Buy a Poster to Help Children!

I like to steer Oz fans who come to my website or blog or wherever to worthy causes whenever possible. Well, all right, so there are hundreds of worthy causes I'd like to steer you towards, but you're not here for that! You want something Ozzy, right? Well, here's a way to get something Ozzy and help sick kids at the same time. Take a look at the poster "Friends of Oz", being sold as part of Project Flutter. Come on, you know you need another Oz poster!

The 2013 Winkie Conventon Research Table

(I'm putting this up in just about every Oz- and writing-related forum that I can think of, I may as well include it here.)

2013 WINKIE RESEARCH TABLE

Submissions are invited for the 2013 Winkie Research Table. Our goal is to put on a great research table, with a large number of quality submissions, to encourage new writers and artists, and to explore a large range of Oz expression.

Authors, Researchers and Artists are invited to submit their work for consideration for awards at the 2013 Winkie Con. The three categories that will be judged are Fiction, Non-fiction, and Art.

There is no entry fee. All work must be original, related to the world of Oz, and not previously published of exhibited in any form, including online and digital publication. Items may also be submitted for the 2013 Winkie Convention Program Book or may have already been accepted for publications to be released after the convention, but please send a separate copy in to the research table.

Fred Otto Prize for Oz Fiction

$100 First Prize
$50 Second Prize

"Oz Fiction" is defined as any original, fictitious story about or pertaining to the Land of Oz as originally created by author L. Frank Baum in the book "The Wonderful Wizard of Oz" and its sequels, but stories need not be confined to Baum's vision. Submissions about or pertaining to the Land of Oz in any of its forms will be accepted. Stories may follow on from Oz books, Oz plays, Oz movies, Magic Land, or any other version of Oz.

Maximum length for submissions is 10,000 words long. Excerpts from longer pieces will also be accepted. Work should be submitted electronically. Hard copy may be submitted if needed.

Use standard manuscript style: double-spaced, 12 point type, 1 inch margins, page numbers at top right. Include your name, mailing address, e-mail address, and telephone number at the top of the first page of each submission. Include the title of your submission halfway down the first page and at the top left of every subsequent page.

Electronic submissions in .pdf, .txt, .rtf, and .doc formats will be accepted until April 30, 2013 at research@winkies.org. Put the words "Oz Fiction" in the e-mail subject line. Hard copy submissions will be accepted until April 15, 2013 at Eric Gjovaag, 1521 S 15th St., Sunnyside, WA 98944-2513. All submissions will also be submitted to the editor of "Oziana", the International Wizard of Oz Club's annual fiction anthology, for consideration.

Warren Hollister Prize for Oz Non-Fiction

$100 First Prize
$50 Second Prize

"Oz Non-Fiction" is defined as any original, non-fiction article or essay about or pertaining to the Land of Oz as originally created by author L. Frank Baum in the book "The Wonderful Wizard of Oz" and its sequels, but stories need not be confined to Baum's vision. Submissions about or pertaining to the Land of Oz in any of its forms will be accepted. Submissions may follow on from Oz books, Oz plays, Oz movies, Magic Land, or any other version or aspect of Oz.

Maximum length for submissions is 10,000 words long. Excerpts from longer pieces will also be accepted. Work should be submitted electronically. Hard copy may be submitted if needed.

Electronic submissions in .pdf, .txt, .rtf, and .doc formats will be accepted until April 30, 2013 at research@winkies.org. Put the words "Oz Non-Fiction" in the e-mail subject line. Hard copy submissions will be accepted until April 15, 2013 at Eric Gjovaag, 1521 S 15th St., Sunnyside, WA 98944-2513. All submissions will also be submitted to the editor of "The Baum Bugle", the International Wizard of Oz Club's journal, for consideration.

Rob Roy MacVeigh Prize for Oz Artwork

$100 First Prize
$50 Second Prize

"Oz Art" is defined as any original expression that does not fall into either of the other two categories, and is about or pertaining to the Land of Oz as originally created by author L. Frank Baum in the book "The Wonderful Wizard of Oz" and its sequels, but stories need not be confined to Baum's vision. Submissions about or pertaining to the Land of Oz in any of its forms will be accepted. Submissions may follow on from Oz books, Oz plays, Oz movies, Magic Land, or any other version or aspect of Oz.

Artwork will be judged at the Winkie Convention. Therefore all art submissions need to be either brought to or sent to the convention, or arrangements must be made by the artist to deliver and, if needed, return pieces. Any portable form of art or craft work is acceptable, but costumes are only eligible for either the research table or the costume contest, not both.

If you wish to enter art for the research table, please inform the research table folks at research@winkies.org and provide a description or electronic version by May 30, 2013. Put the words "Oz Artwork" in the e-mail subject line. Hard copy submissions will be accepted until April 15, 2013 at Eric Gjovaag, 1521 S 15th St., Sunnyside, WA 98944-2513. All submissions that can be printed will also be submitted to the editor of "Oziana", the International Wizard of Oz Club's annual fiction anthology, for consideration.

Awards

Prizes will be awarded at the 2013 Winkie Con, June 21-23, 2013. To enter and win you need not be present at the Winkie Con, though attendance is encouraged: http://hungrytigerpress.blogspot.com/p/winkie-convention.html http://hungrytigerpress.com/winkiecon_registration_2013.pdf To enter and win you need not be a member of the International Wizard of Oz Club, though membership is encouraged: http://www.ozclub.org/The_International_Wizard_of_Oz_Club.html Winners not in attendance will be notified in the week following the 2013 Winkie Con and prizes mailed. To keep things fair, each winner will be limited to only one award in a category.

For further inquiries and questions, e-mail research@winkies.org.

Dorothy and the Wizard in Oz #2

I just caught a sneak peek at the cover of issue #2 of Marvel's next Oz series. So, go take a look at how Skottie handles the piglets!

New illustrated edition of "The Wonderful Wizard of Oz"

I got word of this project, and it looks fascinating. Over at blankpages.co.uk, they're compiling a new illustrated edition of The Wonderful Wizard of Oz by providing the text on the left-hand side. The right-hand side is blank, but anyone who wants to draw a picture to go with the corresponding text can contribute. There are a lot of interesting images already, but there are also lots of blank pages left to fill. So if you have the ability for this sort of thing, I suggest you go over there and contribute something. If you don't, just go on over and take a look.

Quick! Go check these out!

There are a few items in this ebay auction that you might be interested in. Even if you don't want to buy anything, go take a look at what the great Fred Hembeck has done with his sketches of Oz characters. But hurry! The auction is only running for about three more days.

Fun fan art mash-up

My wife pointed me to an entry over at Comic Book Resources. Once a month, they post reader art based on ideas they've had. There are some fun ones there, but the one I really want you to take a look at is the very last one. Awesome! (Or should I say Oz-some! No? Really? Okay, then I won't...)

It's all right here.

Lots of Oz art

I just thought I'd share this website that my wife found with some original Oz art. Some of it is very clever, and a little different.

File it away for the future!

Oh, I am already so looking forward to whatever forthcoming issue of Oziana has the story "The Ransom of Button-Bright". Artist S. P. Maldonado put the first page up on his blog, and...well, take a look. I like S. P.'s art, J. L. Bell is one of the most articulate and interesting Oz writers around today (but he needs to do more fiction), and this is a promising first page. And Oziana doing a comic? Something new! Yea!

A Heart a Day in Oz

This one is a bit of a mystery to me, but my wife sent me the link, so I thought I'd post it here. It seems that A Heart a Day is a blog that presents a heart-themed piece of art each day. Well, then, what would be more logical than an Oz-themed one featuring our galvanized friend? He sems to have a friend join him on this one.