A huge congratulations to Kimberli Bindschatel for making it to the quarter finals of Amazon’s Breakthrough Novel Award (Young Adult Fiction). Check out her entry here.

I first met Kimberli while writing for her Whisper in the Woods, a northern Michigan nature journal packed with gorgeous photography. Along with publishing and editing, she is also a talented photographer. And now she can add writing to the list of her many accomplishments. 

Best of luck to Kimberli and all debut authors!

My story, A Damselfly in Distress, has found a home in Knowonder’s Nerissa’s Celebration, a collection of 30 read aloud stories for kids. It’s part of the Story-a-Day Initiative: “a Literacy Program that drives progress through fun, compelling and affordable stories each and every day of the month.” Let’s get everyone reading!

And check out the Year’s Coolest Literary Magazine Innovations.

What would Gutenberg think?

I’m taking a break from my literary journey to share a smattering of good news and a moral of sorts.

First the good news:

I recently discovered that Pine Manor College in Chestnut Hill, MA chose my short story, The Quincienera Text, to be part of their Women of Promise Scholarship:

“Each student read a beautiful story – The Quinceañera Text, by Erin Fanning – with a cross-generational theme that resounded with the students own experiences. When they arrived at Pine Manor each student wrote an essay on the story and later participated in a seminar-style discussion with their peers and a member of the faculty.”

I felt as if I’d won a contest I hadn’t been aware of entering. And I learned that touching someone with my writing was the ultimate reward for taking pen to paper (or, rather, fingers to keyboard).

I was equally honored to be profiled in the October issue of Toledo Reads. Sharon Arquette, the writer, told me she had been looking for an author with an eclectic career, someone who pursued a variety of literary avenues. She came across my website and was intrigued by my publication history. What I viewed as a scattered, unfocussed writing “career”—calling it that is a bit of a stretch—she found interesting (and, although flattering, the profile exaggerates my accomplishments a bit).

Which leads to my moral:

Enter contests, answer calls for submissions, promote your writing, and, most of all, learn the ins and outs of patience and perseverance. I could go on and on with numerous cliches and tired advice that you’ve head a million times but I think you get the idea: if you give up, you’ll never discover where all those hours of translating your imagination into words might lead you. You, along with your readers, could end up in a pretty spectacular place, where storytelling meets inspiration and promise.

I better wrap this up. My snake-wrangling buddies, Mano and Rafael, are honking the horn of their rusty F-250. They’re ready to hit the road and neither one of them is exactly known for patience—it’s the beginning of another literary adventure.

Happy holidays and see you in 2013!

Word Crushes is going on hiatus while I take a literary journey.

First stop is southern Arizona, where two snake-wrangling buddies are in desperate need of guidance. Then it’s off to Oaxaca, Mexico to research rumors involving a band of knitting-needle-wielding witches (try to say that three times fast). And finally I’ll head north to Idaho to help a heart-broken cowboy who is seeking solace in Jane Austen novels (I doubt I’ll be able to offer any better advice: Austen has been known to cure many broken hearts).

As you can see, it’s going to be a busy spring and summer–no time for blogging. I do hope, though, that the travels will help me refocus and come back with a new and improved Word Crushes, perhaps integrating the blog with my website. But all that will have to wait…

For now, bon voyage–happy reading and writing!