The Practicing Writer 2.0: July 2026

Welcome, new readers, and welcome back to the regulars.

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1. Editor’s Note

2. Success Stories

3. Featured Resource

4. Contests, Competitions, and Other Opportunities (NO FEES TO ENTER/APPLY; PAYING/FUNDED OPPORTUNITIES ONLY; NOTHING THAT’S LIMITED TO WRITERS IN A SINGLE CITY/STATE/PROVINCE)

5. Submission Alerts (NO SUBMISSION/READING FEES; PAYING CALLS ONLY; NOTHING THAT’S LIMITED TO WRITERS IN A SINGLE CITY/STATE/PROVINCE)

6. Blog and Update Notes

7. Newsletter Matters

Greetings, practicing writers:

It’s been quite a month for me personally. Thirty-six hours after I returned from a magnificent long weekend away at my 35th college reunion, my beloved mother was admitted to the hospital for the final time. She passed away there, peacefully, two weeks ago.

What’s perhaps most relevant for this newsletter’s purposes is that I wrote more, and more powerfully, in the 48 hours following her death than I have in…a very long time. The first piece I wrote was her obituary. The second was a eulogy, which a few very kind people have suggested that I try to publish. (Are there journals or other outlets that seek such work? Here, this self-described “resource maven” turns the question back to all of you.)

As I’ve said elsewhere, my mother was my most devoted reader. (She was, of course, among the handful of “charter subscribers” to this newsletter 22 years ago.) She is also the one who sparked and nurtured my own love for reading/books in the first place—and we all know that without that foundation, no writing practice can truly thrive.

Already, I miss her more than I can express in words, much as I may try.

My thanks to all of you who have caught this news elsewhere and expressed your condolences,
ERIKA

From Gaby Zabar:

Thank you as always for your resources - found OfTheBook Press through your website, and they published my science fiction golem story “Wet Dust (Mecha-Golem 1996).”

Reminder: Please share news from your writing practice that may be connected with this newsletter, or my blogs/other resources. I love to celebrate and amplify in this space!

And, as a postscript to what I shared just above: This was my mother’s favorite newsletter section. She truly loved seeing the connections between my efforts and others’ writing practices, and told me so again and again and again.

I am old enough to retain some memories of the bicentennial celebrations here in the USA back in 1976. It’s hard to believe that the country’s 250th birthday is now upon us. And for the occasion, Sam Sacks has compiled “A Fictional History of the U.S.,” subtitled “a tour of America’s past through 26 works that captured the country’s character and contradictions.”

I’m pleased to offer a gift link to the piece in The Wall Street Journal.

[Only?] one of those authors/books was unfamiliar to me—how about you?