & Time: 12/19/2008 6:04:53 PM User: Don Sullivan Note: I loved "Logan's Run." I thought both the book and the movie were great. I was a little disappointed with "Descent," though. It's one of the better stories about 9/11, and it's well written. I could almost feel the heat of the fire, feel the wind in my face during the fall, and see the pavement coming up to meet me. But I find stories like Descent depressing. I'm a happy ending kind of guy. I'm hoping that WFN will soon give us another story on par with Logan's Run.

Date & Time: 12/17/2008 10:23:54 PM User: Cynthia (General Editor) Note: Bill, Don't I wish!

Date & Time: 12/11/2008 4:45:03 PM User: Bill Payson Note: Nolan's story carrys the dedication "for Jason Brock." Jason Brock's poem carries the dedication "for Ray Bradbury." Are you now lining up Ray Bradbury for a Calliope appearance?

Date & Time: 12/7/2008 7:59:39 PM User: Jon Doh Note: The William F. Nolan story is quite unsettling, and quite good. I shall make a point of trying to track down more of his work. It's good to know that he's still around and still productive. Thank you.

Date & Time: 12/2/2008 3:35:11 PM User: Festerplatz Note: Good stuff as usual! And a real, live professional author! Wow!

Date & Time: 11/26/2008 9:18:58 AM User: Cynthia (General Editor) Note: Hi everyone! We're still mulling over the next contest/workshop. The Fall issue of Calliope is at the printer with a chance that it will be finished today. If not, it probably won't be out before Dec. 1, since the guys at the print shop are working "as little as we can get away with" the day after Thanksgiving. But it will be in your mailbox soon. Have a wonderful Thanksgiving! We all have much to be grateful for...no matter what issues currently plague us. Giving thanks is very healthy and a great stress reliever. C:)

Date & Time: 11/19/2008 7:19:52 AM User: Loose pine cone Note: Tom Robbins said he just wrote a line, no matter what, then forced himself to make it into a story. The first line in his "Another Roadside Attraction" is a classic. But he made it work. We can do the same, given the challenge. We're Calley-oapers!

Date & Time: 11/17/2008 10:38:43 PM User: Cynthia (General Editor) Note: Hey there. Reminds me of the only joke I can remember (and is clean enough to print). What do you get when you play a country song backwards? "I got my dog back, I got my wife back, I got my truck back..."

Date & Time: 11/13/2008 8:03:50 AM User: Panting in anticipation Note: Yes! You provide an opening and we'll all write shorties to go with it! I used this often in my writing class and it was well received. We sometimes just used a single sentence as a start. In fact, the titles of the 100 worst hillbilly songs were one source. ("I'm Drinking Canada Dry" ferinstance.) I'd be happy to forward that list if you like.

Date & Time: 11/13/2008 6:39:16 AM User: Cynthia (General Editor) Note: I'm open to suggestions. What do we do next? How about short fiction story openings....or an opening and we each write the ending? Or haiku (welcome back, Hector....sorry I called you Harry), or a nonfiction contest on a new topic? I need ideas here. I'm so focused on single-handedly keeping the economy going through gift buying that there is little left of my brain for less mercenary activities. Help.

Date & Time: 11/12/2008 9:14:14 AM User: Shalimarkus the Munificent Note: Okay, so we have the on-line non-fiction thing back. How long is it going to remain? We need to go to new challenges, I should think. We're running out of bile and berling erl.

Date & Time: 11/10/2008 4:41:05 PM User: webweenie@calliope Note: Way to go Lorenzo...good eye. My bad, the nonfiction contest page was hosed, now it's fixed. Sono cosi spiacente. Grazie Lorenzo.

Date & Time: 11/10/2008 3:35:14 PM User: Ariel Note: And for that achievement you'll surely receive a gift book and certificate suitable for framing.

Date & Time: 11/10/2008 3:03:01 PM User: plaster Note: Haven't been tuned in to the forum for awhile (a while?). I have received ( critiqued and sent back) a short story via the Calliope pen-pal critique service. Cynthia, perhaps the newbies (and oldies, too) may need to be reminded of that service. I took advantage of the service back a ways (Arkansas idiom)--thank you, Greg Crawford--and since then have paid attention to his suggestions. Gee, I've written "service" three times in three sentences. Shame on me.

Date & Time: 11/10/2008 12:38:13 PM User: Ariel Note: There was no discussion. You chose to publicly pound your chest and bray your conceit based on a single kind but ill-conceived review, I chose to call you on it. It's bad work.

Date & Time: 11/10/2008 12:06:26 PM User: Donald Sullivan Note: Your last entry is illogical and irrational. As far as I'm concerned, end of discussion. Bye bye, I got work to do.

Date & Time: 11/10/2008 9:41:01 AM User: Ariel Note: If your piece was titled 'I prefer meatloaf over gourmet fare' then your arguments would be justified. But, by the title of your article you presume to define literary fiction then you make absolutely no attempt to accomplish that purpose. Instead, you condescendingly discount the merits of literary fiction without offering even one bit of supportive rationale. The second critique of your article is accurate. The first critique, though effusive and flattering, only serves to prop up your overgrown ego. Grow up.

Date & Time: 11/10/2008 7:59:22 AM User: Lorenzo Note: Something's wrong with your link to the nonfiction contest results. It pops up with the fiction contest winners rather than the nonfiction winners. Please check it out.

Date & Time: 11/9/2008 11:29:29 PM User: Donald Sullivan Note: Note, my reply below was in excess of 15 lines, so here is the continuation:...I don't think the preferences of readers has anything to do with being close-minded. Some simply love commercial genre fiction such as horror, romance, or western. Is a person who prefers meatloaf and mashed potatoes over a gourmet dish close-minded? No, he simply knows what he likes. Finally, I'd like to note that I once participated in a lively debate on an online forum on literary vs commercial fiction. If some participants had been within reach of each other, there would have been violence. In my opinion, nobody won. Don

Date & Time: 11/9/2008 11:23:41 PM User: Donald Sullivan Note: You are absolutely right. The editor even encouraged criticism of the posted nonfiction pieces. I did expect criticism, especially from those who enjoy literary fiction. I was not naive enough to think that my piece would not ruffle some feathers. I'm still a novice writer, and I appreciate constructive criticism. Indeed, I have benefited from the criticisms and comments of some editors. I don't see myself as close-minded, as I don't dislike all literary fiction. Heck, I even once sold a short story to a small press literary zine (The Small Pond.) But I am an amateur, (as are most writers in Calliope) and I'm certainly not going to compare my work with the likes of Robert McCrum, James Joyce, or Herman Melville.

Date & Time: 11/9/2008 8:44:34 PM User: Ariel Note: It was not my intent to be rude, however you did place your article in a public venue and you're even more naive than I thought if you expected no criticism of that work. I enjoy literary fiction, and I recognize the work of an close-minded amateurs when I see it. Please compare your work with that of the British writer Robert McCrum and consider the adequacy of your analysis.(http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2001/aug/05/features.review1)

Date & Time: 11/8/2008 10:30:34 PM User: Don Sullivan Note: No, I certainly didn't take the criticism seriously, and I think that's pretty obvious in my response. Cynthia, as you said in "Coffee Break," you're not totally immune to criticism. I'm not either, but I've developed a fairly thick skin over the years. I have several times submitted a stories to editors and received the same type of response that Ariel wrote. I've submitted the same stories to other editors who accepted it with much praise. So there ya go. About the economy: It's bad here in Fayetteville, NC, but not as bad as you describe. This is a military town, and soldiers continue to stay employed and get steady paychecks. Let's hope our new prez fixes things.

Date & Time: 11/8/2008 8:46:43 PM User: Cynthia (General Editor) Note: Hi there. The lovely thing about criticism is that we can disagree--hopefully without a lot of angst. Don still gets his certificate and book (in the mail soon, I promise), and I hope he doesn't take the out-of-the-blue criticism too seriously. I'm not sure what set Arial off, but if we do another online contest, I'd like to suggest he/she participate as a critic. We had almost zero critic participation on this contest. When you discount the pieces Ralph and I wrote, and the one I refused to print because "this sucks" didn't seem like a fully fleshed out critique, the others wouldn't take more than one hand's fingers to count. On a completely different track, we all need to go out tomorrow and spend money. Boost the economy. I was out in the shops today and they were deserted. Retail merchants are going out of business at a rate here in Tucson that I can't keep up with...Mervins, Linens and Things, two of 3 Macy's, all the Circuit City stores in Phoenix... I'm beginning to think I should call ahead just to see if the store I'm heading for still exists. These are scary times.

Date & Time: 11/8/2008 4:48:35 PM User: Ariel Note: I was quite surprised to see that the Sullivan piece actually won Calliope's non-fiction contest. I'm even more surprised to see Mr. Sullivan's reaction to the second critique of his little piece, a critique which I found accurate and succinct. In the body of the 576 word piece the word "stuff" is used 4 times within a span of 306 words. Given the subject matter, need I say more? I was relieved to see that the "Funk & Wagnells" spelling error was corrected from the original web posting before you declared his article a winner. The first critique of his piece, like the Sullivan piece itself, is Pablum and not a serious critique.

Date & Time: 11/7/2008 8:21:07 PM User: Don Sullivan Note: I have yet to read an issue of Calliope that I didn't enjoy, and issue #120 was no exception. The front cover is beautiful, and the two toddlers on the back cover are precious. I loved all the articles, stories, and poems. Congratulations to prize winners Robert Weisz, Eleanor Michael, and Gordon A Graves, and also to nonfiction prize winners Loring Emery and James Brearton. Jolly good show.

Date & Time: 11/7/2008 7:50:05 PM User: Don Sullivan Note: I was very happy to see that my nonfiction entry, "What is Literary Fiction" took first place in the nonfiction contest. I found the critiques very interesting. Critique #1 was overflowing with praise. But the nicest thing that the writer of critique #2 could say was that he/she admired my courage for having the gall to submit such a piece of trash. Just call me "Captain Courageous." The writer did err, though, in likening me to students who "held all things literary in contempt." I pointed out that I found some literary stories interesting, and also pointed out that some literary authors were great. As for the writer's assertion that I use the word "stuff" too many times. well, I think that's just a lot of..."stuff."

Date & Time: 11/3/2008 10:57:22 AM User: High Q Note: For the haiku-senryu contest you probably need two categories of each, one for those who play by the rules and those who just want to play at the art.

Date & Time: 11/1/2008 8:25:48 PM User: Angelina Note: Yellow, purple, red -- Top pulled low, nipples hidden -- I miss my first love

Date & Time: 10/28/2008 6:30:19 AM User: Fiveseven Five Note: Hey, why not a haiku / senryu contest? It's not ony good discipline, it's fun!

Date & Time: 10/24/2008 8:37:52 PM User: haiku hector Note: yellow, purple, red -- autumn colors soon will pass -- snowy days are nigh

Date & Time: 10/19/2008 12:54:56 PM User: Cynthia (General Editor) Note: Hi there. The Summer issue is now posted.

Date & Time: 10/18/2008 8:29:25 AM User: Surly Loin Note: So, where's the Current Issue for us'ns in the Outernet? Idle minds was wonderin'.

Date & Time: 10/6/2008 7:05:29 AM User: Narsty McBassit Note: Well, so Sumer es icumen in! 'Bout time, too. Seriously, it's as good as ever. Thanks from the ink-strained wetches!

Date & Time: 10/2/2008 9:45:00 AM User: Don Sullivan Note: Thanks, Lorin, and I'll return the compliment. Good work on your part, too.

Date & Time: 10/1/2008 8:44:07 AM User: Lorin Note: To Don - good work! And thanks for the support!

Date & Time: 9/28/2008 6:12:58 PM User: Cynthia (General Editor) Note: ANNOUNCING THE WINNERS OF THE NONFICTION CONTEST 1st Place Donald Sullivan, "What is Literary Fiction?" 2nd Place Loring Emery, "Bunny Fur" 3rd Place James Brearton, "Melville's House" Critique Prize: Donald Sullivan for his critique of Bunny Fur Congratulations to all. And thanks to everyone who entered.

Date & Time: 9/27/2008 7:28:54 PM User: Cynthia Note: Hi gang, Well, despite the change of seasons, Summer is about to arrive at a mailbox near you. I was thinking of modifying the issue name with the prefix "history of..." but I have not given up hope of achieving a timely publication schedule. Expect Fall around November 1, and Winter on January 2 or thereabouts. We have winners for the Nonfiction Contest. I would tell you who they are, but I need to notify 'next of kin' first. Check back tomorrow.