6th Annual Geist Literal Literary Postcard Story Contest

It's kind of ironic that a short short story competition should have such a long name. I've been meaning to post about the 6th Annual Geist Literal Literary Postcard Story Contest for some time but abandoned the idea because the Nov 1st deadline was approaching faster than my procrastinating arse was moving. But today I found out that they EXTENDED the deadline to January 15th and so I've finally got around to posting about this great little contest.

The 6th Annual Geist Literal Literary Postcard Story Contest is accepting entries of up to 500 words written on a postcard to which it somehow relates. For full details about prizes, how to submit and to read past winners, go to their competition page.

Now I'm embarassed that it took me, like two months to post this. Sigh.

Rumble Magazine

I stumbled across Rumble (might be a poet yet)recently while cruising around the Internet procrastinating from my list of 50,000 other things to do. I can assure you that reading this online magazine is far preferable to the housework, work or sweeping up on fall leaves and if you haven't been there you should go to http://rumble.sy2.com/ and check them out.

Established in 2004, Rumble is an online publisher of micro-fiction, featuring short stories and poetry of 500 words or less. They started publishing monthly and now publish 'occasionally' which means that they put out a new publication when they have the content- which might be every few weeks or it might be two months.

When Rumble started they were one of the very few micro-fiction magazines out there and despite the growth in that area, they are still considered to be one of the best.
For full submission guidelines, to read past editions or just to use their funky tool which allows you to change the page colour, visit them!

Where do ideas come from?

My brain is soggy from all the ideas that flood into it daily and get stuck there because I haven't got the time to write. It's an unfortunate situation and it makes me realize how much time I used to have- back then when I had no kids, no house, no professional job and of course, no ideas when I actually did sit down. But I guess that maturity is maturity in many ways (more than just losing the ability to drink ten pints and counting wrinkles on my face)and over the years I've learned how to come up with ideas. They were there all the time, staring me in the face: a coffee stain on the table, that weird panel on the wall that you've always dreaded looking behind or that wimpy sandal-wearing middle-aged guy who lives behind you and drives a SMART car but never recycles.

Anyway, my point is that I personally don't have any trouble coming up with ideas, but if I did, I'd try Creative Writing Prompts, which I just stumbled across. It made me smile.

The CBC Literary Awards

The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation- otherwise known as the CBC have an annual literary award competition in both official languages- English and French, that has been running since 1979. Each language has three categories- unpublished poetry, short story and creative non-fiction.

To be eligible to enter this respected context, you have to be a Canadian citizen or permanent resident and can be living in Canada or abroad. There is a total of $60,000 prize money up fro grabs which works out at $6,000 for first place in each category and $4,000 for second place. There is a $20 entry fee and the closing date is Nov 1st, 2009. For more details and how to enter you can see their comprehensive website here.

They also have a facebook group which you can find here.

Good luck!

I'm back! I'm back!

I'm back....err.....I guess you got that bit by now huh? Well it's been a long summer filled with unexpected things and nowhere near enough sleep. That might conjure up images of me attending swanky parties, watching world cinema in all night smoky bars or sitting up in front of my latest novel all night, glass on wine in hand. Alas, it's nothing so glamorous.....more like milky boobs and baby sick and I know, I know, that was a bit too much information but obviously, I don't get out much. Anyway, if you're reading this- thanks for sticking around and in case you didn't get it, I'm back!

Having to take a break while I juggle two kids at home. Hope to be back soon!

Macmillan New Writing

Macmillan is one of the UKs largest book publishers though they operate in over 70 countries. Most of their companies do not accept unsolicited submissions, but they have set up a department called Macmillan New Writing that accepts and considers any new fiction. They promise to read all submissions and to respond within 12 weeks, but due to the volume they will only respond to successful submissions.

They trade-off for this 'easy' route into being published is that they do not pay any advances and the rate they pay to authors that they publish is 20%. This may not be as good a deal as an agent could negotiate for you but than again, for a first-time author who hasn't got an agent, it's a pretty good set-up.

Check out their site here

Margaret Hollingsworth - Toronto, Canada

Margaret Hollingsworth is an award winning writer of short stories, plays and fiction. Originally from the UK, Margaret emigrated to Canada in 1968 where she has lived and written since. For a full biography and profile go to her website.

FE: How did you get your first novel published?
MH: It's all who you know! Without an in, even a small one, it's a real uphill slog to get anything published or produced. I'd advise people to socialize at literary or writer's gatherings, go to readings and talk to whoever is there, take writing courses, one of your fellow students will probably get into some sort of position of power - or maybe it will be you - read the journals, contribute stories to literary mags. subscribe to Quill and Quire so you have an understanding of the Canadian scene. (Libraries usually have it behind the counter and are loathe to part with it).

1st book of fiction was a collection of stories 'Smiling Under Water' and thereby hangs a tail and a tale. The editors at Collins read it, courtesy of a friend who was 'well in', and decided it would be the lead volume in their new line of fiction. Just before it was due to be published they were bought up by a consortium led by my agent. I thought I was made for life until he decided not to publish my book! I was too upset to send it to other large publishers (this always takes months or years and I'd already waited two years), so, when an acquaintance who has a small publishing firm offered to publish it I said yes please. It's out of print now of course, but still available on sites like Amazon.

FE: Why do you write?
MH: I think I write to punish myself. Sadly it's the only thing I feel I do well, the thing that gives me most pleasure (and pain) i.e. makes me feel alive, connects me to the world of words which has always been my structural underpinning, and theatre which I fell in love with when I saw my first amateur production of an Agatha Christie play when I was six.

FE: What’s your greatest challenge with writing?
MH: The greatest challenge right now is motivating myself - I've had a career and I'd like to rest on my laurels. I don't feel like having to make the effort to keep reinventing myself as is the case for all but the lucky few of 'senior' writers - if I don't make the effort I'll be starting from ground zero which is pretty much where I am now.

FE: What advice would you give to aspiring writers?
MH: Keep writing, keep schmoozing, don't be discouraged - it's a very competitive world out there and opportunities seem to be diminishing. It goes without saying that you should look to the electronic media as a means of broadcasting your skills and maybe inventing new forms. Don't let rejection discourage you - be playful.

FE: What are you currently working on?
MH: I'm working on a play and I have ideas for a novel - I swore I'd never write another - and a memoir revolving round my father and his connections with the British communist party in the North of England.

FE: What's the worst 'day job' you've had to hold to support your writing habit?
MH: Day jobs? So many - I think the most boring was being a facer at the Post Office - i.e. I had to spend days and weeks making sure the stamps were in the top right hand corners and the mail was the right way up. I was also a filing clerk in the United Africa Department of Unilever, filing cables about Ground Nuts waiting to be promoted to the heady heights of the typing pool - it never happened.

FE: Who are your inspirations?
MH: Inspiration? I don't think I have any - certain authors give me a real lift and urge me to try harder - I've always had an affinity with Japanese writers - my current favourite is Haruki Murakami. I like the seemingly careless mixture of surreal and earthbound.I'm not a great fan of conventional narrative.

FE: Are there any writing programs, workshops or courses that you're a big fan of?
MH: I don't think it matters which workshop or writing programme you attend. If you find a teacher who inspires you, or who is willing to spend time over your work, stay - if not think about leaving. Beware of creative writing teachers who teach their own style and preferences as an example. Look for a teacher who is well-read, eclectic, flexible and intent on drawing out the best in their students rather than imposing 'rules' and 'should-be's'.

More future of the book stuff

I am still stuck on this whole future of the book thing that I posted about yesterday. I can't get away from the fact that we are so focused on what's ahead that we don't anticipate the ramifications of if. For those of us who want to get a writing career going there are so many advantages to the written word going online. Just think, I can write an article for almost any publication around the world from any location around the world and get it to them in seconds and read it the moment it is 'published'. There are opportunities to get published, to start building a good 'published' portfolio available now that bypass the years that writers may have had to take to get to the same point in the past. But if by participating in that, we are inadvertently wrecking the things that made us fall in love with the written word in the first place, the book, the newspaper or magazines, well, aren't we missing the point? I am not suggesting that we do things differently, just consciously.

Googlebooks just made a deal to get a staggering number more books online.

Institute for the Future of the Book

I found this site recently when I was looking for something else. Affiliated with the University of Southern California, the Institute for the Future of the Book describes itself as 'a small think-and-do tank investigating the evolution of intellectual discourse as it shifts from printed pages to networked screens. There is a ton of information on their pages, a blog and links to a ton more information.

It's an interesting notion to ponder. Anyone taking the time to read this blog must be interested in the written word and also in technology. I love exploring new ideas in the arts- writing, music and visual art- and we now have the capibility to express ourselves in ever-changing multi-media. Blogs, ebooks, cellphone novels are just a few places that the written word has become a norm. As much as I like experimenting with the new, the thought of a world without books, newspapers or magazines is an alarming one.

If you are interested in this subject you should definitely take time to browse through the work of this think-tank. I will be doing just that myself.

The Hay Festival

If you're lucky enough to live within traveling distance of Hay-on-Wye, on the Welsh border, you should be ashamed of yourself if you don't go to the Hay Festival. Since it's conception in 1988 and now known as the Guardian Hay Festival, this literary event runs for 10 days at the end of May and always features an eclectic mix of guests and performances.

Every year the festival seems to grow a little- it was originally held in various locations around the town but had to move to a location just outside of town due to its size. There is now a children's festival that runs alongside the main festival and it also has 'sister' festivals in Spain and Columbia. This year there are new festivals opening in Nairobi and Beirut.

In case you have never heard of Hay-on-Wye, it's a small, pretty town with a disproportionate number of bookshops. Attracting visitors from all over the world, the prices of everything from real estate to a pint in one of the many pubs have soared over the years and last time we were there we accidentally paid £9 for a Ploughman's Lunch. If you have never heard of a Ploughman's Lunch, it's a typical British pub lunch and is really a plate with cheese, bread pickle and an apple on it. Tasty but not for £9 even if it did contain the world's biggest slice of Stilton on it! Anyway, back to my point......Hay is a lovely place to visit and if you like browsing in second-hand books stores it's heaven. The bookshops are all over. There's books in the old castle on the hill, books in the old cinema and books...well, everywhere.

The Hay Festival runs from May 21st to May 31st this year and you can read more about it at their website and about Hay itself here.

Musings from the Fiction Exchange

This is me, in case you want a face to the name. I've been slow to post recently and I have been thinking a lot about what I am trying to do here. I was trying to hard to be a neutral 'resource' that I don't think I added any personality and so I am going to be a bit more me and a bit less neutral.

I have been working on a new novel and am happy with the progress so far. The process of writing raises a lot of questions for me and I would love it if this site gained followers who contributed their views, thoughts and ideas. The question that I have been pondering today is, whatever it is that you write- whether short stories, poetry, screenplays, novels or whatever, do you plan it all out before you start and if so, in how much detail? If not, how do you manage to control where it goes or how it ends up?

I read a book on writing screenplays some years ago and it changed the way that I planned my stories. Before I read that I planned very little and could easily get stuck or lost. Fast forward to five years later and I am 10,000 words into my latest piece of writing and I know exactly where I am, where I am going and it is so so much easier. The only thing I don't have enough of is time.......

Any thoughts are welcome.....

Catherine Pate in the Hot Seat

Catherine Pate lives, works and writes in London, UK.

FE: What inspires you to write?
CP: I think my best work has been inspired by personal experience – it’s sometimes easier to get under the skin of a situation if you’ve actually been in it. I’m also fascinated by the dark places in my imagination, which don’t have any outlet in real life, and that inspires me to write, so I can sort of ‘act out’. Recently I’ve been inspired by observing people who don’t know they’re being watched, not in a stalkerish way (!), but it’s really interesting to see what people do when they’re not interacting with anyone and to imagine what they might be thinking about, or where they’re going, or what their life is like.

FE: What gets in the way of your writing?
CP: The ‘select-all/delete’ function on my computer! I have a tendency to be overly self-critical and to compare myself to all the good writers that I read, which is not a good thing. I know the best way to write is just to, well, WRITE, so I’ve been endeavouring to do that more – to get it out of my head, then prune later. 

FE: Which of your pieces are you most proud of and why?
CP: I wrote a poem for someone that really summed up an intense and hugely romantic week we’d had together. It was a gift, but the process of rationalising my thoughts was therapeutic too, and for once I was very satisfied when I read it back. The recipient of the poem told me recently that they intended to write the words into a song- it made me really happy to think that they had a life beyond the one I’d given them.

FE: What’s the best piece of advice you’ve been given as an aspiring writer?
CP: It was a technical comment – write what you observe about your characters and let the reader do the work to figure out what that means. For example, “beads of sweat were visibly forming on his forehead and he glanced rapidly from side to side” is so much better than “he sat there looking nervous and suspicious”. 

FE: How do you deal with writers’ block?
CP: I’ve very often suffered from writers’ block owing to the fact that I’m too critical about my own work. Recently I addressed it by starting a journal, and hand-writing letters. It’s a great discipline because you have to get out what you want to say in one go, and can’t delete things like you can on a computer. And the act of regular writing has got me into the habit, so that now when I attempt fiction or poetry, the words flow more easily.

What do I know anyway?

The 'What do I know Anyway?' section (located towards the bottom of the write hand column) is here for the purpose of sharing the ups and downs of a new writer.

I started writing casually around 1999 as a creative outlet. I'd always painted until then but found words easier and more rewarding to shift around on paper. I abandoned my first attempt at a book in 2002 after writing about 200 pages which I thought were pretty good. I sent it out to about 20 publishers and received 3 rejections and a lot of silence.

Over the next years I took some writing courses, joined a writing club, built up a network of readers to give me constructive feedback and learned how to critique others' work. I would also say that I learned how to read properly; to really notice what was being said and how the author constructed characters, events and drama. During that time I became enamoured with the short story, reading as many as I could and writing about 5 myself. I also wrote a screenplay and another novel- which for the sake of argument we will call my first novel. The only thing I ever tried to get published during that time was non-fiction pieces in local publications- articles, interviews and reviews.

By the time I started on my second novel in 2005 I was starting to feel like I might possibly-one day be...gulp... a writer. I couldn't not write.

I approached my second book in a totally different fashion- I felt equipped, like I knew what I needed to do to make this work. Starting it's life as two different short stories, the characters grew and started to feel like friends- the events and people were with me for the entire 3 years that it took me to write it. During this time I also worked a full time professional job, renovated an apartment and had a couple of children. I'm not trying to show-off or anything, just point out that real people with real lives can still write- it just takes time.

In January 2009 I decided that I would start trying to find an agent. That brings us up to date with the launch of the Fiction Exchange and if you're interested, you can find other random incidents from my writing career in this section- posted as they occur.

The Insider's Guide to Getting Your Book Published

I got a copy of this book last year because it was well reviewed and was obviously on a subject that I need help with! It's an easy read, well laid out, easy to jump in and out of and it's not at all pretentious or patronizing, which some of these books are. The author, Rachael Stock has worked for three major publishing houses and has had a lot of experience making decisions about what to publish and what to bin.

This is one of those books where nothing is a surprise but you are constantly surprised that you that haven't done the things that Stock is recommending, so therefore I would say that it's a big help. I found it especially helpful in regards to writing a query letter for an agent. Put it this way, the very first query letter I wrote, I received this rejection: "Not for me, thanks".
I then read 'The Insider's Guide to Getting Your Book Published', wrote a proper query letter and my second rejection was fantastic. Really! You can check it out here.

Joyland

Joyland calls itself a 'Hub for Short Fiction' and is looking for 'new ways to publish fiction'. I've only just found it and I can't wait to read my way through the site. With editors accepting submissions in Toronto, Los Angeles, Chicago, New York, Montreal, Vancouver and London, Joyland publishes pieces from authors who write about those cities, or who are based in those cities.
Each editor has their own submission guidelines which are posted on their city's page.

This month 'Vancouver' features Alison Frost who did an interview for the Fiction Exchange's Hot Seat earlier this month.

Joyland has a facebook group here

Our Stories- A Unique Literary Journal

Okay so there are a million resources out there for writers, some blah, some good and some that make you want to swoon. I just found Our Stories and am so excited that I'm going to stay up past my 9o'clock bedtime! That's after I'm done swooning of course.

UPDATE: I have had a break from posting stuff on the Fiction Exchange over Easter and when I got back to it, I couldn't load up the image that I'd tried to raid from the Our Stories website. I emailed them to ask if they could 'lend' me one to use and when the editor replied, he also said, "I just got through reading about 160 short stories and commenting on all of them for the past month, so needless to say I'm burnt but very encouraged by the great writing community that is part of Our Stories."

I am even more impressed by these people and encourage you to check them out.

Catherine O'Flynn in the Hot Seat

Catherine O’Flynn is based in Birmingham, England. Her first novel, ‘What was Lost’ was published in 2007 and her second novel is due out in 2010.

FE: How did you get your first novel published?
CO: I sent it out to about fifteen agents in a fairly clueless way. I just went for ones that accepted unsolicited manuscripts (it never occurred to me that I should approach others and try and get my manuscript solicited) and got back either no response at all or a generic rejection letter that gave no indication the ms had been read. I suppose I wasn't that surprised really - I knew the odds against me were enormous and I've never been much of an optimist so I kind of assumed rejection would be the inevitable outcome. Eventually though a friend recommended an agency to me and I sent it to them and they liked it - something which still to this day is probably the single most miraculous piece of news I received. My agent worked with me on the book - suggesting some work that needed doing on the ms. When it was ready she sent it out to four major publishers all of whom rejected it. The main problem seemed to be that it didn't fit in with any clear genre and wouldn't be easy to 'place' in the market. We opted then to go for a small independent publisher (Tindal Street Press), as we thought they might be more risk taking and see beyond genre. This turned out to be true and they put everything they had behind the book.

FE: Why do you write?
CO: I think it's usually just to get to the bottom of something that's niggling at me. With What Was Lost I wanted to answer the basic question 'What was it about the shopping centre where I worked that so got under my skin?' Writing is a way of exploring my thoughts and understanding how I feel about things.

FE: What’s your greatest challenge with writing?
CO: I suppose the challenge is coming up with a story that allows me to do the exploring mentioned above. I think coming up with a story that isn't too big and isn't too little is something that takes up a lot of my time.

FE: What advice would you give to aspiring writers?
CO: Oh God - probably that they should disregard advice from novelists keen to dispense it. The only thing I can think of is to write because you enjoy it or find it helpful in some way. You have no control over publication, but if you get something out of it for yourself then whether you are published or not is not the most important thing.

FE: What are you currently working on?
CO: I'm working on what I hope is the final draft of my second novel. I haven't developed a snappy description of it yet. Its theme I suppose is ageing - both of people and of cities. The main character is a superficially corny local tv news presenter who is haunted by disappearances and the stories that never make the news. It's about town planning and brutalist architecture as well. It sounds terrible doesn't it? I will never make a blurb writer.

More about Catherine

More about What was Lost

Gotham Writers' Workshop

With a 'Best of the Web' rating from Forbes, the Gotham Writers's Workshop offers a number of writing classes in 'more than a dozen forms of writing'. They are based in New York City and you can take their classes on location or online.

I took their Fiction Writing I online class a few years ago and LOVED it. I got issued log-in information and was able to explore the class before the first lecture went up. Our teacher posted these lectures weekly and what I loved about it was that I got to work on it when I wanted to. Not famed for my organizational skills, I had a nagging feeling when I enrolled that I would be frantically doing my assignments in the middle of the night before the weekly deadline to submit passed but I found the content engaging and motivating and managed to stay on top of my work easily.

I felt that the coursework was well constructed and I learned a lot. I got clear, constructive feedback from my teacher and well-meaning, though not always constructive feedback from my classmates. Overall, I loved the experience and would especially recommend it to someone who likes to work at their own pace and who can't afford to go to New York City! Gotham Writers' Workshop offers a bunch of different classes and elevated levels of some classes so if you are thinking of taking a class make sure that it's the right one for you.

Apart from any struggles with time-management, the only drawback that I can see from an online course like this might be for someone who is not used to, or sensitive about receiving feedback about their writing. When comments turn up about a labour of love that you posted for the group to critique, they are in black and white in front of you and it can be hard to judge the tone in which it is meant. When I took the course I hadn't received much feedback and although there were a few cringes, I found that it taught me to embrace and receive criticism for which I am grateful to this day.

For more information check out their site

Glimmer Train

Since 1990 Glimmer Train has been publishing short stories by established and emerging writers. Published quarterly, Glimmer Train contains between eight and ten short stories in each issue. To find out more about this fantastic literary journal including submission guidelines and subscription details, check out their website.

Alison C Frost in the Hot Seat

Alison C Frost is originally from Brooklin, Ontario and is now living in Vancouver, BC. Alison has been writing fiction since she was 12, back when she wanted to be a journalist.

FE: Have you had any work published?
AF: I have had short fiction published in Canadian literary journals, but it is a struggle. I have learned to take each rejection slip out of the mailbox and send the piece straight back out. The whole submission/acceptance or rejection process is a long one and there’s no point waiting around. But it is ultimately not the most important part of writing.

FE: Why do you write?
AF: I write because through writing I process, if not fully understand, my experiences and what goes on around me. Things come to me as sentences and images and scenes, the world gets translated/ transformed that way in my head. I feel uneasy when I am not being creative, namely when I am not writing. It just doesn’t feel okay not to be writing regularly.

FE: What’s your greatest challenge with writing?
AF: My greatest challenge with writing is not knowing when to let go of a story and move on. I am not a prolific writer; I spend a lot of time working and reworking the same terrain. I would like to let go of old material and call it done, but that is hard for me. Any piece can always be un-done and reworked. I want to draw those hard edges, but ultimately any piece is amorphous.

FE: What advice would you give to aspiring writers?
AF: Call yourself--that is name yourself-- “writer,” at least in your own head. Don’t get caught up thinking you have to reach a level of publication or notoriety or success before you have a right to call yourself “writer”. If you write, if you must write and that is how you negotiate the world, then you are a writer. Believing in the authenticity of that gives confidence and motivation and can keep you going when no exterior element can do it for you.

FE: What are you currently working on?
AF: I am currently on yet another reworking of a collection of 10 short stories that I hope to publish as a book. I am working on several stories at once, trying to figure out how they all work together as one.

FE: How do you support yourself?
AF: I have supported myself through various retail and teaching/editing jobs. I steer clear of any job which might become too consuming for too long since that would take away from the writing. I have only started to get paid for some writing and that feels like a real victory of sorts. At this point, the truth is I am lucky I have a husband with a steady paying job.

The Never Ending Story

The Never Ending Story is a fantastic site where the famous and not-so-famous mingle to create multi-author stories. It's free and there are a multitude of different stories in different genres to read and contribute.
With well-known authors and 'famous' people starting stories, there is something to appeal to every writer on this site. All you need to do is to register with them and off you go!

The Writers & Artists Yearbook has been THE go-to book for the publishing industry since it was first issued in 1906! Focused mainly on the UK market, the guide includes international media contacts as well as a huge amount of valuable industry information and tips for writers and artists. It is updated every year and contains contributions and quotes from successful writers such as JK Rowling, Kate Mosse and Neil Gaiman.

This best seller is referenced on many publishing house websites as the way into being published.

Zoetrope All-Story Magazine

Living the short story dream, Zoetrope All-Story is printed 5 times a year and contains a selection of short stories of incredible caliber. Each issue has a different guest editor who brings their own unique look and feel to the magazine. Calling itself ‘The New generation of Classic Short Stories” All-Story is the brainchild of Francis Ford Coppola who is passionate about fostering the short story and in this wonderful publication you can find a diverse collection of writing and art. Zoetrope Magazine has partnered with Gotham Writers Workshop to offer a selection of online writing courses.

Coppola has also has created ‘The Virtual Studio’, an unrivaled resource for writers and the industry.

Rejection Letter #2

After writing a 'proper' query letter, this was my second rejection from an agent:

Dear Eleanor

I’ve spent today reading your pages (sorry for the delay in getting back) and I do think you write well, and am intrigued by the story (I do want to know what happens next), but there’s a but – however much I like this I’m not convinced I would be able to submit it to editors with the required passion and belief. It does feel quite familiar, I’m not sure what to and I’m not 100% convinced that’s a bad idea, but it’s different when you’re reading a published book to when you’re trying to convince a publisher to take a chance on a debut novel. I’m having to be so cautious about what I take on because it’s just me, and I have to concentrate on the authors I already represent, so reluctantly I’m going to pass. It might be worth you going through the ms one more time and slimming down what you have – it’s not that it feels overwritten, but there’s a lot there and there are a few typos and things like that. I think if you were to pare it down the reading experience would be smoother. Oh, and I do think you might want a different title – I did think at first this was a childrens story!

I am sorry to disappoint, and as I said if things were different I’d really like to work with you on this, so I very much hope you find an agent who can respond to it in the way you need.

With best wishes

Rejection letter # 1

In my quest to find an agent to represent me, this was my first rejection email:

"Not for me, thanks"