Inside Calliope

An Important Request From the Editors:

Calliope is designed to be an interactive, feedback-driven writing forum for readers and writers.   Please contribute to the Calliope community by leaving your constructive criticism and any suggestions for improvement under the pieces you read.

Thank you, and happy reading!

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Editors' Letter - July 15, 2008

Welcome to our last issue of Calliope here on our Jimdo blogging site. In August we plan to launch our very own website, complete with interactive user forums - where our users can create profiles, participate in discussion boards and leave live comments - and more exciting new features.

We are constantly blown away by some of the writing we are sent, and this month has been no exception. But we've decided to do something a little different for July, by releasing a special Editors Edition. It's a little bit more compact than other issues, as there are just the three editors, but please read the pieces, comment on them, and use them as a chance to get to know us better. 

The novel race is continuing of course, and this month we have unveiled - as a little teaser of things to come on the new website - the VIP Writers section, which we are very excited about. It's basically a way for us to thank our loyal writers, and give our readers a chance to get to know them better. This month is all about Luigi Marchini, complete with an interview and photo! Yes, we are aware that Calliope is somewhat lacking in the awesome computer graphics department, so a photo IS something to be excited about for now...!

So have a fabulous summer, and we will be back before it's over with a new site, a new look, and some new writers (and hopefully some new readers - tell your friends!).

As ever - happy reading!

The Calliope Editors

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Editors' Letter -- June 15, 2008

Dear Calliope Readers,

With the approach of summer comes the June issue of Calliope, brought to you by all things bright and sunny -- like Calliope Editor Sarah Fisher's move to California (read her June 14, 2008 Blog for more information).

With that said, the Calliope Staff would like to point out a few notable changes to the Calliope world. 

The first major change, as some of you may have already noticed, is that our "Editorial Blogs" (previously labeled "Editorial Columns") are now on a rotating schedule.  While there is still a new Blog each Saturday, the fresh content is alternated between the three Editorial Blogs, rather than having new posts for all three every week.   The decision to make this change was based mostly on our desire to devote extra time to the more pressing Editorial duties, and to ensure that our weekly Editors' Blogs remained fresh and interesting.

The second change has to do with the June Issue in particular.  You may notice that this issue is lacking the usual installments of "Literature Reviews" and "Interviews with Authors."  Being that those two sections of our site are managed by Sarah Fisher, who is currently on a trans-Atlantic flight from England to the U.S., we hope you will pardon the temporary absence of these items for this issue.

Also, our new website is still in process, and we hope to have it live and going strong by the July issue.   With our new website will come all kinds of truly nifty features, such as a Readers and Writer's Forum, a Live comments section (no more waiting for your comments to appear), Wiki-lliope, and more.  In the meantime, please continue to make comments on the pieces you've read through the provided Comments boxes here on the site.  We want Calliope to be as interactive and community-based as possible, and your comments help bring that goal to life!

Thank you for being such loyal readers, and as always, Happy Reading!

--The Calliope Editors

Editors' Letter

May 15, 2008

Dear Calliope readers,

Happy May!

This is the month of European Union Day, the Kentucky Derby, and International Nurses Day (thank you Wikipedia). But for all literature lovers out there, May 25th is Towel Day - a day to celebrate the life of beloved Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy author Douglas Adams. Carry a towel with you all day to show respect for a man who created these works of fiction so adored by at least two of the Calliope editors (one has not read the books but has merely seen the film starring Martin Freeman, who, while being very cute, was not quite cute enough to stop this editor from literally falling asleep - though that could be as much to do with having stayed up all night studying the night before and not a reflection on the quality of the film.).

There are some jolly new features this month. After teasing you with the new Interview section last month we have actually managed to see our promise through, and you can read about how novelist Karen Maitland overcame dyslexia and uncomfortable camper-van travels to bring to you the intriguing delight that is Company of Liars.

A Writing Contest has been launched this month also, giving you the competitive drive (we hope!) to send us your take on who, out of any fictional character in literature, you would be if you could, and the intriguing title 'Summer Play', which is left deliberately vague for your own varied interpretations. We can't wait to see what you come up with!

We also come at you, our readers, with a plea. Calliope is in its early infancy, and this site itself is temporary while we plug away at our more professional and colourful website (to be unveiled soon!). We decided to just go ahead and launch Calliope on a temporary blogsite anyway, to see if we could generate interest early. We are so, so happy to have our regular contributors, and particularly with the launch of the novel race we're thrilled to have that up and running. Now we need your comments! This is a magazine to encourage and critique the works of blossoming writers - which is why we need you to comment on what you have read! Please leave feedback for the individual pieces, even if you think your opinion might be trivial. Every opinion counts (unless it is rude or crude - we don't want any bullying of our lovely writers), and the writers really need you, the readers, to comment. So please do!

So, enjoy the May issue. Pieces are still being uploaded so do not be alarmed if you sign on and there are things missing - on a blogging site it takes a while to get everything done, it can't all be added at once. Please if you have any ideas for features you would like to see on the new website, or comments on improvements we could make in general, then do not hesitate to contact us at: contact.calliope [at] yahoo.com

Peace out Calliopeans!

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Editors’ Letter

April 15, 2008

Dear Calliope readers,

Welcome back writers far and wide!

Today marks the launch of our jam-packed second issue of Calliope: Voice of the Writers. All of you who read the first issue will surely agree that it was a great success with excellent content from many an undiscovered writing talent, and we assure you this sophomore release will be no different.

This issue is of particular note because it will also feature the début of brand new, and rather fabulous, sections:

· Letters to the Editors will be where we select the more insightful of our received mail and respond for all to read and admire how popular we are;

· Literature I Love and Recommended Reads are just what they sound like: readers / writers explaining what books they love and what they would recommend to others;

·Interviews is where we, well, interview published authors and bask in their wisdom for all our benefit.  (First interview to be uploaded shortly).

· Last, but nowhere near least, is the highly anticipated start of The Great Novel Race of 2008. We have no less than seven novels that will be taking part, and I must say I’m pretty excited! I hope everyone will encourage and help the authors along until the end.

So there we have it… brand new content for our “old” sections plus ENTIRE new ones for everyone to damage their eyes reading!

Don’t forget to also subscribe to the Calliope Newsletter for regular updates straight to your inbox, and at no extra cost (still free in other words).

Remember people, this is site by you, for you, so please contribute new content, or at least help those who have been published here to grow as writers by commenting on and critiquing their work.

Enjoy and have a Happy April,

The Calliope Team

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Past Issues:

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Editors’ Letter

March 15, 2008

Dear Calliope readers,

Welcome one and all to our launch edition of Calliope: Voice of the Writers! We’re really excited about the content of our debut issue – we think there are some promising writers included on the pages of this site.

The aim of Calliope is to inspire budding writers and give them an outlet on which to be read and discussed by other writers. The name comes from the ancient Greek character Calliope, who was a muse of epic poetry, and means “beautiful voice”. Let her (and Calliope!) be a muse to inspire and encourage.

As with anything new, please allow us some time to iron out the creases of our new venture; there’ll surely be a few problems that crop up from this first issue!  We're constantly working to make improvements. But in the mean time we hope you enjoy taking a look around. Don’t forget to check back each week for our new editorial columns, and the forums will be active for daily ideas-swapping, encouragement, constructive criticism and anything you, the readers, wish to discuss. Happy reading, and happy writing!

Happy March,

The Calliope Team