Buzz Bin

by Inlander Staff


Bend it Like Beckett -- So you say you can write great big metaphor-laden rings around Tolkien? Show that Faulkner guy a thing or two about "lyric prose" and "Southern atmosphere"? Claim your minimalism could kick Raymond Carver's style to the curb any day of the week?


Now's your chance to prove it. The Inlander's 8th Annual Short Fiction Contest is accepting submissions through Nov. 14, which gives you about two more weeks to spit-shine your prose up to truly astonishing and diamond-like intensity. There are no restrictions on content, theme or style as long as the story is set in the Northwest; submissions need to be between 4,000 and 7,000 words and only unpublished manuscripts will be accepted. Beyond that, make sure your MS has a cover page with your name, phone number and word count, and that you put this information on no other page than the cover page. The winning story will be published in the Dec. 25 issue of The Inlander and will be the star attraction of a reading at Auntie's Bookstore in January. Good luck!





Phantoms of the Palouse -- So you're probably thinking, "Oh, sure -- a haunted house in some little farm town. Probably two guys in sheets and an old black-and-white TV showing reruns of The Munsters."


Well, the town of Palouse, Wash., wants all you jaded urban sophisticates to think again. They're showing up in costume to support not one but two haunted houses, each of which is scary enough to merit designation as one of the 100 things every WSU Cougar must do before graduating.


Besides, we know one masculine urban professional with pretensions to intellectual equilibrium (that is, a muppie) who -- no lie -- ran out of one of those haunted mansions screaming like a little sissy. Said Muppie Boy, "It was terrifying."


Think you can do any better, big guy? First, check out www.visitpalouse.com, and then, either tonight or on Halloween night, cruise down Hwy. 27 until you're about 15 miles east of Colfax. Call: (509) 878-1418





Public Service Announcement -- Numerous recent reports have recounted how a Princeton University graduate student discovered that if you hold down the 'shift' key, you can sometimes bypass the anti-copy software some record companies are using. In light of this, the Buzz Bin wishes to inform you that use of the shift key may constitute theft of intellectual property. As a result, we strongly advise you never to use your shift key again. Ever. Because when it comes to copyright infringement, better safe than sorry. This concludes our Public Service Announcement.





Publication date: 10/30/03