Corinne Litchfield

May 31 2012 ∞

The Last Drop - 2012 CWC Sacramento Short Short Fiction Winner

On page 5 of this PDF you’ll find my flash fiction piece, “The Last Drop”, which won the 2012 CWC Sacramento Short Short Fiction competition.

“The Last Drop” started out as a writing exercise for Jodi Angel’s fiction workshop this past January. She assigned us to write three pages using the point of view (POV) we found the most challenging and in the opposite gender from our own. For me, that was second person POV, male. The day I got the assignment, I met Dylan, a teenage boy whose curiosity and intelligence inspired the character telling this story. It’s set in Hyattsville, Maryland in the late 70s/early 80s as a homage to my hometown.

Many thanks to the CWC Sacramento branch for this honor.

May 29 2012 ∞

Here’s a look at some of the writers you’ll find in the Sacramento region. Since their photos didn’t make it into my Sacramento Magazine feature on the local literary community, I am adding them here. (Click on the photos to enlarge and read the captions.)

Many thanks again to Janet Ashmore, Charles Randell, and Diana Zuniga for their willingness to share their stories with me and Sacramento Magazine readers. Special thanks to Betty Lou Schultz (Davis Senior Center) and Bubbles & Joe Miguel (Hart Senior Center, Sacramento) for letting me sit in on their classes.

May 23 2012 ∞

Heading to Galax Next Month

Thanks to the donations I received from everyone in response to my crowdfunding campaign, I was able to purchase my airfare and reserve my hotel today.

If you missed the big push and still wish to donate a little something, click here to be taken directly to PayPal to donate.

And if you’re looking for background info on the project, here are some links to check out:

Again, thank you, everyone, for your support of my writing.

May 19 2012 ∞

Going to Galax: Final Days of My Crowdfunding Project

I am astounded and overwhelmed by the response I’ve gotten regarding my novel research project. Whether it was through your generous donations or your sharing of my project with others via Facebook, Twitter, or other means, I truly appreciate it.

As of 2:20 pm Pacific Time, I am only $575 away from my goal.

If you’ve been intending to donate, but have been waylaid by work commitments, financial crunches, or were trapped under something heavy (I sincerely hope that wasn’t the case), there’s still time. I’ll continue taking PayPal donations through the weekend.

If this is the first you’re hearing of my project, here are some links where you can get the details:

**Click here to be taken directly to PayPal to donate.**

Here’s the current rewards listing:

Level 1 - $5 - Postcard from Galax (June - July 2012) - 19 of 21 available
Level 2 - $10 - Level 1 reward + access to a private slide show of images from my trip to Galax (July 2012) - 12 of 15 available
Level 3 - $25 - Level 1-2 rewards + listing on Acknowledgements page in novel (August 2012) - 10 of 16 available
Level 4 - $30 -Level 1-3 rewards + signed copy of finished novel (August 2012; novel release TBD) - 4 of 10 available
Level 5 - $60 - Level 1-4 rewards + a character named after you in the novel (August 2012; novel release TBD) - 0 of 2 available
Level 6 - $100 - Level 1-5 rewards + a private reading of an excerpt with you and your friends at your home (December 2012; novel release TBD) - 0 of 2 available

A few items of note:

For those who donate $25, I have 3 more CDs to give away. These CDs are an unofficial soundtrack to The Girl from Galax, as they are songs that inspire and motivate my writing.
If you want to donate an amount not shown on the rewards table, that’s fine - every bit helps! Once I receive your donation, I’ll be in touch to confirm your mailing address and we can work out the details regarding the rewards you’ll receive.
PayPal accepts MasterCard, Visa, AmEx, and Discover, so you don’t have to set up a special account with them in order to donate. I’ve been using them for several years and find it’s a very convenient, safe way to make online payments.
If you prefer to send a check, please email me for my mailing address.

Thank you again for all of your support and encouragement. It means so very much to me.

May 12 2012 ∞

FAQ on My Galax Crowd Funding Project

With just ~~one week~~ ~~two~~ one day left to raise ~~$830~~ ~~$785~~ ~~$715~~ $600 for my novel research trip to Galax, VA, I thought I’d answer a few of the questions that have popped up from several of you who have read about my crowd funding project.

What made you pick Galax as the setting for your novel?

I grew up on the east coast, just outside of Washington, D.C. Over the years, I took several cross-country drives with my dad. On one of those trips, we took a southern route and drove past an exit sign that read Galax (pronounced gay-lacks) Virginia. I loved the look and feel of the name – Galax sounded so exotic and special to me. When I started researching Galax, I discovered it was the perfect place to set a story about a woman in search of big adventures. As home of the oldest fiddle convention in the world, Galax becomes a place where it’s very possible that a record producer from California would visit in search of the next big thing.

Have you written a novel before?

Technically, yes – when I was in junior high school. It was a YA romance called Triangles and I wrote it longhand in a spiral notebook. I think the only person who ever read it was my best friend Alice. I’m not sure what happened to that story, but if it’s still around it’s probably in my parents’ attic.

What happens if you don’t raise all the money?

I’m still going to Galax, because I’m committed to finishing this novel and I want to see for myself what it’s like there. My family has offered me a plane ticket if necessary. The money raised by May 19 will help pay for my hotel, gas, and food.

Do you have an agent?

Not yet, but I have some very good leads on agents, and the support of a few published authors.

Do you have other writings I can read?

Yes! You can read my flash fiction piece, “What the Beautiful Girls Do”, at In the Snake, an online literary journal. If you’d like to read some of my non-fiction writing, you can view my portfolio by clicking here.

I don’t want to use PayPal, but I’d like to donate. Can I send you a check?

Absolutely – and thank you in advance for your support! It’s much appreciated. Send me an email at [the image helps me avoid spammers] and I will send you the address where to send your check.

I really want to help, but I’m strapped for cash right now.

I completely understand – and you can still help me get to Galax! There are two things you can do:

Share a link to this post on Facebook, Twitter, Google+, Stumble Upon, Reddit, whatever social network you use to share your favorite blog posts/links with others.
Email the link to your friends, family, colleagues, dogsitter, florist…you get the idea.

Click here to donate via PayPal.

May 08 2012 ∞

UPDATE: Help Me Get to Galax to Research My Novel

~~5/14/2012 5/16/2012~~ ~~5/17/2012~~ 5/19/2012 UPDATE: ~~Only one week 3 2 days~~ It’s the last day and ~~$830~~ ~~$785 $715~~ $600 to go! The next 8 7 6 people who donate $25 will also receive a soundtrack of songs that inspire my writing of this novel. Artists include Lucinda Williams, Dixie Chicks, Aerosmith, and more.

Donate via PayPal below, or contact me via email to make other arrangements. If you’re not able to donate, you can still help by sharing a link to this post on Facebook, Twitter, and other social networks.

Thanks - Corinne

Many of you know that I’ve been working on a novel for some time now. Lately I’ve been feeling the push to get the first draft completed, but in order to do that, I need a little help.

The Girl from Galax is a coming-of-thirty story about Belle Mackey, a married waitress who’s far from living the dream in a small town. When a young, attractive music producer walks into the diner where she works, Belle finally gathers the courage to leave the only life she’s ever known in search of new adventures.

Set in 1997 in Galax, Virginia, just eight miles from the North Carolina border, this novel will take readers along for the ride with Belle as she makes her way from her job at Mayva’s Café all the way to Los Angeles. You can read a brief excerpt from the current draft here.

I started work on the novel in spring 2010, and positive feedback from fellow writers has encouraged me to continue. While online research is great, I want to visit Galax to immerse myself in its culture: meet the locals, explore the town, see what life is really like there.

That’s where you come in. In order to make this trip happen, I need $1275 to cover my travel expenses:

airfare to and from the DC area
hotel and food in Galax for three (3) days
gas for the trip from the Washington DC area to Galax, a 335 mile drive
petsitting fees for my cats while I’m away

And to show how much I appreciate any and all financial help I receive, here’s what you get in return for helping me get to Galax:

Level 1 - $5 - Postcard from Galax (June - July 2012) - 20 of 21 available
Level 2 - $10 - Level 1 reward + access to a private slide show of images from my trip to Galax (July 2012) - 12 of 15 available
Level 3 - $25 - Level 1-2 rewards + listing on Acknowledgements page in novel (August 2012) - 13 of 16 available
Level 4 - $30 -Level 1-3 rewards + signed copy of finished novel (August 2012; novel release TBD) - 4 of 10 available
Level 5 - $60 - Level 1-4 rewards + a character named after you in the novel (August 2012; novel release TBD) - 1 of 2 available
Level 6 - $100 - Level 1-5 rewards + a private reading of an excerpt with you and your friends at your home (December 2012; novel release TBD) - 0 of 2 available

Click here to donate via PayPal. I’ll be collecting funds through May 19 and will keep you updated as to my fundraising progress.

If you like what you read, I’d much appreciate you passing along a link to this post via Facebook, Twitter, G+, or any other social network.

Thank you so very much for supporting me and my writing!

1 note

May 01 2012 ∞

The Written Word: Sacramento's Literary Community

Last summer I decided that I wanted to write a feature for Sacramento Magazine about the community of writers and poets in town. As someone who also writes fiction (and occasionally poetry), I’ve found the literary community to be very warm and accepting of newcomers, regardless of their genre, background, or education level. I waited until I had a couple of assigned features to my credit before pitching the story to my editor(s) - and fortunately for me, they loved the idea.

Over the course of my research I met so many wonderful writers and poets who had incredible stories to share. I was frequently moved to tears by the things fellow writers and word-lovers shared with me. They are truly an inspiration and their immense talent makes me proud to be a part of Sacramento’s literary scene. As a poet said at Poetry Unplugged at Luna’s Cafe the night I attended, “You don’t have to go to San Francisco, LA, New York - we have the talent right here.”

While all the interviews and meetings I had played a key role in shaping this story, two of them stand out as being the most emotional and serendipitous:

One afternoon at Central Library, I met with Manya Shorr to talk about the I Street Press Espresso print-on-demand machine, where writers can publish their work as perfect-bound paperback books. As we finished our interview, she asked me if I’d read about Mark Bell, the homeless poet, in the Sacramento Bee. Turned out he was sitting just a few feet away from where we were standing. “He’s really shy, otherwise I would have introduced you,” she said. I sat down at a nearby table and passed him a note telling him what I was working on and that I’d like to chat with him. He responded with a clever note that he’d be happy to speak with me after he took a cigarette break. When Mark returned, we spoke for about 15 minutes on the craft of writing, what inspires him, how he likes to work, and what’s next for him. He shared several poems with me and introduced me to 2 members of his “publishing team”, Larry Fox and Rick Castro. I decided to include Mark’s book, The Hobo Speaks, in the Recommended Reading section of the article.
Though my deadline was fast approaching, I decided to contact Ginger Rutland, daughter of local author Eva Rutland, to talk about the book When We Were Colored. The collection of essays originally written in the 1950s about raising a black family in integrated Sacramento had been republished five years ago and was gaining newfound popularity. When Ginger called me back, she said, “I am really glad you called today, because we just had a meeting with hospice. My mother is probably going to die in the next few hours so this gives me something else to focus on.” I spent the next 25 minutes choking back tears while we talked about the book. Later that night, I spoke with the author’s granddaughter, Eva Fields, about the time she spent with her grandmother promoting the book. We were on the phone for nearly two hours as “Little Eva” told me story after story about her beloved grandma. Eva Rutland died early the following morning.

Many, many thanks to everyone who helped shape this article. Even if you weren’t quoted in print, you still played an important role in making it happen:

Jodi Angel
Kate Asche
Janet Ashmore
Anja Aulenbacher, Sacramento Metropolitan Arts Commission
Maryellen Burns
Lisa Dale, Placer County Library
Lawrence Dinkins, aka NSAA
Eva Fields
Valerie Fioravanti
Laverne and Carol Frith
Jan Haag
Richard Hansen
Andy Jones
Susan Kelly-DeWitt
Terri Kent-Enborg
Christian Kiefer
Art Luna
Janna Marlies Maron
Katie McCleary
Deborah Meltvedt
Brenda Nakamoto
Krystal Owens, El Dorado County Library
Charles Randell
Ginger Rutland
Manya Shorr, Sacramento County Library
Allegra Silberstein
Michael Spurgeon
Sue Staats
Bob Stanley
Diana Zuniga
Bubbles Miguel, Joe Miguel, and the writers at Hart Senior Center’s Life History class
Betty Lou Schultz and the writers at Davis Adult School’s Memoirs class
Joyce Odam, Norma Kohout, and the poets at Hart Senior Center’s Creative Writing & Poetry group
Time Tested Books
Vanessa, Placer School for Adults

Many thanks also to Beth Baugher, who took all the fabulous photos (and tolerated me gushing all over her at the When We Were Colored reading at McClatchy Library, as I didn’t expect to see a photographer for my story at the event) and Miles Harley at Sacramento Magazine for another fantastic layout.

Apr 24 2012 ∞

Sacramento's Prince of Parking

I first spoke with Aaron Zeff, owner of Priority Parking and Harv’s Car Wash, last August as part of the Best of Sacramento list. Harv’s had made the list for installing a free electric car charger. So when my editor assigned me to do a Q & A with Aaron for the April issue of Sacramento Magazine, I was looking forward to speaking with him again as he’s an open, friendly guy who enjoys talking about what he’s doing around town. And he’s a good sport about answering goofy questions.

Many thanks to Aaron for his time and to Annette Chow for a great picture of Aaron on one of The Last Mile’s bikes. She also did the layout for this piece.

Apr 12 2012 ∞

11 “Modern Antiques” Today’s Kids Have Probably Never Seen

I recognize most of these items, or I’m familiar with them in some way. That’s what happens when you’re big into reading and studying pop culture.

Mar 30 2012 ∞

Why Are Legal Pads Yellow?

I love quirky little facts like this one about the origin of legal pads, though they don’t share much factual information about why the pads are yellow.