The Electronic Write Stuff
Writing News for the Sunshine State & the Solar System

In this issue:

Kent Campus to Host Talk Dec. 10 by Author of Banned in Boston: Memoirs of a Stripper

Still Time to Enter Novel Manuscripts in Writers' Festival Contest

The Wrong Stuff

Writers Born in December

Quote from a Writer's Quill -- Sinclair Lewis

Calendar of Events

KENT CAMPUS TO HOST TALK DEC. 10 BY AUTHOR OF BANNED IN BOSTON: MEMOIRS OF A STRIPPER

The North Florida Writers will hear from a writer who almost bares all, when Lillian Kiernan Brown discusses her book, Banned in Boston: Memoirs of a Stripper. The talk will be at 2 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 10, in Room F128 B of Kent Campus (3939 Roosevelt Blvd., Jax 32205).

The public is welcome to attend the free event.

When she was fourteen years old, she used the pseudonym of Lily Ann Rose to followed her mother and three aunts into burlesque. She learned to twirl tassels like Sally Keith, envied Sally Rand's famous feathers, and emulated Ann Corio, Boston's most beloved stripper. Totie Fields introduced her with body beautiful jokes, and she worked with some of the most famous baggy pants comics of the day.

Besides being befriended by mob bosses, champion boxers, Jack Kennedy and other politicians, she was also held captive by the Chicago Mafia. Although she was loved by many, she reports she had been raped by a childhood friend.

She paraded and stripped to the songs of boy tenors, including Robert Goulet. However, she was banned in Boston when she mistakenly bared her breasts on-stage under the watchful eyes of Boston's Watch and Ward Society, and was imprisoned by an overzealous State Trooper - all before she turned eighteen.

Although the book may read like fiction, it is the true story of her years as a stripper and follows the careers of her mother and aunts in vaudeville and burlesque from the excitement of the "Roaring Twenties" through the "Great Depression."

Burlesque was for many years a phenomenon of theatrical entertainment, unlike anything that had ever existed in show business. Stripping was an art form. The burlesque stripper was not just a sex symbol. She was a consummate artist. A true strip tease artist knew the secret of capturing a man's attention. In this book the era is looked upon with nostalgic interest. The book touches on the legends of burlesque and shatters the mystique.

The author now lives in Fleming Island Plantation, where she writes for several publications. As a writer, a journalist, and a radio show host for Armed Forces Radio, she has traveled around the world. Her work has won many awards, but she never lost her love for Boston, burlesque, vaudeville and show business. In 1996 she was awarded the Best Actress Award for her portrayal of Flo in The New Girl. Although many of her stories and photos have won many awards, her heart remains at home with Jim Brown, her husband of 25 years. Together they have raised a family of five children. She says her greatest accomplishment is being grandmother to seven children.



STILL TIME TO ENTER NOVEL MANUSCRIPTS

IN WRITERS' FESTIVAL CONTEST

There is still time to enter novel manuscripts in the annual contest of the Florida First Coast Writers' Festival. The novel contest deadline has been extended to Friday, Dec. 16.

The deadlines for poetry, short fiction, and plays will be Jan. 3.

NOVELS ($40 each entry): The first prize is worth $500, and the winner has his or her manuscript considered by a major publishing house. Novel entries have no minimum or maximum length, and the writer may leave his or her name on the manuscript. Entrants will need to include a "bio" page and contact information, a TV Guide-style one- or two-sentence summary, and a chapter-by-chapter summary. The contest wants the entire manuscript. The final-round judges will be novelists Lenore Hart and David Poyer.

Brian Jay Corrigan of Dahlonega, Ga. won first place with his manuscript, The Poet of Loch Ness, which has been published by Thomas Dunne Books/St. Martin's). Steve Berry of St. Marys, Ga. has had impressive success at Ballantine, and his third novel, The Third Secret, recently made The New York Times best-seller list.

All entry checks or money orders should be made out to "Writers" and mailed to Contests, FCCJ North, 4501 Capper Rd., Jacksonville, FL 32218.

POETRY ($5 each entry): The Festival has two poetry contests: the Douglas Freels Poetry Prize and the Robert Grimes "Good Earth" Poetry Prize. Poetry in the Freels category will focus on the traditional themes of poetry (love, rejection, death, etc.), while the "Good Earth" category will focus on poetry involving ecology, love of nature, etc.

In either poetry category, each entry should be no longer than 30 lines and each entry should be printed on one sheet of paper. One version should have the poet's name, address, phone number, and e-mail address (if available), while no identification should be on the other version. There is no limit on the number of poems that may be submitted, but the contest officials recommend that an entrant select his or her three or four best poems.

SHORT FICTION ($10 each entry)-Each short story should be no longer than 6,000 words. One copy should have the author's name, address, phone number, and any e-mail address; the other copy should only have the text and the title. Again, there is no limit to the number of stories that may be submitted, but the contest officials suggest each entrant submit his or her best entries. The final-round judge is Sohrab Homi Fracis, an Iowa Short Fiction Collection winner for Ticket to Minto: Stories of India and America.

PLAYS ($20 each entry): The Festival is also sponsoring its second annual full-length play contest (usually at least two acts or enough for an evening's entertainment. The winning entry will at least have a staged reading. Entrants should include biographical and information.

POSTAGE & RETURN/NON-RETURN OF MANUSCRIPTS: Entries in the poetry and short fiction contests will NOT be returned, so entrants should not submit their only copies. Adequate first-class postage should be included for novels so that these may be returned.

PRIZES: In poetry, identical amounts will be given to the winners of the Douglas Freels and Robert Grimes prizes: first prize, a $110; second, $75; third, $60; in short fiction, first prize, $200; second, $100; third, $100. The North Florida Writers will give $500 to the first prize novel winner, with the second- and third-place winners receiving $200 and $100 respectively.

In all categories, entries should be original and unpublished.