In Remembrance of Holly Lisle: Writer, Teacher, and Inspiration

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It is with great sadness that I share the news of the passing of Holly Lisle, a beloved figure in the writing community. Holly was a prolific author and teacher who dedicated her life to crafting great stories as well as the supporting and empowering of fellow writers.

rose, book, old bookHolly founded Forward Motion for Writers as a place for writers to connect, share resources, and support one another. Today, Forward Motion continues the legacy of encouragement, teaching, and camaraderie under the guidance of Lazette Gifford and J.A. Marlow in the forms of the website and an active Discord server.

In addition to Forward Motion, HollyLisle.com offered workshops, classes, and a vibrant online forum. Both sites stand as a testament to Holly’s passion for the craft and her unwavering belief in the potential of every writer (even when she threatened to hit you with your own manuscript).

Holly Lisle is also remembered for her many articles, Writer’s Digest mail writing courses, as well as a large body of fiction across multiple genres. Many writers credit Holly’s teachings and mentorship as pivotal moments in their own writing journeys.

Though Holly is no longer with us, her legacy lives on through the countless writers whose lives she touched. Her kindness, wisdom, and unwavering commitment to the writing community will never be forgotten. Holly made an indelible mark, and her impact will continue to be felt for years to come.

As we mourn the loss of this remarkable woman, let us also celebrate the profound influence she had on the writing world. Holly’s dedication to supporting and uplifting fellow authors is a shining example of the power of community and mentorship. She will be deeply missed, but her spirit will continue to inspire us all to keep writing, keep learning, and keep supporting one another.

Rest in peace, Holly Lisle. Your legacy will live on in the hearts and works of all the writers you inspired.

We encourage everyone to share their stories about Holly Lisle in the Forum. We all have great memories of her!

Open for Submissions 2024

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The Cutleaf Reader

Open to BIPOC writers who live in or hail from rural or semi-rural locales in the U.S. and whose short stories feature characters living or working in rural or semi-rural spaces. Annual print anthology looking for:

Literary Nonfiction – October 1 to October 31, 2024

Poetry – November 1, 2024.

“There is no fee to submit. Cutleaf will pay from $100 to $400 for published prose and from $50 to $100 per published poem.”

For full details visit: https://eastoverpresscutleafjournal.submittable.com/submit

Trollbreath Magazine

Trollbreath Magazine is a journal of speculative fiction, poetry, and non-fiction, publishing electronic issues on a quarterly schedule.

September 1st, 2024 – September 30th, 2024 (Spring 2025 issue)

December 1st, 2024 – December 31st, 2024 (Summer 2025 issue)

“Trollbreath Magazine will consider original short stories from 1500 words up to 7500 words. Our preference is for stories between 4,000 and 5,000 words”

4 cents (United States currency) per word for original works, and 1/2 cent per word for reprints at the time of publication

For full details visit: https://magazine.trollbreath.com/submissions/

To submit a market open to submissions, please visit this thread in the forum.

NOTE: As always, research the publisher and read the rules and terms. Protect your intellectual property. Listings here do not indicate support by Forward Motion for Writers, and are offered only as information.

Open for Submissions

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Baffling Magazine

“We’ll be open next in June, from the 1st to the 15th, reading on the theme of “monstrous” as well as unthemed submissions. Our submission form will be here. We close at midnight EST on the 15th.”

“Wordcount:   Under 1,200 words.  We would especially love to see more stories under 500 words.  “

“The compensation level for original stories accepted to Baffling Magazine is $0.08/word.”

For full details visit: https://www.bafflingmag.com/submissions

Worlds of Possibility

Submissions open until March 23, 2024

“Wordcount:   Under 1,200 words.  We would especially love to see more stories under 500 words.”

“Fiction: 5,000 word maximum, no minimum. Worlds of Possibility loves flash and drabbles and other short short forms as well as short stories! Payment of $0.10USD / word for right to display the story online with six months of exclusivity, and eventually (within two years of online publication) publish in an anthology.”

For full details visit: https://worldsofpossibility.moksha.io/publication/1

To submit a market open to submissions, please visit this thread in the forum.

NOTE: As always, research the publisher and read the rules and terms. Protect your intellectual property. Listings here do not indicate support by Forward Motion for Writers, and are offered only as information.

Pirates of FM – First of Month

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Pirates of FM Challenge LogoThe Pirates of FM: Blank Pages Tell No Tales has been active for a little over a month now. Congrats to everyone who earned badges and Pirate Gold during the past month! It’s been wonderful seeing so many make progress on their projects.

The beginning of the month is a great time to set new goals for your creativity. See the “Pirates of FM” menu above for all the juicy details.

Register in the forum or in the “Deadline Registration” Discord room.

Come join the fun!

New Challenge: Pirates of FM: Blank Pages Tell No Tales

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…we really shouldn’t be left alone in chat unsupervised…

Ahoy ye maties! Yes, you heard that right. We have a new writing challenge! Inspired by C.E. Backstrom, who said, “…the 6yo in me needed a reward based system to keep me motivated. in American schools (and possibly overseas) teachers use these “Treasure Chests/Bags” with goodies in them that you have to earn points to spend to get a goodie from the chest/bag.”

Mooseythehut introduced the name of the challenge, which turned it pirate-themed, NeciaPhoenix mentioned loving the badges in the old FM forum… and the rest is history! LOL

We wanted to make this challenge accessible to a wide variety of people who work and write in different ways. You can do one challenge and never do anything again or you can do lots of things all the time and rack up tons of rewards. This is about goals with deadlines, not numbers of words, hours, scenes, chapter, or so on. This way the challenge works for anyone at any level of effort and commitment.

Pirates of FM Challenge LogoAfter a lot of brainstorming with FM members in our Discord server we finally ironed out (most) of the details. The challenge is now live! 

Here are quick links to the information pages:

Pirates of FM Introduction

PoFM Rules (how it works)

Take a look in the new drop-down menu up above for yet more pages including how to earn Pirate Gold, what to spend it on (Badges on FM are back!), and a list of participants and their goals.

Have fun fellow creative pirates!

Aaaaarrrrggghhhh!

Forward Motion Discord Server – Let’s Chat!

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Computer ChattingThe Forward Motion Discord Server has officially taken over as the live chat space for our merry band of writers! For those who would like to join the fun, the invite link is: https://discord.gg/3SRF3xQ

If you prefer, you can use the interface under the chat tab here at FM once you have a Discord account. Or you can use any of Discord’s many options for chatting.

More site news to come!

Live Chat Software Change

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Thought Question Text Speech Talk - Clker-Free-Vector-Images / PixabayThe chat software we’d been using was overall nice. However, I kept getting complaints from some FMers that were having trouble with it. Either not connecting on whatever device they were using, not formatting correctly, or other small problems. So, I’ve been keeping my eye out for a good alternative. Which was surprisingly difficult.

One suggested alternative mentioned several times was Discord. It’s a good chat platform, and I’m a part of several servers myself. However, I wanted the ability for FMers to be able to access chat here on the website. Discord didn’t have a way to integrate with websites.

But that’s now starting to change.

I found a service that enables a Discord server to be embedded in a website. You can now see it on our Chat page here at FM!

Once you are logged into Discord (unfortunately this is not tied into the user database here) how you want to go into chat depends on you. You can hat using the embedded Discord window here on this site on our own live chat page (https://fmwriters.com/fm/chat/). Or you can use any of Discord’s apps to chat via your desktop, laptop, cell phones, pads, and so on.

Your choice!

This upgrade was also announced in the forum where you can make comments if you wish.

Welcome Returnees!

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This has been a challenging time for all of us with the pandemic impacting members from all around the world. It’s very important to take care of yourself, both physically and mentally. For some, this has been a time to return or look in on their creativity.

It’s been wonderful to see members of Forward Motion who haven’t been around in a while popping up in the forums and in live chat. Welcome back!

Both new members and returnees, by all means say hello in the Welcome Mat board. It’s so great to have you!

Start Out the New Year Right

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Start Out the New Year Right

2020 is just around the corner. For many people this means goals for the coming year. How about starting out the year with a writing goal?

We are starting up the 2-month challenges again, with the first challenge will running from January 1 to February 28 (59 days). The challenge consists of several types of goals, with each goal having a tier. Choose one, two, or several!

Full post with types and tiers (Must be signed into see): https://fmwriters.com/fm/forums/topic/the-january-february-2013-challenge/

Novels:
New Material
Rewrite
Novel Submission

Short Stories:
New Material
Rewrite

Flash Fiction:
New Material
Rewrite

Poetry:
New Material
Rewrite

Nonfiction:
New Material
Submissions

World Building

Word Count

If you intend to join, post a message to the appropriate board(s) with your name as the subject. After you’ve signed up, you can post progress as additional posts below your initial ‘name’ post.

Many who are jumping in have been posting to the “2 Month Challenge” post with links to their personal ‘name’ post(s).

And remember: This is all for fun! Enjoy yourselves!