I know, I know. You crack yourself up. Your friends think you're hilarious. Your column is a must-read, and your books make the perfect gift.
But are you funny enough for the esteemed judges of the 2010 Erma Bombeck Writing Competition? If so, you could be one of four first-prize winners to win $100 and a complimentary registration to our 2010 Erma Bombeck Writers' Workshop, plus the right to to say far and wide, "I won the Erma Bombeck Writing Competition."
Speaking of the workshop, registration opened Dec. 1. As of this writing, we have only 50 spots left, so register today if you plan to come.
We've added another great speaker to the faculty line-up since the last newsletter: Chuck Sambuchino, editor of 2010 Guide to Literary Agents published by Writer's Digest. I've sprinkled in some other bits about our eclectic collection of 2010 workshop faculty ("Faculty office hours..." below).
“If a man watches three football games in a row, he should be declared legally dead.” (Happy new year, all.)
Latest news…
THE HUMAN SIDE OF RAILROADING
Two Michigan librarians are cataloging their collection of truly awful, but real, library titles with very funny results.
NOW THAT'S OLD SCHOOL
In a brief but hilarious video making the rounds on YouTube, a college student brought a typewriter and terrific comic timing to class.
A YEAR TO FORGET
Daniel Kurtzman counts down the dumbest political quotes of 2009.
MACHINE-GENERATED HUMOR?
Think the robots won't take over? One NSF grant to get them writing humor drew raised eyebrows from political commentators. Read it for yourself (PDF format).
'FOR SALE: BABY SHOES, NEVER WORN' (BUT FUNNIER)
Smith Magazine's ongoing compilation of six-word memoirs is a study in economy of language.
HEY HEY HEY
Philadelphia will bestow its prestigious Marian Anderson Award on Bill Cosby in April. Earlier this year, he won the Mark Twain Prize for American Humor.
SURGERY, STUNTS & CHUTZPAH
You don't want to be the doctor of Saralee Perel's husband. In a column offered us as a reprint, she shows why.
Keynoter Bill Scheftanswers questions about comedy, rejection and writing for his boss, David Letterman..
YOU CAN'T SWING A CANVAS BAG AT A FARMER'S MARKET WITHOUT HITTING ONE OF THESE
Just before Christmas, blogger turned book author Christian Lander added item #130 to his ongoing list of Stuff White People Like.
WHAT'S YOUR SUPERPOWER?
Blogger/photographer Karen Walrond revisited this question to announce the upcoming launch of her 52 weekly discussion prompts for 2010. Hers? Seeing beauty in unexpected places.
FROM OBAMA'S INNER CIRCLE TO THE JUNGLES OF PERU
Columnist Tracy Beckerman recounts a year to remember in her 2009 holiday letter.
IN THE CITY, AT LEAST SOMEONE WOULD HEAR HIM SCREAM
Regular Bombeck attendee Rose Valentaasked memoirist Wade Rouse about moving to the woods, his in-progress script and his "idol" (hint, first name Erma).
HUCKLE BUCKLE'S REVENGE
While not copyediting her fourth novel (due out this summer), Katrina Kittle got back to her theater roots by playing Sugar Lee in Hallelujah Girls while staying barely one step ahead of the always unpredictable Huckle Buckle.
MAGIC RESURRECTED
2009 Suzette Martinez Standring, meet 1958 Suzette and see Santa's again through her eyes.
Lorraine Sommerfeld's column "Motherlode" runs Mondays in the Toronto Star and the Hamilton Spectator. Her "My Wheels" column runs each in the Toronto Star's "Wheels" section each Saturday. They're very funny, but like Erma, some of her best writing happens when she steps back from the funny in surprising and graceful ways.
If you'd like to be considered as our featured writer (or you read someone who should be), send an e-mail with writing samples or a link to your Web site.
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Who's publishing what?
WORKSHOP FACULTY
LOVE IS BLIND, BUT ITS NOSE WORKS
Pulitzer Prize winner Connie Schultz, a 2008 keynoter, contemplates the holidays without Gracie.
A POET'S VOICE
Carolyn Howard-Johnson's chapbook, She Wore Emerald, co-written with Aussie Magdalena Ball, was named a finalist for poetry book by USA Book News.
THE BIG DIG
Jerry Zezima had no choice but to dig out during the Christmas snow that hit NYC. His daughter's flight to Paris depended on it.
WORKSHOP ATTENDEES
ARRIVEDERCI, 2009
Mama Mia's in Philly's Italian Market set up a shredder so people could purge the refuse of 2009 in their lives. Rose Valentadropped by to see what got the treatment.
TROPHY WIFE?
Patricia McNamee Rosenberg found she went over the edge restoring her Chicagoland Victorian home. She'll attend her first Bombeck Workshop in April.
OTHER PUBLISHING NEWS
BUT WHY DOES HE HATE THEM?
Barry Parham, author of Why I Hate Straws, had two stories (this and this) named finalists in HumorPress.org's October/November contest.
NEW BLOG
Sarah Maizes, a member of the our Yahoo discussion group, is dealing with her children's three-week vacation from school.
Until you sell your work, you're not a freelance writer. You're just a writer. Read more.
Secrets of the best seller lists
It's all a game, and the cards are stacked in favor of the big New York publishers, who have the money to promote new titles and generate a burst of sales. Read more.
Startling statistics
So you want to write a book. Well, why not? So does about 80 percent of the United States population according to a survey by the Jenkins Group. Read more.
Move over, Grisham...
Author Judy Gruen has some interesting -- and humorous --ideas about how to promote her new book. Read more.
Injecting humor
into your writing
Author Mary Emma Allen shows how to find the humor in everyday life. Read more.
Write brain
closed for business
Tired of having people assume you can write anything, anywhere? Deb DiSandro is, too. Read more.
25 ways to market your book
Connie Corcoran Wilson shares how she promoted her book, "Both Sides Now." Read more.
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2010Workshop
Sponsors
Erma Bombeck
Writers' Workshop
Endowment
created by Ralph and Cindy Price Hamberg in memory of her cousin Brother Tom Price, S.M.
ERMA BOMBECK'S HUMOR STILL LOVED A DECADE AFTER HER DEATH by Jim Hannah, Associated Press
She kept homemakers in stitches with her writing on marriage, kids, dirty dishes and how to hang the toilet paper. Ten years after Erma Bombeck's death, her humor still has an audience. Read more.
ERMA BOMBECK: FROM COPYGIRL TO SUPER HUMOR COLUMNIST
Born in Dayton in 1927, Erma Bombeck began her writing career in junior high school writing columns in "The Owl," the newspaper for Emerson Junior High. Read Time Magazine's 1984 cover story on Erma, "Erma in Bomburbia."And see the cover.
REMEMBERING ERMA BOMBECK by Terry Marotta
It's 10 years now that Erma's been gone. The great humor columnist whose work once appeared in some 900 newspapers died the 22nd of April, 1996, and I for one have never stopped missing her. Read more.
YOU CAN WRITE!
Erma slipped a humorous essay under the office door of Brother Tom Price, a UD English professor who served as faculty adviser to the literary magazine, The Exponent. "He said to me three magic words: `You can write,'" Erma recalled. Read Erma's essay.
ERMA ON WRITING
In an interview with Erma, which was published in the Winter 1991 issue of the University of Dayton Quarterly, Erma explained her writing process. Read more.
EFFIE, ERMA'S
ROYAL PORTABLE
Erma wrote using a typewriter for her entire career. While attending the University of Dayton, Erma used a Royal portable that she affectionately called, "Effie." Read more.
'SCUSE ME WHILE
I BAKE A PIE
Jimi Hendrix played at Woodstock. Erma Bombeck cooked with chicken stock. Jimi set his guitar on fire. Erma set a few roasts on fire. The similarities are endless. Read more.
MERRY WIVES AND OTHERS
So, you hated history in high school. This history of domestic humor writing will pique your interest. It includes many speakers from past Erma Bombeck Writers' Workshop, including Art Buchwald, P.S. Wall and Liz Carpenter.Read more.
