Articles

The Electronic Query Letter
by Mary P. Walker

For the past 18 months, I've been running an experiment. By using e-mail, I queried publications to see if they were interested in my ideas and work. I've been delighted with the results of this experiment, and thought I'd share what I've learned.

Why Query Electronically?

There are several advantages to electronic queries. First, you save money. Do you know that it costs about one dollar out-of-pocket to send a query letter with SASE? Sixty-six cents is postage; and the rest is paper, envelopes and the cost of printing the letter on the PC. An e-mail query is virtually free.

The second reason is speed of response. When you send a query letter, there are three possible outcomes-your idea gets accepted; your idea gets rejected; or you are ignored. It's my observation that with e-mail queries, you are notified on a more timely basis. I've even heard from editors the next day-with both good and bad news. Of course, if I'm going to be ignored, at least with e-mail I'm not paying for the privilege.

The third reason e-queries are a good idea is that e-mail is a great way to establish a dialogue with an editor. Maybe your idea for an article isn't quite what the editor is looking for. Or, perhaps the editor is impressed with your qualifications and wants you to write something else. Most editors aren't willing to enter into a paper letter

or telephone tag discussion. With e-mail, it's very easy for the editor to quickly say, "I'd like an article on this topic, but with this particular slant. Are you interested?" The fourth reason to e-query is that you can send out many more queries in a shorter period of time. With paper queries, first you have to make sure you have stamps and the paper supplies. Then you write the letter, proofread, print, proofread again, make the mailing envelope and SASE, and get all this stuff into the mailbox.

Contrast this with an e-mail query. You compose the e-mail, proofread it, proofread it again and send. If you keep a copy of the query, you can quickly edit this copy and send it to another publication.

What Information Goes into an E-mail Query?

A query letter is a sales tool. There are lots of books and articles about how to write a good query. E-mail is just a delivery mechanism. Your e-mail query should be of the same quality with the same information as a paper query. The only exception is that you can omit the snail mail address of the publication. However, be sure to include your snail mail address and telephone number in the e-mail query.

Yes, I have actually received a positive reply by snail mail from an electronic query. Also, I've received a number of rejections by snail mail for electronic queries. One of the benefits of e-mail queries is the smug sense of satisfaction you get when you receive a paper rejection letter from an e-mail query. If the publication doesn't recognize the quality of your ideas, at least they are spending their money to say, "No!"

Where do you find the e-mail addresses of editors?

Check the magazine. An e-mail address may be listed. Even if it's not the editor's address, go ahead and send your query. The ease of forwarding with e-mail makes it likely that your message will get to the right in-basket.

Also, most major magazines have an online presence. If you can find the web site, usually a little surfing will yield the e-mail address of the editor or a general address of the publication. You can also go to your favorite search engine and enter "writers guidelines" and spend the rest of your life tracking down leads.

There are numerous web pages that have gathered the writers guidelines of many publications, and often e-mail addresses are included. Here are a few of the ones that I've used.

http://mav.net/guidelines/
http://www.newsdirectory.com/news/magazine/
http://www.writerswrite.com/guidelines/
Visit http://www.writersweekly.com/ click on "Paying Markets" and page through a list of Writers Guidelines for lots of publications. Using this site is kind of like thumbing through Writers Markets, but there will probably be a market or two for your article idea.

Subject Line of an E-mail Query
Be sure to put the publication name somewhere in the subject line of the e-mail query, for example, "South Florida Parenting Update to Pregnancy Discrimination Act." Why? Because if you send 20 or 30 queries for an article idea, which is very easy and quick with e-mail, you want to make sure that you can track the responses. Chances are the responding editor will just reply using the same subject. If you don't put the publication title in the subject, you'll have to go through all your notes to identify which publication is responding. I learned this lesson the hard way!

One Final Point
I hate to write queries. I'd rather do my "real" work. Like any new method of doing business, querying by e-mail will be a bit awkward at first. However, e-mail greatly reduces the overall time and expense of querying and I'm all for that!

Biography
Mary P. Walker is a freelance writer who writes on topics dealing with Catholicism, breastfeeding, parenting, health and fitness. Her publication credits include: New Beginnings, the journal for La Leche League International, The New York Times, The Los Angeles Times, The Dallas Morning News, Energy Times, Columbia and various regional and online media. She promotes pro-breastfeeding legislation at the state and national levels, and has been interviewed as an expert.

Promoting A Book Under Tragic Conditions

  Once my book was in print, with excitement and vigor like I’ve not felt in years, I was ready to get out of my comfortable cocoon that I call home, and go out and sell it to the world. Unfortunately the timing was all wrong. Summer was almost over so I had missed the opportunity to get in on any book fairs, or events that might enhance the sell of my book. Fall events had already been prescheduled well in advance, so I was up against a brick wall. My enthusiasm waned.

  Seeking advice from those authors much more seasoned than I am, I went online and visited some of my regular membership web sites. Fortunately, I read a posting that caught my eye. It was in regards to some authors having productive signing turnouts at local grocery stores.

  The largest market we have in our area is Albertson’s Food and Drug. But why, I thought, would a local store want to hold a signing event for me or any other author, other then the fact that I was a local resident? Then my dear wife, who always seems to come up with the right answers for me, had a great suggestion. If I could offer part of my sales to charity, the store’s manager might agree to hold the event.

  Suddenly I was energized again. When I approached the store’s manager with my idea of signing books in his store and giving him a percentage of the sales profits for the store’s favorite charity, he was elated. The date was set for September 15, the very day my book would be officially released.

  Within 24 hours, my publicist had 100 fliers ready to be delivered to the store for handouts to their customers. The fliers not only had information about my book and a partial bio on me, but it also informed people about the money’s being donated to Albertson’s charity. I delivered the fliers to the store’s manager, along with a framed poster of my book cover, and a foam board sign that informed all of the drawings, prizes, and giveaways on the day of my scheduled event. 

  My publicist and I had worked day and night getting news releases, more fliers, and bookmarks ready for my big event, the signing of my newly-released mystery/thriller novel, "Have No Mercy." On Monday night, September 10, I sat up until 3 a.m. emailing and faxing every news media in Nebraska and Idaho to remind them of my upcoming event. I selected Nebraska, of course, because that is where my wife and I reside. Since Albertson’s home base is in Boise, and they are well known for charitable work all around the state of Idaho, I felt it only fair that Idaho be included in our news release.

  The next morning literally took the wind out of my sails. When the unspeakable tragedy of September 11, struck so close to home, the one thing most further from my mind was any immediate book signing events to promote my new novel. Stunned and totally numb, all I really cared to do was to pray for all human kind: the fallen, the volunteers, the heroes, and the survivors.

  As I joined the rest of the world in morning, I sat glued to the television set to keep updated on all of the local and national news. It wasn’t until my wife mentioned my event scheduled for the following Saturday, just four short days away, that I had to take stock in my book promotion affairs. Not one media, from newspaper to radio, advertised my upcoming event, which would be only natural under the circumstances. Other then the fliers the store had been handing out, would any one even know about my event at Albertson’s?

  After careful consideration, deliberating between putting a hold on everything or continuing on as planned, I decided this should not be my decision alone. I called the store manager at Albertson’s. Due to adverse circumstances, I felt the signing event should be rescheduled. The manager totally disagreed with me. He felt people needed a diversion from the tragedy, and plans should stay on schedule. So, with weary heart, I agreed.

  My big day came. As I sat behind my book-laden table with a smile on my face, I watched as people tried to ignore walking in my direction. Only a handful cared to get close enough to hear me greet them. Some stopped by just long enough to let me know that my book was far too expensive, or how dare I try to sell the title, "Have No Mercy, " after America’s tragedy had rocked the world. Before I could open my mouth, they walked away. It was obvious these people were angry at the whole world, and the grief they were feeling at the time, so I was there as their sounding board. I felt their bitterness was not directed personally at my book, or me so I couldn’t take their undesirable comments to heart.

  Every 20 minutes a voice came over the loud speaker encouraging all customers to go to the book section and meet their local author. The announcement would follow with the fact that part of the book’s proceeds for that day would go to a charity of Albertson’s choice. The charity could have been for the New York fund, but no one seemed to care.

  Right next to me was a table set up by the Red Cross. Their table was covered with small American flags and ribbons, and they were collecting donations for the New York tragedy. I sat appalled as I watched people pass by the Red Cross table and take a flag or a ribbon, and never give so much as one cent in return.

  Needless to say, other then the sale of one book, my big day was a complete bust. I seriously thought about canceling my next signing event just a few weeks later in Wisconsin. But after hearing the encouraging words from our President that we must continue on with our lives, I kept the engagement in Wisconsin.

Much to my great surprise, I was overwhelmed with the turnout in my hometown. My brother, Ron, drove over 100 miles to show up with orders for 10 of my books. The old gang I had grown up with came out of the woodwork to greet me and purchase my book.  A wonderful young lady who interviews authors online, Denise Fleischer, from Gotta Write Network Online, drove all the way from the Northwest suburbs of Chicago to meet me. She fit right in to the conversations my old chums and I were having, and took several pictures of the fun. I also got to meet new people that took an interest in and purchased my book.

  Although I will always remember the terrible, tragic week that my book was officially released to the public, I will never forget that wonderful day in Kenosha, Wisconsin. Promoting a book with an American tragedy in the forefront, is, to say the least, one the hardest jobs I’ve had outside of the military.

  Thanks to another Marine vet, Pat Moran, the Southpark Book Center’s owner who hosted my book signing in Kenosha, and to all the people who came out to meet me and buy my book, I’ve gotten my excitement and enthusiasm back. As sad as we all feel in our hearts, life does go on. As mine goes on, each new day will bring forth a new battle to promote my book in the wake of the September 11 tragedy.

Due to the tragedy of 9/11, American Book Publishing decided to hold off on the official release of my HAVE NO MERCY novel. However, since the signing event had already been publicized there was no way to cancel the event at that time.

  Bobby Ruble
Author of HAVE NO MERCY

Out Of The Mist
A new mystery column
by C.P. Bergman

There’s something about writing a mystery that tingles the senses. For a writer, the challenges and options are endless, so it is an exciting endeavor. There is one way in which mystery/suspense writing is no different from any other story writing, and that’s when it comes to the basics.

Three fourths of the battle is good writing, and a good story. The other fourth is good research. Make sure you have your facts straight. It doesn’t take a lot of technical palaver to make a good suspense piece. An interesting plot and good dialogue carry a story, but whatever facts, data and technical detail are used should be accurate. There will always be somebody out there who works in law enforcement or with many surrounding relatives, and they will be sure to spot errors. If you can’t personally pick the brain of someone directly involved with detectives, police, law, or any job that might be featured in your story, find books by those who are or have been involved with the type of things that will be featured in your work.

Mysteries come in all forms and types. Don’t be afraid to be daring and try for the unconventional. The approaches are as many and varied as the flights of your imagination. Are there skeletons in the closet? Bring them to life – in a different setting with slightly altered characters to protect outside parties. Do you have a neighbor who fascinates you? Use him as an inspiration and create a story around him. Even a photo can evoke suspense or mystery and serve as a catalyst. Keep a file to use as reference when you need a “kick start.” Give yourself assignments or exercises. You never know what can develop from a single warm-up.

Some people go back into time when all a detective had at his disposal was his brain and talents. If you take a leap into the future, you can create your own world and method, but be sure you have a basic grasp of what has gone before, i.e., learn the “classics” before you improvise. That’s a good ground rule in anything. Nothing is new under the sun, so what’s going to be “unique” is your personal voice and writing style. Tell an old story a different way, and have a ball doing it.

Research and reference books are in abundance. Haunt the local library and look up the particular type of book you need. Also, your local bookstores should have a cache of all the latest resource materials for mystery/suspense writers. Grab several titles, a cup of coffee or tea, and plant yourself in the café area. For those who use the Internet, of course they can find this useful, but you miss the ambience of being in a setting where you can watch and observe people in action.
If you need a little help getting the feel for police procedure, look into “Citizens Police Academy” which is sponsored in some of the Chicagoland area police stations. Check with your local police department and see if and when this course will be offered. If they have not yet featured it, request it. It’s an excellent introduction for civilians on behind the scenes police procedure and detective work.

Develop a feel for texture in your writing. With it, you can make a simple telling into something special. Whatever your main character sees, hears, feels and smells, make your readers do the same.

Keep it short. I’m not much in favor of long mystery or suspense novels. Short works are better. Sustaining the thread of excitement after 300 pages wears thin in every longer work I’ve read.
Avoid cliches in any kind of writing. Be inventive. Use your own expressions and create some quirks for your own characters.

Finally, if you’re not interested in truly great writing, the next words may not be for you, but for those who are interested in artistry, here goes: The greatest books have been and are those that are short on gross-out factor. Do you want to create something enduring, or do you want to write pulp? Pulp is everywhere. We are drowning in it. Quality is scarce. Suspense is in the chase and mystery in the mood, not in the entrails.

Following are a few places where you can submit mystery/suspense stories:

Fiction 1,000 – 1,500 words; poetry 25-35 words.
Pays 2-3¢/word.
Andrew S. McAller
Mount Independence
121 Foller Rd.
Lexington, MA 02421

New Mystery Magazine
101 W. 23rd St.
PMB #7
New York, NY 10011

Ellery Queen’s Mystery Magazine
10th Floor 1270 Avenue of the Americas
New York City, NY 10020
Short-shorts 250 words and up; short stories and novellas to 20,000 words.
Pays 3-8¢/word..

Go ahead…Creep behind the velvet curtain and let the mist take you down your first deserted side street. Find your first mystery. Happy prowling!

Grants For Writers
by C.P. Bergman

The following information regards grants for writers:

George Bennett Fellowship: awarded annually to anyone embarking on a career as a writer who can take the time to complete a project. Selection is made for a manuscript in progress. The committee favors writers who have not been published by a major publisher. The grant is for $6,000 plus room and board for the writer and his\her family during the academic year. Send SASE for information and application. Deadline: December 1. Apply to: Phillips Exeter Academy, Exeter, NH 03833

Also sponsored by the Phillips Exeter Academy is the Phillips Foundation Journalism Fellowship Program. This is a $50,000 full-time and two $25,000 part-time fellowships to working journalists who have less than five years' professional experience in print journalism. Write for additional information and application to the address above. Deadline: March 30

The Fine Arts Work Center in Provincetown, Maine offers a prize of $1,500 and accommodations during the month of September. This award is given to six accomplished poets and fiction writers who are 50 years or older. It targets writers who earned recognition early in their careers and are now reemerging with new work. Send an SASE for application and guidelines.  Deadline: May 1. Address: Fine Ats Work Center in Provincetown, Senior Fellowship Program, 24 Pearl St., Provincetown, MA 02657

George Washington University invites applications from writers of fiction to teach two semesters at the university. The salary is about $48,000 plus benefits package. If you have demonstrated a commitment to teaching and have some published credits, you may apply. You need not have conventional academic credentials. Residence would take place in the Washington area while the university is in session, September through April.  For application write to: Jenny McKean Moore Writer-in-Residence Grant Department of English George Washington University Washington, DC 20052

Writing Tip:

WRITE WHAT YOU DON'T KNOW! You read it right. If you have a yearning for a topic, take it on. RESEARCH. Don't let anyone-expert or professor-tell you "Write only what you know." If everyone heeded that ill advice, think of all the great books that would never have been written. After all, Ray Bradbury never went to Mars, yet he wrote "The Martian Chronicles," as well as other beautiful science fiction projects. Margaret Mitchell didn't live during the civil war, yet we feel she might have been there when we read "Gone With the Wind." H.G. Wells didn't travel in time, yet voila, "The Time Machine." Get going. Research…and imagine!

The Phenomenon Known as e-Books
by Christina Hamlett

I still recall my aunt’s reaction 3 years ago when I bought my first audiobook. I was certain she’d applaud the practicality of my staying on top of current literature by listening to tapes on my daily commute. Instead, she admonished it. “It isn’t real unless you can smell the words off the page, Christy dear,” she said. I’m waiting for a good time to tell her that some of my own novels have been published electronically.

The phenomenon of “e-books,” as they’re called, is a relatively new industry. Is it really any surprise, though, that the popularity of websites and electronic communications should launch so burgeoning a playing field for both aspiring and established authors. It’s also the center of a controversy which is raising eyebrows among traditional publishers, mega-bookstores, and agents who see this innovative forum as formidable competition.

For a first-hand look at what all of this means to the writing—and reading-community, I compared notes with two women who respectively managed to turn the strings of rejection into the rings of cash registers. Curiously, the decisions that led them to explore the path of e-publishing are similar; both had experienced the frustration of lengthy delays, form-letter correspondence, and short-sighted editors who, while recognizing a good story, were nonetheless reluctant to buck any current (translated: safe) marketing trends. It should be of further interest that neither one of these entrepreneurs resides in that publishing mecca of the world—New York.

President/Owner Madris Gutierrez of New Concepts Publishing (Lake Park, Georgia) was at a Romance Writers of America conference in 1996 and was intrigued by the websurfer chatter about a phenomenon called e-books. “I could identify with the plight of the mid-list author,” she said, “considering that I was one of them!” Between the number of publishing houses which had recently merged and the percentage of literary reps reluctant to take on “untried talent,” fledgling authors such as Gutierrez were feeling the brunt of closed-door politics.

Mary Wolf, Owner/Publisher of Hard Shell Word Factory (Amherst Junction, Wisconsin) was struggling with her own book the very same year and meeting with limited success.

“Hard Shell was founded by Teri Lea Chandler in Missouri in November 1996,” Wolf revealed. “My book was contracted the following month and went online in January 1997.” A year later she was in the process of forming her company when the chance came to buy Hard Shell itself, at that time, it had only 12 books online. “During 1998, not one but several companies publicly announced development of e-book reading devices. It has been mushrooming ever since.” Under Wolf’s direction, Hard Shell has now grown to 120 titles.

A NEW VOICE…IN LESS TIME

Certainly the concept of a short timeframe from submission-to-publication is an attractive proposal to those of us who have ever endured an agonizing wait by the mailbox for word-any word-from a prospective editor. During my stint with HarperCollins, for instance, it took approximately 18 months from contract-to-print. I often joked with friends that I had forgotten half of my characters’ names by the time the novels were finally released. Compare this to e-books, which can be available for download or CD-Rom almost as soon as the finished product is in the publisher’s hands. Even better, that finished product can be in the hands of readers without them ever having to leave their keyboards and go to a store.

Consider as well the gratification that authors don’t have to write cookie-cutter manuscripts in order to get recognized. One of my own peeves with traditional publishers—especially in the romance genre—is the mind-set to produce the same story over and over, the only variance being the heroine’s haircolor and wardrobe. E-publishers, in contrast, are comparable to magazine editors in terms of seeking fresh, new material and plenty of variety to keep buyers coming back.

A case in point was the recent sale of my romantic comedy, “Everything But The Groom.” After holding a 3-chapter partial for well over a year, a major house curtly rejected it as unsuitable for publication because it stretched the boundaries of the company’s ‘formula.’ Ironically, the letter arrived on the same day as a contract from NCP, which not only had reviewed the full novel in just six weeks, but enthusiastically lauded it for its humor, originality, and diverse supporting characters.

SOME HEALTHY COMPETITION

So how are traditional houses reacting to this fast-growing industry? Gutierrez’ observation has been that “they’re basically keeping quiet because they’re either planning to grab as big a chunk as possible, or fence-sitting so they can jump in whichever direction seems most advantageous.”

Wolf embraces the view that publishers may come to regard the profit potential of this new medium as a way to offset the more costly divisions of their business.

“In no way,” Wolf adds, “does it ruin one’s chances of getting paper-published. Authors who sign with us are free to pursue print, audio and screen opportunities…and some of them have successfully done just that. (“Heaven Only Knows”—written by yours truly and recently purchased by Hard Shell—is currently in preproduction with an independent film company in Maine.)

Gutierrez cites that there are also ecological considerations why e-publishing is rapidly gaining momentum; nearly 30% of all books currently published on paper ends up in landfills. In contrast, a novel that can be downloaded to one’s own computer is neither taking up shelf-space nor contributing to global garbage when the reader is finished with it. Adding to the medium’s popularity is the flexibility with which the type size-style can be adjusted to accommodate a reader’s vision level. (Take it from someone who now needs reading glasses for the small print so prevalent in paperbacks.)

And that’s not just the beginning of the benefits:

SHELF-LIFE

The concept of a “virtual bookstore” resolves two major problems inherent with traditional publishing: (1) where does it go in the bookstore, and (2) how long does it stay there? Sadly, new fiction by authors who are not yet established in the public eye has a shelf-life of about six weeks. Further, its physical placement in the store is contingent on what “niche” it best fits. (Where, for instance, would you put a science fiction romantic suspense?) By comparison, an e-book is available from 1-5 years and is catalogued by title, author, genre(s) and key themes, thus increasing its sales visibility to browsing readers. New e-book authors also have more input on their “back cover blurbs” and cover art than is generally allowed with regular publishers. Both NCP and Hard Shell are earnest about striking a comfortable balance between the writer’s vision and the commercial wisdom of how to package and promote an attractive product.

RIGHTS, ROYALTIES AND AGENTS

For the time being, e-publishers such as NCP and Hard Shell do not require agents. (See—you’re already saving yourself that 15% commission!) Nor do you necessarily need an attorney to understand their respective contracts. Since the electronic rights are the only rights being negotiated, authors retain the full flexibility (and copyright) to sell subsidiary rights (excluding e-rights for the duration of the contract) whenever they want, including the sale of the book to a traditional publishing house. While advances are not currently offered by either of these two publishers, it is balanced out by the payment of quarterly royalties as soon as the product goes online.

“As with any publisher,” Wolf points out, “you need to know what you’re getting into. There are vanity publishers as well as vanity print publishers, some of whom charge as much as $500 to ‘publish’ your book and don’t put any editing or promotion into a project either than displaying it on a website.”

Authors are advised to read contracts which can be found on the websites of the level of service being provided.

NCP currently receives an average of 50 submissions per month, and plans to publish 6-8 new books per month by mid-2000. Hard Shell receives 120-150 submissions, and presently publishes 8-12 new titles monthly.

SOCIETY’S ADDICTION TO TECHNOLOGY

There’s just no getting around it; computers are here to stay. I can remember the first time I took my nephew to the new city library, regaling him with stories of all the school summers I had spent checking out the maximum number of books allowed and blithely losing myself every week in new plots and characters. “Well, what do you think?” I said as we stepped into the gleaming foyer.

He looked around, suddenly spied something and excitedly proclaimed, “They’ve got Internet. Cool!” The experience of seeing row upon row of tantalizing and neatly organized volumes became incidental to the prospect of logging on and joining a chat-room.

Sadly, I don’t think the kid is an exception. When you consider the amount of time we’ve become accustomed to sitting in front of a monitor and performing our jobs, communicating with others, and learning about current events, is it any surprise that my nephew’s generation and those that follow will be more attuned to the feel of a keyboard than to the texture and weight of that antediluvian thing called a paperback?

On the flip side are those who believe that electronic publishing is just a fad and/or an outlet for authors whose work is substandard. A review of the growing (and high-variety) book-list of either company points to the contrary. “There are always hold-outs with anything new,” Wolf remarks nonetheless enthusiastically noting that more and more readers are being converted every day. “The advent of better resolution screens for palm PC’s and PDA’s has also been a big plus.”

The important thing to remember is that e-books aren’t meant to replace existing habits, but rather to encourage further opportunities to read in concert with our high-tech lifestyles. When you stop to consider that a device the size of one thick paperback book can electronically hold the equivalent of ten regular-sized novels, wouldn’t it be easier to pack that for a cross-country plane trip or a week at the beach? If that’s not enough to convince you, maybe the purchase price will: e-books are roughly half the cost of a regular paperback.

ADVICE TO WRITERS Gutierrez and Wolf are in total accord when it comes to what they want to see from prospective authors. Among their ‘musts’ (1) Follow the website guidelines. (2) Don’t worry about word-length-take as many or as few words as are necessary to tell your story; (3) Sample some of the existing on-line books in the genres and subject areas you want to write; (4) Write the very best book you can write…and write from the heart. In closing, Gutierrez adds what is wise counsel for anyone who wants to pursue a career in writing: “Always remember that your job as an author is to take the reader away from their boring or perhaps troubled existence, to a place where there is romance, excitement, humor and adventure….happily ever after!”

For more info and submission guidelines @  New Concepts Publishing
and Hard Shell Word Factory

Not Just Chicken Soup
by Eddy Robey

Baskets of Smiles

The Earth is getting ready to awaken from a long Winter's rest. Although it is still cold outside, each day brings us another few minutes of light. Soon, we will celebrate our deliverance from oppression at parties, carnivals, and by sharing gifts of love with our friends and families. Children will help roll dough in the kitchen, and homes all over the world will be scented with the joyous aroma of holiday baking. Baskets will be filled by tender hands, and delivered with smiles as sunny as Springtime.

This recipe is a simple one to prepare. Always remember that the produce of gentle hands, has a taste of sweetness which will fill the heart, as nothing else can do. This is as true for the bakers, as it is for those who receive these treats. The little ones who help make Hamantaschen now, will be sure to tell their own children of a day spent making and delivering gladness. Memories will nourish their spirits, long after the pastry is gone. Thus, will you feed them all their days .

Hamentaschen (Dairy)

Here's To Schnapps, Sweets, and Silliness

It is time for fun, fantasy, and deliverance. We can shed those long scarves, which we have worn around our necks like nooses, and array ourselves as kings and queens. The world is ready to celebrate the Vernal Equinox, and we are commanded to our own giddy revelry in honor of freedom. I have a lovely dress from India, with swishing skirts and beads, just the thing for a little kitchen maid to play princess. Of course, I will be back in my apron soon, but for Purim, I shall rise from my lowly position as did Esther, and join the court festivities. May all of you enjoy schnapps, sweets, and silliness.

Ingredients

2 cups Flour
1/2 cup Powdered Sugar, plus more for rolling the dough
2/3 cup Butter
1/3-1/2 cup Sour Cream
1 cup of Pastry Filling

Method

Mix the Flour and Powdered Sugar. Cut in the Butter. This is most easily done by pulsing in the bowl of your food processor, but if you don't have one, use two knives, and keep working with them until the mixture resembles cornmeal. Add 1/3 cup Sour Cream and mix until the dough holds together in a ball. Depending on the humidity, you may need to use a tiny bit more, but do remember that this is a firm dough. Divide the dough into 4 portions, roll each into a ball, and encase in plastic wrap. Put them in the refrigerator for at least an hour.

When you are ready to roll the dough, dust the board and rolling pin thoroughly with Powdered Sugar, adding more as needed to prevent sticking. Roll to a bit less than an eighth of an inch in thickness, and cut into small rounds. Place a teaspoon of filling at the center of each round and pinch the circles into a triangle shape, Place on a lightly oiled cookie sheet and bake for about 10 minutes at 350 degrees.


As Hearty as a Bowl Game
by Eddy Robey

It is the season when most of the male population watches football. Yes, ladies, I know that some of you are watching as well, and I apologize for any political incorrectness. Today, however, I am going to try to help you plan something tailored to rather stereotypic male appetites.

There are several maxims to be observed in planning a football menu.

1. Don't think about whether the food is fattening. The last thing a man with a sports fantasy needs to hear is that he is overweight. No matter how prettily they are arranged, raw veggies and non-fat dips are not guy food. Worry about cholesterol during the rest of the week.

2. If the fellows can't figure out what it is, they won't want it. Save mystery ingredients for another time.

3. Ask what he wants to drink, and buy it. No clever substitutions. If he wants a soft drink with sugar in it, don't tell him the store only had the diet version. Ditto with the beer.

4. Don't use anything which has the potential to cause guilt. If you don't want that tablecloth stained, use a disposable one. If a spill on the upholstery would break your heart, use a throw cover. Big boys like to be able to make a mess without thinking about whether anyone cares.

5. Do not plan to serve anything which must be consumed on a schedule. If that yummy canape recipe should be eaten right out of the oven, make something else. The game, not the food, is the main event.

With all the above in mind, it is still a nice thing to make one special dish.

Beef Stew and Beer Bread for a Football Party
excerpt from my book It's Not Just Chicken Soup

Eddy Robey M.A., an Anthropologist and Food Writer, and Author of the book, It's Not Just Chicken Soup. She says, "Like all Jewish mothers, I feed everyone in sight, and have been at work in the kitchen for over 20 years." Correspondence should be addressed to eddyrobey@aol.com and will be read as soon as the dishes are done. You can find many of my recipes online at Eddy Robey on Themestream

THE AMERICAN RENAISSANCE
by Lawrence R. Dagstine

For over the past hundred years or so, we have learned that literature is the record of human experience, and people have always been impelled to write down their impressions of life, whether positive or negative. There are, however, many characteristics of American writing that make it different from all others.

The middle of the 19th Century saw the beginning of a truly independent form of American literature. This period, especially the 1850s, has been called The American Renaissance.

More masterpieces were written at this time than in any other equal span of years in American history. In the East the period was a golden age: Emerson, Thoreau, Longfellow, Whitman, Melville, Hawthorne, and southern writer, Edgar Allan Poe. All were great poets or writers of prose. Essays by Emerson and Thoreau vied with the somewhat dark tales of Poe. Short works of fiction were popular, and Longfellow's poems were bestsellers. New England seemed to be the center of intellectual activity. Ralph Waldo Emerson, clergyman-turned essayist, most famous for his parable phrases and quotes, was the most noticeable writer of his time. He preached that man has a spark of divinity in him which gives him power. "Trust thy-self," he said in his 1841 essay, Self-Reliance. There, as oracle and prophet, he wrote the stirring prose that inspired an entire nation.

Emerson began his career as a clergyman, and a recognized lay preacher. He came to feel, however, that he could better do his work outside the church. Thus he became an independent essayist and lecturer, a writer to all Americans. And he believed it made no difference what one did for a living or who they were or where one lived. He was for the people.

One person who took Emerson's prose to heart and lived by it was his Concord neighbor, Henry David Thoreau. Thoreau lived a life of independence. He was a lover of wildlife and a student of the great outdoors. He was also an aspiring student of literature, who himself wrote fresh, vigorous prose. In a quiet meadow near Walden Pond, he tried to analyze life's essentials, its bare necessities and such…The result of his thoughts: his 1854 masterpiece, Walden, or Life in the Woods, which happened to be an account of his two-year sojourn at Walden Pond.

Walden, or Life in the Woods: (Thoreau)

"I went to the woods," he wrote, "because I wished to live deliberately."
(That is, he decided what was important in life and then pursued it.)

The simplicity of Thoreau's life makes a strong appeal to modern readers. Even experimentalists and contemporary authors, or 20th century masters (e.g.; Forster or Fitzgerald) are impressed by his work. His essay, Civil Obedience, which converted Emersonian self-reliance into a workable formula for opposing the power of government, advocated resistance, and, when necessary, going to jail, as he had done so himself once.

More conventional and less challenging than the Concord writers were the democratic poets of New England. Oliver Wendell Holmes, who won early fame with Old Ironsides, a poem which saved the ship Constitution, from destruction, and years later with The Autocrat of the Breakfast Table, was a lively conversationalist; and through his mouthpiece, the autocrat, he gave expression to a variety of topics.

The poems of James Russell Lowell were also admired in his day. This wellborn Bostonian was versatile. He was the editor of the Atlantic Monthly, a professor at Harvard, a literary critic, and a poet.

But one of the most famous American poets of the 19th century was Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. He was a storyteller in verse: The Courtship of Miles Standish, Evangeline, The Song of Hiawatha all use native incident and character. For example, in The Courtship of Miles Standish, the character John Alden intends to speak for Miles Standish but actually wins Priscilla for himself.

Longfellow was trying to give the United States legends like those of Europe. His lyrics too were admired. His 1839 Psalm of Life was memorized by generations of children. Lowell, on the other hand, captured the thought and speech of the American rustic, showing us that American literature can be truly national.

Nearly as popular as Longfellow was John Greenleaf Whittier. He was author of such well known ballads as Barbara Frietchie, and after the Civil War, Snow-Bound. This poem, based on the poet's childhood experiences, pictures farm life in an earlier day. Whittier was a Quaker and a foe of slavery, which he often attacked in both verse and prose; his prose must have reminded many readers of their own life experiences and rural childhoods.

During these same years, the major writer down south was Edgar Allan Poe. Instead of American characters, settings, and themes, Poe wrote of timeless places and people. He did brilliant work in three areas: poetry, short fiction, and criticism. Poems such as The Bells and The Raven are vague in thought but hauntingly beautiful in sound. And both these tales' popularity has been retained to this day, for they are still read in English courses at colleges throughout the world.

Poe's short stories are of two kinds: (1) psychological tales of terror, such as The Fall of the House of Usher and The Masque of the Red Death, and (2) tales of detection, such as his 1845 forerunner to Sherlock Holmes (e.g.; Dupin), in The Purloined Letter; considered by some to be early mystery. Both types of stories observe the principles outlined in his critical writing; The Purloined Letter turned on the fact that a completely obvious hiding place is overlooked. His writing also turned on the fact that a story should be short, that it should aim at a somewhat conclusive effect, and that all its parts should contribute to this effect, thus making for unity.

Modern short-story writers owe much to Poe's critical ideas. He passed a literary leadership to a new generation of prose writers following the Civil War a period now known as the Transition to the Modern Age.

As with modern poets and dramatists, this gives new emphasis and meaning on realism among short-story writers of the 20th century, and those yet to make a name for themselves in the 21st century. Unlike the literary masters of the 19th century many of whose forefathers founded this country, many of these new writers can be grouped according to a genre or style of writing.

Although Poe disliked most New England writings because it was too moral in purpose, he greatly admired the stories of Nathaniel Hawthorne. The son of a sea captain from Salem, Massachusetts, Hawthorne grew up in that old port city rich in legends of the past. He soaked himself in the history of Puritan times and laid many of his stories in that period. Protestant religion and earlier settings made his tales shadowy and, because the Puritans were cautious of sin, gave the author a chance to explore the sinful human heart in his prose. He did so in his story, The Minister's Black Veil, as well as his full-length masterpiece, The Scarlet Letter. His fiction, though seemingly simple, is often rich and subtle, and profound in its treatment of life's darker side, the side which the Puritans had freely acknowledged.

Most modern readers are warm in their praise of Hawthorne. They have also come to admire the work of his neighbor and spiritual ally, Herman Melville. All but forgotten by the public in his later years, Melville, today, is regarded as of the greatest writers of American literature. He was the first to treat the South Seas in fiction: Omoo' gives fascinating descriptions and pictures of this exotic region.

This book and the three others that soon followed them prepared Melville to write Moby Dick, considered by some as the greatest contribution--and a renowned classic to world literature. This work is actually many books in one: an epic, a tragedy, a novel, a treatise on the whaling industry, and an autobiography. At the story's center is Captain Ahab, who searches the seven seas to kill the whale which bit off his leg. Even Melville's shorter pieces, such as Billy Budd, written shortly before his death, are artfully done and full of meaning. Few writers wrestled more heroically with the basic problems of existence than he did.

Another major writer at mid-century was Walt Whitman, who was deemed the "Poet of the People." He sprawled on a high point above the shore of Long Island Sound and contemplated the grass, which later gave him the title for his most famous work, Leaves of Grass. The strange book of verse was new in form and in content. Whitman had written about his country in a way never done before. At first, Leaves of Grass seemed a failure. Emerson, however, recognized its splendor; and now most poets agree that it was the first book of truly American poetry.

Here, at last, was the fresh, distinguished bard destined to create an art entirely American. Through Whitman's poetry the new nation was caught in its superiority, its diversity, and its great energy. All are brilliant and complex utterances of the human spirit and will freed in the New World.

Whitman's poems are a love letter to his country. To accomplish his purpose of singing the praise of the untrammeled American spirit, Whitman deserted the confining poetic forms of his day. His poems are melodic chants, beautifully suited to the ear.

Readers of American literature around the world have turned to Whitman as the speaker for the new democratic society. No poet has celebrated that society with more enthusiasm or more poetic genius than Walt Whitman has. His verses are charged with the energetic American spirit. They are a striking contrast to the rhymes of conventional poetry previously written.

Despite these many innovations some poets, essayists, and prose writers, continued to write in more traditional forms right into the 20th century. The American Renaissance would eventually become the prelude to this formula, thus becoming the first chapter in real American literature and the ongoing American spirit.

--Lawrence R. Dagstine is a native New Yorker whose interests include attending art exhibits and science fiction conventions. A graduate of journalism school, some of his fiction has appeared in small press publications as "Pablo Lennis," "Lost Worlds," and "Pleiades." His non-fiction has appeared in the paranormal, UFO phenomena journal "Alternate Perceptions," which was available in Borders bookstores around the country in spring 1999.