Poetry Fishbowl on Tuesday, October 1
This is an advance announcement for the Tuesday, October 1, 2024 Poetry Fishbowl. This time the theme will be "Cryptids." I'll be soliciting ideas for cryptids, primal soups, centaurs, chimerae, mystic shifters, other shapeshifters, winged people, invisible or undetectable creatures, superheroes, supervillains, mad scientists, Frankenstein's creature, gengineers, artists, crafters, synaesthetes, activists, volunteers, the tzadikim nistarim ("hidden righteous ones"), supposedly-but-not-really-extinct species, alien or fantasy races, other hidden creatures, searching for cryptids, documenting cryptids, mythmaking and storytelling, gengineering, creating composite creatures, escaping from captivity, dealing with disbelief, making cross-species friendships, riding on someone's back, flying, changing shape, coping with differences, seeing a different spectrum, hearing higher or lower, echolocating, using mystical senses, inventing a new art or craft, discovering things, improvising, adapting, cooperating, bartering, sharing, fixing what's broke, changing the world, accomplishing the impossible, cryptid lairs, global cryptid territories, North American cryptid territories, extremely local cryptid territories, inaccessible places, remote places, extreme travel destinations, harsh habitats, less-explored corners, laboratories, supervillain lairs, mysterious islands, the forest primeval, forbidding wastelands, museums, libraries, universities, art schools, art classrooms, arts and crafts studios, artist colonies, arts and crafts farms, street fairs, Triton Teen Centers, community centers, intentional communities, Thalassia, the Maldives, Romania / Transylvania, the High North, makerspaces, circus towns, circuses, historic freak shows, roadside zoos, sensory rooms, other places frequented by cryptids or people interested in them, cryptozoology equipment, physical evidence, circumstantial evidence, photography or film, myths and legends, heraldic imagery, tattoos of cryptids, relics like a unicorn horn cup or wand, unique works of art or craft, gizmos or super-gizmos that nobody else can duplicate, touch-mapping, scent-tracking, perfect pitch, echolocation, darkvision, Second Sight, subtle senses, enhanced senses, perspective manipulation, perception manipulation, danger sense, structure sense, senses based on superpowers (like Shiv's metal-sense), discreet superpowers. animal senses, art lessons and programs, folk arts and crafts, tactile art, zetetic arts and crafts supplies, diversity, inclusivity, adaptive equipment, trial and error, teamwork, found family, complementary strengths and weaknesses, personal growth, and poetic forms in particular.
Cryptids are lifeforms whose current existence is disputed. These may include:
* species widely believed to be extinct, but some people believe they survive
* species for whom records and evidence exists, but is disputed and/or incomplete
* species reported only once by scientists, but never replicated by other scientists
* possibly new species that may have evolved from previous species, often with odd new traits
* lifeforms said to have exceptional camouflage or evasion, making them hard to document
* lifeforms that have been reported but not confirmed, with varying amounts of evidence
* lifeforms of myth and legend, which some people believe may have a basis in fact
Cryptozoology is the study of mysterious animal species; cryptobotany is the study of mysterious plant species; cryptobiology covers both. See the "-ology" in there? It means "science of." These can all be practiced using scientific methods and scientific tools, as valid sciences. They can also be practiced as flaky nonsense. It depends entirely on the methods and tools used to study cryptids. The fact that a goodly number of cryptids have been confirmed disproves the premise that all cryptobiology is non-scientific. There's a whole branch based on the extant/extinct issue; see "Extinct or Alive."
Cryptozoology Cryptids
List of Cryptids -- Cryptid Wiki
Among my more relevant series for the main theme:
Clay of Life includes Yossele the Golem.
Fledgling Grace has people touched with angelic or demonic features like wings, and often a greater sense of the numinous.
Frankenstein's Family includes Adam, werewolves, vampires, and mummies.
Monster House contains characters, human and nonhuman, with different shapes and origins.
The Moon Door features werewolves.
Not Quite Kansas involves various angels and demons, some of them shapeshifters.
Peculiar Obligations has a lot more megafauna that survived the Pleistocene extinctions. Galloping crocodiles, anyone?
Polychrome Heroics has various characters and locations relating to composites, notably primal soups, mystic shifters, and victims of mad science. Many superpowers feature enhanced senses or whole different senses. Officer Pink has mystic shifters and centaurs.
Quixotic Ideas incluees many mythical beasts.
Schrodinger's Heroes could turn up pretty much anything you can imagine.
Or you can ask for something new.
If you link to the Poetry Fishbowl, you can request a link from any open linkback poem.
If you're interested, mark the date on your calendar, and please hold actual prompts until the "Poetry Fishbowl Open" post next week. (If you're not available that day, or you live in a time zone that makes it hard to reach me, you can leave advance prompts. I am now.) Meanwhile, if you want to help with promotion, please feel free to link back here or repost this on your blog.
Writing is usually considered a solitary pursuit. One exception to this is a fascinating exercise called a "fishbowl." This has various forms, but all of them basically involve some kind of writing in public, usually with interaction between author and audience. A famous example is Harlan Ellison's series of "stories under glass" in which he sits in a bookstore window and writes a new story based on an idea that someone gives him. Writing classes sometimes include a version where students watch each other write, often with students calling out suggestions which are chalked up on the blackboard for those writing to use as inspiration.
I'm going to host a Poetry Fishbowl on my blog on Tuesday, October 1. I'll be soliciting ideas for thematic characters, plots, settings, objects, and poetic forms in particular. Chances are I'll spend a good chunk of the day, from afternoon to evening or more, alternating between this site and doing stuff offline so my back doesn't weld itself to the chair.
Perks: I will post at least one of the resulting fishbowl poems on the blog for everyone to enjoy, and an extra one if there's at least one new prompter or donor. The rest will be available for audience members to buy, and whatever's left over will go into my archive for magazine submission.
If donations total $100 then you get a free $15 poem; $150 gets you a free $20 poem; and $200 gets you a free epic, posted after the Poetry Fishbowl. These will usually be series poems if I have them; otherwise I may offer non-series poems or series poems in a different size. If donations reach $250, you get one step toward a bonus fishbowl; four of these activates the perk, and they don't have to be four months in a row. Everyone will get to vote on which series, and give prompts during the extra fishbowl, although it may be a half-day rather than a whole day. If donations reach $300, there will be a half-price sale in one series.
I want to promote linkbacks pointing people to the "Fishbowl Open" post on Tuesday. One person can do multiple links if they're on different services, like Twitter or LiveJournal, rather than all on Dreamwidth.
(See the complete list of current perks.)
If you enjoy my poetry -- or if you just love poetry in general, or want to promote interest in obscure lifeforms -- please mark the fishbowl date on your calendar. Drop by and give me some ideas, comment on the posted poetry, encourage people to come look, whatever tickles your fancy. I hope to see you then!
Cryptids are lifeforms whose current existence is disputed. These may include:
* species widely believed to be extinct, but some people believe they survive
* species for whom records and evidence exists, but is disputed and/or incomplete
* species reported only once by scientists, but never replicated by other scientists
* possibly new species that may have evolved from previous species, often with odd new traits
* lifeforms said to have exceptional camouflage or evasion, making them hard to document
* lifeforms that have been reported but not confirmed, with varying amounts of evidence
* lifeforms of myth and legend, which some people believe may have a basis in fact
Cryptozoology is the study of mysterious animal species; cryptobotany is the study of mysterious plant species; cryptobiology covers both. See the "-ology" in there? It means "science of." These can all be practiced using scientific methods and scientific tools, as valid sciences. They can also be practiced as flaky nonsense. It depends entirely on the methods and tools used to study cryptids. The fact that a goodly number of cryptids have been confirmed disproves the premise that all cryptobiology is non-scientific. There's a whole branch based on the extant/extinct issue; see "Extinct or Alive."
Cryptozoology Cryptids
List of Cryptids -- Cryptid Wiki
Among my more relevant series for the main theme:
Clay of Life includes Yossele the Golem.
Fledgling Grace has people touched with angelic or demonic features like wings, and often a greater sense of the numinous.
Frankenstein's Family includes Adam, werewolves, vampires, and mummies.
Monster House contains characters, human and nonhuman, with different shapes and origins.
The Moon Door features werewolves.
Not Quite Kansas involves various angels and demons, some of them shapeshifters.
Peculiar Obligations has a lot more megafauna that survived the Pleistocene extinctions. Galloping crocodiles, anyone?
Polychrome Heroics has various characters and locations relating to composites, notably primal soups, mystic shifters, and victims of mad science. Many superpowers feature enhanced senses or whole different senses. Officer Pink has mystic shifters and centaurs.
Quixotic Ideas incluees many mythical beasts.
Schrodinger's Heroes could turn up pretty much anything you can imagine.
Or you can ask for something new.
If you link to the Poetry Fishbowl, you can request a link from any open linkback poem.
If you're interested, mark the date on your calendar, and please hold actual prompts until the "Poetry Fishbowl Open" post next week. (If you're not available that day, or you live in a time zone that makes it hard to reach me, you can leave advance prompts. I am now.) Meanwhile, if you want to help with promotion, please feel free to link back here or repost this on your blog.
Writing is usually considered a solitary pursuit. One exception to this is a fascinating exercise called a "fishbowl." This has various forms, but all of them basically involve some kind of writing in public, usually with interaction between author and audience. A famous example is Harlan Ellison's series of "stories under glass" in which he sits in a bookstore window and writes a new story based on an idea that someone gives him. Writing classes sometimes include a version where students watch each other write, often with students calling out suggestions which are chalked up on the blackboard for those writing to use as inspiration.
I'm going to host a Poetry Fishbowl on my blog on Tuesday, October 1. I'll be soliciting ideas for thematic characters, plots, settings, objects, and poetic forms in particular. Chances are I'll spend a good chunk of the day, from afternoon to evening or more, alternating between this site and doing stuff offline so my back doesn't weld itself to the chair.
Perks: I will post at least one of the resulting fishbowl poems on the blog for everyone to enjoy, and an extra one if there's at least one new prompter or donor. The rest will be available for audience members to buy, and whatever's left over will go into my archive for magazine submission.
If donations total $100 then you get a free $15 poem; $150 gets you a free $20 poem; and $200 gets you a free epic, posted after the Poetry Fishbowl. These will usually be series poems if I have them; otherwise I may offer non-series poems or series poems in a different size. If donations reach $250, you get one step toward a bonus fishbowl; four of these activates the perk, and they don't have to be four months in a row. Everyone will get to vote on which series, and give prompts during the extra fishbowl, although it may be a half-day rather than a whole day. If donations reach $300, there will be a half-price sale in one series.
I want to promote linkbacks pointing people to the "Fishbowl Open" post on Tuesday. One person can do multiple links if they're on different services, like Twitter or LiveJournal, rather than all on Dreamwidth.
(See the complete list of current perks.)
If you enjoy my poetry -- or if you just love poetry in general, or want to promote interest in obscure lifeforms -- please mark the fishbowl date on your calendar. Drop by and give me some ideas, comment on the posted poetry, encourage people to come look, whatever tickles your fancy. I hope to see you then!