Slate and Style
Winter, 2019 
Phone: (940(249-2517 Call with questions or suggestions
Email: S_And_S@nfbnet.org 
NFB Web Site: http://www.writers.nfb.org 
Twitter: @nfbwd 
Shelley Alongi, Editor
Poetry Editor: Barbara Hammel
Format Editor: Chelsea Cook 

Table of Contents 
Editor's Musings, Shelley J Alongi
Presidential Bell Notes, Shelley J Alongi 
Tips for More Productive Writing Sessions at Home, Pat Olsen 
Thoughts on Grand Parenting David C. Russell 
Why I Write, Shawn Jacobson
The Queen of Bells Writes Again Shelley J. Alongi
NFB 2020 Writing Contest Guidelines 
Reading Room, Chelsea Cook 
Member Profile, Chelsea Cook
Writers' Resource, Shelley J Alongi
Slate and Style Submission Guidelines
Join the Division
***
Editor's Musings 
Bringing this issue together has been an educational time. Learning why people write is always enlightening to me because I like to know just a little bit about how people bring ideas together. Beginning with this issue we will be featuring articles from our board members and officers. the current board and officers serve for one more year and then elections are held in 2021. I think it is important for all of you to know who is at the head of the division and so get ready for some revealing articles. Each board member and officer next year will be introducing themselves to you and we'll start this issue with Shelley Alongi and Shawn Jacobson. What do most people remember about Shelley? Why does Shawn write? 
Chelsea Cook your format editor is featured in this issue's Reading Room column. We learn of her interest in Darkness Shows the Stars and since her book review is featured she is also part of our membership profile with her interest and involvement in the Denver poetry community. Grandparents, how to write at home without distraction all find their way into this last issue of 2019.

We are hopeful that your holiday season was a merry one. Christmas will feature company at the Queen's Castle and Prince will probably decide outside will be the place for him. He does like to see if he will enjoy leftovers. He knows he's entitled to them. His brother was unfortunately lost to an incident with a car in October but we know he's watching from across the Rainbow Bridge. This issue is dedicated to Pilot's memory. I'm sure he would approve. 
Happy New Year from all of us to all of you! 
***
Presidential Bell Notes 
2019 was a good year for the Writers' Division. We had a successful writing contest, we added new members and started working on the goal of having a meeting in July of 2020 in Houston, Texas at the NFB National Convention. We hope you will join us in 2020. 
Some of our goals for 2020 are to start the process of finding out how to enlighten self-publishing companies in making their publishing platforms accessible to blind users. We are investigating now and do not expect to have a solution by the end of the year. We will look into efforts being made and efforts that should be made. How do we get there from here?
Our other idea for 2020 is to start collecting work for an anthology to be published in 2021. The biggest thing is to start collecting work. If you have work you'd like to consider for the anthology please send inquiries to S-and-S@nfbnet.org or Queenofbells@outlook.com. There will be plenty of work to go around with our goal being to help you write your best. 
The next event we have is our 2020 writing Contest. get your adult fiction, nonfiction and poetry pieces ready for submission. The NFB Writers' Division contest opens on January 1 2020 and closes on April 30, 2020. The winners will be announced at our meeting at national convention in Houston, Texas. We will let you know when and where our division meeting will take place. 
Special interest this year will focus on our youth contest. We want the next generations to be proficient in Braille and also to know we are a division and we exist for them. So pass this information along to the schools for the blind in your area or the places you know where blind and sighted children come together. Consult a later section in this issue for the contest guidelines and pass them along freely. And best of all good luck to all entrants. It takes work to craft a good contest entry. We acknowledge the work it takes to put your best foot forward. We always appreciate hard and rewarding work. 

Keep writing and dreaming! If we can borrow a phrase and adapt it Go Live the Writing Life you Want.  
***
Tips for more productive writing sessions at home
(Editor's Note: This article is taken from Writermag.com. 
Pat Olsen is a frequent contributor to the New York Times Sunday Business section. Her work has also appeared in Hemispheres, Diversity Woman, USA WEEKEND, and Family Business, among others. Want more writing articles like this one?
Sign up for our newsletter to receive FREE articles, publishing tips, writing advice, and more delivered to your inbox once a week.

For more articles like this one or to investigate further, go to http://www.writermag.com. 

Working from home means working in a place of constant distractions, imposed by both ourselves and others. Here's how to block them out. Pat Olsen | Published: August 21, 2017

When my husband walks in the door from a bike ride eager to talk, I look up from my computer screen and make eye contact. I'm trying to be polite, but truthfully, my brain is focused on what I was writing. Even so, when he finishes talking and I turn back to the screen, my train of thought has left the station.
Like many of us, prolific essayist and author Phillip Lopate has also had a family member sidetrack him while he was writing. When she was young, his daughter would regularly enter his home office, Lopate says.
"She had a hard time understanding that I was actually working. I would spin her around in my ergonomic chair and play with her a bit before shooing her away," he recalls.
Hope Edelman, author of the groundbreaking Motherless Daughters, had two young daughters wanting her attention for a few years.
"If my daughters saw me working at the kitchen table in the evening, they'd just start talking to me as if I weren't engaged in something else," she remembers.
At the time, Edelman was usually working on short pieces and simply told her daughters she'd be able to talk in a few minutes. "Once everyone understood that, things began to go more smoothly," she notes.
Blocking out distractions when you write
Interruptions and distractions are the bane of writers who work at home. There are few things worse than being in the zone and hearing a shutter banging, a cricket chirping, a phone ringing, a fly buzzing near your ear...and so forth. Waiting for a delivery or repair person can also be a distraction, and so can aches and pains. And that's not to mention how writers self-sabotage when they feel compelled to check email or Facebook or Instagram or Twitter or a favorite news site.
How can writers reduce or manage these challenges and maintain their focus?
If an adult, such as a spouse, interrupts you frequently, feigning politeness like I do serves no purpose. I lose my mental placeholder and haven't digested what my husband says anyway. If you've been doing this, bite the bullet and explain there are times you really need to concentrate. Perhaps agree that you'll stick a Post-it® on your laptop to serve as Do Not Disturb sign when you need to focus intensely.
For other distractions, a number of writers find that a white noise machine in the background helps. In addition, in a New York Times article on the science of concentration, science writer Winifred Gallagher (author of Rapt: Attention and the Focused Life) offers a frequently cited method: Do your most important task early in the day for the best focus.
Productivity specialist Peggy Duncan (of PersonalProductivityExpert.com) suggests that you will yourself not to be distracted; just slog through and complete a first draft. "Remove your glasses if you wear them so you can't see what you type," she advises (and she's serious). Duncan also suggests that writers be realistic about their most productive writing hours. As opposed to Gallagher, she holds that for some writers, morning may not be the best time to write. You may need to stick to the household schedule when you write at home, working around responsibilities. It may help your focus to find blocks of time to write, she notes. Gallagher says coffee helps, too, according to research.
As the grandson of A Wrinkle in Time author Madeleine L'Engle, Edward Jones, a meditation and yoga teacher studying to be a psychoanalyst, knows something about writers' lifestyles. "The distractions you're in charge of are relatively easy to adjust," he says. "Turn off the phone and set up software that blocks you from using social media for a proscribed amount of time," he suggests. Remember: you're making a choice when you place your cell phone near you to answer texts, for example. You're adding to your challenges.
Finding focus
While it's not an instant fix, meditation is often recommended as a tool to improve focus. A sitting meditation practice has the practical benefit of teaching — or imparting — impulse control, Jones explains. (The technique entails finding a comfortable, stable seat, and sitting traditionally cross-legged, which you can do pretty much anywhere.) He likes the Tibetan Buddhist technique Shamatha, which "invites us to confront our impulses and more skillfully decide how to respond," he says.
"Further," Jones continues, "when we sit still and observe the movement of our breath, it doesn't take long for the mind to seek something, anything, more entertaining. This could be a temptation as obvious as checking our email or as subtle as scratching our nose. When these impulses arise, the technique asks us to acknowledge the urge to leave what we are doing, to label it 'thinking1' and then return our attention to the movement of breath." That's how we begin to strengthen our ability to keep the mind in one place.
"It's natural for the mind to wander, and reverie and free association can be potent instruments of the creative process. So it may be an interesting balancing act for a writer to harness this restless quality of the mind without allowing it to derail productivity," Jones notes.
In a follow-up blog post to the New York Times article, Gallagher also endorses meditation: "The easiest way to train your focus up a notch is a daily attentional workout, most of which are based on single-pointed meditation [rather than examining all details of what you're focusing on]. Research shows that people who adopt such a practice improve their ability to concentrate in daily life."
Or try giving into the distraction and taking a break, like Lopate. Today he has a cat that plops near his keyboard or walks across it, and he stops and pets her before rearranging her on his desk. One of my writer friends takes his dog into the yard for a few minutes of play.
As for me, I need to take my own advice about the Post-it® idea and tell my husband if he sees it on my laptop, to hold onto highlights of his bike ride. I'll listen as soon as I can.
***
Thoughts On Grand Parenting
David C. Russell

My status as grandparent began in the pediatric ward of Port Huron Hospital at about 4:05 p.m. on September 29, 2011. Our daughter had been in labor for several hours, and her daughter received medical aid to enter the good old world in the comfort of the hospital room. Outside, the day was mostly cloudy with intermittent periods of light precipitation. I held her tiny hand shortly after her birth and said a prayer for her entire life.

Today, nearly eight years later, my wife and I have three grandchildren. The youngest is a grandson born in late July, our above mentioned granddaughter, and her half-sister, age three in early October. Our grandson lives with his parents out of state, but our second granddaughter may meet him over Thanksgiving holiday time if they make the trip north to Michigan. He and Willow met when we went to visit in late summer. She let the adults change his diaper.

My two favorite memories are from playtimes with Willow when she was nearly age three. We were playing make-believe family, and I was assigned the role of younger brother. On one occasion she told me, "Pa, when I grow up, I want to get married and be a police woman." I have been "Pa" since she could talk, and my wife, "Granny."

A second memory is more recent. She has figured out how to earn money in easy fashion: "Pa, if you use a bad word from now on, you owe me $1.00 for each time you swear."
I humored her so she could have $4.00 to buy something of her choosing when we went to the store. Not much time passed and the price went up to $2.00 for each occasion. Yes, she is nearly eight-years-old.

Her life has been different from that which I lived when I was a child. She is part of the 50 percent in the US who experience parents divorcing, re-marriage, having two dads and a half-sibling. She loves and associates with a diverse group of people, or so it seems. However, the adult people in her life are more selective about associating with one another. So, her experience of family is shaped different and her normal is different from that of the 50 percent who have one continuous family unit.

Granny and Willow are very close. She has volunteered on occasion at the school Willow attends to aid with classroom projects during her first grade and second grade years. I have had the opportunity to child sit on occasion, and used to put my computer on Tom and Gerry cartoons when she was in kindergarten. Now, she is into the Food Network program, Chopped. The TV becomes one source of entertainment when visiting, and she picks the shows we view.

At present, Willow reminds me of my son and daughter when they were her age in that their world included any meals eaten out occur at McDonald's restaurant. She will express her pleasure or displeasure at something and not hold back her opinion. Advocacy is one of her many strengths along with caring, dancing, swimming, sleeping in, and academics that are above average.

Our grandson and second granddaughter are at different degrees of independence based on age. I am nearly certain that they will in some fashion use Willow's example to form their own temperaments and reactions to life. The adolescent years, usually challenging, will be an adventure for us to observe and share when that time arrives. 

Grandchildren keep us young, may increase our hair turning color out of concern for them, but are full of surprises, too, when we and they have each other's undivided attention and focus.
I submit to you one certainty that is quite apparent: There is nothing like grand parenting.

[David C. Russell is semi-retired, musician and short story writer and blogger. He is blind since infancy, and enjoys swimming, walks, card games, reading and some TV sports.
He has stories published in New Authors Journal by Mario Farina, (Spring, Summer, Fall 2019) available by journal title from amazon.com] in paperback format only.
***
Why I Write?
Shawn Jacobson

The first Holy book I read, the first book to pour the molten spirit of wonder into my soul, was The Witches of Karres. I received the book in the mail one otherwise boring late summer day in 1971. I drank deeply of the spoken words as a thirsty man might gulp down water. I read the book four times in four days reading late into the night in my bedroom. I played record after record until everyone else in the house went to sleep and beyond.
I share this with you because this was a pivotal time in my reading life, a station in my journey to becoming a writer. However, it was far from my first experience with books. My first experience with the written word was going to the Marshalltown public library, a magnificent building of high ceilings and sweeping staircases, with my grandmother. She would pick out books, ten at a time, and read them to me over the next week. I would look at the pictures as she read, and I would always be surprised and disappointed when we were finished.
My first experience with a library having blindness-friendly books was a trip to the Iowa Commission for the Blind in Des Moines. There, I saw talking books, rack upon rack of them. Each rack towered over my head. Stairs led up and down to other floors full of bookshelves. These were the days when talking books were on large records that played at normal phonograph speed, and the cases containing the books were huge, black, and buckled together with black straps.
Eventually, as I read, I gravitated to science fiction. Its wonder and its sense of adventure were a refuge for me once I reached the Iowa School for the Blind. I had been an only child and was over-protected, or spoiled, depending on your point of view. Suddenly, I was thrown in with a bunch of other boys: some older, many more experienced, and none inclined to see me as the center of the universe. I remember throwing a lot of tantrums and getting the reputation as a crybaby, a bad thing in the pre-therapy age I grew up in. As a result, I learned to treasure my own company and any means of escape from my life I could find. Stories of rockets and other worlds served as an escape from a world I wanted no part of.
I did read other books. In those days, there was not enough science fiction being recorded to fill my reading time. One book I remember was Run to Daylight. I had a schoolmate who was a raved Packer fan, and a bunch of us students would pile into his room after school to hear the book on his talking-book machine. These reading sessions inspired some ill-advised football matches in the play area behind the boys' dormitory. These games came to an abrupt halt when one of my schoolmates got injured.
And there were other books. I read Catcher in the Rye for all the dirty words before I read it for three different English classes. I read some westerns because the West fascinated me.  I read a lot of nonfiction works in order to satisfy my curiosity about the world. And, of course, I read Follow My Leader, though I found the blind protagonist's life quite different from mine. But then, I would always return to stories of great expanses of space, my favorite experience with Braille was reading Have Spacesuit Will Travel.
Eventually, I left the Vinton school and started on a whole new set of adventures. I remember reading Will, G. Gordan Liddy's bizarre autobiography. I remember reading Atlas Shrugged and finding that it resonated with my feelings of deep alienation. My bad attitude towards the old Braille school led me to explore Libertarian writings and other political philosophy that encouraged individualism.  
College also featured adventures in religion. I toyed with Wicca until I found that the wicked experience had little to do with the wonder I'd seen in the books of my childhood. I also entertained Mormon missionaries and explored their beliefs, though I had not attained the level of maturity needed to make a commitment. Eventually, I gravitated to a Lutheran church that was across the parking lot from the graduate dormitory at Iowa State University.
After graduation, I moved from the college life to the work world. My reading decreased as I faced the challenges of work, family, and a new part of the country to call home. Yet, in due time, I returned to books.
One night I read Ingathering, the complete people stories of Zenna Henderson and I felt the presence of a higher power calling me through the words. The spirit called to my inner self in its own divine language. To translate this into English would be no more possible than it would be possible to translate the works of Shakespeare into COBOL, or some other language for machines. Yet this I can say, atheism, and paganism, were no longer options for my life.
And I felt compelled to write. I write because the spirit of wonder calls to be passed along, to be shared. I do believe that whatever higher power rules such things commissions some to put this spirit into words, to pass it along to whoever is meant to read, and to be touched by such words.
And so, what is it that I enjoy writing? I most enjoy writing stories in which vastly different creatures, humans and others, try to reach out to each other, to communicate and share. I think I like such stories because I have always felt myself to be something of an alien in my own world. Furthermore, I feel that such stories fit the calling which led me to write in the first place. After all, if we are to love the higher power, we must be willing to love beings very different from ourselves.
I also like to write stories in which wonder and strangeness break into our world. So I write science fiction stories set in bowling allies, where I spend much of my childhood. I also wrote a story in which the alien reaches out to us in a bingo hall. I look forward to writing a story in which the wondrous reaches out to a protagonist working on a latch-hook rug; my wife got me into the hobby when we adopted our daughter from China. To me, tales of wonder set in the commonplace of our lives have a special meaning.
And I like to write about travel. My grandparents, and later my wife, blessed me with the opportunity to travel all over the United States and abroad. And so, especially in my poetic writings, I try to pass this blessing along to whoever wants whatever joy in wandering that I can provide. So, at this opportunity to take stock of my life with books, I ask myself what I hold dear. I still remember with fondness The Witches of Karres, though I've not read the book in 35 years. I also cherish Zenna Henderson's people as brothers and sisters from another planet; they call me to anticipate the wonders that are to come. And I also read outside of the realm of science fiction; you will see me reading books about sports, politics, and the old west from time to time.
As I continue my writing journey, I look forward to plumbing the expanses of wonder in what I read and in what I write. I hope I can pass this along to anyone wanting to start their own journey into the future.
[Shawn serves as Treasurer for the Writer's Division.]
***
The Queen of Bells Writes Again
Shelley J. Alongi 
If you look closely at the alternate email on the magazine head or any other document that bears my name as a Writers' Division participant you will find that it is Queenofbells. You might wonder why in the world I am known as the Queen of Bells. If there were a picture of me on the cover of this magazine or somewhere within the site you would see a railroad lanyard that was given to me by the Wichita Falls Railroad Museum and on it you would see railroad keys and any number of bells. The bells will change from time to time so it's hard to say how many may be on it at one time. Usually there are two bells I bought from a Harley Davidson store here, a couple of bells used in religious rituals, Buddha bells someone called them, and some small silver bells. From time to time there might be a sleigh bell on the necklace. This necklace usually follows me everywhere. It is part of what makes me me, I suppose. I try not to be annoying but most people know when I'm in the room even if they can't see me whether they're looking or not. Bells are part of my makeup and probably have been since I was a child, it is only in the last twenty or so years that I've made them a part of my character. When I briefly led a Christian contemporary band that was half rock, half something else, bells became my moniker and I never gave them up even after we disbanded. They have followed me since the late 1990s when all this happened. So you might see that this year's Presidential column is called "Presidential Bell Notes". That name stems from my twenty-year assumption of bells as part of what people remember about me. 
Some people ask me if I wear bells so I know where I am. NO, I say, I just wear them because I like them. My intent with them is to make a cheerful entrance anywhere I go. I'm basically a cheerful person, my favorite color is red, and my Facebook page says I love bells, Christ and cats and not necessarily in that order. So bells have just become a part of me. If you look on my http://www.lulu.com page it features a picture of me with bells. I was not wearing that particular necklace at the time, but I was on the Jungle Cruise at Disneyland and there are definitely bells in the picture. 
You might wonder do bells make it into my writing? No. Not yet anyway. Do I want bells on my cat? No. I will let Prince have his privacy. He does like to ring the bells on the back door when he wants out of the house. Bells are a big makeup of the decor in my house and he (like a former cat I had) learned how to ring them. We haven't put bells on any of my book covers yet. I'm sure that will happen, someday. 
There are many things to remember about me. I have a music degree, I've had some very interesting experiences in my life, I've been halfway across country by train, I've been to New York and everywhere in between, I helped build a church in Bay St. Louis, Mississippi after Katrina, but the thing that people remember about me the most is the bells. 
So, the Queen of Bells will sign off for now with her famous email signature and write or cook or sing or direct a choir or play a piano or read a book, or simply get some sleep. So here's to all of our writing dreams and accomplishments. Queen of Bells Out! 
[Shelley serves as Writers' Division President. She has served as vice president and board member. She has published three novels, one collection of poems and a short story in three parts. You can purchase books from Apple Books, Amazon, or Lulu.com] 
***
2020 National Federation of the Blind Writers' Division Contest Guidelines
2020 WRITING CONTEST GUIDELINES

The annual youth and adult writing contests sponsored by the NFB Writers' Division will open January 1st and close April 30th for all aspiring writers whether blind, sighted or visually impaired. 

Adult contest categories are: short Fiction, nonfiction including personal essay and memoir, and poetry.

Youth contest categories are: Short fiction and poetry. The youth contest is divided into three groups, determined by grade level — elementary, 1st through 4th grade, middle, 5th through 8th grade, and high school 9th through 12th grade. 
As always, in both adult and youth contests, there may be up to three prize winners (1st, 2nd, 3rd), and one or more receiving honorable mention. Additionally, a prize winning entry may be published within the Writers' Division's magazine, Slate & Style. 
All contest winners will be announced during the national convention held from July 14 to July 19 in Houston, Texas. 

PRIZES 
** Youth contest winners will receive cash and prizes up to $30 for 1st place, $20 for 2nd place, and $10 for 3rd place. 
** Adult contest winners will receive cash and prizes up to $75 for 1st place, $50 for 2nd place, and $25 for 3rd place. 

SUBMISSION GUIDELINES

YOUTH CONTESTS
** This is a contest for students who use Braille. 
** If you are 18 years old, or older, you must enter the adult contest.
** Entries must be submitted in hand embossed Braille, either with a slate and stylus or Perkins Braille writer, and there are no exceptions.
** Submissions must be Brailed by the entrant. 
** All submissions, no matter your grade level, must be in contracted Braille. Let us know if you "know" or are "learning" contracted Braille. Additionally, let us know if you have chosen to use UEB, or not.
** Each entrant must provide an identical electronic copy of the cover letter and contest entry as a Microsoft Word file [doc] or as a Rich Text Format [rtf] file).
** Attach the electronic copies to an email and send them to Shelley Alongi, Queenofbells@outlook.com. 
** Send your hardcopy Braille and cover letter to:
Chelsea Cook
901 Englewood Parkway, Apt. J304, Englewood, CO  80110 

COVER LETTER 
Entries must be accompanied by a cover letter containing the following information for each entrant:
** Your name, mailing address, phone number, and e-mail address. 
** List the titles of all submissions, including the category in which they are being entered.
** List your school and grade level.

ENTRY REQUIREMENTS
** We will consider only unpublished original entries. Please do not submit entries that have been previously submitted on a web site or blog. 
** Youth short fiction stories submissions cannot be more than 1,000 words, and poetry of no more than 50 lines. 
** Authors of either poetry or fiction are encouraged to submit multiple pieces.

Youth ENTRY FEES — None

Are you the best brailler in the contest? Be sure to double check your work for spelling and grammatical errors. Remember to use Braille paper so the Braille is easy to read. Good luck!

ADULT CONTEST
** This contest is for everyone 18 years old, or older. One need not be blind to enter.
** We will consider only unpublished original entries. Please do not submit entries that have been published on a website or blog.  
** Fiction and nonfiction categories can be of any main stream genre, and cannot exceed 3,000 words. 
** Poetry: We will accept poetry of any length 
** Authors of either poetry and/or prose are encouraged to submit multiple pieces.
** Adults are required to submit all poetry, fiction and nonfiction as attachments to an E-mail message. 
** The attachments must be in either Microsoft Word (doc) or Rich Text Format (rtf). 
** Fiction and nonfiction should be written in a normal prose style, with paragraphs being left justified, lines being single spaced, and having a 14 point font of Aerial, regular. 
** Be sure to double check your work for spelling and grammatical errors
** No hard copy submissions will be accepted.

COVER LETTER 
Along with your entry or entries, include a cover letter providing the following information: 
** Your name, mailing address, phone number, and e-mail address. 
** List the titles of all submissions, including the category in which they are being entered.
** State your method of payment for the entry fee (check or PayPal). 
** Finally, the cover letter could be your e-mail message, or a separate document attached along with your submissions.

CONTEST ENTRY FEES PAYMENT AND METHODS
Adult Fees: 
** The fee for each short story is $15.00 for members and $20.00 for non-members.
** The fee for each nonfiction entry is $15.00 for members and $20.00 for non-members.   
** The base fee for poetry will cover up to three poems, if the combined line-count of all three pieces does not exceed 108 lines — additional poems require a second fee, following the same fee payment scheme. Base fees are $15.00 for members and $20.00 for non-members.

PAYMENT
** You may use PayPal from the Writers' Division website, http://writers.nfb.org
** Alternatively, you may mail a check made out to NFB Writers' Division, with a note in the memo line relating to the contest. Send to:

Shawn Jacobson
19541 Olney Mill Rd.
Olney, MD 20832.

** E-mail submissions should be sent to Shelley Alongi Queenofbells@outlook.com.  

****We look forward to seeing your words. ****
***
Reading Room 
For Darkness Shows the Stars   
Chelsea Cook   
Do you like dystopian fiction? What about retellings of classic literature? How about a dash of romance in your stories? Or do you prefer the symbolism of navigational nautical elements and a backstory told in love letters? If you answered "Yes!" to all or even just one of these questions, you will no doubt enjoy Diana Peterfreund's "For Darkness Shows the Stars." This coming of-age novel, which is available from BARD, Bookshare, Apple Books, and Kindle, has multiple literary elements in it. It is set in a post-apocalyptic future where humans are starting over after a catastrophic event, though the story takes place several generations after the incident. There are class divisions, too: the Luddites, who rule over the Reduced laborers; the simple-minded Reduced laborers, and the Posts, a generation removed from the Reduced. Like their name suggests, the Luddites in general abhor technology, and so live and run their lives based on a nineteenth-century American plantation model. Elliot North, one of the protagonists, is a Luddite lord who runs her father's large estate, managing the farm and division of labor after her mother's death. The Post son of one of her laborers, Kai, is the other protagonist, and is close to Elliot's age. This is not just a story of, "Boy meets girl, boy leaves girl for an unknown future, boy comes back to girl four years later," though that is how it starts. If you have read Jane Austen's Persuasion, this plot may sound familiar to you. Indeed, Diana Peterfreund states up-front that this is a modern retelling, but don't let the ivory tower of classic literature deter you; I haven't read Persuasion, and enjoyed this book immensely! Watching Elliot struggle in a changing world around her (where the ways of the new are encroaching upon the traditions of the old), I laughed, I cried, there were even a few moments where I cheered wholeheartedly. Did I mention that this book has women empowerment, too? And, no matter how many times I read the climactic ending, I still need a box of tissues. Every, single, time.
So, no matter what style of literature you like, this novel has elements of many genres, from science fiction to mythology to adventure. It is aimed at a young adult audience, so it is a quick read, but there is nothing simple about this piece of art; indeed, the multifaceted complexity is one of the novel's greatest strengths. At the end of it, I had the satisfaction of having many emotions evoked, and I strive for this kind of reaction in my own writing. Go read this because it is a good book! But also go read it because it will inspire you as a writer! It did for me.
***
Member Profile
This issue's member profile is Chelsea Cook. Chelsea serves as Second Vice President of the Writers' Division. In her piece she talks about the Denver poetry community and how she is involved with it. 
***
Writers' Resource

The Launch Pad Competitions

According to their web site you don't need to have a completed manuscript, only an idea. There are several deadlines and several competitions you can enter. Some of the 2019 deadlines have passed, but there is an upcoming entry date in January. This does require some money but if you're ready or want to take a chance give them a looksee. It could be a worthwhile investment.
https://tblaunchpad.com/manuscript/?utm_source=thewriter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=manuscript

Bookshare Accepts your Work
Have you written a book lately? Bookshare will put your book on their free library if you sign up, accept their terms and submit your work. Once you have submitted one work it is usually easy to submit others. Please consult Bookshare.org for updated guidelines. 

The Writer magazine hosts an information web site for their articles and information pertaining to all facets of the writing life. Sign up to receive their email every two weeks. For more information go to http://www.writermag.com. 
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[This column is for informational purposes. Passing along information doesn't mean we always endorse the resource. This column is meant to give you ideas about what kinds of writing opportunities are out there. If you have found a particular book or Internet resource or other writing resource helpful, please share it with us. Send your entries to S-and-S@nfbnet.org. Or you can send it to Queenofbells@outlook.com] 
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Submission GUIDELINES for SLATE AND STYLE

Here are the guidelines for Slate and Style
They include submission deadlines, contact information, requirements for your bio and cover letter, general information and word counts for genres. Enjoy. 

Submission Dates 
Spring Issue: March 21st---Submissions close February 28th
Summer issue: June 21st---Submissions close May 31st
Fall issue: September 23rd----Submissions close September 2nd
Winter issue: December 21st---Submissions close November 30th

Please read through all the guidelines carefully. Submissions that do not follow these guidelines may not be considered for Slate & Style. 

Submission guidelines are as follows:
Length requirements are: articles, 1500 words or less, fiction and memoir/personal essay, 4000 words or less, book reviews, 1000 words or less, poetry, 36 lines or less.

Again, send ALL submissions as email attachments no matter the genre. Include a cover letter along with your submissions with author's name, title of piece (s) and contact info-phone, email and address included. Also include a bio with your submission (s). Your bio should be no more than 150 words. Do not send an entire history, just include key items you feel are important for readers to know. Send as an attachment as well. More than one submission is allowed per email but do list all submissions in the required cover letter. 

Send submissions to s-and-s@nfbnet.org 

In the subject line of your email, write: Slate & Style submission, your name, and number of submissions. Example: "Slate & Style submission, Myrna Badgerow, 3 submissions".

Use Microsoft Word or create an RTF document for all submissions. No other formats are accepted, and therefore will not be considered. 

Proofread and check your grammar and formatting before submitting. 

Slate & Style will consider all submissions for publication. However, please be careful with graphic sexual and violent content as well as language and anti-religious, anti-gender, anti-racial and anti-homosexual orientation content. Characterization and plot often require this type of material, but it must serve a purpose. Gratuitous material with no purpose or meant only for derogatory reasons, will not be considered. Material will be published according to the discretion of the editing staff.

Please direct questions and comments to the email address listed above for submissions, in your subject line, please include your name and simply write: "QUESTION". Then write your question in the body of the email.

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Join the Division

Join a group of creative, active writers involved in all aspects of writing: educational reviews, poetry, short stories and novels. We have writers in all phases of the craft. We have some who enter contests, some who self-publish, and some who have worked with mainstream publishers. We are always looking for writers with new ideas. 

It's only $10 to join. Pay online by going to http://writers.nfb.org/index.html and clicking on the button that says pay pal. If you're new to a screen reader, you can search for the word pay on the site till you find pay pal and then click on that button. The pay pal information encourages donations, but this link can also be used to pay dues.

The End.