One Piece

6th Day of Kwanzaa is Kuumba: creativity. Rather than partying, this is usually the day I review the past year, writing out what principles and goals set month-by-month. No emotions, no beating myself up or praising my talent. But just an numerical look at the year. I picked up this habit from my parents and it has been very effective in achieving academic, artistic, career, and spiritual goals. Planning happens not only by looking forward, but by reviewing past steps with th e clarity of an accountant. In 2015 I wrote 6 plays, finished 30-page poetry collection, published 3 poems, graduated from Juilliard, freelance reported for four different media outlets (Talking Points Memo, The New Republic, Take Part, and Fusion), had 3 plays published as books, 2 plays published in magazined, two London productions, Royal Court residency, NNPN workshop at Kennedy Center, finished Dramatists Guild fellowship, workshop production at BAX, reading at National Black Theatre, staffed on a TV show, an...

WINTER I had a few free months before bringing in my sixth and last play at Juilliard. I used this time do dive back into poetry, essays, and journalism. I wrote for The New Republic and Talking Points Memo. This led to numerous podcasts opportunities for different media sites. I revised two plays I brought into the school the previous fall: "Running on Fire" and A Family Manual for Kwanzaa." For the latter, I did a lot of revisions and found that both plays were able to find some development or reading opportunities around this time of year, but they wouldn't come to fruition until the summer. I went out to LA and had a ton of good meetings. But then again it's LA: everyone has good meetings. I almost thinks its the fruit basket consolation prize for writers and actors going out there: smiling faces and as much bottled water as one could stomach. And yet I'm not jaded enough to pretend like it's insignificant. I still get slightly charged  to be sitting ...

I was driving around in traffic this evening listening to NPR. On the local Miami affiliate they had two experts on lying to promote the new documentary "Dishonesty." Over the course of an hour they went through different levels of dishonesty in society. I wanted to call up friends and tell my mom to tune in, but I thought it was better for me to just listen to what was being said and to think about it. Listeners called up with their own questions, one confessed to being an alcoholic, while others asked if lying is happening in greater quantity and/or higher quality today. Behavioral psychologist Dan Ariely was on talking about lying and how technology makes lying easier in a few ways 1) the more abstract the victim of the lie is the more likely someone is to lie 2) the more abstract the money is (office supplies, bitcoin) the greater someone lies 3) the more technology is involved the greater the abstraction of reality, and the greater chance to lie 4) people are more likely...

The new year is (nearly) upon us, and with it come publishing opportunities! Here are thirteen magazines and anthologies looking for writers. As usual, there is a wide array of genres: speculative fiction, children's literature, poetry, flash fiction, short stories, dramatic monologues, and creative nonfiction. All of these are paying markets. _______________________________ ChappyFiction LLC: Time travel anthology "The anthology will contain new short stories centered around time travel. How does it affect our society, our humanity, or the characters? We want new stories. Create paradoxes. Make us laugh. Make us cry. If you have a killer reprint, query us first before submitting." Simultaneous submissions are okay. Genre : Science fiction/fantasy Length : Under 7,000 words Payment : 6 cents a word Deadline : January 1, 2016 ____________________ Mom for the Holidays: Stories of Love, Laughter and Tantrums Genre : Personal essays, stories, poems Payment : $25-$200 per piec...

Despite running around yesterday, working out at the gym for two hrs, and a lack of sleep, I was wide awake (as usual) on Christmas Eve. I laid in bed 100% alert, blinking in the dark, listening to every passing car. Some childhood habits are hard wired and anticipating presents is one of them, even when there are no presents to open. I slid off the bed and on to the floor in front of my altar. I started meditating on renunciation while lying there, bringing it all into this darkened room, those relatives from childhood fading away, seeing friends getting gray while chasing that desert mirage, strangers falling down in mid lunge for the latest appliance, anger and rage for things unfulfilled, and numbness/boredom/depression for the things that are attained. An image of Kurt Cobain flashed from a doc on HBO, then corpulent Brando, skeletal Michael Jackson, drowned Whitney, and then grandparents, friends, so-called enemies, strangers. I sat up on a cushion and meditated on bodhichitta. D...

Winter is in full swing above the 40th parallel, which is why it is not entirely surprising that half of January's conferences are in Florida. While there isn't a lot going on the first month of the year, these conferences offer as much as they do in the summer: pitch sessions with agents, workshops, presentations, readings, and ample opportunity to hobnob with writers and industry professionals (hopefully, on a beach). ________________________________ Key West Literary Seminar , January 7 - 15, 2016, Key West, Florida. The seminar, January 7 - 10, offers readings, lectures, and conversations with poets, fiction writers, and nonfiction writers. The 2016 theme is “Shorts: Stories, Essays & Other Briefs.” The writers' workshop offers workshops and craft discussions for poets, fiction writers, and nonfiction writers. The faculty includes poet Billy Collins; fiction writers Ann Beattie, Kristen-Paige Madonia, Daniel Menaker, and Antonya Nelson; and nonfiction writer Diana A...

Writer's Digest recently announced a free contest held by best-selling author and writing consultant, Barbara Kyle. Barbara is offering to evaluate a full manuscript for free - a service for which she normally charges $1,200. Second and third place winners can have portions of their manuscripts evaluated. Your manuscript does not have to be complete to enter. If you win, you will have a full year to submit. The deadline is December 31, 2015. Good luck!   ___________________________________ CONTEST! Win a Manuscript Evaluation Grand Prize: a * $1,200 manuscript evaluation Want an expert critique of your manuscript? Then this contest is for you. It’s open to anyone with a work of fiction or narrative non-fiction. All genres are welcome. There is no fee to enter the contest. And here’s the great thing. If you win, you’ll have up to a year to send me your manuscript. If it’s ready now, that’s fine, send it as soon as you hear you’ve won. But if you need more time to complete it, that’s...

I'm back in Miami for two weeks. A high school friend suggested I started listing things as Dade Country Chronicles. Why not? This is just from today.... #1 I n an old warehouse on a dead-end street in miami, I walk into a narrow, cluttered office with a giant box. The room is crammed with electronics. No place for a staff, but it's okay because this is a one-man operation. An old Caribbean man in a faded guayabera has a plate of curry rice and meatballs. I put the box down and ask 'can you fix a record player?' The room has a few other record players pushed against the wall, some have dust on them, maybe the owners never came back to pick them up. Apparently he's one of the last repairmen. I'll call him. I leave the turntable so he can start his lunch. He puts the metallic box on a saffron cushion and goes back to his plate. #2 I drive past CB Smith. It was a park on the edge of a receding swamp in Pembroke Pines. Mosquitos, flooding, and sauna-level heat were ...

The new year brings a host of fresh writing contests with genres that cover the gamut from poetry, essays, and creative non-fiction, to short stories and books (published and in-progress), as well as translations. Some of these contests have geographic and age restrictions. Make sure to read the full contest rules. Good luck! _____________________ Nuff Said Publishing's annual Speculative Writing Contest to Promote Diversity (SWCPD) . Restrictions : The contest is open to United States residents.  Genre : Speculative fiction less than 10,000 words. Prize: $100 and publication in an anthology.  Deadline:  January 3rd, 2016. John F. Kennedy Profile in Courage Essay Contest  is sponsored by the John F. Kennedy Library Foundation. Restrictions : The contest is open to United States high school students in grades nine through twelve attending public, private, parochial, or home schools; US students under the age of twenty enrolled in a high school correspondence/GED prog...

Here are two new agents actively building their client lists. Tara Carberry (Trident Media Group) is looking for women’s commercial fiction, romance, new adult, young adult, and select nonfiction. Jaida Temperly (New Leaf Literary & Media) is seeking middle grade and young adult titles as well as adult mystery and high fantasy. Jaida Temperly of  New Leaf Literary & Media NO LONGER AN AGENT About Jaida : Jaida Temperly of New Leaf Literary & Media is very excited to be building her client list. Current clients include Kody Keplinger, Kirsten Hubbard, Eric Telchin, Amber McRee Turner, and Maggie Heinze. She also represents illustrators Betsy Bauer, James Lipnickas, and Genevieve Santos. After a brief stint in medical school at UW-Madison, Jaida moved from Wisconsin to NYC for an internship at Writer’s House. After five months, Jaida joined New Leaf Literary & Media, assisting Joanna Volpe for the past three years before starting to build her own l...

The past several years I've been asked to speak at different universities about Buddhism. I do the best I can and then the student(s) usually send me a questionnaire for their term paper. Here are my 2015 answers:  1.  What is meditation? What do you hope to achieve through meditation? Meditation is single pointed focus on an object with an overall objective in mind. For instance contemplating a bunch of ideas about Jesus may be spiritually objective, but it's not meditation. But focusing on a door knob may be meditatively focused, but it's one zoning out without objective. You are tweaking the mind between its gross states of agitation and dullness. Agitation is when the mind is flying off, dullness is when it's sitting there. You want an alert mind that's like a bird perched on a branch: alive, fluid, but not flying. You want to be in that middle ground and when one has reached a state of alert and sustained focus on an object with an overall spiritual objective...

Updated 2/11/22 Here are five literary agents actively seeking thrillers. All of them work with reputable agencies. Remember: ALWAYS check the agency website before submitting. Agents may switch agencies or close their lists, and submission requirements may change. If these agents do not suit your needs, you can find a comprehensive list of new and established agents seeking clients here:  Agents Seeking Clients . To find out more about these agents and their agencies check the Absolute Write forums. (Just type the name of the agency or agent into a google search with "absolute write.") The Absolute Write "watercooler" is where writers talk candidly about their experiences with agents and publishers. ____________________ Lynnette Novak of Seymour Agency Prior to joining The Seymour Agency, Lynnette spent seventeen years freelance editing. She worked with new writers, advanced writers, as well as New York Times and USA Today bestselling authors. Lynnette earned a bac...