Scribes Valley Notes

I had a question recently that set my old brain to churning. A simple enough question: “Is the rule of underlining words to denote italics no longer fashionable?” Hmm, very interesting. In my opinion—and I daresay the opinions of most editors—the underlining of italicized words was only necessary back in the typewriter days when there was no way to italicize words. Now that we all use word processors, we can use actual italics and it looks great. As long as (ah, here comes the exception), the font being used allows a clear difference between the regular and italicized words. For example, if you’re using something like Courier font, there’s not a lot of difference between them. But, fonts like Times New Roman have a good, clear difference. So, yes, I would say use actual italics and forget the underlining rule. By the way, the underlining rule for book, movie, etc titles is still in effect, but many editors (and again I'm guessing) prefer the italicized versions. To me, anything und...

Scribes Valley Publishing is proud to present the 15 finalists of our 2009 Short Story Writing Contest : Brian James -- THE MIGHTY BLUE Frederic H. Decker -- A WRETCHED AND NOBLE DAY Terry Dickinson -- THE DAY TRADER Ronna L. Edelstein -- SNOW WOMAN Denise C. Hengeli -- DUCK YOU Kathryn Jordan -- BREAKING POINT Andrew Lu -- THE OTHER SIDE Tonya Mitchell -- PEEKABOO DREAMS Jean Tschohl Quinn -- GOING HOME ON LINEA-B Kathleen Ratcliffe -- THE TRAIN John Robbins -- HANDS OF TIME Dan Sullivan -- MY ‘IRISH’ FATHER George Thomas -- THE EYE OF THE BEHOLDER Diana Thurbon -- A LITTLE DOG SHALL LEAD THEM Michelle Wotowiec -- MOON ROCKS These finalists will appear in our new anthology: Welcome to Elsewhere (tentative title) in January, 2010.

I was asked recently by a young man whose wife is expecting their first child, what he needs to know as a parent. I immediately replied, “The beeper number of a good shrink.” We laughed and went our separate ways but on the way home I starting thinking about what it takes to be a good parent. I decided to make a list and send it to my friend. After an hour, I decided that wasn’t such a good idea. Too many trees would have to give up their lives for me to compile such a list. So I decided to narrow it down to just a few, all-encompassing items that would help him in his quest for knowledge. Okay, let’s see, to be a good parent you must. . . . . .be able to exist on very little sleep and still go to work and present a halfway decent image to your coworkers. . . .be willing to unwrap a diaper containing something so nasty it would gag a buzzard, and still use your baby talk voice to tell your little one how proud you are of the pretty poo-poo. . . .take a full load of puke in the che...

Our newest contest anthology, THE ROAD TO ELSEWHERE , has now been released. Eighteen stories are ready to take you away to that elusive place called ELSEWHERE. All you have to do is open the cover to be transported to where there are no schedules, no timetables, no agendas, no calendars, no clocks, and time does not matter. Click here to check out this great book! The winning authors who will be traveling with you are: Tricia Spencer LeeAnn Dickson Pauline A. Salvucci Terry Dickinson Dan Sullivan Hannah Greer Atossa Shafaie Bernard Hofler Devin Murphy Melissa Tantaquidgeon Zobel Mimi Sharpe Vickie Clasby Jean Tschohl Quinn Chandra Prater Kandice Powell Bill Westhead Kaye Sebastian Ronna L. Edelstein

Scribes Valley Publishing is pleased to announce the top 3 stories in our recent short story contest : FIRST PLACE Tricia Spencer – Empty Shoes SECOND PLACE Kandice Powell – Two, One THIRD PLACE Ronna L. Edelstein – Ma Bates Please join us in congratulating these authors on their success. You can read about them and the other fine finalists in the contest HERE .

Scribes Valley Publishing is proud to present the 18 finalists of our 2008 Short Story Writing Contest : TRICIA SPENCER – Empty Shoes JEAN TSCHOHL QUINN – And Why is That Again? HANNAH GREER - Maria’s Gift DAN SULLIVAN - Forty ATOSSA SHAFAIE – Woman to Woman BERNARD HOFLER – Regret PAULINE A. SALVUCCI – After the Dream: A Modern Fable DEVIN MURPHY – Newts MELISSA TANTAQUIDGEON ZOBEL – The Decorator MIMI SHARPE – Between a Rock and a Hard Place VICKIE CLASBY – June and Steve LEEANN DICKSON – Senior Discount CHANDRA PRATER – Honeysuckle Dreams KANDICE POWELL – Two, One RONNA L. EDELSTEIN – Ma Bates TERRY DICKINSON – The Funeral Dinner KAYE SEBASTIAN – Truth and Consequences BILL WESTHEAD – The Restorer These finalists will appear in our new anthology: The Road to Elsewhere in January, 2009.

The judging of our 2008 short story writing contest has now been completed. We enjoyed reading every one of the contest entries and we were able to come up with the finalists. It was not a quick and simple process, however. Each story was read and discussed at great length. While all the stories were great, those which had that little extra “something” were, through a painstaking process, moved to the top of the list, which we will share with the world as soon as we have contacted the finalists and verified that their stories are still eligible for publication in our newest anthology, “ THE ROAD TO ELSEWHERE .” We would like to again take this opportunity to thank all the great authors who submitted their hard work for this contest. The dedication of writers to their craft is truly amazing and awe-inspiring. Our 2009 short story writing contest is open and accepting submissions.