Fallen Words, a blog that publishes poetry and fiction written by members of The Brand New Aspiring Writers group, welcomes you to the Soup to Nuts Progressive Dinner.

Did you have a drink with Kilroy at Fear and Loathing already? Grab yourself a blog post full of appetizers at Change Therapy? Hope you are not too full to enjoy this first course.

We are serving soup. Each soup is in a shot glass, just a taste to tempt your tastebuds.



Lobster Bisque. Kilroy, Finally I am going mobile!

Calm chowder. Find out what to do the next time you are having a bad day at Things I Found in the Blogosphere.

Vichyssoise.Anthony McCune, A Glorious Season

Pasta Fagioli.Read the short story The Dream by Jenn.

Pozole. Read the article Technology and Children - A Wake Up Call For Parents at Telling it Like It Is.

Corn Chowder. Read the article New Year's Resolutions: A Set Up for a Setback? at The Health and Life Mixing Bowl.

Broccoli Cheese Soup.Ali Gator offers the post Gaza Goes Up.

Borscht. Read the article Pushing the Limits of Creativity for Personal Development and Business Innovationat Discover. Inspiring . Media.

Crab bisque. Mistress Regina shares a sexy story at Tales of Ladies, Goddesses and Bitches. Read The Secrets We Share. This is for adults only.

Chicken Noodle. Visit John at From Fat To Fit to read the "Conquering a Small Section of the Mental Mountain.

Beef Barley.Praveen presents CNET Top 10 Tech Lists - the aftermath of the dot-com boom posted at My Simple Trading System.

French Onion.Read the article How to Become Wealthy in 30 Days at Today is that Day.

Minestrone. Dr Martin W. Russell from The Self Help Blog offers the articleForcing Function… WillPower Made Easy

Mulligan Stew. UrbanMonk.net discussesThe Insult of False Kindness, Part 3

Broth. The pounds piling up? Check out Your 1 Day Weight Loss Challenge by Joshua Seth.

Vegetable Soup.Laura Collins from Are YOU “Eating With Your Anorexic?” has submitted Listening to “Ed”

Cream of Potato.GP from Innside Montana-Your Home at the Range shares the in and out of cooking for guests at an Inn.

Asparagus Soup with Blue Cheese Crumbles. Roger Haeske presents Why Your Gym Membership May Be Wasting You Over 2 Hours A Week.


Spiced Carrot Soup. Scott the poet offers the poem If A Promise

Yellow Tomato Gazpacho Soup.Silicon Valley Blogger presents Cool Gifts For The Real Estate Lover, Investor, Homeowner: A Photo Gallery posted at The Digerati Life.

Fire Roasted Eggplant. David Mills offers the post Improvising While Black at Undercover Black Man.

Eggdrop.RacerX presents Avoid Melting Your Debt Snowball posted at Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Money.

Beef and Bean. Jeremy Wilcox has submitted the post 9/11 Is Dead, Long Live 9/11. Read it at his blog Religion, Politics and The Great Pumpkin.

Lemon Rice. Ever wonder what the worst cover songs in history are? Brian Holland gives us his picks at his blog, Holland's Comet.

Chicken Tortilla. Deepali presents see it. film it. change it. at Paradigm Shifted.

Fruit Gazapacho.Black Eyed Susan offers one of her poems for you to read. Check out draft.

Avocado Orange Soup. Over at For Your Success, The Success Coach posted a book review of Barack Obama's The Audacity of Hope.

Greek Lentil. Monica Hamburg from Your Dose of Lunacy offers the post I know I need a cold shower.

Mexican Red Onion Soup. Tsai Jie from Diary of a Second Life Courtesean advices sexy tips for how to get what you want for Christmas.

Danish Pea Soup with Pork. Suzanne presents borscht with a KitchenAid posted at :: adventures in daily living ::.

Black eye Pea Soup. Thomas K from The Sporadical offers the poem God Wears Wrath

Green Barley. Timothy Gary presents How to Make Time Out of Thin Air

Califlower Cheese Soup. Jacob Share from JobMob asks Should You Care About Graphology?

Gumbo. Helene Zemel presents What are Discount Health Plans? Part 3 posted at Health Plans Plus.

Chicken Rice. Kuanyin from Vintage-Tees offers a post about The Wonder of the Taj Mahal

Mulligatawny Soup. Tip Diva presents Top Ten Tips - Preparing For A Job Interview posted at Tip Diva.

You are invited to join Anja next for the main course at Chatting at my Generation and then gobble up a delicious dessert with JM at Fiction Scribe.

After that the Drinks After the Dinner Reception will be hopping over at The Lives and Times...of Anthony McCune, stop by and read the remaining entries.

If you enjoyed this event, then check out the carnivals that are coming up next.

Personal Power
Submit to Anja at anja@hqlondon.net (subject line Personal Power).
This carnival will be held on February 23rd at Chatting With My Generation.



Observations of Life Carnival
Submit to Anja at anja@hqlondon.net (subject line Observations of Life)
This carnival will be held on February 17th at Chatting With My Generation.


The Gonzo Gratitude! Carnival
Submission detials are here
To be held on 15th of February at Kilroy- The Gonzo Papers.


Scribes Blog Carnival
Submit here.
Deadline: January 31st. To be held on February 4th at Fiction Scribe.

A Buddist Carnival
> A carnival of articles about Buddhist practice and teaching
> Deadline: February 8; Posting: February 15
Submission form is here.
>
> Carnival of Eating Disorders
> A carnival about anorexia, bulimia, overeating, body image and other
> related issues. (Please note: This is not about dieting and nutrition
> unless it is directly related to eating disorders.)
> Deadline: February 22; Posting: February 28
Submission form is here.
>
> Canada 9-5
A showcase for Canadian business blogs
> Deadline: February 22; Posting: February 28
Submission form is here.


Surfer’s Paradise Hullabaloo! Carnival
February 18 at The Lives and Times of....Anthony McCune.
You can submit here.





The next Soup to Nuts Progressive Dinner will be held April 3oth. See you there, my blogging friends! You can submit here.

Posted by unknown usr, a member of Brand New Aspiring Writers









I’ve ranted on a number of issues ranging from my holey underwear to bad music videos, but up until today I never ranted about writing.




I like to write. I like to write a lot. I can pretty much spend hours at a time cranking out the written word with little regard to what is happening around me. In fact, I’m pretty sure while I’m writing a giant flaming turd could be careening towards the Earth and I would barely notice, unless I was thirsty at the time and got up to get a drink.




The problem I have is real life. Real life tends to suck in a major, goat-dick blowing way. I really find myself at odd with real life on a regular basis. So here is my list of the top reasons real life screws with me so I can’t write.




1) My freakin’ job.




Don’t get me wrong. I like my freakin’ job. It pays me money. I get considerably less grief at my current job than I have in past positions. However, it eats into my writing time in a big way. It’s hard to be a brilliant author when you have to rebuild a crashed server that exploded all over the damned network because of an evil Lovecraftian backup program gone awry.




2) People who harass me, especially about money.




So here I am, writing happily and the stupid collection calls come. All of a sudden, my happy peaceful groove is blown by anxiety and grief. They can’t even say my name correctly. If you can’t say my name, you get no money. You must be looking for someone else. Go ride your call center phone to hell and get the $20.49 cents from the devil, because you have a far better chance collecting from him than from me at the moment. You don’t want to wait, you get nothing. So stop calling already and let me write! Assmoney.




3) Medication




I rediscovered why I hate antidepressants. Oh yeah, they work great for suppressing that urge to stay in bed forever, but they also kill the creative process. Once off the crap, all of a sudden I have the urge to write again and the ideas kept coming. So I have the choice of depression or creativity. I’ll risk the depression. We’ll leave the drugs for the Prozacbots that roam the planet looking for John Conner.




4) Not winning Megamillions



I make decent money, but I live in overinflated cost of living hell. Ok, I’m not that bad off, but I do have to watch every penny. And it sucks. I keep not winning the lottery. This is a problem. I need to win the freakin’ lottery already. Why do they keep picking the wrong stupid numbers? They know what numbers they have to pick for me to win. It’s all in the lottery computer. They mock me, openly and completely. I’m going to have to smack down the entire lottery commission.




5) Training




Being sore and tired is not conducive to being in the writing spirit. So I work out,
practice martial arts, and feel like I’ve been sleeping in the drier every night. Not only this, but being the only girl in a martial arts class that is not just for show, makes it a little harder to get through. The fact that I let my workouts slide over the fall and winter does not help now when I have to produce a bunch of pushups while holding my breath with an elephant on my back. Now, I had to beef up my workouts and still keep up with the rest of my life. My muscles ache and all I want to do is soak in a hot tub and watch TV or play…




6) …video games




I think Nintendo is planning world domination through subliminal messages they implant in the Wii, cause damn, I keep buying games for that thing and getting sucked in. Not only does it zap my time, but it adds to my soreness. I mean Wii boxing really puts a workout on your upper body. I don’t need any more soreness. Geez.




7) Windows Vista
It just sucks.



It likes to just randomly pause and interfere with the flow of my stream of consciousness. Screw you Microsoft.




8) Tax time
Screw the government.



They are wasting my time making me fill out tax returns. They got my money. They need me to tell them to give it back? Who wouldn’t want it back? Maybe they should just stop taking our money and shut up about it. That’s right; the IRS should just shut up and give me my money, biotch.




9) Peeing




Going to the bathroom takes way too much time out of my day. Even as I write this, I have to pee, but I don’t want to just stop and waste those minutes. Dammit, hold on…




(talk about stream of consciousness)




…Ok, that’s done. Anyway, waste of time.



10) Boogers




I just wanted to say “booger”. Plus they clog the nose, make it harder to breath. So they get to be on the list.

Posted by Penelope, a member of Brand New Aspiring Writers

What Do You Hear?

Tell me sweet child what do you hear?
What sounds reach your wee ear?

I hear the water, mama...
sloshing in the well
May we sit a spell and listen?

Yes, my child.

Tell me sweet child what do you see?
What do your eyes partake with glee?

I see a birdie, mama...
Red as an apple on the tree
May I keep it?

No, my child.

Tell me sweet child what now do you hear?
What noises touch your little ear?

I hear the wind, mama...
It whistles through the leaves
Can I catch it?

Maybe my child.

Tell me mama what do you hear?
What sound reaches your ear?

I hear your heart little one,
beating strong as the heat of the sun.
May I keep it?

Always mama, always.

Penelope Anne Bartotto
January 6, 2007

Posted by Mark Brown, a member of Brand New Aspiring Writers.

A New Year's Sonnet

The days fly by
Our lives breeze away
But the future is here to stay
Yet, we have no idea why.

New Years brings us good
Time marches on, ever.
Leaving it's use to the clever
Positive for us, we hope it would.

New Year will bring us many wishes
Now that it's here, I need to sleep
Time to dream, and play very deep
And to think of many future kisses.

As I rest my head here, I behold...
My dreams, they turn into gold.

Posted by Penelope Anne, a member of Brand New Aspiring Writers

I have entered an online poetry contest, voting is from 5pm cst 1/11/08 to 1/15/08.
My entry, Taken into the Cold, is located on my writing blog:

Wanna be a Writer Someday

I only want to be voted for if you truly think the poem is worthy. The link for voting will not work until 1/11 but is located on my post. Thanks!

Posted by Sky, member of Brand New Aspiring Writers.

The last of the query submissions for The Price of Freedom have finally run their course and this one rejection was a bit of a surprise.

From the Spiridon Literary Agency:



"I’m glad you’ve a project you feel so positive about. But from a publishing perspective, it is best to wait until the book is complete before approaching an agent. An agent is someone who tries to sell an already complete book to publishers. You need to finish writing this, revise it, and make sure it is in top form before submitting to agents. A few years is a long time. When it’s complete, you can query again if you like based on what is done.Thanks again and best wishes."


I just hope that Alethea doesn't mind when it comes back nearly three times the current word count amount. (Of course, I'm not planning on submitting this book again until after I get The Starchild up and running. I'll need the extra funds to help with the editing of POF.)

I still have lots to do with the book. :0)

Fallen Words will be hosting the first course of this Progessive Dinner Blog Carnival on January 30th, 2008.

For more info, please visit Fear and Loathing for detailed instructions.

To take part, go to your blog and choose a post you want to share. Send the link to

IlovetowriteSMP@yahoo.com with the subject line Progessive Dinner.

Posted by Sara, a member of Brand New Aspiring Writers.

Writing Pledges for 2008

By Sara, member of Brand New Aspiring Writers at Yahoo Groups.

What is on your writing agenda this year? Do you plan to finish your first novel? Seek out an agent? Submit a short story or poem to a contest? Finally jump in and do NaNoWriMo?

For me I plan to start a new novel, to write a poem a week, and to grow my poetry community, Poets Who Blog, into something even grander than it is right now. I feel a little overwhelmed already. And it is what.....10 hours into the New Year? LOL.

Want do you want to get accomplished in 2008 where your writing is concerned?